AliceSince founding in 2003, Finite Solutions has continued to grow into a successful custom installation company, now with offices in London, Leeds and Cheshire.
With a continuous dedication towards offering the best customer service, Finite Solutions designs and installs award-winning bespoke home cinemas, smart homes and multi-room audio visual systems.
This week sees Finite Solutions’ senior AV engineer Graham van Wyk take the installer focus Q&A.
What are you up to today?
We are working at a job in Devon and we are in the middle of getting the system up and running.
We are using a Control4 system throughout with a Leaf matrix 10×10 video and audio distribution, with an Oppo Blu-ray player, Apple TV, Sky Box, Sonos and DAB and FM tuner.
I will be doing all the second fixing and will test all the cable. Now the system is fully installed, I’m finalising the programming to get it all up and running.
How and why did you pursue a career in the AV/install industry?
Because I love technology and I think it’s an industry that offers great networking and job satisfaction.
There is always something new developing that fascinates people with its performance, functionality or design; and I feel like I have the front seat for the show in a great company.
At Finite Solutions, we get to get the real taste of what’s possible with AV technologies and how it helps our customers enjoy their lifestyles at home.
What project are you most proud of in your career and why?
I did a project five years ago in North London. The project itself was an ultra modern house with minimal amount of furniture and a very clean cut AV installation.
It was a full Meridian system integrated into every room in the house with a Crestron control system.
It was overlooking a graveyard so you’d expect it to be spooky, but on the contrary – it had an amazingly ultra modern feeling to it.
What advice would you give new installers breaking into the industry?
You are a part of one most prestigious and satisfactory jobs in the world, so seize every moment of it. Make a good impression with every single job as if it’s the last job you’ll ever work on.
And most importantly, never stop learning. Technology progresses faster than ever, so you need to adapt yourself into a constant stream of learning and applying.
If you stay focused and love what you do, you’ll succeed greatly.
Our job is to create fantastic solutions for clients, so always try and give the clients more than they asked for. It’s the little things that count!
When it comes to an installation, what would you say is the biggest hurdle?
Making sure the cable infrastructure is correct and tested. Because the most expensive cable is the one you forgot running, so it’s absolutely essential to make sure you have every little detail checked and confirmed.
Once you ensure the infrastructure is well developed, that’s when the fun begins!
With the IoT (Internet of Things) increasing day by day, where would you like to see the industry in 5 years?
Nowadays we are talking a lot about smart homes, but I believe we are still at the beginning of this true revolution with greater things to come.
In five years, it would be great to have every single connected device at home capable of talking to each other with no complexities.
The smart home systems should do the thinking on users’ behalf and automate everything for household’s comfort and connectivity.
We will probably see even more devices that can connect to the Internet and change the way we live at home.
You have a magic wand; what are the first three things you would change about technology?
1. Reliability: Bleeding edge technology is great to test and see what’s possible. Unfortunately they’re not exactly reliable.
2. Ease of use: Technology offers great innovations in how we live, but it’s often far fetched when it comes to making it easy to use for the masses.
3. Speed of connectivity: You can never get fast enough!
What is your favourite piece of AV kit on the market right now?
Steinway Lyngdorf speakers are probably the most beautiful speakers I’ve ever seen.
They are hefty in price, but it’s worth every penny because they’re stunningly elegant looking and they offer pure and clean sound.
What product/s or concepts do you think will be the next big thing will be in the industry?
A control system you can talk to. We are already seeing some examples like Apple’s HomeKit with Siri integration.
But I think it’ll go even bigger and more comprehensive. How amazing it would be to be able to tell your phone to put the kettle on!
Best reaction from a client?
I’ve had one client who was probably the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life. He would be so understanding and helpful every time I went on site to work.
He liked how we transformed his house so much that he gifted me a bottle of champagne.
What’s the best thing about life as an installer?
After spending a lot of time putting everything together and doing the programmer; the moment I realise it works without glitches as the customer wanted it.
It’s the greatest feeling ever! That’s what makes me want to better myself in everything I do.
You can invite three people living or dead out for a pint or over for dinner (not including family and friends!) Who are they and why?
Bill Gates and the ghosts of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein. It would be fantastic to witness their visionary conversations.
You can only listen to one album and watch one film for the rest of your life, what are they?
Top Gun and Stevie Wonder the Definitive Collection.
Recent Q&As…
Luke Newland talks best and worst projects, what installers are tired of hearing and Peep Show…