Commercial AV installers

What commercial AV installers do

• Conference and huddle rooms. Displays, cameras, microphones and speakers for video calls (Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms), with one-touch join and room scheduling.
• Boardrooms and training rooms. Large displays or projectors, wireless presentation, ceiling microphones and simple touch-panel control.
• Digital signage and video walls. Menu boards, lobby and wayfinding screens, and tiled video walls with content you can update from anywhere.
• Distributed audio and paging. Background music by zone, paging and announcements, and sound for patios, gyms and warehouses.
• Cabling and networks behind it. Structured cabling, network switches and rack work, so the AV gear has the bandwidth it needs.

Who they work for

• Offices: Conference rooms, huddle spaces and all-hands rooms.
• Retail and showrooms: Signage, background music and screens for products.
• Restaurants and bars: Menu boards, TVs, zoned music and patio audio.
• Churches and houses of worship: Sound reinforcement, projection, streaming and overflow rooms.
• Schools and training centers: Classroom displays, assistive listening and paging.
• HOAs and multifamily: Clubhouse and fitness-room AV, lobby screens and common-area audio.

What to ask before you hire

1. Have you done rooms like ours (size, number of people, the call platform we use)? Can we see or call a similar client?
2. Who designs the system, who installs it, and who supports it after go-live? What does a service call cost?
3. What is the warranty on equipment and on labor, and do you offer a support or maintenance plan?
4. Will the system work with our network and IT policies? Who sets up network access and accounts?
5. Does the quote list every device, the cabling, programming, training and permits, so we can compare quotes line by line?
6. Are you licensed and insured for low-voltage work in our state and city, and will you pull the permits if they're needed?

Licenses and permits

Many states and some cities license low-voltage or limited-energy work (the cabling for AV, data and sound); others license it as part of electrical work, and a few don't license it at all.

Work inside walls and ceilings, in plenum spaces or tied into fire or life-safety systems may need a permit and an inspection. Ask your installer who pulls permits.

Where a state publishes license records, our listings show the license and the date we checked it. We don't check insurance, bonding or the quality of work: ask for a certificate of insurance.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your state's licensing board and your city's building department have the rules that apply to your project.