The New Crestron:
Enterprise and UC
Platforms for theModern Workplace
A new company that’s
been 40 years in the making
By: Blair PleasantPresident & Principal Analyst, COMMfusion
and Co-Founder, BCStrategies

Executive Summary
From its beginnings as an AV company, Crestron has
evolved into a Smart Space IoT company providing
enhanced experiences for both commercial and residential
customers. While offering solutions for all the places people
live, learn, work and play, the core of Crestron’s businessis the workplace. To underscore that focus the company ismaking large investments in the space. Crestron is bringing
forward decades of expertise in control and automation
to digitally transform workspaces in order to empower IT
professionals in the areas of Unified Communications (UC),scheduling, digital signage, and wireless presentation.

Our analysis shows that:
Crestron leaned into the future of theindustry, sometime dragging the AV industry
along kicking and screaming ... evolving withcustomers’ needs has always been part of
Crestron’s job. [Page 2]
Today’s Crestron is an end user andcustomer-centric company with an incredibly
broad portfolio that helps automate andsimplify the way IT professionals and theirconstituents work. [Page 3]
Crestron takes a standards-based approachto make it easier for IT managers toimplement its solutions, with no custom
programming or expensive set-up. Researchand development activities are now centeredaround making Crestron’s products simpler todeploy. [Page 4]
The Flex platform provides a full range ofsolutions for any size meeting space, including
a range of form factors ... this ability tocreate hybrid collaboration spaces that allow
for connectivity regardless of platform is evenmore important in today’s world. [Page 5]
Crestron’s AirMedia solution provides awireless sharing capability that works withan organization’s existing network. [Page 6]

Organizations across a variety of vertical markets are
utilizing Crestron’s hardware and software expertise,
digital tools, Internet of Things (IoT) approach, andsolutions to drive efficiency and create more satisfying
and effective collaboration experiences.

While many companies focus on the inroom technology, finding the room is justas important. [Page 6]
Crestron immediately knows when there’sa problem with a device and can resolve theissue remotely, without the need for extra
configuration tools. [Page 7]
As a wholly-integrated hardware andsoftware company, Crestron is a fully verticalmanufacturer with production facilities
around the world used to manufacture amajority of its products. [Page 8]
Crestron has focused its efforts on making
its products more easily purchased, deployed,
and installed without requiring custom
programming and development. [Page 8]

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 1 / 8

A Look Back Reveals Steady Movement Forward
Founded in 1972, Crestron has a rich heritage of developing andproducing products that solve needs in the workplace and thehome. Historically, the company created a broad set of piece-part

1972

Crestron foundeddevices and sensors that consultants, dealers, and architects put
together to create a solution, but that’s been changing.
With the advent of the Internet and digital protocols, Crestronleaned into the future of the industry, sometimes dragging theAV industry along kicking and screaming. In 1995, the company
introduced the first networked device in the industry, and a few
years later introduced E-Control, which provided new ways ofintegrating and controlling custom spaces. This was the firststep in a long journey to merge the AV and IT worlds. In 2001,

1986

Crestron Lighting Systems

the company launched the industry’s first server-based management
system, built for Microsoft®, connecting devices to Exchange tomake them “scheduling aware.” Now, with the ability to network,
control, and monitor devices, Crestron was ready to fully jump fromthe analog world (preferred by traditional AV pros) to the digital
realm. To that end, Crestron introduced DigitalMedia™ in 2009 – theindustry’s first fully-digital audio and video distribution system.

1993

Color video and computer
graphics touch screen

1997

Ethernet to RS-232
Internet-based Control System

1999

As “digital transformation” became the rallying cry in 2014, theE-Control

company reached an inflection point – everything changed from2001

how the company designs, develops, and delivers products, toengaging with customers. Crestron’s digital transformation wasa conscious decision to focus on the IT professional ecosystem,
including system integrators and resellers to sell and install its
products, while leveraging Microsoft Azure IoT for provisioning®

and management.

Server-based Management

2004

Room Scheduling Panel

2007

Energy Management

2009

The Crestron of today might be unrecognizable from the company
that began over five decades ago. While the company employs newtechnologies such as IoT and AI to provide smart buildings, smart

2015

Cloud-based Managementclassrooms, and smart workspaces, evolving with customers’
needs has always been part of Crestron’s job.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

2018

Page 2 / 8

Crestron Re-Imagined
If you think of Crestron as simply a manufacturer of audio
and video equipment—think again. Today’s Crestron is an
end user and customer-centric company with an incredibly
broad portfolio that helps automate and simplify the way
IT professionals and their constituents work.
Based on its experience and expertise designing anddeveloping complete hardware and software automation
solutions, Crestron is now focused on applying its core
principle of automation to where people live (CrestronHome, Marine), learn (Education Solutions), work
(Corporate, Enterprise and Government Solutions) andplay (Hospitality).
While over the last 40 years it has been known for video,audio, lighting and more, one area where Crestron has
more recently made a name for itself is in “WorkspaceSolutions,” including unified communications, meeting
solutions, collaboration tools, presentation solutions,and more.

The Crestron Portfolio
Residential: Crestron Home & Marine
Higher Learning: Education Solutions
Workplace: Corporate & Enterprise
Government: Military & Civilian Solutions
Entertainment: Hospitality Solutions

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 3 / 8Simplicity is the New Mantra
According to Crestron, simplicity is key, and starts with thetypes of systems the company designs. Recognizing thatcustomers want solutions that are simpler to deploy andmanage, and the market no longer wants as many one-off,

Ultimately, it’s
all about scale.

customized solutions that require a disparate selectionof pieces and elements to make everything integrate,
Crestron designs its solutions from the start with end
users in mind.
Crestron believes that consistency is key to simplicity.
Every workplace solution has to deliver a consistentexperience for everyone from the IT manager to C-suite
executive, whether they’re working on site or remotely.
Crestron takes a standards-based approach to make iteasier for IT managers to implement its solutions, withno custom programming or expensive set-up.
Research and development activities are now centeredaround making Crestron’s products simpler to deploy
and configure, without the need for any programming.
Crestron has added a number of packaged and all-in-one

All-in-one workspace solutions

workspace solutions for a variety of markets that are readyConsistent experience from IT to C-Suite

to use out of the box, including eight packaged solutions

No programmingfor classrooms, making it easier for organizations topurchase and deploy complete workspace solutions.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Simple deployment and configuration

Page 4 / 8

A Quick Look at the Flex Lineup
Crestron’s Flex family delivers a familiar, consistentexperience across all the spaces people work. The Flex
platform provides a full range of solutions for any size
meeting space, including a range of form factors:• B-Series Soundbars for small rooms• M-Series Tabletop Devices for medium and large rooms• R-Series Rapid Deployment mobile UC solutions allow
for quick and easy rollout of conferencing to any spacein the workplace or shop floor.
• C-Series Kit allows a customer to take a custom space(boardroom, experience center, etc.) and hide all thecomplexity behind the standard Teams interface.
When used along with Logitech peripherals, the C-Series
Kit provides more audio and video options while drivinga single management and user experience.
Crestron now makes a complete lineup of certified
Microsoft Teams® rooms with out-of-the-box functionality.
The latest product, the new Crestron Flex MX, is aimed atorganizations that have standardized on Microsoft Teams.
Providing a native one-touch experience, it enables anyguest (consultant, customer, client, or vendor) to connect

The Crestron Flex M-Series
The Crestron Flex M-Series offers onetouch control of smart building ecosystems,
reducing the number of touch points in any
meeting space. In addition to the requisite
camera, microphone, and touch panel, IT
professionals can add and install otherelements for the meeting room, such as
Crestron’s shading, lighting, environment
controls, automation, scheduling, audio,
and so on, without requiring custom
programming. For example, using automatedsensors and tunable lighting that can beset up based on circadian rhythms and theactual light outside, Crestron can create anenvironment that helps support both worker
heath and productivity.

and present on any platform by connecting their laptop
to the Crestron Flex MX. This ability to create hybrid
collaboration spaces that allow for connectivity regardlessof platform is even more important in today’s world, withmore employees working remotely or within the boundaries
of social distancing.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 5 / 8

Beyond Videoconferencing:
Collaboration Platforms
Workplace technology doesn’t begin and end withvideoconferencing. With only 10-20 percent of conference
rooms actually equipped with videoconferencing
equipment, employees need more options. Crestron has
developed a couple of key technologies that complement
the way employees and organizations work today:
Wireless, Wired and touchless Content Sharing: Crestron’s
AirMedia solution provides a wireless sharing capability
that works with an organizations’ existing network.
Employees and guests can connect to a display from any
personal device via existing wireless access points. TheAirMedia presentation system supports any OS on any
device for efficient content sharing in both UC and nonUC spaces. This technology can also connect to the FlexWith AirMedia, employees and guests
can connect to a display from any
personal device via existing wirelessaccess points.

platform, ensuring every room works the same regardlessof remote participants.
Room Scheduling: While many companies focus on thein-room technology, finding the room is just as important.
With meeting information and a high-visibility indicator,
employees can quickly find spaces to meet or book on
the fly. The system directly connects to Office 365® andG-Suite®, as well as more than 20 third-party providers.

Employees can quickly find spaces
to meet or book on the fly.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 6 / 8

Insights to Improve Efficiency
Stitching all these products together is the CrestronXiO Cloud™. Built on the Microsoft Azure® platform,the Crestron XiO Cloud IoT-based provisioning andmanagement solution simplifies deployment, management,and monitoring. The Crestron XiO Cloud platform
provisions, configures, and manages devices remotely
across an enterprise or an entire client base to improvedevice uptime. The dashboard offers live views of millionsof devices from anywhere at any time, so Crestronimmediately knows when there’s a problem with a device
and can resolve the issue remotely, without the need forextra configuration tools.
Using the Crestron XiO Cloud centralized interactive
dashboards, organizations have a real-time view into how
spaces and technology are actually used. Leveraging thisusage data, organizations can optimize their resources,spaces, and technology to improve efficiency. For example,
organizations can view the status of their Microsoft Teams
Rooms, room occupancy, etc., to see how their spaces andtechnology are actually used and identify opportunities forimprovement. Some customers may find the data more

Leveraging this usage data,
organizations can optimize theirresources, spaces, and technology
to improve efficiency.

valuable than the room devices.
With Crestron XiO Cloud and direct device-to-cloud
integration with Crestron’s global manufacturing andlogistics network, devices can be configured before they
are even received. For example, when a Microsoft Teams
Room system is shipped, customers simply open the box,
plug in the hardware, associate it with their Microsoft
Teams account, and it’s up and running in minutes fora plug and play experience - with no coding required.
Crestron’s cloud platform also enables the monitoring,
management and data analytic gathering, of third-party
devices such as Logitech.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 7 / 8

Rethinking CrestronIf you think of Crestron, as a hardware-centric AV company
with high-end solutions for mansions and board rooms,
think again. As a wholly-integrated hardware and software
company, Crestron is a fully-vertical manufacturer withproduction facilities around the world used to manufacturea majority of its products. In addition, the company has aproprietary research and development center with 99 local
offices to provide customer support.
While Crestron may not have the brand recognitionof some of the key UC vendors, the company has been
providing video conferencing, meeting room solutions,collaboration tools, room scheduling, wireless presentation
systems, and more, to help organizations better
communicate and collaborate. Twenty years ago, it was
one of the first companies to partner with Microsoft. As
a key Microsoft Teams technology partner, Crestron’s
hardware and software add value to Teams deployments
and enhance the Teams experience by helping employees
find spaces and share content, while enabling organizations
to maximize uptime with IoT management tools.
Crestron has focused its efforts on making its products
more easily purchased, deployed, and installed without
requiring custom programming and development. At thesame time, the company is providing solutions aimed at
IT professionals, resellers, and system integrators. Now, thesame people that sell, deploy, and service Microsoft Teams

If you thought
you knew
Crestron, it’stime to takeanother look.

and other IT products also provide Crestron’s products.
With preconfigured solutions for various vertical markets,
Crestron and its partners can deliver solutions that are
faster and simpler to deploy and install.

The New Crestron: Enterprise and UC Platforms

Page 8 / 8