A response from ICIA
Jan 20, 2005 3:39 PM
The last edition of Sound & Video Contractor's "Systems Integration Special Focus: Houses of Worship" email newsletter published in its Top Story a complaint by a reader about unqualified consultants. The reader proposed that a certification program for consultants would help to improve their proficiency. ICIA could not agree more. In fact, despite the impression given by the article, there is indeed a national recognition program for consultants and designers: the ICIA Certified Technology Specialist – Design certification.
Since 1998, ICIA has offered a rigorous audiovisual design training program. With over 300 hours of online lessons and nine full days of onsite training, the Design professional track provides extensive education in both the theory and application of audiovisual design. The Design certification examination includes written, oral and hands-on testing. Only those AV professionals with a general CTS certification and at least two years of industry work experience may take the examination. The exam itself is designed to ensure that AV professionals who have achieved an exceptional level of skills and expertise in the field are able to pass. A wide range of professionals have benefited from ICIA’s Design education: consultants, integrators and non-commercial AV managers.
ICIA’s education programs are guided by a committee of members who are highly qualified industry veterans and longtime ICIA instructors – the Professional Education and Training Committee (PETC). In 2003, these volunteers worked to develop the Basics of Audio and Visual Systems Design: Revised Edition, the ultimate published resource for AV designers. And last year, our committee spent much time and energy updating and enhancing our Design education program. The quality and breadth of these offerings stands alone in the audiovisual communications industry.
To mitigate the problems experienced by clients with unqualified providers, ICIA has spent over a million dollars on AVolution, an awareness campaign to direct clients to qualified AV firms. Hundreds of AV solutions providers have committed to the AVolution standards of excellence for service provision, and nearly 100 (in under two years of the program) have taken the extra step of achieving Certified Audiovisual Solutions Provider (CAVSP) status. The CAVSP status requires a certain percentage of staff to have achieved their certification, and encourages the specialized levels to count as a portion of that quota.
Certification establishes a baseline competency, but the AVolution campaign also seeks to educate clients about other important criteria in selection of firm, such as references and experience in designing for similar facilities.
Recognizing that even more needs to be done to raise the bar for AV services, ICIA will publish Integrating Audiovisual Technology into Buildings: A Guide to Best Practices for the AV and Construction Industries. This guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process of AV project conception, design, installation and commissioning. A product of ICIA’s Independent Consultants in Audiovisual Technologies (ICAT) and Sound, Audiovisual and Video Integrators Councils, the guide will be introduced at a special forum at InfoComm 2005.
In fact, in efforts to counteract some of the negative perceptions between integrators and consultants, ICIA has served as a forum for the two groups to come together constructively, through interaction at InfoComm, through member meetings, and now with the new guide for best practices to be released shortly.
On behalf of the design consultant community and ICIA, we are glad to have this opportunity to inform the readers about our extensive consultant training and certification programs developed for the good of the AV industry, and to the benefit of our customers.
Scott Walker, CTS-D, Waveguide Consulting, Inc.
Chairman, International Communications Industries Association, Inc. (ICIA)
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