AVIT Flexibilty

Getting the right support is a proven way to help develop and secure the engineering department onboard

AV/IT Flexibility

The accepted view in most societies is that if someone is flexible then that creates an easier working environment for all included. This is why you should be cautious and consider your options. We recommend choosing a system that’s flexible and scalable at the same time. We have listed a few questions below that you should bring up when you sit down with your integrator.

Costs

How long with how many men to complete my project?

How much Warranty do you offer?

Support? And what does it cost?

What costs are involved with future upgrades? And how are they implemented?

Installation

Will we need to run new cables?

If so how many and where to?

Will we require any carpentry works?

Do we have enough rack space? In the central rack and locally?

Programming

Do we need the source code to make furthermore upgrades with our system?

If so we own our source code? (see our in-depth article on this grey area (Own your system).

Maintenance

What does the support contract include?

Do you require the crew to maintain the standard of the system? If so what would that be?

After how long, from when the system went live would we have a scheduled health check?

Working with the new AV system

Can we add new TV channels and icons to the TV channel page or do we need the integrator to do this?

Can I have preset TV locations into the system to automatically change all of the TV buttons on the GUI (User interface), i.e. from the med to the Carribean display sky channels in the med and Direct TV channels in the US on the iPad, with one or two clicks of a button?

Can we change the button descriptions on the GUI?

Can we change to the language of the GUI? i.e. for our Russian guest?

Can we move our current media over to the new system?

How do we upload new media?

Does the metadata automatically upload onto our new system when new media is uploaded?

For yachts with or without an ETO, these are essential questions to ask your integrator. Get this clear from the beginning, and you will understand what is involved when you maintain the system for it to perform charter after charter. For most yachts without and ETO, there are some very user-friendly systems to manage the above. With some more complex systems, you may need to get the integrator back for the smallest changes. If this is the case, then make sure you get a good support contract.