LISTEN TO HOME BUILDERS, and you'll hear the same rap on audio/video integrators: They spend too much time fixing bugs in the A/V or home control systems after the buyer moves in. “When our buyers spend millions of dollars on a new home, they don't want issues down the road,” says Glenn Kunnath, vice president at Bloomfield Hills, Mich., custom home builder Thomas Sebold & Associates (www.tsagc.com).

Today a growing share of the company's A/V work goes to Spire Integrated Systems in nearby Troy, Mich. (www.spireintegrated.com). What does Spire do well that makes it a good fit for Thomas Sebold & Associates? Planning and coordination, says company founder and CEO Navot Shoresh.

Significant leverage comes from the programming tools in AMX control systems, Spire's technology of choice. Because they let Spire reuse software components, successful installations are easily repeatable. The tools are also flexible enough to let Spire build custom-design interfaces. “Some clients want words, others want icons, and sometimes we match the background of the controller to the woodwork of the house,” Shoresh says.

Before installation, all systems are tested in a Spire lab. Then they're assembled into racks that can be transported and plugged in on-site. This step differentiates Spire from integrators that take components directly to a job and only then find that one doesn't work properly, which bogs down the job.

Kunnath says of his integrator, “They have the system up and running the day the home buyer moves in.”