Remember when a flat-panel television screen was, well … a flat-panel television screen? Today, that flat panel also can be a restaurant menu highlighting the night's specials, or a surveillance monitor that’s part of a security system, or an electronic billboard inside a bank promoting the latest mortgage rates.

Solutions like these are categorized as converged electronics (CE), defined as the intersection of computers with emerging voice, data and video technologies.

CE involves familiar technologies, such as IP networking, systems integration, web programming and security. It also employs technologies usually associated with consumer electronics and the digital home, such as audio, video, TV and PC media centers.

Video IP surveillance, for example, involves network cameras, network cabling, switches and routers, storage systems, servers, displays, centralized reporting applications, and related infrastructure. (For more on video IP surveillance, see page 36.) And digital signage solutions can include plasma and LCD panels, video walls, projection systems, audio systems, networks, cables, PCs, media players, screen mounts, servers and software to run the content. CE solutions also encom - pass profit-enhancing services such as installation, content development and support.

The Market for CE
Which customers are good prospects for CE solutions? Target markets are as varied as your imagination allows.

Sam Rogers, CEO and founder of AlivePromo, a systems integrator whose specialty is digital signage, cites a number of promising markets today, including movie theaters, banks, health care, technology-oriented retailers, hotels, military bases and government facilities.

The Technology Company, a VAR, has sold digital signage systems to colleges, retail stores, a manufacturing plant that included several buildings (the signs are in cafeterias and break rooms) and restaurants, says CEO Phil Ferranti. Additional markets include casinos, hospitals, education, office buildings, museums, sports arenas, airports and trade shows.

The future promises even more prospects. Yes, prices have come down for displays, but digital signage systems can still be too expensive for some, such as fast food franchises. Rogers notes that franchisees are fairly tight with their money and will not spend $10,000 or $20,000 for a system of digital menus. He thinks this will change as prices drop even more.

In fact, Rogers sees very small businesses as the next frontier. "Most businesses are small, so when things start to be more affordable and easy to operate, the mom-and-pop guys will want the technology," he says.

The Business of CE
Besides multiple markets to pursue, CE offers business opportunities that make it a compelling sell for solution providers. One such opportunity is leveraging know-how you already have.

"Converged electronics solutions such as digital signage and video IP surveillance can be logical add-ons to existing solution provider businesses," says Kevin Prewett, VP of vendor management at Ingram Micro. "Those in retail point-of-sale can branch into digital signage, for example, or those focused on security can expand into video IP surveillance. This can lead to substantial incremental revenue."

Systems integrator Boldata Technology has found CE to be an efficient way to enlarge its solution portfolio. Boldata builds mini-PCs that were initially used by students living in small dorm rooms and by businesspeople who needed a compact system for trade shows and product demos. Now, the company is attaching these systems to the backs of plasma screens for two digital signage solutions: at the retail point of sale and in employee lunchrooms for distributing humanresource com pany information.

Profitable Software and Services
CE also can drive service revenue. "CE provides the reseller with an annuity stream that includes content creation, content management and other services," says Prewett. "Software is becoming more important in CE solutions," says Mattias Allevik, director of project planning at Video Corporation of America. "As the boxes become black boxes instead of specific hardware, the software becomes more important," he says, referring to how software turns commodity hardware into a value-added solution. Digital signage, for instance, needs software to run, schedule, create and distribute the content, as well as network security. Services to be sold include installation, tech support, break-fix, network management and content creation.

Getting Up to Speed
While most solution providers are already versed in IP, storage and other CE building blocks, some specialized skills are needed.

"You need to understand how the print and the digital worlds work together," says Rogers of AlivePromo. Knowledge of marketing and sales promotion is also required for content creation. Rogers suggests that if you are not a marketing or creative type, it's best to partner with someone who is.

Choosing which products to incorporate into CE solutions is also difficult because so many new products are constantly being introduced, warns Allevik of Video Corporation of America. There are technical challenges, too. Networking specialists will have to learn about AV and how to maintain high-quality signals, while AV specialists must master networking and security, says Allevik. But, he says, "I don't think it's terribly difficult as long as you stay informed about the technical particulars of the solution."

That's the essence of succeeding with CE solutions -- a little knowledge and focus can pay big dividends in solution sales and services revenue.