Randy Klein talks to Paul Skelton about the digital revolution, and how going ‘green’ won’t help your business.

The past 24 months has played witness to one of the worst global financial crises (GFC) in history, and it has been difficult for everyone in the custom installation industry.

However, in 2009 control system manufacturer Crestron released to market 226 new products. (Note: This doesn’t include existing products with new outputs. Rather, these were brand new products.)

This has put the company in a formidable position. But, it hasn’t always been this way.

“Luck comes and we’ve certainly been very fortunate,” says executive vice president Randy Klein.

“We’ve been in the right place at the right time, but we’ve also had the product to back it up.

“We work hard every day and don’t look for that next big thing – this is our industry and we commit to it.”

When Randy started in the AV industry, there was no video, there weren’t even any fax machines. Now 35 years later, he is in the senior management team of one of the largest home automation manufacturers in the world and says while the GFC has forced the company to look at new markets, despite all odds it has continued to grow.

“We invest a lot of time and money into R&D – we have over 400 engineers in New Jersey and all they do is invent stuff.

“Certainly we haven’t scratched the surface of the expansive potential of our DigitalMedia product line. In fact, we’re already working on what we’re calling ‘version two’ of that, which will include a single Cat 5 cable transmitting all HD audio and video signals, and control, on one wire.

“We also have a brand new range of touch panels, called V-Panels, that feature DigitalMedia outputs. And, for the past couple of years we have been working on an entirely new control platform that we will start to release in the next few months.”

Being at the top of an industry gives you a unique perspective on where it is heading. While a lot of industry pundits are saying green is the next big thing, Randy disagrees.

“I truly don’t believe that ‘green’ is a business. At least I don’t think it’s our business,” he says.

“I’m sure I don’t have the most popular position on this because everybody seems to think an AV system should also be an energy management system, but I just don’t believe that.

“What’s the big deal about having a touch panel that shows how much energy you’re saving?

“If going green means ‘the conservation of energy’, then I truly believe it should be part of our social fabric – everybody should do it, but we don’t need a touch panel to say we’re saving energy.

“If you want to conserve energy then don’t turn on the lights.”

Randy believes a change of attitude towards energy conservation needs to come from a deeper, more prevalent level, and not an AV device.

“Far be it for an AV touch panel to be the enabler of environmental change.

“Certainly it can play a part, but we make these devices for easier living and entertainment.”

He believes it is difficult for a client to justify spending $10,000 on a touch panel that tells them every time they dim the lights they save 5% of their electricity usage.

“Everyone wants to talk about going green because it’s easy to talk about, but how much money did you make last year by going green?

“Of course it’s important, but it’s just not our industry. A power generation company issuing smart meters to make the supply network more efficient is great, but not as part of the connected home.

“Rather, we should be looking for different energy sources. It’s not that we’re running out, it’s that we’re wasting it, which is an irresponsible thing to do as a society.”

Looking ahead, Randy believes home automation professionals are about to embark on a transformation of an industry, and an era.

“The house of not-too-distant tomorrow will be transmitting digital media throughout, and it will share content with its neighbour, which will share with its neighbour, and so on.

“As a result, the installer needs to learn a new set of skills. This infrastructure will be fibre-based, so they need to learn how to terminate and design fibre systems.

“Ultimately, they have to change.”

He says the custom installation industry is the best one to be in, as it continues to evolve.

“I’ve been in the industry for a little over 30 years now, and when I got involved in it there was no video, there were no computers and there were no fax machines. That shows how far we’ve come in 30 years.

“It was 40 years ago that we put a man on the moon and we haven’t done much there since. It was 140 years ago we built the first car, but what’s really changed there? Our industry, however, in 30 short years has continued to evolve.

“So if you think of what will happen 30 years from now it’s mind boggling.”

Randy says it really is a case of being in the right place at the right time.

“We’re currently shifting from an analogue to a digital world, and we have an opportunity at this point to embrace it and take over the world.

“Many years ago, before the photography industry switched from analogue to digital, the leading brands of Polaroid and Kodak were very devoted to film. Now there is digital imaging where’s Polaroid and Kodak today?

“It is so important to be receptive to change. Most people don’t change because it’s hard, it’s scary, it’s a gamble and it’s a risk, but the people who don’t change will go out of business – in fact, they’re going out of business now.”

Overall, he says the message to installers it is very simple: “This is the coolest industry in the world, the key component is digital and you’ve got to change to be part of it. That’s the message, simple.”