The Integrator's Voice

How one integrator transitioned from the residential to the commercial market—in a big way

With the housing boom slowing down, many residential integrators need to find new opportunities to maintain business. Some companies will turn to the retrofit market, whereas others will expand into commercial. The migration from one market to another might appear seamless, however, there is much work to be done before taking action. Home Entertainment Lifestyle of San Diego expanded its integration into the commercial market with a very high-profile project—Hotel Del Coronado, a historic hotel that is considered one of the world’s most famous beach resorts. We sat down with James Love, president of Home Entertainment Lifestyle, to see how he did it.

Q.How and when did Home Entertainment Lifestyle first get started in the industry?

A.Unsatisfied with the career I had working in movie production, I left the film industry, where I worked as a grip—a lighting and rigging technician. I still wanted to work in the entertainment field. My first love is music and home theater, so I decided to open a custom A/V integration company; I called it American- AudioVideo. I started from a small office in 1995 with one employee. I continued with a concept of making A/V systems easier to use while building strong business relationships. After 11 years of working in the custom home market, in 2006, American-AudioVideo teamed up with Bolt Electric. We opened a showroom— Home Entertainment Lifestyle.

Q.Why did you decide to expand into commercial?

A.I have always kept an eye on market trends and opportunities. To run a successful long-term company, you have to pay attention to where the market opportunities are. During the housing boom, it was easy to get work. The housing market had to slow down, and I knew this. So in 2005, before the housing slowdown, I looked into the commercial market for opportunities.

Q.How did you go about breaking into this market?

A.A San Diego icon, the Hotel Del Coronado, was working out plans for a large remodel. Listing my company in the Contractors Blue Book gave me a heads up about the remodel—I took the opportunity to bid on this job. The plan was for a new fitness area, spa area and beach condos. I contacted the hotel’s construction coordinator and asked for a meeting to go over the remodel specs. I went away from this meeting understanding the hotel wanted upscale audio distribution and surround systems in the remodeled rooms. This was bigger than what we were used to but right up our alley—just on a much larger scale than a typical home. I presented a bid with this message: “This is what we do with an emphasis on quality and ease of use for each customer.” The hotel said when it awarded us the job that it wanted someone that would give them the same consideration you’d get in your home.

Spotlight on: James Love
Company name: Home Entertainment Lifestyle
Headquarters: 8920 Kenamar Dr., Ste 210, San Diego
Telephone: (858) 672-1133
Web: www.homeentertainmentlifestyle.com
E-mail: [email protected]

Q.What challenges did you face when going from residential to commercial, and how did you overcome them?

A.One challenge was the scale. A typical home has a home theater and four to eight zones of audio. The hotel plans were for 36 surround sound systems (35 condos and one members’ lounge), 24 zones of audio in the spa area, an independent retail shop, an aerobics room, a weightlifting gym, a fitness workout area, two pools, an outdoor bar and eight cabanas.

To engineer a system of this size, we had to think about wiring infrastructure, system capability and making multiple user interfaces that are easy to use. The surround sound systems were a challenge because hotels use a service called Lodgenet to provide pay-per-view movies to the rooms. This challenge arose when we decided to use the Bose Lifestyle 28 system and an LG hospitality plasma. The Bose LS28 has a built-in DVD player, which Lodgenet was not very keen on hotel guests having access to. Lodgenet didn’t want to lose revenue from pay-perview sales due to DVD use. We used the LG hospitality HD plasmas, essential for HD programming in hotels, and Lodgenet expressed interest in upgrading the hotel to their HD service. After six weeks of convincing, Lodgenet graciously conceded to the use of the Bose systems.

Q.How does profitability compare between residential and commercial markets?

A.The profitability in both depends on efficiency. The thing about large commercial jobs is that small inefficiencies are compounded by the size of the job. Timing is everything. The key is managing time and material so you don’t have people standing around, delaying the construction process. The best way to do this is know-how and communication. Q.What activities will you employ to build your presence in the commercial market? A.The same we employ in the residential market: quality work and good communication to build great relationships between our company and builders. We also list our company in the Contractors Blue Book, are a member of the local BIA and are involved in local events. The point is, the more people that know you, the more opportunities you get.

Featured

  • Video Surveillance Trends to Watch

    With more organizations adding newer capabilities to their surveillance systems, it’s always important to remember the “basics” of system configuration and deployment, as well as the topline benefits of continually emerging technologies like AI and the cloud. Read Now

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

New Products

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.