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What do AVIXA CTS Certifications Mean for Businesses and AV Project Success?

When it comes to large AV and lighting deployments, the stakes are high. Getting the infrastructure right in the design, implementation and user adoption stages is important to achieving organisational ROI.

While experience plays an important role in the quality of outcomes for businesses adopting AV, collaboration and lighting management technologies, credentials matter too in a fast evolving environment and to ensure smoother project completion.

The Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) credential from AVIXA is one of the most respected certifications in the AV industry. Involved in AV certification for over 30 years, AVIXA is the most widely accepted certification authority within the AV industry and the CTS certification program also has ISO/IEC 17024:2012 accreditation. The program assesses individuals against peer-developed standards and competencies to ensure they have a high level of audio-visual technical knowledge.

While product certifications (provided by manufacturers) are important too, given the choices of equipment that you have chosen to deploy, a broader certification like CTS is important to ensure that the larger aspects of design, standards and implementation quality are applied to the latest and most demanding international standards.

Is the AV integrator onboard with a project a CTS certified or working towards it? It makes sense to ensure that Certified professionals are involved in the projects at every stage – planning, design, and implementation. 


The benefits of CTS Certification in large AV projects

It’s not just a fancy badge.

Irrespective of where an individual is based, the learning experience that CTS certification entails is difficult enough to prepare AV integrators to meet the most stringent industry standards across the globe. This ensures a higher level of preparedness and job-readiness that makes it more likely they can get the design and implementation of your project right.

The CTS certification is a metric that stands as an assurance that the certified experts have the skills and knowledge to help with other important aspects of large scale implementation – planning, design, optimisation and training. This enables specialists to provide the best audiovisual resolutions for organisational requirements, both on time and within budget. 

The outcome from a business perspective becomes much more quality-driven, standardised across the enterprise and future-proof when the experts on board are CTS certified. Certified specialists must adhere to the CTS Code of Ethics and Conduct and maintain their certification through periodic re-qualification processes. 

While experience certainly counts when it comes to any AV deployment, certifications play a very important role when it comes to ensuring large scale, critical projects are well run and well executed. 

  1. The technical knowledge of some specialists might not meet certain quality levels, and that would translate into their inability to handle the complexity that comes with larger pan-organisation projects with a large number of rooms
  2. Given the constantly evolving and dynamic environment of AV and allied technologies, non-certified specialists may not be best equipped to incorporate new solutions or industry best practices into your project. 

Actis Technologies became India’s first AVIXA Gold Level Member in 2018 to provide its team of specialists with access to the best training resources for AV, and to support them in achieving CTS certifications appropriate for their roles. Globally, AVIXA reports just about 13,000 CTS holders, which speaks to the high standards expected from those who hold this certification. This also attests to the substantial investment of time and resources required on the part of the individual specialists and their integrator organisation in achieving and maintaining the CTS certifications.


Understanding the differences between various AVIXA CTS certifications

All the CTS certifications are not the same, as there is a distinction between certifications for more specialized roles like design and installation. It is important to note that there are three distinct certifications awarded — CTS, CTS-D (design), and CTS-I (installation).

Here’s a closer look at the differences between the three AVIXA CTS credentials:

The Certifications

AVIXA CTS certification AVIXA CTS Certification for Design AVIXA CTS certification for Installation
Ideal for roles Designed to establish the baseline knowledge required to be involved with the AV industry For more specialized AV professionals who work on the design or engineering side of the AV industry Specially designed for AV technicians who can move into roles of lead technician or field engineer
Key differences It is fairly easy to acquire this certification for the entry level AV rep  who work diligently at acquiring it It is a difficult certification to acquire It is a difficult certification to acquire 
Pre-requisites A min experience of 3 to 6 months in the AV industry is desirable Before undertaking the CTS-D exam, applicants must have a valid CTS certification and minimum 2 years of experience designing AV solutions. It is one of the most difficult certifications to acquire in the AV industry To apply for the CTS-I exam, applicants must have a valid CTS certification and minimum 2 years of experience installing AV equipment
What this certification assures A CTS certified specialist performs general technology solution tasks by:

– Creating, operating, and servicing AV solutions

– Conducting AV management activities for the best audiovisual resolutions, both on time and within budget.

A CTS-D certified specialist is an AV systems designer who:

– Assesses project requirements

– Designs AV systems

– Prepares AV design documents

– Coordinates and collaborates with other professionals to create AV systems that satisfy client’s requirements

A CTS-I  certified specialist installs and maintains audiovisual systems by:

– Following specifications, schematics, codes and safety protocols

– Administering installation process logistics

– Troubleshooting and problem-solving systems

– Maintaining tools and equipment

– Communicating with all project stakeholders and participants to provide the best audiovisual solutions, on time and within budget


Why is AV certification important for new AV and Collaboration infrastructure projects?

As organizations become increasingly reliant on AV and Collaboration infrastructure, the scale of projects is growing quickly. Over the last decade we’ve seen AV installations at large organizations grow from 5-10 rooms to 100+ rooms as video collaboration has become an important platform for business workflows. With size comes complexity and as the investments required in this infrastructure increase, there is much more at stake when it comes to undertaking these projects.

Certifications like the AVIXA CTS help ensure that the teams working on the design, deployment and maintenance of your organization’s infrastructure are familiar with the highest global standards. CTS certified AV professionals are better able to understand requirements, anticipate problems and provide solutions for large projects which have greater complexity — in terms of technology and involvement of multiple stakeholders. 

This goes a long way in making project implementation smoother for your organization and results in better performance and reliability of the infrastructure for use by your teams.