EPR Creations LLC

Doctor’s Office Entertainment System using Apple Products

I recently had the opportunity to set up the entertainment system at a new gynecology doctor’s office in the Atlanta area. The entertainment system includes the following:

• TV in the waiting room
• Music in each of the exam rooms
• Conference room TV setup

I decided to develop a system that could be controlled from an iMac at the receptionist’s desk at the front of the office. From this iMac computer, all videos shown on the TVs and all music playing in the exam rooms will be centrally controlled. And I did this all utilizing Apple products.

Here is a full list of the items purchased for this setup:

• 55″ flat screen monitor for waiting room
• 46″ flat screen monitor for conference room
• Two Bose 3-speaker stereo systems to be connected to these flat screens
• Two Apple TV devices to connect to the two flat screen monitors
• Two Bose wave radios for the two exam rooms
• Two Apple Airport Express devices to connect to the wave radios
• One Apple 22″ iMac computer
• One Apple Time Capsule to be used as a router and automatic backup

The idea here is that all content is stored on the iMac. There are videos and music that the head surgeon wanted available to play on any of the TVs or stereos in the office. Therefore, all music and videos were added to the iMac and added to the iTunes library. From this library, videos and music can be sent to the flat screen monitors using the Apple TVs and music can be sent to the exam rooms. The same song can be played on both TVs and both wave radios so that the same music is playing simultaneously throughout the office. Fun videos like Disney & Pixar movies can also be added to quickly show in the waiting room if children are present.

The first item I installed was the Apple Time Capsule. The Time Capsule functions as a wireless internet router as well as an automatic backup device for the iMac. This is the backbone of the entire system as all Apple TVs and AirPort Express devices will connect to this wireless connection. A Time Capsule is not required, but makes connection a lot easier. Plus, the Time Capsule could also be used as a shared storage device between multiple office computers.

The second item I installed was the Apple iMac computer. I went with the base iMac model for a few reasons. First, the iMac just looks incredible and sets the tone for the office as it is one of the first things a patient will see at the receptionist’s desk. When I installed the iMac, one of the other contractors working in the space just stood there in awe looking at the computer wondering where the hard drive was. Also, the iMac is fast and has the required storage space I needed for all music and videos to be added to the computer for playback throughout the office.

Then, all TVs were mounted with the Bose stereos connected to the TVs and connected to Apple TV. Also, I installed the Bose wave radios in the exam rooms and connected those devices to the AirPort Express devices. AirPort Express allows you to do a couple of things. One, the AirPort Express can actually act as a wireless connection repeater, which will strengthen the wireless signal throughout the office. It also acts as a receptor that the iMac can connect to and dictate the songs being played on the wave radio. The AirPort Express and Bose wave radio are connected using a simple stereo cord.

Next, I opened AirPort Utility on the iMac and set up each of the AirPort Express devices. I named them so that the receptionist would know the exact room where the music was being sent. I named the Apple TVs as “Waiting Room TV” and “Conference Room TV” through the actual Apple TV setup process. I then turned on Home Sharing on the Apple TVs and the iMac so that content could be pulled right from the TV using the Apple remote (instead of pushing all content from the iMac).

The beauty of this system is that everything is integrated. The head surgeon can even bypass the iMac and use an iPhone or iPad to push videos and music to specific devices. The conference room also contains an HDMI & VGA connection so that people can plug their computers directly into the flat screen to show specific presentations or items from their computers. In most other office setups, each TV would be a separate entity and the music system would be completely different. With this solution, everything works together and can easily be controlled from one location (or many if so desired).

How to create a Home Entertainment System with Apple Products

Over the last few weekends, I have set up a complete entertainment system for some family friends. Being a lover of all things Apple, I attempted to use as many Apple products as possible. It is actually a not so secret desire of mine to have a sizable budget to use at my discretion at Apple and Best Buy.

In putting together the system, I was quite surprised at how much Apple has created the ability to connect multiple devices in the home. Products that used to seem disconnected now work together to create a home entertainment system you could have only dreamt about just a few years ago.

Here is a list of Apple products that were combined to make a super connected home entertainment system:

• 11′ MacBook Air
• iPad
• iPhone
• Apple TV
• 2TB Time Capsule
• Airport Express

Here’s what I did:

First of all, I connected Apple’s Time Capsule to the home Internet connection in the basement of the house. The Time Capsule serves two purposes. It is a 802.11n wireless router that works great with Apple products. It also acts as a 2TB hard drive. The Time Machine functionality can be used so that every computer in the house backs up wirelessly on the hour. No more carrying around an external hard drive and having to remember to back up your computer. This one happens automatically for the whole family.

Another great feature of the Time Capsule is its ability to connect a printer and provide printing capability to all household computers.

The next thing I did was to connect two different Airport Express devices in the house. One was connected on the main level and the other was connected in the master bedroom. In a similar fashion to the Time Capsule, the Airport Express acts as a wireless router. The beauty of the device is that it can also be utilized as a repeater of the main wireless signal. So, if your wireless signal coming from the basement is weak in the upstairs levels, the Airport Express repeats the signal to make it stronger.

You can also connect a stereo system to the Airport Express’ auxiliary output. This output can go into a stereo input. So, in the living room on the main level of the house, we connected the Airport Express to a Bose Wave Radio. In the master bedroom, we connected the Airport Express to the bedroom TV.

With these stereo connections in place, the MacBook Air, iPad, and iPhone all became portable music players that could play music on any of these two stereos. So, as long as the computer, tablet, or phone was connected to WiFi, it could send any song located on the device to the stereo system. You could be a DJ in the basement while reclining in the den.

The realization of how much things had changed hit me as I set up the mid-level stereo system. I removed a 100 disc changer from the entertainment system cabinet and told the family they could now control even more music from their phones.

After setting up the stereos, it was time to work on the TVs. I got 2 Apple TVs for this part. One was for the family room tv and the other was for the downstairs children’s entertainment room. In addition to being able to stream Netflix movies, you can now stream music, photos, and movies from the computer, iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. And this ability only became available on the iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone with the release of IOS 4.3, and that was only released within the past few weeks.

So, we’re talking about brand new functionality here that really only came out in the last month. The family already had two flat screen tvs and I set up some nice sounds systems to the tv/Apple TV comination.

The final product was really astonishing. By using an iPad, this family could now choose which movie to watch on their TV, change the music playing in the basement, set some jazz music in the living room, and have classical music going in the master bedroom. And they could do this from any room in their house using a computer, iPad, or iPhone.

The Apple products cost around $3500 total. Then of course, tvs and stereos were needed throughout the house. But if you wanted to, you could do a similar system for less than $1000. Here’s how:

• One iPhone 3GS (currently $49)
• One Apple TV ($100)
• A surround sound receiver with 6 speakers ($350)
• 40″ Flat Screen TV ($450)
• HDMI, Taxes & Other Cables ($50)

Now, I’m making the assumption that you already have wifi set up. With these devices, you could use the iPhone as a remote or as a music player that would play music, podcasts and music through the Apple TV and through your surround sound receiver. You could even show photos and videos you took on your iPhone on your new flat screen tv.

If there is anyone else out there with a big entertainment system budget in Atlanta, let me know. I’d love to help.