Crestron control systems

A Crestron control system ties the equipment in a room or building together so people can run it from one touch panel, keypad or schedule. We design control systems that make rooms easier to use, integrate AV with lighting, shades and climate where it helps, and keep the interface simple enough that nobody needs a manual.

Control is where a room either feels effortless or frustrating. A good system turns on the display, selects the right input, dims the lights and starts the call with one press. A poorly planned one adds a confusing panel on top of equipment that still has to be switched on by hand. The difference is in understanding how people use the space before writing any programming.

What we design and build

• Room control for boardrooms, meeting rooms, training rooms and multi-purpose spaces, through touch panels, keypads or scheduling panels.
• AV integration of displays, projectors, audio, cameras, video conferencing and presentation sources.
• Lighting and shades, with scenes for presentations, video calls and general use.
• Climate and building systems, linking to HVAC controls or the building automation system where the owner allows it.
• Room scheduling and occupancy, so displays and lights turn off in empty rooms and bookings show at the door.
• Network and infrastructure: control processors, cabling, PoE and the network segments the system runs on.

At the centre of the system is a control processor. Panels, keypads, schedules and sensors tell it what is wanted, and it sends the right command to each device over the network, a serial connection, infrared or a relay, depending on what the device accepts. One press of "Start meeting" becomes a short sequence the processor runs in order.

How it works

1. Requirements. We ask why you want control and what people should be able to do from the panel, and who will look after the system afterwards.
2. Survey. We review the rooms, existing equipment, lighting and building systems, and the network the system will use.
3. Design. We specify control hardware, connections to each device, and the user interface, and agree on the screens and buttons with you before programming starts.
4. Build and programming. We install hardware and cabling, connect each device, and program and configure the system to the agreed design.
5. Test and hand over. We test every function and scene, train users and support staff, and hand over documentation and the configuration files.

Control systems depend on the network as much as on the equipment. We plan the network segments, addressing and security for control devices with your IT team, so the system is reliable and does not open gaps in your network. Where rooms will change over time, we design the programming so that adding a display or swapping a source does not mean rebuilding the whole interface.

Designing the panel

The touch panel is the only part of the system most people ever see, so we design it before any programming starts. A few rules keep it usable:

• Put the most common task on the first screen. In most meeting rooms that is starting or joining a call, or sharing a laptop.
• Use the same layout, words and button positions in every room of the same type, so people who learn one room can use them all.
• Hide technical settings such as input routing and audio levels behind a support page, not on the main screens.
• Show the state of the room: whether the display is warming up, whether microphones are muted, whether a call is connected.
• Make "Room off" reliable, so the last person out can shut everything down with one press.

What to have ready

• A list of the equipment in each room, with make and model, and any existing control hardware.
• Who uses each room and the three or four things they most often need to do.
• Contacts for your IT team and for whoever maintains lighting, shades and building controls.
• Any configuration files or documentation from a previous installer.

A typical project

An organization with a dozen meeting rooms of three sizes finds that each room works differently because each was fitted out at a different time. The design defines three room types, standardizes the equipment and panel layout for each, and sets every room to shut down after it has been empty for a set time. Support staff get one set of documentation per room type, and a change to the interface can be rolled out to every room of that type.

What you get

• A control design covering hardware, device connections and the user interface layout.
• An installed and programmed system tested function by function.
• User training and a short guide for each room type.
• Documentation and configuration files, so the system can be supported and changed later.

Who it's for

• Organizations with several meeting rooms that should all work the same way.
• Boardrooms, executive spaces and training centres with more equipment than a simple remote can manage.
• Building owners who want lighting, shades and AV in shared spaces to respond to schedules and occupancy.
• Facility managers taking over an existing control system with little documentation.

Related guides

Crestron control systems explained introduces the parts of a control system and what they do. Boardroom AV design covers the room itself, and our AV systems service handles the equipment that control ties together.

Common questions