How RCS Product Integration Improves Your Efficiency
As we continue to witness radio evolving into a technology industry, it’s important to understand the intricacies of how your air chain interacts within each other and third-party products. One of the features that sets RCS products apart from others is that all RCS products integrate with one another through RCS built and supported services. This allows for cleaner, more efficient workflows, allowing users to truly customize their on-air environment.
Starting with live logs, both GSelector and Aquira share a live log with Zetta automation. If you schedule a log in GSelector, it’s instantly available in Zetta and if you make a change in either software, that log change is instantly available in the other. That also includes GSelector’s shared library so that when you add a song or link in Zetta, that piece of audio and all corresponding metadata is instantly replicated in GSelector, saving you from having to repeat tedious tasks. Since these are specific, sophisticated internal references, programmers can also include custom attributes that are featured in both Zetta and GSelector. And when it comes to reconciliation, with GSelector and Zetta’s live logs, once a song or link was played (or skipped), that spin is instantly recorded in GSelector, allowing the programmer to schedule the next asset with an updated song history or for more accurate ASCAP, BMI, Sound Exchange or Association Report exports. We also replicate these same workflows between ZettaCloud and GSelector or ZettaCloud and SelectorCloud.
The same live log and contract / media is available with Aquira and Zetta. Schedule a log in Aquira and once published, it’s available in Zetta. Want to make a change to the current hour, like moving or adding a spotline? Simply make the change, resave and the changes are automatically available in Zetta. If you create a spot in Aquira, that spot is created as a placeholder in Zetta for the Production Director to insert the corresponding audio. Coming soon to Aquira 3.26.2, we’ll now have the ability to automatically reconcile from Zetta to Aquira for an even more efficient shared environment.
What about connecting multiple Zetta systems? Do you want to share audio, logs, user profiles and more? Then we’re talking about Zetta’s Site Replication, a built-in service that connects multiple Zetta systems through the Site Replication Manager. Identify what Station Groups you want to share and then define what you want to keep in sync. The most common examples of Site Replication are between Zetta and a backup Zetta at the transmitter site. Engineers can keep both systems automatically in sync and with Zetta’s One Way Site Replication, they won’t have to worry about unwanted return changes, only pushing the environmental changes to the backup system.
With ZettaCloud, users can create a second profile, linking their linear environments with a vertical, cloud solution. The same audio, metadata, logs, and backups are all sent and stored in your ZettaCloud instance. In addition, ZettaCloud will execute those inherited elements independently from your Zetta system. Be it Disaster Recovery or full automation, ZettaCloud offers a cloud or hybrid solution for programmers to truly customize their air chain, maximizing their budget and content.
ZCast and Multisite Voice Tracking is a powerful resource for programmers who want to share assets and voice tracks between sites. With Multisite Voice Tracking (MVT), Zetta systems would send/receive virtual logs for talent to select a shared transition, voice track it with proper heads, tails and segue points, and they can select the pre-defined station profiles that will receive the voice track. Other programmers have found ZCast easier for smaller distribution, like manually sending a spot or two or a song library to another Zetta market. Some programmers even use this to easily create a new library, like a format flip. If you don’t know if ZCast or Site Replication is the right solution for you, typically Site Replication is the more modern solution. Although, you can always reach out to your RCS contact to see what’s the best fit for your desired work.
Speaking of the cloud, how do you connect your on prem solution with your cloud operation? That’s easy with RCS.Connect. As part of RCS cloud, we established RCS.Security that allows for your Multifactor Authentication (MFA) or an RCS provided SSO security solution. RCS.Connect is the RCS middleware that allows for a secure and direct connection from your on prem environment to your cloud instance. This could be for flat file integration, auto load, third-party metadata or GSelector live logs. Because RCS.Connect was built by RCS, it’s also supported and tested by RCS – so you know it’s reliable! Just in case you have a truly unique workflow request, Zetta, ZettaCloud and GSelector all feature open APIs. This allows for easy integration for any custom workflows or incorporating third party products, like DTS Auto Stage or vCreative.
So why is internal integration important? Since these are all built by RCS for RCS products, from the start, these integrated services are built into the software and tested against evolving systems. Plus, in the rare case there’s an issue, we support and can fix it. Whereas other third-party integration services may require a call to another vendor or worse, if that integration service goes down, your air chain or workflow may be compromised. With internal RCS integration services, there’s little to no downtime and we can reestablish the connections through RCS troubleshooting tools. As a reminder, as you introduce more modern solutions, like incorporating the cloud into your air chain, it’s important to ask the right questions. Is there a third-party tool that handles distribution? What redundancies do they or you have in place? How is the vendor supporting the service – in what time zone and is it by phone or only email? Since some cloud solutions require a third-party to handle your revenue, it’s important to acknowledge proven versus unproven service models. At the time of this video, RCS has over 700 successful stations operating in the cloud. And what about expansion for large environments or listener spikes? Don’t be stuck with a modern cloud solution that cannot scale with your business needs.
As you can see, it’s important to ask the right questions, understand your air chain and ask how to implement your desired workflows. RCS has a proven track record of success and development so that you can confidently operate your station with security and integration in mind. If you have a custom workflow, with RCS internal integration services, you also know that we can meet you where you are. On prem, in the cloud or a hybrid solution – identify what you want and let RCS help develop your solution.
Aside from highlighting our RCS Live Archive– just a reminder, due to Windows and other third-party evolving requirements, RCS has announced an end-of-life supporting NexGen. Reach out to your local RCS Sales Representative for special Zetta or ZettaCloud discounts. We’re offering creative pricing and payment methods, like barter. Plus, with a global team of developers, backed by $10+ million dollars in cloud development, and the worldwide leader in radio support, RCS can help you and your team operate at its maximum efficiency.