Five questions you should know before you choose an electronics company

Armed with these 5 important questions, you can confidently size up any electronics integration company.

Large residential construction projects test the mettle and skill of everyone involved.  Will your electronics company measure up?  These five questions will help cut through the noise.

Question 1

Are you a member of CEDIA?

CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association), is the premier association for home electronic installation professionals.  The ONLY right answer is “yes, we have been and are currently members of CEDIA”.  If they aren’t currently members I would pass them up.  If they can’t afford the meager dues, they probably aren’t that stable and likely won’t be around when you need them.

Question 2

Do you have an engineer on staff?

Here again, the ONLY right answer is “yes, we have one or more engineers on staff with at least a bachelor’s degree”.  Only trained engineers have gained a solid, fundamental understanding of electronics (including electromagnetics, digital communications and circuit theory) from the ground up.  Their presence helps ensure every problem gets completely solved.

Question 3

Is the owner (or owners) of your company a fully capable engineer or technician?

Though its not absolutely critical, knowing the man at the top is capable of solving your problem means your level of service is far less likely to suffer if your electronics company loses a technician.

Question 4

Give me a list of references.

Make sure at least a couple of those references are builders or general contractors, while the rest are owners of homes similar to yours being built.

Ask: "Was this company an asset or liability on your jobsite?"

Electronics companies are really hard to size up because the good ones and the bad ones will dazzle you with lots of jargon, probably get your adrenaline flowing with a good surround sound demo, and assure you they know what they are talking about.  But the truly good electronics company will always be prompt, neat and proactive on the job site.  They will ultimately serve to reduce your GC’s work load, freeing him or her up to concentrate more on your goals.

For the owners, simply ask “Did this company finish your project?”

You would be amazed at the number of electronics projects that never get finished.  Sure there may be problems that crop up, but a good electronics company will always solve them.  Anyone can promise to deliver on ambitious goals, but few have the heart and determination and ability to actually make this stuff really perform well.

Question 5

How many of the photos on your company website are actually your projects?

Many electronics companies have great looking websites loaded with photographs of beautiful homes that are in fact, ahem, simply borrowed photographs of someone else’s work.  Its not a big deal if they are borrowed, but in the interest of making an informed decision ask which of the photos on their site are actually their work.