NSCA Announces 2017 Excellence in Product Innovation Award Winners

NSCA announces the winners of the third annual Excellence in Product Innovation awards, a recognition program for products that have a profound impact on systems integrators.

Any manufacturer that produces low-voltage products for installation by integrators in the commercial space is eligible to apply for this award. The awards were announced on March 2 in Chandler, Arizona, at NSCA's 19th annual Business & Leadership Conference.

Winners were named in each of the following categories, along with an additional overall Grand Prize Winner. The 2017 winners are:
* Ease of Customization: Middle Atlantic DC Power Distribution
* Installer-Friendly: Belden REVConnect
* Interoperability (tie): Kramer CP-AOCH/XL Active Optical High-Speed Pluggable HDMI Cable - Plenum Rated and Soundtube Dante-Enabled IP Loudspeakers
* New Revenue Potential: Williams Sound Hearing HotSpot Real-Time Audio Via Wi-Fi
* Recurring Revenue Potential: Department 60 Visualz Digital Signage Platform
* Retrofit-Friendly: AtlasIED Strategy III Series Ceiling Loudspeaker
* Overall Grand Prize Winner: Shure Microflex Advance Conference Room Audio

Additional considerations were made during the judging process in regard to how the products impact user experience (i.e. scalability, versatility, deployment cost, ease of use, ROI, ADA compliance, energy efficiency, etc.) The judging panel included NSCA's executive director, the editor of Commercial Integrator, and a panel of integrators from across North America.

"We received a record number of entries for 2017," says NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson, "which made voting even more difficult. Every year, we see innovative technology being created to offer benefits to integrators (in terms of installation and revenue), as well as to their customers."

Additional Excellence in Product Innovation entries included:
* AmpliVox Sound Systems Line Array Soundbar PA Speaker
* Audio-Technica ATUC-50 Digital Discussion System
* Audix Performance Series Wireless
* Audix M3WHM Tri-Element Hard-Mount Ceiling Microphone
* Belden 4K Ultra-High-Definition Media Cable
* Biamp Systems TesiraFORTÉ DAN
* Biamp Systems TesiraLUX
* Black Box Coalesce Wireless Collaboration System
* Black Box DisplayPort Extender
* BrightSign XT1143 Expanded I/O Digital Signage Media Player
* Cambridge Sound Management Qt Active Emitter
* Chief Fusion Modular Series
* Christie Extreme Series
* Christie Phoenix EP
* Crestron Avia DSP-1283
* Crestron Mercury Series
* Crestron TSW 60 Series Touch Screens
* Crestron DMPS3-4K-300-C DigitalMedia Presentation System
* D-Tools System Integrator 2017
* Da-Lite Fast-Fold NXT
* Dove Net Dove Net TPS (The Project System) Mobile
* Electro-Voice EVID Compact Sound
* Extron Electronics SoundField XD Series
* Extron Electronics StudioStation 100
* FrontRow Calypso LLC FrontRow ezRoom Classroom AV Systems
* Kramer Electronics VIA GO
* Legrand Nuvo P4300 Player
* Liberty AV Solutions DigitaLinx Adaptor Ring
* Liberty AV Solutions IPLinx AV Over IP Distribution System
* Listen Technologies ListenWiFi
* Mechdyne Corporation TGX Advanced Visualization
* Meyer Sound Galileo GALAXY
* Middle Atlantic Products Proximity Series In-Wall Boxes
* NEC Display Solutions NEC MultiSync EX241UN Display
* OWI Inc. Mercury Pendant Speaker M8764
* Peerless-AV SmartMount Supreme Full Service Video Wall Mount
* Peerless-AV Portrait Kiosk Enclosures
* Primex Smart-Comm Message Board Clock
* Primex Smart-Sync Bluetooth Wireless Technology Clock Series
* PureLink VIP200
* QMotion Qadvanced Intelligent System (QIS) Shades with ZigBee HA 1.2 Control Option
* Reid Cram Vantage Universal Dimming Station (UDS)
* Salamander Designs Low Profile AV Cabinets
* Seneca, An Arrow Company Seneca XK-FLX Embedded System
* Tripp Lite B160-Series AV Over IP Extenders
* Vantage Controls Vantage adorne Keypad
* Video Scoreboard, A Division of Dimensional Communications, Inc. Video Scoreboard
* Wall-Smart Retrofit Mount for Touch Panels
* Windy City Wire The RackTrak
* Windy City Wire The RackStak
* Yamaha Professional Audio CIS

Read more about the winners as they are profiled throughout the year in NSCA's biweekly newsletter, quarterly newsletter, and Commercial Integrator.