“Traditional wired and wireless networks are becoming faster and more reliable with each new standard on the market,” says Pavlov Media CEO Cory Douglas. “We’re seeing multifamily consumers extend these data networks well beyond the need for just for voice and video. There are all kinds of new demands on multi-dwelling units (MDUs) for integrating Internet of Things (IoT), life safety and power and water management systems into traditional data networks.”
For more than 30 years, Pavlov Media has been the leading national provider of residential Wi-Fi service, and now, with Douglas as the company’s newly named CEO, Pavlov Media has plans to build on its success through its unique technology and its eye on the innovation required by multifamily’s evolving needs.
Douglas, promoted to replace retiring founder and CEO Mark Scifres, says what sets Pavlov Media apart is its ability to rapidly implement broadband Wi-Fi and video solutions for any style of community, located in any part of the country. “That capability is really driven by the investments in our back office, technology and engineering workflows that we’ve developed over time,” Douglas explains. “It’s our goal to make the purchasing and deployment experience easy for our customers. It’s done through our ability to integrate our back-end systems and make that ecosystem work to speed up the process, creating a better experience for our multifamily customers.”
Innovation in Internet Connectivity Improves Owner-Operator Experience
“A lot of the technology in our industry is the same as far as what gets deployed on customer sites. Where Pavlov Media is unique is our dedication to innovation, which has always been deeply ingrained in our company culture,” Douglas elaborates.
“We have always had a dedicated team focused strictly on research and development. It’s a core belief of our company that the work that team has done has been a key factor to successfully navigating some of the challenges that are unique to the industry.”
Douglas says Pavlov Media is focused on the convergence of multiple infrastructure types into a single management platform.
“It will be imperative to have standard methods in place to properly integrate these disparate infrastructure types within the next five to 10 years,” Douglas predicts.
Adapting to Changing Resident Needs
Douglas says streaming as it relates to video has changed quite a bit. “We know, especially from an MDU perspective — how bulk video is deployed has changed significantly over the past five years. There are new entrants into the market and new strategies for how to deploy a video experience that is attractive not only to the property owners but also to consumers.”
Douglas brings valuable operations experience to his new role, having served in engineering, construction and deployment roles with the company since 2015.
Most recently, he was president of operations. “That gave me oversight over all our MDU construction build plans as well as the execution of our MDU build strategy,” Douglas says.
“As such, not only was I responsible for coming up with the processes and standardizations for how we could create something repeatable that our customers desire, but I was also able to build a lot of strong relationships within the industry. That helped me to gain experience that will assist me tremendously in this new role leading the company.”
A Team of Experts
Student housing is the genesis of Pavlov Media — in more ways than one. The company was founded out of Scifres’ dormitory, cabling apartments at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Pavlov Media serves more than 1,100 student properties across its North American footprint.
“We’re not complacent when it comes to being the number one provider of off-campus student housing,” says Douglas. “Our team is made up of experts and thought leaders who have decades of experience designing, building and operating networks in the MDU space,” Douglas adds.
“We offer customers a unique ‘one-hand-to-shake’ experience for any MDU telecom service they are looking for,” Douglas says. “We take care of everything throughout the process. Our customers don’t have to rely on additional third-party companies.”
Pavlov Media’s decades of experience help give the team a strong understanding of what’s needed in new construction opportunities. “We can determine easily the best solution today and how it can be future-proofed, because we realize the potential of new technologies that might be coming down the line.”
“Because we have our in-house construction teams, we can project manage and execute the build from start to finish. We’ve also got a full 24/7/365 network operations center and account management group that is responsible for supporting the properties.”
Douglas says he firmly believes that no other company in the MDU space “goes the extra mile” that Pavlov Media does for its customers.
“There is more to come,” he says. “The sky is the limit for the future of this company.”
— This article was written in conjunction with Pavlov Media, a content partner of REBusinessOnline. For more information on Pavlov Media, click here.