Even simple AV upgrades can fall behind when expectations, planning, or coordination slip.

After years of delivering everything from single-room refreshes to national rollouts, we asked Ken Fournier, Director of Audio Visual at CaTECH, to share the key pitfalls that delay deployments.

1. When Expectations Don’t Match Reality
A major source of delay comes from a gap between what’s written in the spec and what the end user thinks they’re getting. Ken notes that stakeholders often assume features that weren’t actually included. Ken emphasized the fix: “We walk through user functionality early, in simple language, so there are no surprises on installation day.”

2. Not Understanding Real End-User Requirements
Before a cable is pulled, a project can go off course simply because the true user needs weren’t uncovered. As Ken puts it: “Eighty percent of AV success is solving the real needs — not every nice-to-have.” Aligning on must-haves versus optional features protects both budget and schedule.

3. Early Planning Misses with Big Consequences
Small oversights — furniture with no grommets, missing conduits, ceiling types that don’t match drawings — can halt installations entirely.

4. Poor Coordination Between Trades
AV relies on electrical, construction, and IT teams working in sync.  He mentioned how for CaTECH having AV PMs on-site from the start reduces rework and keeps timelines intact.

5. Designing Without a User-First Lens
Successful AV design starts with understanding how people actually meet, present, and collaborate.
Ken shared his approach, he revealed how he asks clients "What does your meeting look like today?" and then design design systems that work technically and practically.

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