By Todd Pierson, Sam Guarino and Tim Balvanz – Custom Electronics
In our last article, we discussed when to involve your Electronic System Designer (ESD) and what tools to provide, so your voice could be heard in the process. In this article, we will show you what to expect while finalizing those plans. Coordinated properly, you will go through a couple of meetings with your ESD. It is likely that those meetings will also involve your Architect, Interior Designer, and possibly your Builder. Expect this meeting to be no less than one hour in duration.
What should you bring to the meeting? It’s important to have a full set of current blueprints. This should be a set that can be left with the ESD. If you do not have a set to leave, make arrangements with your architect to get them to your ESD as soon as possible. Also bring your notebook that we discussed in the previous article.
Before you get started, you and your ESD will need to determine what services are required for your project. Below is a detailed list of design & engineering services that Custom Electronics is able to provide its’ clients.
• Whole House Audio
• Whole House Video
• Surround Sound Media Systems
• Dedicated Home Theater Design
• Integrated Remote Control Systems
• Centralized Lighting Control Systems
• Telephone Systems
• Cable/Satellite Wiring Infrastructure
• Computer Network Wiring Infrastructure
• Telephone Wiring Infrastructure
In the initial meeting, your ESD will discuss each of these services and how they would relate to your project. Expect to be asked a series of questions related to your lifestyle. Some of these questions may be related to your listening/viewing habits and what types of music and video content appeal to you and your family. What type of entertaining does your family do, etc.?
The next step will be to go over the blueprints, room by room. The ESD will ask you questions about how each room will be utilized. Will there be a TV located here? Does there need to be computer or telephone jack located here? Is it important to incorporate sound/music in this room? During this discussion the ESD will be taking detailed notes. Your answers to these, and other, questions will help to determine your wants and needs more accurately.
At this point your ESD will give you a brief overview of products that fulfill the requirements of your project. This product tour will give you an idea of all the possibilities available in today’s world of technology. The product features, along with their costs, will help you and your ESD to come up with a projected budget range that you feel comfortable working within.
At the conclusion of this meeting you may be asked for a design retainer. This is determined by the overall size of the project. A retainer is required on any larger projects to develop a series of documents that will become you’re A/V Blueprints. These are very labor intensive and can take upwards of 40 man-hours to produce.
In the next meeting your ESD will go over the A/V Blueprints developed for your project, and present you with a more accurate cost to complete the project. As with your previous meeting, allow no less than one hour for this presentation, to make sure you understand everything this project will entail. These A/V Blueprints are much like architectural blueprints. They are more than just a list of unfamiliar products, and will graphically detail how the products will be integrated into your system, so that you can easily understand how the system will operate.
This meeting, more likely than not, will illicit some design changes and corrections. Based on these changes, your ESD will be able to supply you with an updated quote within a few days. Once you have accepted the quote, the ESD can now coordinate a starting date, and establish a timeline for each phase of your project. They will contact your other contractors to make sure that his/her schedule works within their established timelines, and modify the schedules that don’t.
In our next article, we will discuss what to expect during the pre-wire, installation and finalization phases of your project.
"This article will be in Omaha Living Magazine's November 2009 issue"