The SMARTer way to power your installation

News / 17.10.22

To both the residential and commercial integrator, power is everything. When it comes to a smart home, power is used to connect a range of appliances and systems from lighting and HVAC through to cinema and music. However, no amount of equipment will make your installation ‘smart’ unless you are smart with your power consumption.

All it takes is a spike in power or power cut and all of your hard-earned work requires service visits and, at worst, swapping out of kit with a hefty bill attached.  Either way, as the integrator, you are responsible, so do you charge the customer or absorb the cost?  The obvious alternative is to specify an intelligent power supply that removes the majority of these costly headaches at the very beginning of the process.  After all, if the power supply was correct for the application in the first place, then many potential problems can be avoided in advance.

Based in Cologne, Germany, GUDE has been a manufacturer of innovative equipment for the AV and IT sectors for over 30 years. With a focus on smart PDU (Power Distribution Units)  and smart power supplies, the ISO9001-certified company has developed multiple solutions for integrators so that they have the correct power supplies for the applications they are building.  

Be it simple multi-way sockets through to IP-based remote power control, GUDE has always strived to offer its customers PDUs that are easy to install yet offer a wide-range of facilities that are as useful to the residential installer as they are to the corporate.  

GUDE’s high-quality products allow the optimisation and expansion of infrastructures typically found in networks, servers, and media cabinets through to AV systems and multi-room applications. The product portfolio includes smart PDUs, LAN sensors and time servers. Every single product is developed and manufactured in Germany to meet with customers' quality demands for reliable AV and IT infrastructures.

 

GUDE contributes significantly to a smarter AV industry and suggests that a reliable switched IP power strip is an essential in every professional installation to secure and monitor all aspects of power. The benefits are obvious to the system integrator: 

  • Better and faster service for your customers using remote power monitoring 
  • Reduced energy bills by turning devices off
    when they are not in use
  • Increased operational reliability due to built-in surge protection that reduces downtime by limiting power fluctuations 
  • Plug & Play temperature and humidity sensors ensures the environment remains consistent, protecting the quality of your IT and AV equipment 

The benefits and solutions of GUDE‘s approach lead to a world where everything is interconnected and monitored. This is the new world of AVIT where AV merges with the IT world: The pure operation merges into sustainable and proactive management. The AV integrators benefit from the following functions:

  • Demonstrably fewer and less downtimes of critical AV infrastructures because of built-in surge protection
  • Effective troubleshooting in case of AV installation issues: Remote reboot or fully automatic power-cycling thanks to the self-healing function (auto reboot) using watchdogs.
  • Detect AV problems before things get out of hand: Proactive power metering of up to 9 electrical quantities and environmental monitoring by plug-n-play temperature and humidity sensors against overheating
  • Sustainable lifecycle, with products in the field for many years supported by free of charge firmware updates on a regular basis.
  • Saving valuable programming time thanks to seamless integration with the leading AV brands such as Crestron, Control4, Domotz, ELAN, Extron, Utelogy, RTI and Savant due to available drivers free of charge

Distributed and supported in the UK by RGB Communications, GUDE’s approach is a welcome change.  The company wants to be visible and highlights the importance and cost-saving that correctly-specified smart PDUs offer its customers and their customers alike.  

To find out more, contact RGB Communications on 01488 73366 or email sales@rgbcomms.co.uk.