WFMY News 2 Achieves New Level of Media-Handling Flexibility With Volicon Observer System“As soon as I saw the Volicon system and its capabilities, I knew it was the right solution for us. Fundamentally, the key benefit the Observer offers is easy access to information, and this information is valuable to the operation of so many departments at our station. When I look at the Observer now, I think of the new application we found for it today, and I know we’ll find another use for it tomorrow and another the day after.”
Volicon, a leading provider of media monitoring, recording, archiving, and streaming solutions, today announced that CBS station WFMY News 2 is using the Volicon Observer® desktop video monitoring solution to bring greater fluidity and flexibility to its news operations. The Gannett station, located in Greensboro, N.C., is using the Observer to streamline compliance monitoring and to simplify creation and playout of clip segments for testing with audience focus groups.
“When I first saw the Observer demonstrated I knew that it was a wonderful piece of equipment that would meet our current monitoring needs and provide a foundation for other innovative uses at our station,” said Deana Coble, director of technology and operations at WFMY News 2. “I’m confident that with the forward-looking approach of Volicon and the creativity of our team at WFMY, we’ll be able to grow our use of the Observer in exciting new ways.”
Volicon’s Observer makes multiple channels of content available on demand, live or archived and from any desktop, giving users across an organization the ability to search, retrieve, view, analyze, annotate, share, and export video from any location using a Microsoft Internet Explorer®-compatible interface. In addition to monitoring for regulatory compliance and ad verification, the Observer allows WFMY News 2 to capture, view, and analyze multiple channels of content, whether the station’s own aired content or that of competing stations.
Prior to installing the Observer, WFMY News 2 recorded its broadcasts to videotape, a labor-intensive model both for recording and retrieving aired content. Now users throughout the station can access content quickly and comfortably, without interrupting master control or sitting in front of a tape machine. With no training, the Observer’s intuitive Web-based GUI makes mission-critical video broadcasts and analysis available as work material, enabling real-time searching of closed-captioned text and even providing e-mail alerts when tagged subjects or keywords are broadcast. Thus, captured media can be checked for quality assurance or used for correlative analysis alongside viewer ratings information. EPG (electronic program guide) data, as-run logs, and custom metadata can be linked to assets to improve workflow integration.
WFMY News 2 is leveraging the export functionality of the Observer to share assets internally and repurpose them for easy playout during focus group sessions. Rather than dub video from tape archives, Observer users simply review recorded broadcasts, mark clips of the on-air talent being evaluated, and export those clips to a Windows Media playlist. As a result, select broadcast segments can be played out from any computer to a video projector for focus group viewing. This same export capability also provides opportunities for distribution of media via the Web or other platforms.
“As soon as I saw the Volicon system and its capabilities, I knew it was the right solution for us,” added Coble. “Fundamentally, the key benefit the Observer offers is easy access to information, and this information is valuable to the operation of so many departments at our station. When I look at the Observer now, I think of the new application we found for it today, and I know we’ll find another use for it tomorrow and another the day after.”
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