Happy Holidays from Metra Home Theater Group

Metra Home Theater Group wishes everyone a

Happy Holiday Season! 

If you are attending CES in January,

come see us at booth #12434

Customer Service: Our Edge Over the Competition

Have you ever purchased a product and got home or to the job site and found that you have issues but can’t get support? Then you call the help line only to get a computer or even worse some foreign help center? 

This is one example of how Metra Home Theater Group stands out from the pack when it comes to customer support.  We have (GASP!) live people in our office that answer the phones, one of which is our head tech and product guy Brent McCall.  Brent has been in the electronics industry for 40+ years playing every role from sales and support, to product design and installation.  He is an important part of the exemplary customer service that Metra Home Theater Group provides to its customers.

Brent provides extended hours tech support for Metra Home Theater Group’s customers.  In addition to seven day a week tech support, he follows several online forums to offer help for all brands.  At this year’s CEDIA Show in Denver, one of our customers had wonderful things to say about our products and Brent.  See her video here.  Brent was recently featured in December CEPro’s Magazine article recognizing the unsung heroes of the custom electronics industry.  Brent is just one part of the sales and support team that makes us different.

If you are attending CES 2015 in Vegas January 6 – 9^th, put booth #12434 on your agenda.

Come see for yourself why people call Metra Home Theater Group for custom integration and retail electronic needs.

Continuing Education to Build Relationships

On our first post for this blog, we introduced our affiliation with the Installer Institute and the training that it can provide home theater custom integrators. This was not by sheer happenstance. We at Metra Home Theater Group strongly believe in continuing education for our sales staff.  We provide monthly sessions with our entire staff just to touch base and hear what our customers need and are asking for.  In addition, we require all of our sales, product and support people to attend product training, most often on our own time to learn the latest technologies and how it will affect us and our customers.  One of the top reasons to buy from us is that we strive to educate our entire staff so we can pass along this knowledge to you our customer.

One of the ways that we provide continuing education our dealers is thru our “YouTube” video series.  The content ideas for these videos come from our sales people, tech support staff and you the “CI”.  You can see our YouTube channel here.  The playlist titled “How To” is a great collection of videos that were produced with the “CI” in mind (Go here to see this playlist).  Metra Home Theater Group also holds multiple training sessions on the show floor in our booth at the annual CEDIA EXPO. We even include lunch!

It is Metra’s firm belief that building relationship’s and trust with our customer’s is our most important job. 

Staying Ahead of the Curve

In the electronics industry, products age faster than dog years and it is difficult to keep customers informed of the most recent and best on the market.  Recently, moving from analog to digital smoothly with the most reliable products has raised questions.  Answering these questions and being there to support our customers is what we strive to do here at Metra Home Theater Group. 

On our YouTube channel we have a playlist of “How To Videos.”  This list is a comprised of few of our hot products explained in one to two minute videos.  Go here to see our videos.  If you have a video that you would like explained, please leave a comment.

Our relationship with our customers is what makes Metra Home Theater Group stand out from the pack.  We are more than great products.  See for yourself here. 

Ten Products That Will Not Be Re-Gifted

If you have some tech people on your gift list that you never know what to give them for Christmas, here is a list of Metra Home Theater Group’s products that they will love and never re-gift:

•  HDM-SP2 – a compact product to protect your component investment. This little guy will sacrifice itself to save your system. 
  

•  HDM-JR - Are you experiencing audio or video drop outs? Metra Home Theater Group's HDM JR can fix that.
  
•  VELOX - VELOX UHD cables OPERATE WITH THE ENTIRE 18Gbps envelope.  These cables also include Metra Home Theater Group’s unique interchangeable color-coding scheme for cable identification and management.

•  LEDS - Our LED lighting line adds visual pizzazz to any custom installation

•  SOUND BAR MOUNT - This 3.1 Sound Bar one can mount the larger TVs and improve the sound quality.  This product provides the solution to multiple needs of the consumer.

• AUDIO MOUNTS – Improve the sound quality on smaller TVs.

•  TABLET STAND (ASM-iSTAND) – Fits the IPad 2.  360 degrees of ration.  Portable and easy to use.

•  IPHONE 6 ACCESSORIES - wide variety of phone and tablet chargers, connectors and data transfer cables that support international and domestic mobile technology including Apple Lightning cables for the new iPhone 6.

• PORTABLE USB CHARGER (ASM-USBBAT) – Portable USB power bank. 1A to support all popular phones. Easy and convenient to recharge.

For more information on our all of our products, click here.

White Papers: Just Another Tool Provided by Metra Home Theater Group

Good morning! In continuing with the theme of introducing Metra Home Theater Group, and all we have to offer our customers, today’s post is going to focus on White Papers.  A white paper is an authoritative report or guide to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. When we see a need to address an issue Metra Home Theater Group drafts a white paper to discuss the latest topic in home electronics, or will focus on a specific product we are developing.  Sometimes our customers even ask for these documents from our tech support and Metra Home Theater Group is happy to comply. 

After The launch of HDMI 2.0 we knew there would be a lot of questions.  In addition to having our cables be one of the first compatible with 2.0, we also wanted to be ready to educate.  To see our white paper on this subject click here.

Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you have a suggestion for our next white paper.

This is just another example of how Metra Home Theater Group is more than just products – we are a great resource for all of your electronic needs.

Installer Institute: The Leading Provider of Education Programs

We at Metra Home Theater Group are extremely excited to debut our blog! It will be your primary destination to stay informed on all things Metra Home Theater Group. Providing more than the most innovative and highest quality products to our customers, Metra Home Theater Group delivers the best customer service, the most knowledgeable sales team and industry leading product training for all your custom integration needs.

In this inaugural post, we would like to introduce the Installer Institute located in beautiful Holly Hill, Florida. Long recognized as the leading provider of education for the automotive electronics installation technician, II has also been offering programs for the consumer electronics installation technician looking to advance their skills in the field of custom integration. Whether the goal is to advance your skills and knowledge for a current position or to begin a new career, the Institute has a course tailored to suit your needs at an affordable price. The Installer Institute offers five week basic and advanced programs and a twenty-three week comprehensive program. While primarily tailored for automotive technicians, the Basic Program contains courses available individually that cover basic electronics, relays, subwoofer enclosures, audio system design and components, crossovers, soldering and wiring skills that are directly transferable to CI. The Advanced Program has courses that delve into custom fabrication including working with composites, plastics, upholstery, painting and welding. These skills could be invaluable for those of you working in the high end marine market.

Now, The Installer Institute in partnership with Metra Home Theater Group, also offers the ten day 2015 EHD Training course. This course is designed to provide the entry level installer with the knowledge and skills to begin a career in Custom Integration. The course covers the basics of cabling and termination, distributed audio, home theater and automation. The Institute is a hands-on learning environment taught by industry experts. Custom integrators will receive valuable information to help troubleshoot common issues seen in the field while performing installations of in-wall speakers and volume controls, structured boxes and wall plates and the complete planning, setup, installation and programming of a typical home theater and control system integrating projection screen, lighting, draperies, fans and system devices.

For more information on the Installer Institute please click here.