International. Crestron, a brand recognized for its solutions for control and automation in residential, commercial and corporate spaces, celebrated its 50th anniversary. That's why here we share a little of its history.
Crestron was born from the mind of engineer George Feldstein, who founded Crestron in a room above a delicatessen in Cresskill, New Jersey, in 1972. Feldstein was especially fascinated by military history and was also enthusiastic about NASA's Apollo program.
"No matter what you think of it, the fact is that military technology usually drives technological advancement."
Then, this business that was driven by the boundless curiosity of its founder, led to the evolution of a company that now has more than 5000 employees, located in more than 90 offices around the world.
Today, Crestron's technological solutions are found in the boardrooms of the largest companies in the world and in the most luxurious homes. To give an example, they have been installed in the Pentagon, in the White House, in various courts and even in the sports stadiums of the major leagues.
Today, Crestron builds technology for "Smart home". That is, Crestron Residential offers homeowners products, experience, security and performance in all aspects of every home.
It is worth noting that Crestron was a pioneer in home automation. Dan Brady, Chief Operating Officer of Crestron, commented:
"This company is built on innovation, but innovation is always driven by people. George always valued the individual contributions that all these brilliant minds brought to the table. It allowed them to experiment, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes."
Crestron creates technology for a wide range of needs. From the desk to the boardrooms, from offices to multinationals. This brand offers platforms, devices and systems designed to improve communication and collaboration.
The first great success
In the early days of the company, Feldstein called several companies to offer his services as a technician, repairer and troubleshooter. But "the stepping stone to enter the audiovisual sector was slide projectors," said Ray Coneys, Senior Director of Sales Support Services at the firm.
Prior to the existence of PowerPoint, slides were placed on a carousel on a projector, at that time they were the best way to present a combination of data and images, but it required gathering colleagues in a dark room, lowering a screen and turning on the slide projector.
Feldstein saw an opportunity to perfect this presentation tool. "Control of the slide projector went beyond moving forward; it also included castings and dissolves; he also incorporated several stacks of projectors into a scheduled presentation," recalls Coneys.
This interest led to seeking control of the projector and blinds of a conference room remotely and, finally, to achieve more and more wireless functions.
"By 1990, Crestron already had a two-way RF touchscreen. In situations where you couldn't bring a cable to a meeting room, table, conference room or high-end lectern, you could still have a touchscreen and wireless," says Ray.
Soon after, the company began to delve into incorporating color into those displays and perfecting its control systems.
Feldstein's vision extended to all products. Crestron created the first control system that had an Ethernet port. When that feature was added, Ethernet had not yet been accepted as a standard. The same thing happened with HDMI: Feldstein was one of the first to understand that HDMI would become the digital replacement for analog video standards.
"Today, when you compare our products to the competition, we're often way ahead of our network standards," says Coneys, "including the security protocols we support, because we made the decision to do so. We were the first to adopt it."
The ups and downs of a business
Like any company, Crestron faced the challenge of relegation. In the 90's, the company had to race to catch up with its competitors. Randy Klein joined the company in 1990 and focused on making customer reviews the number one priority, this input from the late veteran CTO Fred Bargetzi helped the company regain its edge.
During the dot-com bubble bursting in 1999, Sept. 11, and the Great Recession, Feldstein "never curled up in the fetal position," according to Coneys. "He invested money and hired engineering staff, and that's how we got ahead with the digital media technology that became our DM NVX, AV-over-IP products," he says.
Feldstein would hand over the reins to Randy Klein in 2014, and Klein would end up facing his own challenge as CEO when the global pandemic hit in early 2020.
A family business
Although now a global business with billions of revenues, Crestron maintains a family atmosphere, which extends to its current leadership team that has Dan, son of George Feldstein. The young heir was ready to start work, as noted in a company press release:
"With a background in computer engineering, Feldstein spent the first decade of his career at Crestron in R+D, playing a role in the design of several of the technologies Crestron continues to employ today. Since then, he has worked in Operations alongside Klein and former CTO Fred Bargetzi."
Although the founder has already passed away, his values are still reflected in the company, now that he turns 50: Innovation, quality and humility.
Chronology of Crestron:
1972 - Crestron is founded in Cresskill, New Jersey.
1975 - Feldstein incorporates the firm Crestron Electronics.
1980 - The first headquarters of Crestron is built in Cresskill.
1997 - Crestron moves its headquarters to Rockleigh, New Jersey, buys several buildings for its research center and hires more than 400 engineers.
1998 - The Crestron certification program begins.
2002 - The Crestron Masters program is introduced.
2009 - Crestron opens its 8,000 square foot Experience Center in New Jersey.
2014 - Randy Klein becomes CEO. George Feldstein died that same year, with more than 70 patents to his name.
2021 - Dan Feldstein assumes the role of CEO following Randy Klein's retirement.
2022 - Crestron celebrates 50 years of activity with more than 5000 employees and more than 90 offices worldwide.
