You may have noticed some not-so-subtle changes to the ACS online presence. We are in the midst of an exciting expansion to further promote our national reputation as a factory-authorized and trained dealer and installer of the finest A/V, Lighting Control, Motorized Shading, Network and Home Integration equipment anywhere on the web. Part of that development includes this new blog presence.

We’re going to be using this space to announce important ACS company news, spotlight preferred manufacturers and components, and generally keep in touch. If you have a need for custom electronics design and integration, whether for your home or business, this is going to be an excellent resource for you.

ACS has an expansive array of services, including:

• Automated Shading
• Home Theater Design
• High End Audio
• Lighting Control
• Managed Home Networking
• Integrated Living Solutions and much, much more!

With offices in the New York Metro region, Los Angeles and South Florida, ACS is among the largest residential Audio/Video, Lighting Control and Home Integration companies in the country. Anyone anywhere, from Maine to Washington, who’s looking for technology solutions that respond to their lifestyle while maintaining their home’s architecture and interior design, should give us a call! We’re here to build lifelong relationships with our customers and look forward to demonstrating our expertise.

From smart TVs and refrigerators to laptops and tablets, nearly every device we own is connected to the Internet.  The quality of the network is the foundation for a great system be it a home theater or fully automated house.  Today’s fast paced lifestyle and need to access everything at our finger tips makes a reliable, robust, and secure home network a requirement for most families.  We’ve come to think of a reliable wired and wireless network as another utility within our homes.  We depend on it to conduct business, stream music and videos, download files, and play online games.  The networking staff at ACS is poised to build a rock solid network for your New York, Florida and California residence.  Read on to learn about the key features of a network designed and installed by ACS.

Quality equipment, superior configuration

Audiovisual technology of today has transformed our lives and require a reliable network to perform properly. Gone are the days when you could visit an electronics store, buy the necessary networking equipment and set it up using the default settings. We install networking components from partners like Ruckus, Dell, and Cisco to bring you the best quality network solution. But that’s just the first step. Having high quality equipment is not enough. The efficiency and strength of a professionally integrated network is what sets a home system from ACS apart. We’ll eliminate disruptions and interference from other networks; program your network to prioritize different activities like streaming movies and downloading music, so all of your favorite activities remain uninterrupted.

Secure, reliable and robust

A hard-wired network is more secure and we recommend that it be business grade. There’s invisible protection built into the way the network is designed. We can further protect your home network by building you a guest network that prohibits access to other devices. Your entire network is protected without undo interruption. The network is there when you need it and can deal with increased capacity during parties and holiday gatherings. Whether you’re streaming your favorite Netflix sitcom on a tablet or your kids are finishing homework on their laptops a robust network supports all these activities so everyone gets what they want no matter where in the house they are at. In addition, we’ll proactively monitor the system so we know when there’s an issue before the homeowner does. These alerts keep the equipment performing and in turn last longer.

When you decide to upgrade your home or business technology, selecting the right contractor is one of the most important decisions you will have to face. It’s a choice that remains with you long after the instillation portion of the project is finished. That said, with every company telling you that they are the best option for your job, what does ACS bring to the table that separates us from the competition? So happy you asked!

Everywhere You Need Us to Be
ACS has offices in the three largest residential and commercial regions in the United States (Metro NY, Los Angeles and South Florida) and has been delivering cutting-edge technology to these high-end markets for nearly 40 years.
No matter where you are or where you need the work performed, ACS has the history, experience, and focus to give you the results that will keep you coming back.

Qualified and Prepared
At ACS, we focus on having the best-trained installers in the industry. We have over 100 knowledgeable and reliable employees nationwide, with every job receiving its own project manager and a visit from a member of our executive team. This attention to detail can take more time than many of our competitors are willing to offer during the initial phases, but we’ve found that a higher percentage of customers (95%) are happy with the initial version of their plans as a result of this more meticulous process.
 
Recognized for Excellence
CE Pro Magazine rated ACS on of their Top 3 companies 7 years in a row, as well as the #1 Installer in the Country. We’ve won awards for Best Home Theaters, Best Technical Design for Media Rooms, and were featured in Robb Report magazine as one of the best integrators in the business. Every job receives our distinctive “white glove” treatment, and the accolades we receive year-after-year simply validate our commitment to best-in-class service.
“This expert firm consistently delivers cutting-edge technology—and is frequently called upon to give a command performance in a celebrity's home. Industry professionals and clients both agree that Audio Command Systems (ACS) is one of the premier designers and installers in the country.”
– The Franklin Report

Working for You is Our Privilege
ACS invests in the most elite staff and their continued education for one simple reason: Because we want to be the best integrator in the U.S.A.! We actively demonstrate our customer-service integrity so each and every client becomes a partner in the life of their technology, anxious to revisit our process when the next challenge presents itself. Our solutions are never “cookie cutter,” and that alone can make all the difference in the world.

Contemplating an upgrade or preparing for a new build out? Call us today from anywhere in (or even outside) the U.S., and give ACS an opportunity to demonstrate all we can do on your behalf.

Why does experience matter? It gets you invited to the Netherlands, for one thing.

ACS has a client for whom we’ve integrated 4 different homes. It just so happens that the client’s 5th home is a 95-ft yacht…and it’s being built in Amsterdam. You can’t win them all, right? Well…

While the client explored integration options overseas, a priority for the family was for the controls within the yacht to have the same look and feel as the other homes on which ACS had previously worked. This meant viewing the same menu – regardless of the location – to set the music or raise the shades or view the status of any room in that home or across the globe. To aid in this endeavor, the client brought their world-renowned yacht builder to Los Angeles to review the systems in the 85,000 sqr ft home in Beverly Hills (which also happened to be the most recent work ACS had completed on their behalf).

This location has the advantage of the features that have made ACS a Crestron Gold programmer. More than a decade of development has gone into our template, featuring options many integrators don’t make available as their base offering. ACS has found it’s easier to include more options (and edit out what isn’t optimal for the client) rather than add what we consider basic functions at an additional cost. To demonstrate, the client took quite a bit of pleasure adjusting the volume in surrounding rooms while we conducted our meeting, as well as showing off the “home-at-a-glance” feature that displays the status of every zone from a single screen.

After the meeting, ACS was asked to review the company chosen for the integration overseas. Frankly, it was a quality organization, and we didn’t feel it made sense for us to be involved to any greater degree. However, there’s a peace-of-mind component to all such work. So, when the client offered to fly us to Amsterdam for 3 days to review the system with the chief engineer, who were we to argue?

Talk to custom home technology professionals throughout the country and one common philosophy emerges: Taking over a project can be more trouble than it’s worth. Unless, of course, you’re talking to ACS.

Project takeovers happen when the original firm is either unable to complete the work, or maybe even goes out of business mid-build. This can be frustrating for the client (to say the least), but it can also be treacherous territory for a company that jumps in to complete the job. Since the takeover firm didn’t order the components, they don’t hold the original warranties. Without being involved in the initial pre-wire or technical design, the new integrator is starting from scratch while the client anticipates the project is close to finished. It’s easy to see why integrators hesitate getting involved. Thankfully, ACS has a solution at the ready.

Due to a variety of circumstances, ACS takes over an average of 2-3 projects a month. Why, when so many view the act of completing another professional’s work a thankless job at best? Maybe it’s because, after nearly 40 years of custom electronic design and integration, ACS has the process and the people to make it right for those in need of expert assistance.

Ex: Last year, ACS lost a bid to work on a home. These things happen and there are never any hard feelings. However, after many months of planning and progress, the integrator who won the bid was no longer able to work on the build. Worried about what would become of the investment they’d made so far, the client reconnected with ACS to see if we could help.

As is the procedure, we completed a full investigation of the project. To everyone’s relief, ACS determined that the only issue unresolved was the HVAC. We provided a quote for the completion, the new client readily agreed, and ACS was able to complete the work they required to get their system working.