Rockleigh, NJ – January 20, 2026 – Crestron Electronics, a global leader in workplace technology, today announced Collab Compute, the next generation of its unified communications platform. Purpose-built for professional AV environments, Collab Compute delivers a consistent, scalable foundation across spaces of every size.
“Collaboration has become mission-critical infrastructure for organizations everywhere, but too often the technology behind it hasn’t kept pace with how work has evolved,” said Brad Hintze, EVP, global customer success & marketing. “Collab Compute represents a fundamental shift toward a purpose-built, standardized hardware core, one that gives IT teams the performance, reliability, and long-term flexibility they need to support intelligent collaboration at scale.”
As the global workforce continues to embrace hybrid connections, and organizations deploy collaboration technology across increasingly diverse environments, they need a hardware platform that simplifies deployment, supports intelligent audio and video, and is ready for what’s next. Collab Compute delivers that foundation by combining powerful compute, extensive professional AV connectivity, and a streamlined, integrated design to make modern collaboration easier to deploy, manage, and scale.
“Meeting rooms today are being asked to do far more than they were even a year ago,” said Joel Mulpeter, senior director of product marketing at Crestron. “Beyond just connecting people, they need to work seamlessly, intelligently, and reliably at scale. Collab Compute was engineered to be the core of that experience, giving organizations a standardized, future-ready foundation that supports AI-powered collaboration while remaining flexible enough for tomorrow’s needs.”
Built for Intelligent Collaboration
At the heart of Collab Compute is the Intel® Core™ Ultra processor with integrated neural processing unit (NPU), delivering the edge computing power required for intelligent collaboration. Third-party collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams® Rooms and Zoom Rooms® software with features such as auto-framing, speaker identification, real-time transcription, and AI-enhanced meeting experiences will rely on sustained local processing that traditional room PCs and legacy appliances often struggle to support efficiently. Collab Compute will be prepared to run these third-party collaboration platform capabilities smoothly while maintaining the performance and stability required in enterprise environments. Designed forthese advanced workloads, Collab Compute enables organizations to take full advantage of the latest capabilities built into leading conferencing platforms without sacrificing performance or reliability.
The solution delivers a familiar, one-touch meeting experience while enabling advanced room designs that go far beyond basic conferencing. Organizations can confidently deploy intelligent collaboration across both small spaces and high-impact environments using a common hardware foundation.
Purpose-Built for Professional AV Environments
Unlike general-purpose compute devices, Collab Compute is engineered specifically for professional AV applications. Extensive I/O, including DM® Essentials endpoints, HDMI® connectivity ingest, USB-C® connectivity and multi-network support, enables seamless integration with distributed audio, multi-camera systems, multi-display configurations, and room automation.
A fully integrated form factor with a built-in power supply and tool-less bracket mounting simplifies installation and reduces clutter. This integrated design allows IT teams and integrators to deploy standardized solutions faster while retaining the flexibility needed to support diverse room designs and infrastructure requirements.
Flexible by Design, Scalable by Nature
Collab Compute supports a wide range of cameras, microphones, speakers, and control interfaces, allowing organizations to tailor each room to its unique requirements while maintaining consistency across deployments, whether upgrading an existing space or designing a new environment from the ground up. Multiple display outputs support immersive, multi-screen layouts, while BYOD presentation and conferencing gives users the flexibility they need for content sharing.
For IT teams, Collab Compute integrates with XiO Cloud® technology operations management platform, Microsoft Teams® Pro Management, and Zoom® Device Management (ZDM), enabling remote provisioning, monitoring, and management of thousands of systems from a single platform. By standardizing on a single, purpose-built collaboration platform, organizations can reduce deployment complexity, streamline operations, and scale collaboration without increasing support overhead.
The New Core of the Crestron UC Offerings
As the core hardware platform, Collab Compute brings together content, collaboration, and control into a unified solution. By combining intelligent compute, professional AV integration, and scalable management in one platform, Collab Compute helps technology fade into the background so teams can focus on connection, creativity, and productivity.
Collab Compute will be featured as part of Crestron’s January 2026 launch and showcased during ISE® 2026 Expo in Barcelona.
For more information about Collab Compute, visit http://www.crestron.com/CollabCompute.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
