We examine how aftercare is solving the CI industry’s image problem, enabling skills and revenue to flourish in the thick of complex jobs.
“Every support call brings with it a chance to learn, refine and future-proof,” says integrator Mark Laird. “When done right, aftercare becomes an extension of your reputation and your technical edge; it sharpens your service.”
Laird, managing director of family-run business Lairds of Troon AV, speaks to us from his office in Scotland in a rare moment of quiet. The business is thriving as it embraces both commercial and residential projects, finessing its aftercare abilities along the way: “We’re seeing systems we wouldn’t normally handle. Our engineer has thrown himself into many unexpected projects, and consequently he's probably one of the best to be found in the business today.”
Seamless interactions, whether between AV products or rooms themselves, are what we expect of high-end custom installations – but what about third party products, outdated infrastructure and the DIY smart devices proliferating widely in homes across the world? We sit down with integrators who routinely upgrade smart homes to find out, tracing the growth of dynamic practices in this corner of the industry.
Mark Laird, Lairds of Troon AV
Adding value
“There's a big difference between an integrator who has a relationship with the client, and a one-time installer who simply fits the equipment before leaving,” begins Suzanne Fitzgerald, founder of French integration company Dmoti. “As the former, there are ample opportunities to expand our servicing capabilities.
“One of the smart homes we delivered, for example, was highly personalised with lighting scenarios and presence detection. It went on to sell and when the incoming residents wanted to update it, we got involved to hand over the property.”
Servicing products enables homes to adapt as they change ownership, promising savings in the long-term. But Laird also demonstrates how it can also positively impact shifting perceptions of smart home. Integrators need to be flexible, both in their attitude to project demands and wider trades.
“We took charge of one residential project after the third party organising it had left,” he relates. “It was a whole-home renovation in the hands of subcontractors, who oversaw the plasterer and electrician and audiovisual team. The client was having to manage all that complexity in their home.
“On this job, we resolved the client’s frustrations with a solution for their cinema and learnt how to recognise the progress of other trades. Now I'll often assess when the plasterer’s due to stay ahead of the other parties.”
Rebuilding trust
According to Laird, the rupture between these trades is to blame for the rescue jobs and poor workmanship blighting the industry. “Rescue jobs have unfortunately become a core part of what we do,” he says. “By the time we get to one of these jobs, we're liaising with someone whose spent a lot of money and dealt with too many people. Our mission is all about rebuilding trust in the systems.”
While remedial work is one way to cultivate trust, standardised professional practices are also bridging the gap. For both skills and service, the CEDIA Commission is rolling out objectives set by the Board of Directors and International Standards Organisation (ISO) to distinguish the trade’s reputation.
“There is no legal requirement to call yourself an AV Integrator in the UK,” says Mike Ranpura, CEDIA commissioner and director of Smart Life AV. “There is always someone willing to have a go. It’s also true that established companies can be guilty of carrying out poor work.
“In order to succeed in this industry, there is a vast amount of knowledge and training required across different disciplines – but the number of individuals who possess this knowledge are few and far between.
“The first step to change this will be certifications, which is why CEDIA is investing so heavily in levelling up skills. Now there are certifications that integrators can acquire, the challenge is convincing those in the industry they should obtain them.”
Mike Ranpura, Smart Life AV
Meanwhile, Laird points to the complexities of tech takeovers for individual companies: “Communication becomes difficult when subcontractors are involved. Sometimes our remedial work is tainted by hangover issues from the initial job, and we’re suddenly indistinguishable from the previous installer.
“Diplomacy is key because we want to ensure we're not only fixing the issue but becoming a trusted partner for that client: we’re a family business and can't hide behind a lofty name. The relationship you retain creates recurring income. Every client we have eventually signs a maintenance agreement and will request long-term assistance.
“Yes, it can become complicated if the requests are increasingly specialised, but that's the point: we have the knowledge to forward the client on to a trusted network.”
Special requests
With these points in mind, poor workmanship can translate into a positive for integrators stepping into the project. But what about modernising systems? This is clearly a growing revenue stream, calling for flexibility around existing infrastructure or products supplied by the customer.
“Special requests happen all the time,” says Laird. “If it's safe and viable, we'll find a way to do it without compromising the system's integrity. We walk in, find out as much as we can about the existing system and what the client wants to set up on it.
“Even with this process, there can be anomalies to watch out for. Work of this nature has led us down some interesting paths: we've worked with 3D immersion systems, domes and animation.”
According to some, ‘lack of analysis’ in the industry is giving rise to client dissatisfaction in the long run. It’s the integrators willing to investigate the gaps left by others that are solving the issue.
“It’s a problem when installers deliver what's been asked for, without asking follow up questions about other supporting features,” says Fitzgerald. “Clients get to the implementation and are told their additional requests aren’t possible. If that had been considered from the beginning, by choosing an open protocol for example, the answer would have been yes.
“The gaps left in broken or outdated systems prompt questions like: would you like a server visualisation, voice control, audio and video integrations?”
“It’s a problem when installers deliver what's been asked for, without asking follow up questions about other supporting features."
Legacy systems
Laird similarly points to the need for early involvement, ‘even more crucial for network connection’. He explains: “So often walls need to come down, painters and decorators need to be consulted. If integrators are involved in the conversation at the beginning, it saves a lot of headaches.
“We approach legacy systems like archaeology, carefully excavating what’s present and salvageable before making connections with the new tech. The biggest hurdle is often the original installation and finding out where it fails.”
Another aspect of the process is recordkeeping, a prerequisite for the connected home. “A lot of legacy systems can get to the stage where there's no firmware as they become discontinued, creating a compatibility issue when bringing in new systems,” says Laird. “And 99% of the time, there’s no documentation.
“For example, recently we were working with a client who had a 20-year-old Crestron system. They were selling up and needed the programming for Crestron before they could push forward with the sale of the house.
“We worked with Ian Poole, who has his own business and is a respected Crestron programmer, while liaising with Crestron directly to get the original programme back and provide a detailed report to the client. This outlined the requirements to bring it up to date for the sale.”
“We approach legacy systems like archaeology, carefully excavating what’s present and salvageable before making connections with the new tech.”
Renovation
Since half of Dmoti’s projects are renovation-based, Fitzgerald also recognises the role of system upgrades in delivering unique compatibility. Of the modernisations popular in a full renovation, screens are leading the way.
“Today they tend to be a lot more efficient than buttons,” she says. “Screens centralise control systems like blinds, lighting, heating and cooling in a single interface. They result in fewer devices, which is a real benefit when renovating.
“Many complications arise from elderly systems. For example, a push button today is typically a different style to its traditional predecessor and limits our replacement options, while some of today's modern screens need an additional 24V supply as well as KNX.
“This is why an integrator network is so important; we ask around, especially when handling older devices. In France, we benefit from a group called the College of Integrators as well as KNX France.”
Suzanne Fitzgerald, Dmoti
KNX weds standardised building automation to a professional community across the world, comprised of system integrators, manufacturer partners and training centres.
“Sometimes we find another integrator had the problem before and can provide the solution faster than the support process of the manufacturers,” adds Fitzgerald. “While some are reachable on the telephone, others require a support ticket and three or four-day turnover.”
Quality and care
Ranpura, as a volunteer on the CEDIA Commission, champions this spirit of sharing too. “Volunteering on the commission exposes you to gaps in your knowledge,” he says. “You learn how processes are carried out in different parts of the world to implement in your own business. The commission is a melting pot of installers and representatives from manufacturers who care about improving standards of work.”
“Now there are certifications that integrators can acquire, the challenge is convincing those in the industry they should obtain them.”
Fitzgerald believes there should be greater recognition of the integrator’s cross-sectional role between sectors. “The value is huge,” she says. “To know if you've got a problem, there’s a person you can call to advise which trade needs to be engaged.
“There also needs to be more publication explaining what a smart home is, beyond DIY devices or proprietary whole-home solutions. When we think about audiovisual, we don’t necessarily think about home control such as heating, shading and lighting. But smart home integrators fold all these different elements into a single solution.
“There are two definitions of smart home in the public consciousness. One is the connected home associated with consumer brands like Alexa, where app and voice control come into play without additional functionality. And then there's the true smart home where components are synchronised in an intelligent way, requiring meticulous servicing.”
DIY: threat or opportunity?
Published in a report by Statista, the smart home market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15% to reach over 500 million connected households by 2028. In the UK alone, home cinema, lighting/shading and networking are the top growth categories for a market that has grown by seven per cent since 2023, according to CEDIA’s latest national market analysis. So, could DIY smart tech be an opportunity for integrators to harness their problem-solving and servicing skills for a vaster market?
“I think there's always a place for DIY equipment,” reflects Fitzgerald. “So much of its effectiveness rests on whether the client can integrate it to communicate with the full installation securely.
“I think it’s good in rental properties rather than full custom home integrations. In these spaces we’ll often put in small gateways to communicate across protocols as a solution.
“But consumer-focused manufacturers are not necessarily thinking about long-term compatibility with other devices on the networks. Whenever an update is released to smart or IoT devices, there’s generally disruption to the chain.
“If one of those devices updates but the other device doesn't, they’re no longer communicating. Clients typically believe the products no longer work at that point, and vulnerabilities appear.”
Fitzgerald points to devices not yet consistent with ‘2027 cybersecurity rules’, a reference to the EU Cyber Resilience Act. This legislation aims to hold manufacturers to their security obligations in a world awash with hackers, targeting everything from poorly encrypted smart lightbulbs to centralised home hubs.
Ranpura reaches a similar conclusion from a financial perspective: “It’s not economically feasible to install IoT technology. They also often use low-cost hardware components that can affect reliability.
“Yet on the flip side it’s a very interesting market to watch. IoT products have been getting better over recent years, with some offering features not available in the professional space. With the continued development of standards such as Matter, we will see more adoption of these products.”
Never has the smart home concept reached so widely into the mass market as it does today. But in this fast-paced landscape, bodies like CEDIA are endeavouring to offer installers a tighter reference point for standardised practices. And with a crucial role at the intersection of competing trades, the integrator’s forward planning and trusted advice remain intrinsic to the modern home.
Laird adds: “In the average residence, you could have up to 70 different devices communicating all at the same time. Our unique selling point as a business is cybersecurity; when we are installing these systems, we’re making sure they're installed well enough to mitigate any unforeseen issues.”
Main image credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock.com