AV and IT teams are working more closely together than they ever have before. Collaboration platforms, networked AV and hybrid workplaces have blurred the line between the two disciplines — but closer proximity doesn’t always mean better alignment.
Many AV/IT conflicts don’t start during installation or troubleshooting, but much earlier during the system design phase. When key decisions are made without considering both operational realities and long-term usability, tension builds quickly. What should be a partnership becomes a series of compromises which create gaps of responsibility.
Here’s the good news: most of these offsets are preventable. After years of working alongside IT teams and enterprise clients, several design mistakes show up again and again. Avoiding them will produce better systems and keep AV and IT working as partners rather than adversaries.
Mistake 1: Making Audio the Third Wheel
In many AV projects, video takes center stage. Displays get the attention. Control systems get the planning. Audio is often addressed later in the process, sometimes much later, and, oftentimes, not at all. That’s a problem.
For users, audio quality is the single most important factor in a successful meeting experience. If participants can’t clearly hear and be heard, nothing else matters. Yet, audio is frequently the first element compromised during value engineering or squeezed into a design after other decisions are already locked in.
When audio is treated as an afterthought, the results show up in uneven microphone coverage, poor intelligibility, and frustrated users. IT teams end up supporting a system that technically works but fails to deliver a reliable experience.
The fix is simple in concept but often overlooked in practice: treat audio as the foundational infrastructure. Microphone strategy, acoustic conditions, proper signal processing and system tuning should be considered early and not after the rest of the system has already been defined.
Mistake 2: Operating Without Clear AV Standards
Many organizations deploy AV environments one room at a time. A conference room here, a training space there. Over time, those individual decisions accumulate into a patchwork of technologies. For IT teams responsible for supporting these systems, inconsistency becomes the real challenge.
Different room types require different troubleshooting approaches. User interfaces vary. Firmware and software management become more complicated. Even simple tasks like helping someone start a meeting become harder when every room behaves differently.
Strong AV standards mitigate that complexity, and no, it doesn’t mean locking into a single design forever. In fact, effective standards require regular evaluation. Technology evolves quickly, and AV environments need to evolve with it.
A better approach is simple: establish defined room types, document technology stacks, and revisit those standards periodically. Check them. Update them. Improve them. Consistency will enable scalable support.
Mistake 3: Overriding the Expertise of Your AV/IT Partners
Successful AV projects depend on collaboration. But collaboration breaks down quickly when one side assumes it knows better than everyone else in the room. It happens far more often than people admit.
An IT stakeholder may push for a technology decision that conflicts with acoustic requirements or user experience. An integrator may be asked to design a system they know will struggle in the workspace. Eventually, the system becomes a compromise no one fully believes in.
When that happens, tension permeates across the project. Designers feel constrained, integrators feel responsible for outcomes they didn’t control, and IT teams inherit systems that are frustrating to support.
Great partnerships work differently. Each party brings specialized expertise to the table. IT teams understand network architecture and security. Integrators understand AV performance, system integration, and user workflows.
Projects that respect those roles will be more likely to succeed. Trusting your partners will not weaken the process. On the contrary, it will strengthen it.
Mistake 4: Designing AV/IT Only for Today’s Needs
AV systems rarely remain static for long. Collaboration platforms are constantly evolving, software updates introduce new capabilities and organizations change how they work. Systems designed only for current requirements often struggle to adapt.
The most common signs appear a few years after deployment, when the infrastructure can’t support new collaboration platforms. Control systems are difficult to expand and network capacity becomes a constraint.
None of those problems are inevitable; they are simply the result of short-term design thinking. Future-proof AV systems focus on flexibility. That might include scalable network infrastructure, modular hardware architecture, or control platforms capable of supporting multiple workflows.
No one can predict every technology shift. But systems can be designed to adapt when those shifts arrive.
Mistake 5: Forgetting That Projects Run On Relationships
Technology decisions get the spotlight, but project dynamics matter just as much. Many AV/IT conflicts come down to operational friction: unclear expectations, delayed approvals, communication gaps or budget misunderstandings. When those issues surface, trust erodes quickly. Once trust is gone, even small technical disagreements feel larger than they should.
Healthy AV/IT partnerships operate differently. Expectations are clear. Communication is consistent. Responsibilities are defined. And both sides respect the operational realities of delivering complex systems.
Bill Thrasher, COO, has more than 15 years of experience at AV-Tech Media Solutions.
