Top 5 Transportation Market Integrators

Think of the CI Industry Leaders as power rankings.

We recognize the top integration firms serving 12 vertical markets, not purely by revenue but by a variety of factors including reputation, innovation and market approach. Put another way, these are companies that are making waves and worth watching.

CI spoke to five transportation market integrators about what helped them succeed (or fail!) at every step along the way. Check out what they have to say and click here to download the complete report, Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.

On Success:

“I believe that we have installed more airport systems than any other AV integrator in the U.S. [One reason is we appreciate that] public transportation facilities are built to accommodate large numbers of the public.

“In particular, airports operate nearly 24/7 and the requirements for high reliability, security, and quality voice and visual communication necessitate procedures and protocols that are detailed and must be adhered to.” —Jim Ford, President, Ford Audio-Video

“It takes an open line of communication with clients to succeed in the transportation vertical market. Infax is equally focused on targeting new business as well as leveraging our existing clients. We believe that both are integral to success. We attend several industry conferences and trade shows to target new business and find contacts.

“However, we also like to keep our current customers informed of all of our recent news and solutions with a quarterly newsletter.” —Cecily Waters, Director of Marketing, Infax

Related: AVI-SPL Serves Up 5-Star Integration at Restaurant Management Lab

“It takes an understanding of the client’s commitment to the system. In a situation where you have multiple administrators with various levels of skills responsible for multiple areas of content, you need to be prepared to help the client with programming, not related to code, but more for organizing what content plays back when at what traffic hours that the public is present, peak vs. off-peak.”
—Glenn Polly, President, VideoSonic Systems

On Failure:

“You don’t look at each client and installation as a separate entity. The transportation industry has been using digital signage for years, and the number one challenge that we will face this year is staying current. With new technology emerging every day as well as new companies entering the industry, it is sometimes difficult to predict what the next trend will be.” —Cecily Waters, Director of Marketing, Infax

“You don’t take into consideration that you are often dealing with a bureaucracy and not everyone will be enthusiastic about their new responsibilities pertaining to updating the content.

“We find it better to train this segment in a group, where peer pressure prevails, as opposed the personnel having issues with the system integrator trying to teach people with different talents and skill sets who are attempting to be graphic artists.” —Glenn Polly, President, VideoSonic Systems

Click here to download the complete report, “Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.”