Essential Install | Matrix And Signal Management
A significant
announcement from
Pulse-Eight: Amazon
Alexa compatibility
Enter The Matrix
Daniel J Sait looks at an increasingly complex world, where the
matrix and other major signal manipulation devices are key in
keeping customers happy.
Martin Ellis, MD at manufacturer, Pulse-Eight, says:
“Video matrixes are the heart of almost every AV custom
install project; if they fail it’s the first thing the customer
notices. At Pulse-Eight it’s incredibly important that
each unit is as reliable as it can be. We design and
manufacture every unit on site in our factory in Poole,
Dorset and all of our build team pride themselves on the
quality of the products they produce.
“The same goes for our engineering team who are
passionate about making sure that the product is as easy
to use and as easy to monitor as possible.”
Expanding on the reliability theme, Martin adds:
“From day one of our neo line, we’ve built our
technology around our proprietary device cloud. This
cloud infrastructure means that when you install one
of our systems it’s monitored around the clock. You
can access the health of the matrix from anywhere in
the world on any device without needing third party
monitoring systems or lots of complex port forwarding
or VPNs.
“To expand on this device cloud, we’ve released
this month our brand new neo:8 PDU that seamlessly
integrates with our matrixes; there is zero configuration
required (just add power and network).
“Then both you and your customer can have peace
of mind that all the source devices will remain available
24/7, if you, your customer or even the matrix itself finds
a problem with a source device, it can be automatically
rebooted without touching the equipment in the rack.”
Martin also explains that the company has teamed up
with Amazon to bring out what he says is the world’s first
native Smart Home Skill for Alexa, made possible thanks
to the company’s device cloud infrastructure.
Martin says: “Our Skill is the only Smart Home Skill in the
world that is available via the Alexa Smart Home skill store
for a video distribution system. There is no configuration
required beyond saying: ‘Alexa, discover devices’. Whereas
some solutions on the market rely on IFTTT, we don’t. You
can install our video matrix system on its own and add Echo
Dots around the home and simply say: ‘Alexa turn on the
lounge TV’ or: ‘Alexa turn on Sky Q in lounge’.”
The functionally is ready now for the neo:4 Professional
w/ HDCP 2.2 and the neo:8 Modular system.
Martin concludes: “What this means is you can now
offer a complete video distribution system with voice
control in a single product, opening up new opportunities
for small projects that cannot implement a large-scale
control system.”
Find out more at www.pulse-eight.com
36 | November 2016
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21/11/2016 16:44