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Packaged Solutions Take 2

News and information about PACKAGED SOLUTIONS for AMX.
To date, these include:
GSLOGIC
AMXHOME
CINETOUCH

This new stub will serve as a fresh start if the old topic is not restored, with hundreds of informative posts and over 3,600 reads - the most popular read topic in the Residential forum by more than double any other...

Which was all deleted not by an administrator, but by a user who believes he ought to be in charge.

Comments

  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    CineTouch News for CEDIA

    CineTouch will again be at CEDIA in the ADA booth (Number 4900). Hope to see many of you there!

    A couple press releases for your download if you are interested,

    NuVo and CineTouch deep integration, allows any mix of AMX panels and NuVo keypads to work interactively to use AMX to add rooms, theaters, and video distribution to a NuVo multirooom system - http://cinetouch.com/NuVo-CT.pdf

    Autonomic Controls interactive support now standard built-in to CineTouch, including the coming new Mirage features, http://cinetouch.com/Autonomic-CT.pdf

    An outline of the new CineTouch release features will be available shortly as well.
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    I'll reply in Nagy fashion with random words in caps:

    THAT is NOT correct. The person who STARTED the thread is ALLOWED to delete the thread, and that is what I did. I was tired of you SPAMMING the board, so I exercised the RIGHT given to all users on the board to delete their OWN threads.

    I do REGRET having started the thread anyway. It was an INVITATION to your SPAMMING.
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    John Nagy wrote: »
    Which was all deleted not by an administrator, but by a user who believes he ought to be in charge.
    is that even possible? If so that's dangerous ability.

    I for one think we should bury the hatchets and not in each other's heads. IMHO CineTouch has a vital role in AMX's future if it is to maintain a foot hold in the resi market.

    What's the estimated % of AMX resi jobs that depend on this solution?
  • mpullinmpullin Posts: 949
    vining wrote: »
    is that even possible? If so that's dangerous ability.
    I was under the impression that you couldn't yank the carpet once the thread had been replied to, but I guess that is a safeguard you have to explicitly enable in this version of vB. Hmm.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    It's a dangerous feature only in unstable hands.

    It's impossible to guess a percent. We have several hundred systems running... and something over 50 dealers in total. AMX won't tell how many dealers they have, but they cut from a rumored 700 or so before the big BullsEye program that cut "more than half". But some of our 50 were cut too. They mostly continue to buy AMX through distribution agreements with the area reps (this is by permission of AMX).
  • ericmedleyericmedley Posts: 4,177
    To be fair, a good portion of those voluminous posts were complaining about the questionable use of the forum as a means of advertising a private business. This is not an unusual reaction as many forums prohibit such activity as it tends to clog up the forum with content that tends to show up on searches needlessly.

    One big clue is the number of 'bump' posts to bring the thread back up when in fact nothing new is being discussed.

    I feel that John Nagy has proven himself to be a good citizen of the forum, contributing to the more pure academic/support goals of this group. I personally don't have much issue with him creating such a thread. But, I do think it skates pretty close to the egde of 'misuse' and does nothing to endear me to their cause and product.

    So, like Vining and others have suggested, I am willing to cut some slack. After all, I can just ignore it like all the other 'Constant Contact-type' emails that clutter my inbox.
    That's my two cents...
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    ericmedley wrote: »
    To be fair, a good portion of those voluminous posts were complaining about the questionable use of the forum as a means of advertising a private business. This is not an unusual reaction as many forums prohibit such activity as it tends to clog up the forum with content that tends to show up on searches needlessly.

    One big clue is the number of 'bump' posts to bring the thread back up when in fact nothing new is being discussed.

    I feel that John Nagy has proven himself to be a good citizen of the forum, contributing to the more pure academic/support goals of this group. I personally don't have much issue with him creating such a thread. But, I do think it skates pretty close to the egde of 'misuse' and does nothing to endear me to their cause and product.

    So, like Vining and others have suggested, I am willing to cut some slack. After all, I can just ignore it like all the other 'Constant Contact-type' emails that clutter my inbox.
    That's my two cents...
    Sure - John's provided some decent information, I'll give him that. Even though we don't have to click on threads we don't want to read, it's much like the spam we get in our email box: we don't read it, but it's aggravating when it's there.

    Jeff Mackie falls into the same category though - promoting his NetLinx Diagnostics or whatever for iPhone.

    Per Walt Megura's LinkedIn profile he "reduced customer count by 39% yielding revenue growth of 14%" - so I don't think AMX cut "more than half" of their dealers.
    vining wrote:
    is that even possible? If so that's dangerous ability.
    It's dangerous to delete your OWN thread? How so?
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    jjames wrote: »
    It's dangerous to delete your OWN thread? How so?
    I was writing my comment during your post so I didn't realize when I submitted that it was your post to begin with. I thought you had some magical mystical powers over the forum but now that I know the circumstances I guess you're just an ordinary smuck like the rest of us. :)

    It was clever though!

    Oh, and i just noticed that can of spam, pretty damn funny!
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    Maybe time for a new Sub Forum on Products?

    Just because someone has the technical "right" as in ability to do something does not make it the "right" thing to do. One person wiped out the collected work of many contributors, on a personal vendetta - because he could, not because it was right. Dangerous or clever? Maybe. Malicious? That depends on viewpoint. Ask any bomber, then ask the bombed (bombee?).

    The thread he deleted (because he didn't like it anymore) was identified specifically for the content it contained, and I believe that it was the most-read and posted topic more out of interest than out of tricking people into looking at it again and again. You don't have to look hard at the forum lists to see that people here have no problem not reading new posts and threads that don't interest them.

    I've moved the rest of this post to the "Can't we all get along" thread as it more clearly speaks to that.
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    I would be in favor of a new sub forum for use by anyone who has solutions to offer for a fee. Then we can view or ignore as we see fit and while I don't use any of these services I do like to know what is available and what others have to offer. I have no problem stealing ideas where ever I can. :)

    Plus folks need to know their options and what's available.
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    The packaged solution issue isn't one we can dodge for long and stay in business. I can, and did, as a matter of fact, write a program that has all the functionality of a packaged solution, but without the ability to migrate it to any and every job without touchup. It still needs a lot of tweaking to apply to various equipment sets, but once that's done, it pretty much will do everything an AMX.home solution will. But it won't come close to a Cinetouch in terms of adaptability or re-usability ... though arguably, I could get very similar functionality. It took me two weeks to write from scratch, and about another week between two clients to test and troubleshoot. Every new client I care to adapt it to, the time frame is dramatically reduced (to 4-6 hours or thereabouts, depending on how much equipment I have to write modules for that I don't have yet). Some guys have similar program structures that they have developed for years and can adapt fairly easily. But, and this is a big one, not everyone has that level of programming expertise, and not everyone who does has the weeks of programming time to spare to develop, test, and roll it out. To compete, they have to use a packaged solution.

    Heck, to compete, *I* have to use a packaged solution. I simply don't have time, in these days of a hard economy, and reduced workforce, to sit at my desk and develop software, or to adapt software I already have to new jobs and new equipment. I'm in the office maybe 2-3 hours a week for the last two months.

    So, bottom line, I don't object to new information on the solutions available, no matter how closely it skirts on advertisement for a 3rd party. That doesn't matter anywhere near as much to me as knowing what my choices are and how well they work. I would love dearly to thumb my nose at any code I didn't write myself, but I simply cannot. Fact is, I need to use other people's work to augment my own because I can't charge enough for my time to develop it.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    For better or worse, the old deleted topic was restored last week in read-only (closed topic) form.
    I would still encourage creation of a new sub forum... for third party product discussion.
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    John Nagy wrote: »
    For better or worse, the old deleted topic was restored last week in read-only (closed topic) form.
    I would still encourage creation of a new sub forum... for third party product discussion.
    And I will politely discourage for the obvious reasons.
  • CineTouch Disconnected?

    I just tried to call the front office of CineTouch...408-371-1845 from their website. And PacBell tells me that the number is disconnected. Is this any indicator?
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    roognation wrote: »
    I just tried to call the front office of CineTouch...408-371-1845 from their website. And PacBell tells me that the number is disconnected. Is this any indicator?

    Changing long distance carriers is dangerous. We are certainly not out of business. This should be back within hours.

    Off to CEDIA tonight...
    http://cinetouch.com/CediaMap.jpg
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    aaaaaand we're back. With apologies from AT&T.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    CineTouch 8.2 available and installing...

    As promised at CEDIA and released on time, CineTouch 8.2 is available and is already installed at a number of internal and customer sites. And we have a new Configurator too, for fast and programming-free installs.

    CineTouch 8.2 is kind of a big deal. Highlights:

    * Intercom and SIP Gateway entirely redesigned for far enhanced performance and features. It really exceeds expectations!
    * Intercoms on iPad, iPhone, and Android!
    * New internal "arrayless" panel management gives breakthrough memory and boot time reductions. Yes, now a 50 room system with all the toys is not only possible on ONE MASTER (multiple masters are supported too), it will boot in four minutes! (We still recommend getting the high memory new NI processor for highly featured and large systems, it's only a little more $ and there's a new AMX firmware coming that can use a lot of memory...)
    * New Themes (23 built in now)
    * Unlimited length macros for scenes, timed events, group actions of any size
    * Any CineTouch controls can be mixed in and operated through Lighting system keypads!
    * New simplified Power Management for toggle power devices
    * Full Autonomic Control Mirage Media Server support (Sweet! Even make new Pandora stations from the panel!)
    * NuVo and Niles multiroom integration that lets you mix their keypads with AMX panels
    * More new devices in every category
    * Smoother and faster operation
    * More diagnostics for easier maintenance
    * Automatic email notifications of service issues from within the NetLinx
    * Automatic disconnect and user notice when panels have connection issues that threaten the stability of the system
    * Infopanels now for 9000i, 1000i, and 17" panels as well as for all 4x3 panels
    * New OFF page modes for Conference-room style or Source Icon style operation

    And of course, as always, no programming or touch panel editing, ever, and every job can be running the same day you start configuration.
    There's more but that's the crux of the new... and there's more to come as we build on the significant changes of the new version 8.2 CineTouch.

    I've posted over 150 images of the many features and built-in panel themes on our web site.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    Lowered prices on CineTouch

    Nearly 4 months since I updated here... we have some new release news shortly, but for now...

    With our first price change in years, we’ve REDUCED the cost of CineTouch software, especially for smaller jobs. It also redistributes costs to make it easier to sell more and better UI choices in all systems.

    • The “Base Software” item is gone, saving $500 MSRP per job
    • UI devices have been reduced in cost, some by more than half
    • A new low-cost UI type is offered – the MiniMote for small panels and tablets
    • A new feature is added – CONCIERGE is Voice Control and Response
    • Room prices and Option prices have been adjusted to better reflect their value and support cost.

    Overall, a 10% average reduction in software costs, but small jobs will see as much as a 50% reduction. By making smaller and simpler AMX systems more affordable, we help offer profitable, upgradable systems at more price points.

    We’re offering more ways to sell CineTouch, including lower thresholds to higher margins, individualized incentive plans, and even flat rate annual agreements for “all you can eat”, as many systems as you can sell. Don’t want to do data configuration yourself? We’ll do it for any job for 10% over dealer cost of the CineTouch software.

    Press release on Pricing, MiniMote:
    http://cinetouch.com/press/CT-PRICE&MINI-PressRel-4-2-2012.pdf
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    Introducing VOICE CONTROL

    Tonight we're releasing VOICE CONTROL for CineTouch.
    This is leveraging third-party text generation tools, like Touch Panel Control's VOICE TO TEXT and TEXT TO VOICE, and adding our database action engine to derive meaning, drive interaction, and take actions as directed. Cindy will also work with VOICE VIPER from Control Shark Software (Chad Coles, on here a lot), and can use both at once, or other text engines that are yet to come.

    We call it ASK CINDY, and you can see a short first demo of it here:
    http://youtu.be/jN9vx2jHYlQ

    The full press release is here:
    http://cinetouch.com/press/ctpress-voice.htm

    As far as we know, this is the first ever full implementation of Voice Control in a dealer-configurable package. Cindy can do anything CineTouch can do, and that's a lot. With a phrase recognition library that can exceed 1,000 items, dealers can tailor custom actions and responses in plain text entry using EXCEL.

    It's not perfect, has trouble when there's a lot of noise, but overall more useful than I even hoped. And versatile, with a configurable interaction and confirmation engine that makes complex "discussion" not only possible but fun. Cindy will improve as the recognition services improve, so installed systems will just keep getting better.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    CEDIA 2012

    CineTouch will be at CEDIA again, with our partners AUDIO DESIGN ASSOCIATES in booth 4141 by "Main Entrance 1", steps away from the AMX Booth.

    We hope to see many of you at the show. We'll be showing VOICE CONTROL and a preview of our Version 9, which among other things allows direct integration of mobile apps with the CineTouch controls... even by voice command.
    Map:
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,734
    Heading to CEDIA, visit CineTouch - new multi-language

    CineTouch will be at Cedia this week for our 8th appearance. We'll be in booth 2320 with Audio Design Associates, as before. The attached map shows we are steps away from AMX, on the mail isle.

    This year we'll be showing our version 9.1, featuring LIVE SHIFT OF LANGUAGE both on the panels and in Voice Control. Come see our personalization that now includes the language of choice for each user. We started with Chinese, and figure it has to get easier after that!

    As always, no programming, no touch panel editing, configures and runs in a day, with all the options you want to sell, Alarms, lighting, intercoms, and of course our complete Voice Control and Interaction, "Ask Cindy".

    We hope to see some of you at the show.

  • samossamos Posts: 106
    What is really annoying is not the promotion of third party solutions, but the arguing over if they should be allowed to post. If someone is promoting the product I can read it and determine if it will be of benefit to me or not. To watch these two go back and forth over the politics of this has no point. It reminds me of my two girl friends in high school arguing over which one I liked the best. There is just no point.
  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    samos wrote: »
    What is really annoying is not the promotion of third party solutions, but the arguing over if they should be allowed to post. If someone is promoting the product I can read it and determine if it will be of benefit to me or not. To watch these two go back and forth over the politics of this has no point. It reminds me of my two girl friends in high school arguing over which one I liked the best. There is just no point.

    Nah, its the promotion of third party solutions using this technical forum as a marketing utility. If you want to advertise your company, build a website, like everyone else does. Spamming technical boards which programmers typically use to collaborate and tshoot difficult issues is pretty much a big no-no in the engineering world.
    Paul
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