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Future-Proofing AV: Recap of the PCD × Xyte Webinar with Hal Truax & Andrew Gross

  • Brandy Alvarado-Miranda
  • Sep 25
  • 3 min read
How integrators are cutting downtime, growing recurring revenue, and staying competitive with open, cloud-powered platforms.
Xyte Webinar Future proofing AV















Quick Recap

PCD’s Hal Truax and Andrew Gross of Xyte (SVP, Sales) hosted a candid, Q&A-driven session on what “future-proofing AV” looks like for integrators, manufacturers, and end users. The big idea: conference rooms and teaching spaces are more mission-critical than ever—and more complex. Open, vendor-agnostic cloud management (the “single pane of glass”) is becoming the smartest path to higher uptime, lower support costs, and durable customer relationships.




Quotable Moment Hal Truax re Uptime for AV integrators

Why This Matters Now

  • Rooms aren’t getting simpler. More cameras, mics, displays, AV-over-IP, and vendors = more potential blind spots.

  • Uptime is the new north star. Prevent issues before they impact meetings and instruction.

  • Service is shifting from break-fix to outcomes. Proactive monitoring + clear SLAs align everyone’s incentives.


The Six Priorities Integrators Are Solving For

  1. Reduce response time to keep rooms online.

  2. Shrink service costs by resolving issues remotely whenever possible.

  3. Build recurring revenue that aligns incentives around uptime.

  4. Increase customer loyalty via partnerships, not one-off transactions.

  5. Optimize operations with real-time data.

  6. Differentiate competitively with a modern service model.



Quotable Moment Hal Truax re single pane of glass for AV integrators

What “Single Pane of Glass” Really Changes

Xyte centralizes monitoring and management of multi-vendor AV/UC estates into one cloud dashboard. For PCD, that’s meant:


  • True proactive support: Detect failing touch panels, mis-routed inputs, or audio issues before users notice.

  • Remote resolution: Fix many problems without rolling a truck.

  • Shared visibility: Give IT/facilities the same dashboard view (when desired) for faster, on-campus triage.

  • Right-sized consumption: Costs scale with deployment size, making it viable from one room to entire campuses.


“We often fix issues before the client even knows they exist—many times without sending a tech.” — Hal Truax, PCD


From Break-Fix to Managed Outcomes: PCD’s Continuing Support Program (CSP)

PCD packages Xyte inside its Continuing Support Program (CSP)—not as a bolt-on license, but as part of the core proposal narrative. Results:


  • Customer savings: PCD’s analysis shows clients saved ~27% over five years versus traditional break-fix.

  • Stickier relationships: Continuing Support Program (CSP) embeds PCD as a long-term partner, not just a project vendor.

  • Clear SLAs, clear value: Tiered support (e.g., business hours vs. 24/7/365) maps costs to risk.


Pro tip from Hal: Price and present Continuing Support Program (CSP) within the primary proposal. Show a version without it if you must, but lead with outcomes and peace of mind.


Case Highlights

1) National Medical Association (Large, Zero-Downtime Tolerance)

  • Challenges: Mission-critical events; no tolerance for outages.

  • What changed: PCD’s Continuing Support Program (CSP) + Xyte flagged reset-worthy touch panels, input/switching issues, and audio hiccups pre-event.

  • Outcome: No truck roll, no visible downtime, higher confidence for every room user.


2) Local Nonprofit (Small Team, Big Room)

  • Challenges: Heavy meeting cadence, minimal IT staff.

  • What changed: Same proactive monitoring and remote guidance.

  • Outcome: Seamless events, simple user experience—even for tech-shy staff—without adding internal headcount.


Security & Network Comfort

Some environments (DoD, casinos, certain public agencies) restrict remote control. PCD still delivers value by:


  • Monitoring without remote access (advice + guided fixes with on-site staff).

  • Working through InfoSec: Xyte supports SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, data encryption in transit and at rest, and outbound-only connectivity—making it easier to pass security reviews and DPAs.


Where It’s Headed: AI & Building-Wide Insights

  • Near-term AI wins: Faster programming, auto-drafted closeout docs and user guides, and (coming from Xyte) an AI teammate that can read/summarize deployment docs and surface actionable insights.

  • Bigger vision: Extending from AV into building health signals—think early leak detection, HVAC health, printers, even “connected coffee makers.” The same cloud backbone can unify more of the networked environment.


“There’s a dividing line emerging: integrators who adopt open, cloud-based managed services will distance themselves.” — Hal Truax



Quotable Moment Hal Truax re reoccurring revenue for AV integrators

Practical Takeaways for Integrators

  • Make managed services the default. Don’t tack it on at the end—bake Continuing Support Program (CSP)-style offerings into every proposal.

  • Align SLAs to risk. Offer tiers; don’t oversell 24/7 if a client doesn’t need it.

  • Share the dashboard (when helpful). Co-manage with IT/facilities to speed resolution.

  • Lead with outcomes, not boxes. Uptime, user confidence, and lifecycle savings are what buyers champion internally.

  • Educate on security early. Bring your platform’s compliance posture to the table from the first network discussion.

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