MILLENNIUM SYSTEMS DESIGN: HTA Certified Luxury Dealer

We are proud to be the first, and only, HTA certified Luxury dealer in the Central Florida area.

What is the HTA?

The Home Technology Association Certification system is the first and only industry standard of excellence for home technology installation companies. In an industry that has no barriers to entry, the HTA has created a rigorous set of standards for home technology companies to adhere to. The firms that meet the 60+ points of evaluation criteria are granted certification status.

Why is this important?

It is important that there is regulation in any industry and for the audio video world this wasn't the case until recently. With the HTA, clients can now see if the companies they are looking at are legitimate, established companies that have experience and will live up to the expectations they promise. Without regulations and standards there is no way to know if the company you are contacting is a one man show working out of his own van or a 10+ person company with their own showroom. Anyone can create an impressive website full of stock images to make their business look established and themselves appear competent, but with the help of the HTA certifications any client would be able to tell if the business was credible or not.

What are the HTA requirements?

All HTA Certified companies meet the following criteria:

• Ownership and management team must have 3+ years of successful business performance

• A stellar reputation in the marketplace

• A demonstrated history of technical competence

• A demonstrated history of providing high-quality aftercare service

• No significant litigation history

• Do not have tax liens

• At least $1M of liability insurance

• Have not filed bankruptcy in at least the past 5 years

• Must perform background checks on all new employees

• Agree to provide a copy of control system programming code to client

• The ability to deliver high-performance enterprise-grade computer networks

• Endorsements from at least three manufacturers

• Endorsements from at least three local industry professionals

• Endorsements from at least three design/build professionals *

• Have Worker's Compensation insurance if required by state

• The ability to deliver engineering documentation and as-built drawings (Estate & Luxury tiers only)

• The ability to deliver high-performance theater acoustical design (Estate & Luxury tiers only)

• A demonstrated history of delivering a high-quality home automation experience (Estate & Luxury tiers only)

All About The Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families

Our Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families Story

Millennium Systems Design has been involved with the Howard Phillips Center off and on for many years through the Master Custom Builder Council where we would make monetary donations, participate in fundraising events and give to holiday drives but it was a little over a year ago when we truly became passionate about this center. Our friend Kevin Ball, with Goehring and Morgan Construction, invited us on a tour that he was hosting of the Howard Phillips Center. We went expecting to learn about their programs and find out more about where our donations had been going. Little did we know, we would be inspired to become much more involved. A few months after the tour we attended their fundraising luncheon and made the decision to be annual donors. We have since hosted our own tour, shared our experiences with friends, family and clients and encouraged others to get involved with this center. Most recently, we were able to attend the annual luncheon again. This year it was called “A Million Reasons”. Our President described the luncheon as an emotional roller coaster. He explained that although it is hard to hear these children’s stories, the joy that they have now and the changes that have been made in their lives from this center truly explain why it’s so important for us, and other community members, to be involved with the Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families.

All About The Howard Phillips Center

The Central Florida area is a vibrant, thriving set of communities. But children and families in our neighborhoods still face challenges, such as child abuse, sexual trauma, developmental disabilities and lack of access to medical care. The Howard Phillips Center helps combat these obstacles by delivering children and family services to support and advocate for those at risk.

Every child deserves dignity and respect. From parents to community members, caregivers to friends, we all have a responsibility to ensure our youngest generation is advocated for and protected from child abuse, sexual trauma, developmental disabilities and a lack of access to medical care.

At the Howard Phillips Center, we provide children and families a support system and resources so they don’t have to face overwhelming challenges alone. Anyone who asks for help will receive it. We work with Child Protective Services and host the Children’s Advocacy Center, Teen Xpress, The Healing Tree and more.  Learn more about each of these programs below.

Children and Family Services

Child Protection Team – Safeguarding children from abuse and neglect

Healthy Families Orange and Healthy Families Osceola – Supporting positive child development and growth in our local communities

Orange County Children’s Advocacy Center – Helping heal and protect victims of the most serious child abuse cases

Teen Xpress – Delivering healthcare at local high schools for uninsured and underinsured teens

The Developmental Center for Infants and Children – Intervening in and strengthening families with a child at risk for developmental delays or disabilities

Hearing Me – Empowering families with a deaf or hard of hearing child

The Healing Tree – Serving children and families of child sexual abuse

How can I help?

To get involved you can volunteer at one of the center’s many events throughout the year or you can make a donation. The center accepts donations of all kinds, contact them directly for a list of the current most needed items or you can pledge a monetary amount.

Address: 601 W. Michigan St.
Orlando, FL 32805

Phone: (407) 317 - 7430

Welcome to MSD University, where all of your AV questions are answered!

Welcome to MSD University

We noticed that we were getting a lot of the same questions from clients regarding their home automation systems or AV equipment. As a concierge service company, we wanted to find a way to allow our clients easy access to helpful how to videos that would answer most of their basic questions. We wanted them to be able to access this information 24/7 at their convenience and most importantly, free of charges or restrictions. This is what led to MSD University. We chose to host MSD University on our website because our clients are already familiar with the site and it allows the easy, convenient and restriction free access that was important to us as a company.

Right now we have how to videos for Control4, Elan, Lutron and Sonos but we are actively seeking to expand our offerings. The feedback from our clients has been great. They love being able to have their basic questions answered quickly at any time of day and browsing the University for quick refreshers and to learn a little more about their system.

We are still, and will always be, a service based company. We love working with our clients face to face, over the phone or troubleshooting online. This feature simply adds a level of service that our clients can access any time, any place.

We look forward to hearing what you think about the new MSD University.

View the Control4 videos
View the Elan videos
View the Lutron videos
View the Sonos videos

CEDIA 2018: Millennium Systems Design Takes San Diego

Some members of our team had the opportunity to attend CEDIA EXPO 2018 in San Diego this past week. CEDIA is the international trade association and central touchpoint for 3,700 member companies that represent every facet of the ever-evolving technology market. The association powers integrators’ passion by providing development pathways that move them to the next level by providing education, community, resources, and vision. Every year CEDIA hosts a large convention where dealers and vendors bring all of their new or updated products for CEDIA members to see and be trained on. 

We sent 5 employees to the show this year. They came back excited for the new year and ready to share their new knowledge and resources with the rest of our staff. They all agreed that the main focus this year was outdoor entertainment. This is great news for us being in Florida because we are able to take advantage of our outdoor spaces for the majority of the year. 

Peerless AV showcased their new 86" outdoor UHD TV at the relatively affordable price of $9,999. Samsung also had an ultra bright outdoor TV that impressed our team with quality and price. Origin Acoustics presented their new outdoor speaker collections that offer multiple colors and styles in a modern form. 

Security was also a topic of interest this year. Nortek showcased two new products with a security focus. A new smart gun lock sensor, which has a convenient manual lock but features a wireless sensor to alert the homeowner if the gun moves and new video door stations which will integrate seamlessly with ELAN to offer state of the art intercom functionality. Our team also reported that facial recognition is now fully functional on ELAN security cameras. 

Overall, our team had a great time and came back reenergized, more knowledgeable and better prepared to help our clients find solutions that fit their needs. Those of us who stayed are excited to get our hands on this new technology and share it with all of you! 

Why should you hire Millennium Systems Design when filing an insurance claim?

Insurance consulting is something that we have done at Millennium for nearly a decade. The more cases we handle, the more we are starting to see that clients and insurance companies alike submit claims without the proper evaluations done on their technology. The reason that this is a problem is because the equipment is not valued correctly or all losses are not accounted for because there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the AV system. 

Florida is the lightning capital of the United States, Central Florida is the most active part of the state. We work with insurance companies, independent appraisers, and consultants across the South East. Our extensive knowledge in home automation and integration systems has proven to be extremely valuable in cases of loss. Most clients don't fully understand what they have installed and most insurance companies are not capable of properly evaluating these systems for their clients. We strive to bridge the gap and work as a transparent, unbiased middle man to make loss claims easier for both sides.

Whether we are hired by the insurance company or consultant to do a "sanity check" on the claim, or hired by the client to ensure that the insurance company returns the system to a "before event" state we work as impartial mediators. We understand the hurdles that both clients and insurance companies have to overcome and we are experts at navigating that to simplify the process.  We can provide documentation, discovery, and modernization recommendations to insurance claims large or small. Please contact us if you are making a claim that you are uncomfortable with or if you are in the insurance industry and need help with a loss.

SUBMIT A REQUEST

Insurance Consulting

Why you should hire a CEDIA-level installer...written by the man who brought Amazon Alexa to the market.

It is easy to order an Amazon Alexa, have it at your door in two days, plug it in and BAM! you have a smart home! Well, not exactly. Read below to find out why you should always hire a CEDIA-level installer if you are looking for a true home automation system. 

The following is a blog post from the man who brought the Amazon Alexa to market, Charlie Kindel. 

"I had written the following in my blog post announcing my departure from Amazon:

I am hiring a CEDIA-level installer to completely refit my home automation system and I will project manage that.

A few weeks ago someone at Control4 tweeted the following, which I replied to with a tweetstorm. This post expands on the idea I presented in that tweetstorm…

This is true. Even though smart homes are finally taking off, after decades of fits and starts, I still think most of the do-it-yourself (DIY) smart home products are too hard to use and too fragile to actually depend on. There’s still a HUGE gap between a home professionally outfitted top-to-bottom and a home with a bunch of DIY gadgets cobbled together by the home owner.

Not everyone can afford a professionally designed, installed, programmed, and monitored smart home. 

Yet. 

If they can afford it today, I recommend to friends they go the “Concierge” route: Hire a professional home technology integrator to just do it all for you, correctly. Life is too short to spend futzing around configuring and programming your home. 

This not only applies to useful gadgets like lights, media, and cameras, but to the network infrastructure that needs to be in place for it all to work. Ask yourself this: How much of your own personal time would you budget if you decided to replace your home router? The last person I asked this said “At least a weekend.” 

If you react to this by saying “Oh, I use Foo Co’s product and it’s so easy it’ll just take an hour” you are either…

1. Lying,
2. living in a one bedroom apartment,
3. have no idea what it means to have a fully outfitted smart home, or
4. extremely lucky for now, try adding 10+ more diverse devices.

The infrastructure in my home is dated (we designed and built the house in 1999-2002) and I’m going pay a pro to refit everything in the next few months. By everything I mean home network infrastructure, lighting, whole home music, televisions, security, cameras, irrigation, HVAC, and intercom/telephone. There will be some DIY products involved, but the infrastructure and automation system will be designed, installed, programmed, and monitored by a professional, not me.

I currently have over 250 ‘devices’ controllable by Alexa in my home. 152 of those are lighting loads. 47 are keypads. Some are virtual devices like scenes. Some are devices like the air compressor in my workshop which only powers on when I’m there. We have five TVs with associated media players and speakers. There’s an 8-zone whole-home audio system. Plus the security system and cameras. It took serious work by me to program it and maintain it over the past 17 years, all as a hobby. It works, but not as well as it could and should. Part of this is because some of the tech is old, but it’s mostly because I’m not a pro. I don’t get paid to do this.

I do not want to spend my time programming my home anymore. I want to spend that time on my cars . I’ve lived in homes with professionally outfitted systems, similar in scale to mine, and the stability, refinement, and ease of use really does deliver on the dream many of us in the industry have been working towards for decades.

However, not even the high-end stuff (or industry) is perfect. Some old-school incumbents have intentionally made their products complex to artificially support dealer networks and protect crazy margins. Some do a horrible job interfacing with other companies’ products. There are not enough skilled installers and programmers, which is limiting growth. And it’s all pretty expensive – everyone in the value-chain wants their fair share and the value-chain is deep.

Part of why I want to have a pro do it this time is to see how far away we (the collective smart home industry) are from the ideal. The ideal being a world where anyone can afford a completely connected smart home where professionals design, install, program, and monitor the infrastructure, devices, and system so customers can just enjoy the benefits. I call this “Concierge Home Technology”.

Concierge Home Technology is real today, and is big business. Technology companies like Savant Systems, Control4, Snap A/V, Crestron, and Lutron are the players you’ve probably heard of. They are supported by tens of thousands of dealer/integrators around the world who do the design, installation, programming, and monitoring. If you are considering making your home truly smart, in order to have music everywhere, reliable voice-controlled lighting, great security, and automatic behaviors find a local dealer/integrator and ask them to show you an ‘experience-based’ demo home (Control4 just launched a cool initiative where at least one of their dealers in every major city has a certified showroom).

The Big 5 are all investing big time in smart home products. A few of them are actually making real money at it (finally). Their focus is on DIY products, and they generally believe smart homes can be self-organizing (by software). I don’t buy it. No household of any size, with more than few family members, is ever going to have the level of refinement and sophistication mine has without some custom programming. I’m eager to see how this plays out."

View Charlie Kindel's blog post here