For years, AV-over-IP has been creeping into the marketplace. On paper, it made perfect sense — scalable, flexible AV systems that could finally break free from fixed form-factor room designs. But for many enterprise IT leaders, networked AV was kept at arm’s length because the challenges loomed larger than the rewards — security, bandwidth and a messy landscape of competing standards.
After years of promise and gradual progress, AV-over-IP has finally turned the corner from IT departments’ blacklists and is set to transform enterprise AV infrastructure.
Why Use AV-over-IP: The Tipping Point
For nearly a decade, AV professionals have been predicting the “year of AV-over-IP” — that watershed moment when networked AV solutions would finally overcome the objections of IT gatekeepers and fulfill their promise of streamlined, scalable and flexible audiovisual infrastructure. As we navigate through 2025, that moment has finally arrived.
The convergence of several critical factors, such as the maturation of IPMX standards, increased cybersecurity protections, improved bandwidth capabilities and a new generation of AV professionals fluent in networking principles, has created the perfect environment for widespread AV-over-IP adoption. No longer viewed with suspicion by IT departments, AV-over-IP has transformed from a convoluted proposition to a strategic advantage.
Rise of IPMX
The greatest obstacle to AV-over-IP adoption wasn’t technological limitations, but rather the ecosystem fragmentation deliberately engineered by manufacturers. For years, vendors built sophisticated systems that performed flawlessly within their proprietary ecosystems but stumbled outside of them. This left enterprises trapped in a frustrating paradox: powerful solutions that created as many problems as they solved. Enterprises were left juggling compatibility headaches with spiraling costs and siloed networks.
Now, Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) has changed the equation. Unlike previous attempts at standardization, IPMX builds on proven IT protocols and focuses on interoperability from the start, giving AV teams what they’ve been asking for all along:
- Freedom from proprietary lock-in
- High-fidelity, low-latency media transport over standard IP networks
- Easier device discovery, configuration and management
- Future-proof scalability
The significance of IPMX goes beyond the technical specifications and it represents a fundamental shift in the power dynamic between vendors and customers.
When CIOs and IT directors see that AV devices can operate like any other manageable, secure endpoint on their network, the conversation pivots dramatically. Suddenly, AV-over-IP is no longer a specialized technology requiring exceptional handling and becomes a strategic business asset that can be evaluated on ROI, operational efficiency and alignment with broader digital transformation initiatives.
Related: What Integrators Need to Know About IPMX
A Common Language for AV and IT
The “old story” is that AV and IT exist in their own worlds, tolerate each other and work together when they must.
Now, future-focused AV integrators know the road to successful deployment runs straight through the IT department. They’re designing systems that respect IT frameworks, including zero-trust security models, bandwidth shaping, VLAN segmentation, rather than trying to bypass them.
The gear has finally caught up to a mindset many AV integrators have been advocating for years. AV teams now come to the table speaking fluently about network management, cybersecurity and authentications. This builds confidence with IT teams and consequently speeds up deployments that once stalled over trust issues.
The transformation works both ways. IT departments, long wary of AV systems as potential security liabilities or network resource hogs, now have unprecedented visibility into these environments. The same tools they use to monitor servers, analyze network traffic and manage endpoints can now incorporate AV devices and manage traffic flows. Instead of having to guess what’s happening inside the system, they can now monitor, diagnose and optimize in real time, just like they do with any other enterprise digital platform.
When AV and IT share a common language for integration, monitoring and security, risk decreases and each team views the other as more of an asset. More importantly, with a unified approach to infrastructure, both disciplines increase their strategic value to the organization and outcome.
Streamlined Racks, Smarter Spaces
Look inside a traditional enterprise AV rack and you’ll see the problem immediately: bulky matrix switchers, spaghetti knots of cables and endless extenders, creating countless points of possible failure.
AV-over-IP is changing that, fast.
Enterprises are ditching much of the heavy hardware that once anchored their AV systems in place. The advantages of moving audio, video and control data onto the network ripple outward into the business:
- Scalability: Adding a room is a network configuration, not a construction project.
- Flexibility: Spaces can evolve without ripping out & reinstalling category-based infrastructure.
- Efficiency: Budget goes farther when upgrades mean software updates or endpoint swaps, not forklift refurbishments.
The immediate benefit is cleaner, more organized racks and the long-term benefit is an enterprise AV system that scales easily, without being handcuffed by legacy infrastructure.
Enterprise Control, Without the Guesswork
AV-over-IP is unlocking a level of visibility and control that enterprise teams have long been seeking.
Networked systems allow teams to monitor live diagnostics, track performance data and analyze room usage — all without the need to be hands-on. Troubleshooting can happen in real time and systems can be remotely updated, secured and optimized just like any other managed service on the network. That kind of operational assimilation brings AV into tighter alignment with the way modern IT infrastructures are run: data-driven, secure and proactive.
As AV systems become more software-defined and network-aware, they’re gaining the kind of lifecycle tools and insights that help enterprise teams make smarter, faster decisions.
The Moment AV Grew Up
AV-over-IP’s takeover isn’t happening because someone launched a flashy product or wrote a buzzword-filled whitepaper. It’s happening because the hard, necessary work of aligning AV with IT realities is finally paying off.
Racks are getting streamlined. Deployments are getting faster. Conversations are getting easier…and enterprise AV is stepping fully onto the network, into the future, where it belongs.
Bill Thrasher, COO, has more than 15 years of experience at AV-Tech Media Solutions.
