A New Era in Control

New Era Cap Company, the official manufacturer of on-field caps for Major League Baseball, encourages self-expression among both its customers and its employees. Far from the typical cubicle farm, workers at its Buffalo headquarters roam the building, brainstorm, hang out and get inspired by their surroundings and their co-workers.

Unfortunately, the building’s control system for in-house audio and video entertainment was a virtually unusable mess. So New Era called in integrator Advanced Alarm/Advanced Home Theater.

“Their old touchpad system was clunky and very hard to use,” said David Whalen, sales manager and installer/programmer for Advanced. “You’d press a button and it wouldn’t go where it was supposed to go. New Era was calling people in all the time to fix things or show them how to use it.”

Jim Wannemacher, events marketing manager for New Era, said the system was a poor reflection of the company’s values.

“We strive to create a culture around our brand,” he said. “We make products for people to help them show their self expression, and we want to make sure people inside the building are living that same lifestyle. A big part of that is the A/V system and the atmosphere.”

With help from URC and its Total Control ecosystem, Whalen and his team designed a system that works cohesively for everybody—in the hallways, the lunch room, penthouse and patios. Design-friendly and easy to use, employees in zones throughout the building can listen to their music and watch TV at the touch of a button on URC’s TKP-2000 keypads and touchscreens placed throughout the building. Hidden discreetly and neatly throughout the building are tidy racks that contain the brains of the system.

“Now when people come in, they hear music that is relevant to what we do,” Wannemacher commented. “They see sports on TVs. It creates that vibe right away when you walk in. It makes them feel comfortable and stimulates creativity and innovation along the way.”