EHX Fall Unveils Plans for Outdoor Living Spotlight

"More people seemed to be expanding their outdoor areas, trying to create a warm, comfortable environment out there," Vetrovec says.

"More customers had been requesting outdoor speakers and that grew into more requesting video systems, access to their Kaleidescape [servers] and all that stuff."

Though demand was growing, the problem, according to Vetrovec, was that there weren't products on the market to facilitate the design of an aesthetically hidden outdoor system.

"So we'd be engineering all that stuff on the fly and hoping that it works," he says.

Vetrovec and Barca approached John Tragoutsis, owner of a woodwork design company. Tragoutsis came on board as co-owner/chief designer and the manufacturer was underway.

Outdoor System Design

In addition to manufacturing products, IDOD also provides integrators with system designs.

"There are a lot of installers that need help; they don't know how to hide speakers [outside], run wires [outside] or work with landscapers," Vetrovec says.

"We want to be a full support mechanism for installers. We want to create a social network that people can trust to go to for information on outdoor installations."

Designing the EHX Outdoor Living Spotlight, therefore, wasn't much of a stretch for IDOD, since it does the same thing for its dealer partners' outdoor projects upon request.

Vetrovec says IDOD is "still nimble enough to turn around designs quickly" by shooting off a PDF document. He adds that the designs can serve as an invaluable tool during integrators' proposal process.

IDOD gets the information it needs to create designs several different ways. Often these projects are part of a larger renovation or new-construction. So, landscape drawings are already available from another contractor. IDOD can work with those plans and incorporate audio/video products, wiring, etc.

The homeowner's input is obviously paramount.

"We have a question-and-answer document that integrators can use to get information, and we can train them on asking the right questions," Vetrovec says. "We can also talk directly to the client if they wish."

In outdoor retrofit situations, Vetrovec asks integrators to take as many photographs as possible and get dimensions of the outdoor area.

IDOD isn't charging its integrator partners for outdoor system designs at this point. Since the company is so closely aligned with the growth of the outdoor technology category, it wants to make sure outdoor products are installed to the satisfaction of clients.

"We're just trying to build awareness," Vetrovec says. "If you need help with designing, we're not charging for that. Long term, there will be a design fee. Right now, we're just making sure our products are getting installed properly."