Interview with Bill Shafer of Crestron
1. What is the origin of Crestron?
The company was started 35 years ago in New Jersey primarily as a small business focusing on control systems for the commercial marketplace - specifically, commercial A/V control systems. That evolved into other types of markets including residential which really took off in the mid 90's. In addition to those areas, we are also in the gaming, government, university, casinos and airport markets.
2. What makes Crestron such a great product and why do people use it in their homes?
That's a great question and I like to use the automotive industry as an analogy to the homes. If you go back 20 years ago to a car—if you got power steering and power brakes, that was a big thing or even power windows—that was a luxury back then. In homes, 20 years ago, it was about the layout, the location, some new things in architecture were happening like great rooms or a deck. But if you look today, the technology that we live with has greatly increased. In our cars—GPS technology, audio hard drives, Bluetooth, built in telephones, cameras and other luxuries are now standard in some vehicles. The same thing is happening in our homes; we've got home theaters, we're spending much more time in our homes—we want to be entertained in our homes and entertain in our homes now more than ever. Therefore, things get more complicated with aspect ratios for plasmas, 7:1 surround sound settings, motorized blinds. The thing that Crestron does is bring all these different sub-systems into one easy-to-use touchscreen—where with one touch of a button—things go into motion behind the scenes—while staying simple.
3. Do you have a line that can work well in any home?
Yes—we have the Adagio. Simple, out of the box functionality with expandability to incorporate lighting, and environment control. What's also nice about the Adagio is the little or no programming it takes to have this up and running. Or, like any other Crestron processor - it can be customized at will.
4. Can you help explain the concept of total home technology to those of our readers who are not familiar with it?
Simply what this means is the connection of all subsets on the entertainment side of the home as well as the core systems that run the house. In other words, on the automation side we control shades, drapes, lighting, security, cameras, HVAC and many others. On the entertainment side there is whole house audio, audio servers, iPod integration, satellite radio, home theater and many others. The GUI (graphical user interface) then brings them all together. Crestron is the only company that makes all of these solutions talk to each other with our partners that work with us. The design of the GUI is meant to work together and works best for the homeowner to streamline all of these systems from one centralized system.
5. What do you consider a great technology experience?
The experience. It's that simple for me. I'm a homeowner and I want to use technology by sitting down, pressing a single button, and making things work the way I want it to work. The phrase I use that describes this is, "Our job is to make the time that a person thinks about using technology, and the time that they actually use it - to be as short as possible." That to me is a great technology experience.
6. What do you do for fun?
When I'm not working, I'm a father so I spend as much time as I can with my kids and of course - I also like to play golf, entertain and enjoy my system at home I'm also a private pilot and I plan on getting back up in the air soon.
Call Us Today
For additional information regarding Home Automation Systems, Home Theater or any of IVCi Home's home automation products and services, call 1-800-901-6583, e-mail info@ivcihome.com, or click here to have an IVCi Home Representative contact you.
