How Site Surveys & Design Tools Bridge the Gap to Enter New Markets
For years, physical security and AV have been like neighbors sharing a back fence. They occupied some of the same infrastructure, run into each other here and there, looked sort of like outsiders, even had a lot in common — but they rarely interacted directly with each other.
Those backyard neighbors have the opportunity for synergy and savings — maybe one buys the chainsaw and the other the mower, or they split the cost of a new fence — yet often times those opportunities are ignored.
The status quo for quite some time has been that system integrators focused on physical security, IT or AV as a mutually exclusive.
But that status quo is changing. Customers are asking: “can you do AV too?” or “can you do our physical security too?”
As the technology supporting each of these disciplines continues to evolve, it’s increasingly common to see providers bringing security and AV under the same roof, often along with IT.
Physical Security & AV: Two Growing markets with Similarities
So why are we seeing a convergence between physical security and AV right now? Because of the opportunities.
Physical security and AV have notable similarities:
- Both are physical systems that must be installed at client sites (something system integrators and AV providers are already skilled at doing).
- Both require power and, increasingly, internet connectivity.
- Both rely on technology platforms to function.
- Both are managed by software systems (or cloud-based interfaces).
At the very least, they are complementary markets: the systems rely on similar shared infrastructure, and both increasingly rely on cloud-based tools and services for managing system operations.
It’s also worth noting that both markets are large — and growing. The push toward modern hardware that can support new cloud, AI and interconnected capabilities is driving significant growth in spending.
By one estimate, the physical security market was valued at $127.01 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow by nearly 7% year over year through 2030. Another valued the pro AV industry at $307 billion in 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of 5.6%.
No wonder integrators in one space are interested in expanding into the other! Not only that, their customers are asking them: can you do that for us too?
Steve Cogliano of IMT Global, a firm that focuses primarily on AV, explains:
“We’re involved in projects early, at the architecture and design level. We’re always brought in pre-construction to look at everything AV-related. Physical security is always part of the bid spec we receive. Whether we work with a local contractor or handle it ourselves, there’s clearly plenty of overlap.”
SmartPro Technologies is one provider that made this expansion relatively early. Vice President of Operations Stan Nice explains how it happened:
“Our business started out as a managed services provider in IT. But during the pandemic we saw a huge gap in a suddenly growing physical security market: Organizations needed better ways to handle surveillance and access control in empty or nearly-empty buildings. We were already doing cable pulls and running fiber; adding infrastructure for physical security and even advanced AV was a logical next step for us.”
4 Ways to Be Successful in Both Physical Security & AV
The potential for growth across markets is real, but there’s a reason convergence isn’t yet the norm. Real hurdles still remain and make it difficult to offer a truly top-shelf experience across multiple disciplines, even if they are related and growing more similar by the year.
If you’re in one of these two markets and looking to enter the other, here are four practical ways you can set yourself apart from the competition and start winning more jobs across disciplines.
1. Ensure your team is ready to ramp up.
This borders on obvious, but we can’t overstate the importance: make sure you have team members who are ready to step into these new-to-you disciplines and skills. This likely means sending existing staff for training before you officially start offering the service.
Fair warning: even beyond training, you’ll need to maintain a broader set of certifications, which means an ongoing administrative burden.
Stan Nice, who helped his firm expand into physical security, It management, and AV integration, has a helpful perspective on the ramp-up and certification maintenance:
“Across my team, we have over 600 cumulative certifications held by our employees spread across IT, physical security, and AV. Maintaining a full complement of those certifications can be a challenge, as can making sure complex jobs have the right mix of people assigned so that all necessary certifications are included.
“But there’s no question about it: having such a wide set of certifications has been beneficial for us, and we find that many of them complement one another. For example, once you know how one security camera works, you have a broader base of understanding for learning the video surveillance system. For that next certification you’re learning unique differences, not starting from scratch.”
There could be the possibility of a soft launch, where you start offering new services to existing customers where you already have strong relationships. This can provide an easier on-ramp to the new line of business, and it can help you scale up more safely.
It may also be a good idea to hire your way out of this challenge: bring in several experienced specialists from the field in the new area, people who already have knowledge about the unique attributes of the segment. These employees can potentially even serve in a training or mentoring role with your existing staff as they try to expand their experiences, credentials, and skills.
2. Develop a consistent process for gathering customer requirements and doing site surveys.
Next, it’s time to talk about site surveys.
Both physical security integrators and AV integrators rely on site surveys or site walks as part of the planning, quoting, and building process. There are certainly differences in terms of what’s important to capture, but the general concept is the same.
One of the quickest wins here is developing consistent, repeatable processes for how you gather customer information and how you handle site surveys. (This is good advice no matter which side of the aisle you’re on — and even if you’re not trying to expand.) When entering a new market, it will be even more important to make sure newer talent knows what to capture. They may know AV inside and out but electronic security may be a new ballgame.
The site survey is where you make your first impressions (good or bad) with a client, and it’s important in any market. It’s even more important if some of the team are new to the market segment.
The status quo here is, well, that there isn’t much of one. Integrators all have their own ways of notating information during site walks. We still see an awful lot of yellow pads with handwritten notes. Smartphone photos are a big step forward, but they end up lacking context — and that’s if you can find the one you need at all.
Stan Nice comments on this challenge:
“Every company we work with has had some kind of multi-page paper form. These always end up with scribbles in the margins, hastily made floor plan drawings, quick elevations. Plus, you’d take tons of photos while out in the field, but somehow back at the office it feels like you still never got quite the right ones. The right approach is going digital: we were looking for a way to automate this form, make it a living document, and make it into something that sales engineers and lead techs can all work from and add to.”
System Surveyor is an ideal platform for creating a digital as-built, the living document Stan mentions.
And Steve Cogliano of IMT Global describes it this way:
“Legacy methods and disparate processes for collecting information during site surveys haven’t exactly served anyone well. Especially for a global, distributed firm like ours, we lose efficiency by having different processes for collecting measurements and pictures. With a consistent process for gathering customer requirements, we can design better overall solutions. Standardization gives everyone greater confidence, and an accurate visual representation. It will be hard to scale without making this more consistent and process oriented.”
Standardizing your approach to site surveys — and using a collaborative platform for site survey software — is key to gaining the flexibility and scalability necessary for expanding into physical security system design or into the audio-visual market.
3. Use technology to your advantage.
Advances in technology are the main reason why we’re seeing convergence between physical security system design and AV system design, so to truly thrive here you’ll need to take advantage of those advances.
For example, we recommend adopting system design tools built for collaboration and designed with nonspecialists in mind. We’re talking about design tools that are more wizard-like, with drag and drop interfaces that your sales, estimation, and engineering teams can quickly learn and then use to scope out the right products.
Steve Cogliano again:
“We love using System Surveyor to collect site survey data and then produce a visual representation of the project for the client. We can use the pictures we took during the site survey and insert them directly into the software. Clients can see in real time what we’re recommending, and we can even show them proposed changes (like moving a display and reconfiguring microphones and speakers) in a visual format.”
IMT Global uses this visual collaboration to overcome the hurdles of working with larger clients with numerous locations, too:
“Because we can visualize for the client the best use of their space, we achieve greater buy-in earlier in the process. Plus, since we’re a global firm working with other global, multi-office firms, often the decision-maker isn’t in the same city where we’re planning to build. They’ve never physically seen the space, but the System Surveyor platform gives them a full representation of the space, giving them a much better visual sense of what we’re describing.”
4. Collaborate with key vendors and manufacturers.
As these industries rely on increasingly powerful technology and software to converge, some elements get more complex, not less. So don’t make the mistake of assuming your team has to be experts in all of it.
The truth is you can’t realistically be an expert in everything. So instead of trying to be, increase your collaboration with other experts — such as those who work for key vendors and manufacturer partners.
Further, labor is tight throughout both sectors. One powerful way to overcome a tight labor market is to streamline, standardize, and automate processes. All of these will be hyper important for ongoing success in both markets.
We also recommend attending conferences across disciplines. If you’re an AV firm looking to add physical security, then consider these conferences:
- ISC West
- GSX
- PSA
- ESX
If you’re already working in physical security and now expanding into AV, then consider attending these:
- Cedia
- Infocomm
Attending cross-discipline conferences is a fantastic way to learn as much as you can, but it’s also the perfect place to network. Going it alone isn’t always the right call; sometimes a strategic partnership makes even more sense, allowing you to go after larger bid specs without drastically changing your focus or competencies.
System Surveyor: Collaborative Site Survey Software for the Physical Security and AV Industries
System Surveyor got its start in physical security. It’s still the primary focus of our organization and makes up the lion’s share of our customer base.
But our platform is far more than physical security system design software. It’s a collaborative visual system design tool that includes the design of access control systems, video surveillance systems, cabling, and a growing catalog of audio-visual system components.
Whether you’re already offering both physical security and AV or looking to break out from one market into the other, System Surveyor makes sense. It’s a single platform that functions as site survey software, a hub for physical security system design, a tool for generating an estimated bill of materials, a way to create a digital as-built, and much more.
Ready to see more? Schedule a free trial.
