What is an Audio Visual (AV) Company?

On Tour Events Explains What An AV Company Is

When it comes to corporate events and even private celebrations, audio visual (AV) companies play a vital role in ensuring that everything on the technical side of event production goes off without a hitch. Yet, despite the vital role they play, some event organisers still remain unsure as to what an AV company is and precisely what they do.

With that in mind, it’s worth explaining what an AV company is, what kind of services they offer, and how they help put on successful events.

What is an AV Company?

AV companies are responsible for the supply, installation, and in many cases, operation of equipment that directly or indirectly processes sound or visual media at events. AV companies supply and install devices such as microphones, projectors, screens, and PA systems, at events such as conferences, awards ceremonies, and weddings.

Some AV companies focus exclusively on providing specific pieces of AV equipment to events and venues, whereas other larger outfits provide AV hire services as part of their broader spectrum of event production services. In other words, an AV company often wears many hats when it comes to events, rather than focusing on very specific AV services.

Event organisers enlist the help of AV companies for important corporate events such as industry conferences as well as more private celebrations such as milestone birthday parties and weddings.

So how exactly does an AV company operate, and what types of services do they offer?

What Services Do AV Companies Offer?

The specific services offered by an AV company varies from business to business. For example, many specialise in supply and setting up AV installations for conferences. By contrast, larger more established firms will not only offer AV equipment for hire, but also all aspects of event production, including the supply and installation of equipment such as stages and event furniture.

What you require from an AV company will be heavily dependent on the nature, scale, and the location of your event. For example, if you are planning a small conference event at a London hotel, you may only require a projector and screen, a couple of wireless lapel microphones, a small mixing desk, and a couple of PA speakers.

By contrast, for an extravagant wedding taking place in the Surrey countryside, you might delegate huge swatches of your event production to your chosen AV event services partner. In this scenario, in addition to hiring a PA system, video recording equipment, and a range of lighting fixtures, you may also hire a wedding stage, a marquee, all of the event furniture, and more from the same outfit.

That’s why it makes sense to partner up with an AV company that can handle all aspects of technical event production since AV equipment can be rendered useless if you don’t have the associated non-technical equipment to support it.

For instance, a sound system usually necessitates a stage, and lighting fixtures usually require truss structures for rigging purposes.

Do AV Companies Just Supply AV Equipment?

In short, no. While some AV companies merely supply equipment on what is known as a “dry hire” basis, most professional contractors offer a much broader range of inclusive AV services. For instance, here at On Tour Events, we supply a full range of event production services, of which supplying AV equipment is just a single element.

Furthermore, most AV companies will provide a more inclusive service that includes the supply, delivery, setup, testing, and disassembly of equipment and packing everything away at the end of your event. Larger firms such as On Tour Events can also supply experienced personnel to oversee the operation of the AV equipment during the event itself, should you not have anyone available either within your organisation or provided by the venue in question.

Despite being classed as an AV company, On Tour Events are often asked to supply a complete turnkey production service for events, which includes supplying and installing all technical equipment (AV or otherwise), designing and manufacturing custom staging or sets, and providing staff to oversee lighting shows and sound mixing.

As you can see, AV companies do far more than just supply AV equipment. You can instruct them to provide as little or as much support as you require for your events.

Which Types of Events Require the Services of an AV Company?

All event types benefit from enlisting the services of an AV company. From corporate product launches to sporting events, a wide range of occasions call for the use of AV equipment. That being said, some events tend to hire AV services more than others.

They include but certainly aren’t limited to the following events:

Conferences
Weddings
Product Launches
Exhibitions
Trade Shows
Fashion Shows
Award Ceremonies
Gala Dinners
Music Festivals
Concerts
Corporate Events
Sporting Events

Why Work with an AV Company?

There are multiple advantages to working with a professional firm offering AV services. Perhaps the principal reason is that it’s a cost-effective solution for your event. When you require AV equipment for your event, hiring them is far cheaper than purchasing them outright. That remains the case even if you hold events on a fairly regular basis.

Better still, by working with an AV company, you gain access to the latest AV technology for a very affordable price. While we can’t speak for other AV companies, we rotate out any stock that’s older than three years and replace it with the most up-to-date version.

It’s another reason you don’t want to purchase AV equipment and should hire it instead. Whatever you buy will be out-of-date within a few years, such is the pace of audio and visual technology’s development.

Last but by no means least, you can outsource a huge chunk of your event planning responsibilities, should you wish to. Companies such as On Tour Events can handle everything once the specifications and hire price have been agreed upon. That includes aspects such as the logistics, the testing of equipment, the design of elements such as the stage production, and we can even offer support with regulatory aspects such as health and safety documentation.

With a significant proportion of the event preparation taken care of, you can focus on other vital aspects of your event, such as tickets sales or organising catering and travel arrangements for your conference delegates, for example.

If You’re Looking to Work With an Experienced AV Company, Look No Further Than On Tour Events

Here at On Tour Events, we have carried out over 1,000 successful AV installations for events of all descriptions. With more than two decades of industry experience, we are proud of our reputation as one of the UK’s leading AV companies.

We work on event projects of all sizes and scales and pride ourselves on our commitment to the quality of the equipment we supply and the all-inclusive approach we take with our AV services. We firmly believe that it’s our job to make your job as easy as possible. That’s why, once we have the information we need from you, we quickly get to work handling the rest.

You can then sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that your AV requirements are being handled by one of the most experienced teams in the country, or you can free yourself up to work on other vital aspects of your event.

We can be as involved as you need us to be. If you need to make use of our in-house design team, that’s no problem. If you’re a seasoned events organiser that knows exactly what you want when it comes to AV equipment hire, then we can merely supply and set everything up for you. The choice is yours.

So if you want to enlist the services of an industry-leading AV company, then look no further than On Tour Events. We are available to discuss your needs every weekday on 020 8058 0093. Alternatively, you can shoot us an email with your requirements to receive an obligation-free quote back within 24 hours.

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