Q & A with Joe Whitaker, owner of The Thoughtful Home
When Joe Whitaker, owner of a home-technology integration business, heard WhyReboot was releasing its Paramount ceiling mount kit for universal access points, he predicted the product would ease installation. He did not expect it would work seamlessly with every type of equipment and ceiling or wall.
“There wasn’t a universal enclosure that could hold any type of equipment on the market. Now there is,” said Whitaker, owner of The Thoughtful Home, which has operations in Dallas and St. Louis. He explains how Paramount allows him to offer superior service to his clients.
Does Paramount fill a void for you?
My clients are both residential and commercial. Many are in the hospitality and technology segment. More and more we get concerns about hiding things. They don’t want anything to be visible from a speaker to a camera to a wireless access point.
The client, the interior designer, the architect, everyone on a project, they want things to be unobtrusive and hidden. The Paramount enclosure is almost undetectable and can hold any type of device.
We recently had an art studio that needed several devices installed in the ceiling. It’s in the West End of St. Louis, which is a very trendy area and very sleek, but also historical. The Paramount enabled us to install and house several devices without taking away from any of the aesthetics.
There are 40 different kinds of devices out there and each one has to be mounted differently into wood, drywall and other surfaces. I need one product that’s going to match across the board for all different types of devices and still look the same on any surface. Paramount does that.
What are some of the features you like?
The ratcheting system is genius. As long as a device fits in the box, the ratchets will keep it secure.
The lid has an extremely tapered edge and the reveal kind of disappears because of the taper. The color WhyReboot makes it in blends with what we’ve used it for so far. We plan to use Paramount on another project that has a tongue and groove wood ceiling and have a faux artist paint the lid of the box, so it matches the wood.
How easy is it to access and change a device that’s encased in the Paramount?
You pull off the magnetic top, release the cords, take one device out stick another one in, re-ratchet the cords, you’re done. Typically, you have to find the little funky tool that came with something to release it from the bracket and unscrew this or that. With Paramount, you don’t need any screws or lag bolts or special tools.
How does Paramount help your bottom line?
If Paramount is specked for every access point, I know I’m getting a return on labor. In our industry, the biggest loss is labor. Whenever you take the problems and the unknowns out of the equation, you can count on saving time, and that’s saving money.
The first time I get a new product, no matter who makes it, I try to break it. Then I know the weak points and I can warn my team. I tried and tried to break parts of Paramount and I couldn’t.
How do you think it will stand up to the test of time and the elements?
When used outdoors, products with magnets can develop random rust patterns. The way Paramount is designed, there is a good amount of space between the magnet and the elements, so I don’t see the rust lines happening.
People may worry about the cords breaking. They are military-grade. If you take a razor knife to them you might get the cord to bust, but under typical installation, you are not going to break it. You can see the rating of the cords to withstand any temperature.
The device you are putting in Paramount will fail long before it does.
For more information on Paramount, visit https://accesspointmount.com/. Connect with Paramount on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn for news on the latest product updates and promotions.
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