Aurora Multimedia at InfoComm 2025: AV Over IP That Actually Makes Sense
If you’ve ever sat through an AV-over-IP presentation and walked away more confused than enlightened, you’re not alone. But if you caught Chuck Espinoza at the Aurora Multimedia booth at InfoComm 2025, you probably felt the exact opposite.
Chuck — who serves as the Global Director of Education at Aurora — brought a rare combo of deep tech knowledge and classroom energy to the floor. And honestly, it was a refreshing change of pace.
We met with Chuck during setup day at the show, before the floor was officially open. Amid the forklifts and pre-show chaos, he sat down by the metaphorical Camp HETMA fire and broke down what Aurora’s been working on — and how it’s built for people like us.
“I teach class. I develop our training, and I go out to reps, clients, and distributors around the world,” Chuck said. “It’s not just about the products — it’s about how to use them well.”
AV Over IP… Minus the Headaches
Aurora’s been in the AV-over-IP game for a while, and their VPX and IPX series have already made waves in spaces where reliability and flexibility matter most — like classrooms, lecture halls, and conference spaces that need to support hybrid setups without a lot of drama.
At InfoComm 2025, they doubled down on that focus with a new approach to room control and interactivity: ReAX Room and Smart Speak, two offerings that aim to take the pain out of automating and managing AV environments.
ReAX is Aurora’s control platform, designed with open standards and web-based management in mind. Instead of locking you into proprietary interfaces or requiring a programming degree, ReAX is browser-based and approachable — a big plus for higher ed teams that are short on dedicated control programmers.
And Smart Speak? That’s where things get interesting. Think natural-language voice control that integrates directly into your AV system, but without the cloud dependencies and privacy baggage that usually comes with big-brand voice assistants.
“We’re putting control into places where it can be used, but in ways that are practical,” Chuck explained. “And it’s not locked behind layers of mystery — you can actually understand how it works.”
Built for the Way Campuses Actually Work
One thing that stood out in both the booth tour and the conversation with Chuck is that Aurora isn’t designing for showroom floors — they’re designing for real campuses. The kind with quirky infrastructure, limited staff, and faculty who’d rather not call IT every time they want to plug in a laptop.
Their hardware lines — VPX, IPX, IPT, and the RXT/RXC room systems — are built around that philosophy. Simple to deploy, scalable, and, as Chuck put it, “designed so you don’t need a translator to figure out what’s going on.”
There’s a clear awareness of the day-to-day realities that tech managers face: supporting dozens (or hundreds) of rooms, each with slightly different configurations, and needing to train student workers and faculty alike on how to use the space effectively.
That’s where the ReAX platform really shines — because it’s not just a control system. It’s an ecosystem that ties together video transport, room control, and device automation under one framework, all with standard HTML5 interfaces. No licensing drama. No lock-in.
Chuck’s Real Job? Making You Successful
Chuck may have “Global Director of Education” in his title, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s stuck behind a desk. His role is almost entirely field-based — building out content, yes, but also delivering hands-on training all over the world.
“I spend most of my time traveling and working directly with our clients and reps,” he told us. “We’re not just handing over boxes — we’re helping people figure out how to actually use the tools.”
That level of support makes a big difference in higher ed, where rolling out a new system isn’t just about installing hardware. It’s about onboarding faculty, aligning with network policies, and troubleshooting everything from BYOD quirks to ADA compliance.
Chuck’s favorite part? Watching the lightbulb go off — that moment when a tech manager or faculty member realizes that the system actually works for them, not against them.
The training materials and workshops he builds are all designed to hit that goal. Whether it’s a two-day regional session or a quick hands-on demo, the focus is always on getting people comfortable enough to own the system once it’s deployed.
A Message for the Higher Ed Crew
If you didn’t make it to the booth at InfoComm this year, Chuck had a message just for you:
“Sorry you couldn’t make it, but we saved you some s’mores at Camp HETMA — and the gear’s even better than it looks online.”
Okay, maybe that was the paraphrased version. But the sentiment holds. Aurora is leaning into the higher ed community in a real way — not just by building products for us, but by making sure we can actually use them without having to call a consultant every time we want to change a source or automate a projector.
They also dropped this quote in their form response, which pretty much sums it all up:
“We make it easy for you to be successful.”
Why It Matters
Look, there are plenty of AV-over-IP solutions out there. Some are packed with bells and whistles, others are stripped-down budget plays. What Aurora seems to be chasing — and delivering — is clarity.
They’re not trying to be everything to everyone. They’re not pushing a walled garden. They’re just saying, “Hey, here’s a full-stack AV platform that plays well with others, doesn’t make your life harder, and can grow with your campus.”
And the people behind it — like Chuck — aren’t just engineers or salespeople. They’re educators, too. Which makes them a little more attuned to what our classrooms, campuses, and users really need.
Whether you’re planning a multi-building refresh or just trying to figure out how to standardize control in five more rooms without pulling your hair out, it’s worth taking a look.
Learn More
Want to check it out for yourself?
📧 Contact: chuck@auroramm.com
