For golf club members, the perks extend beyond the green. The Founders Room provides members of a Greenwich, Connecticut-based golf club with a casual lounge bar where they can sit back, have cold drink, chat, and catch the latest sports game on any of the four Sony 49-inch XBR LEDs around the room, and the Sony 85-inch XBR LED centered over the bar. Catering to the viewing wishes of the members falls to the bartender on duty. For that reason, the club needed a simple, visual interface to replace the current control setup, which was too time-consuming and difficult to operate. With bartenders able to easily power on and off and control every screen without having to use a mountain of remote controls or a complex interface, it would enable them to focus on serving the club’s members. David Lawrence, owner of Connecticut Electronics Group, was tasked with solving, developing, and integrating a customized control solution that would feel natural and add to the high-end space.

Lawrence selected RTI’s XP-6 control processor for its unmatched value and incredible performance. Capable of both IR and RS-232 control, the controller allowed Lawrence to integrate and control the five LEDs over RS-232 while controlling the five separate cable boxes with IR control. The XP-6 features a high-output port, six addressable multipurpose IR output ports, and two dedicated RS-232 ports for bi-directional communications. Lawrence added additional RS-232 ports with two ESC-2 Ethernet to Serial Converters, enabling the XP-6 to control all the screens in the club. In addition, the built-in astronomical clock allows the system to automatically turn on all the displays at 10 a.m. and flip to ESPN.

Bartenders control both the cable boxes and the displays from one Apple iPad running the custom designed RTiPanel. From one page on the app, the staff can easily select different channels for each display, allowing members to request specific channels. As a result, the bartenders are able to provide excellent service to the members without spending time hassling with the technology. In addition, the channel lineup can easily be expanded as needed and is accessible from a pop-up from the main page.

“The Founders Club is all about impeccable service for its patrons, from mixing their drinks to ensuring they’re watching what they want to watch,” said Lawrence. “If they’re scratching their head over how they change the channel, you can imagine what the member is thinking, not just about the service at the bar but of the overall club experience. The day the system was up and running, the bartenders took one look at the RTI app and were amazed how much easier it was to use than the former system. Now I’m working on other parts of the golf club, simplifying the control experience throughout.”