Remote Capabilities in the Age of Coronavirus with RCS

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Q&A in the Time of Remote Workflows: Zetta2GO

Thursday kicked off another open Q&A Remote Workflow session. Reminder that RCS will continue to host Facebook Live sessions twice a week for the foreseeable future. If you have any questions or are looking for remote solutions for you and your team, you can always ask us via social media (www.facebook.com/RCSSoundSoftware), live@rcsworks.com or tune into one of our open sessions.

In a very user focused session, we covered a wide array of topics from Zetta2GO, Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery and Selector2GO, just to name a few. Highlights included RCS recommended Zetta2GO configurations. If you’re a Mac user, after some Apple updates, RCS recommends users combine Zetta2GO with Safari. Do you need processing for your Zetta2GO microphone? We would ask, “With all the processing done down the line, how does your voice track sound? If it sounds ok, then Zetta and your station’s processing is doing the heavy lifting. If it doesn’t, perhaps it’s time to upgrade your mic.” We covered Zetta2GO voice track settings (From the iVT module, choose the gear settings icon and then make note of the Audio and Behavior Settings tabs) as well as the Configuration / Global Settings.

After showcasing some real life RCS user remote configurations, we pivoted to Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery, discussing the benefits of a Cloud Radio Automation backup source. Like the 2GO products, by utilizing a URL and not an app, multiple users can access and control the station, including voice tracking and adding new audio. When disaster strikes, enable Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery’s online stream from your phone and you’re back on the air instantly. After the disaster, simply restore your Zetta backup and operate back from your studio. Right now, if new users sign up for Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery, RCS is throwing in a free Zetta2GO license. Remember, a Zetta2GO license acts as a seat. An unlimited number of users can access that seat at any given time, which can be beneficial if you’re practicing social distancing and your team is working remotely. Reach out to your local Sales Representative now to make sure your installation and bonus Zetta2GO seat is next in line to be configured!

Finally, there were some GSelector users who wanted to talk about some new features, like changing GSelector’s theme: Tools / Global Settings / Appearances / Style. Just make sure to close and reopen GSelector so that Windows recognizes the change. Next, there was a discussion on how to properly configure a remote GSelector. If you’re traveling and need multiple devices to quickly access GSelector, then RCS recommends to focus on Selector2GO to schedule, edit the log and/or export to your local automation. If you’re integrated with Zetta, then any live changes are instantly reflected in Zetta2GO or Zetta proper. If you are working from a home office and are utilizing GSelector throughout the day, then RCS recommends that you use the same VPN access to connect your GSelector client to the GSelector Server. For example, if you open GSelector without a VPN connection, GSelector will wait for the proper authorization access (VPN login) and then you can use GSelector in full. For those who need access to multiple markets or GSelector Servers, create a Remote Server Connection: Tools / Servers / Remote Service Hosts and add a description and the IP of the desired GSelector Server. Then GSelector will ask the user which market or GSelector you would like to open and make live changes.

RCS will be live again next Tuesday at 2pm and will be able to answer questions on any RCS product. As we continue these open questions and answers, the first session’s date and time will float during the first half of the week and the second session will be locked in for every Thursday at 11am (NOTE: All times will be Eastern).

Q&A in the Time of Remote Workflows: Aquira2GO

RCS invited Brian Radka from the RCS New Zealand Aquira Team to talk about the benefits of Aquira2GO.

Just like the other RCS line of 2GO products, including Zetta2GO and GSelector2GO, Aquira2GO is not an app, rather a URL that users can access via any web browser or operating system, as long as they have VPN access to their Aquira Server. Brian went into extensive detail on how Sales Representatives who are working from the road can efficiently utilize Aquira2GO. Starting with their daily agenda, users can schedule meetings, view the location on a Google Maps interface, as well as see other advertisers in the area in case they needed to schedule another meeting. In Brian’s example, after “meeting” with his first client, he sent a signed contract proposal with a schedule to his Sales Manager. Then, while he waited for the returned approval, he jumped to another client in Aquira2GO and added their commercial’s audio as an attachment. Don’t forget, once social distancing is a thing of the past, Sales Representatives can also play audio for clients in person or have them sign a contract or schedule on their device. Next, Brian went over the Sales Management tools, including budgets, forecasting and other reports available in Aquira proper.

In order to better assist our clients in these challenging times, RCS also announced that they’re offering a free Zetta2GO license to new Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery installations. If you’re looking to backup your schedule, audio, metadata and backups to the safety of the Cloud, Zetta Cloud Based Disaster Recovery is the way to go! Reach out to your local Sales Representative now to make sure your installation and bonus Zetta2GO seat is next in line to be configured!

RCS will be live to answer questions on any RCS product in the upcoming weeks. The first session’s date and time will float during the first half of the week and the second session will be locked in for every Thursday at 11am (NOTE: All times will be Eastern).

The Show Must Go On – Keeping Your Business On Air In An World Of Uncertainty

Staff illness, unexpected absenteeism, unscheduled studio closures, inability to travel and the potential for transport and infrastructure failure around your business, has the potential to wreak havoc to both your bottom line and your audience’s enjoyment. Whatever comes up for you and your team, RCS has got you covered.

The versatility and power of Zetta has proven instrumental in revamping the output of countless broadcasters worldwide. RCS Zetta and its cloud service, Zetta Cloud, together with remote control partner Zetta2GO and the GSelector scheduling software, create slicker, more popular shows with measurably more impact for listeners and commercial partners alike.

By powering up producers and presenters, the essential ‘human component’ in your operation is free to focus on more innovation and more new programming ideas. Technically complex ear-grabbing audio is made ever easier and greater watchfulness as to the needs of the audience – and the means to make them happy – is right there at your fingertips.

But what happens when unforeseen circumstances come between your talent and your business? As the popular saying goes: The show must go on. But no matter how much you forward plan and pre-program, surely the radio machine stops when your team can’t make it into the studio?

Kitchen radio (station)

Maybe not. Zetta’s power to save the day in such situations is two-fold. Zetta is already world renowned as a powerful enabler of playout, eliminating many of the requirements for a studio and backroom staff. Smaller, slicker radio setups are able to program and produce shows that set the standard for quality broadcasting. Your at-risk headcount is reduced and your overheads are smaller than ever, all while your audience continues to enjoy the world-class programming they know and expect.

But it’s the ability to run Zetta from anywhere that’s the real game-changer in these uncertain times. Envisaged as a solution to recover from technical failure, Zetta Cloud functions equally well when circumstance come between your talent and their ability to get to your studio. With a little forward planning, a simple home studio can become the nerve center of your operation via Zetta Cloud, keeping the wheels (and music) spinning.

Zetta Cloud allows Zetta users to seamlessly store their entire Zetta set-up in the cloud and access it from anywhere. All your stings, jingles and music are uploaded and updated, creating the perfect back up ready to run from anywhere should disaster strike. Schedules and metadata are always intact.

Your computer is your studio

Fire up Zetta from home, sign in and you’ll have the same programming you made at the studio right there with your audience none the wiser as to the behind the scenes. As we face increasing uncertainty around the ability to travel, the power to turn any computer into a Zetta set-up truly allows the show to go on. And when normality resumes, Zetta Cloud will intelligently update all your changes, databases and audio back to the master system.

But what if your on-air talent is stuck in a scenario where broadcasting is impossible?

This is where Zetta2GO can step in. Zetta2GO allows any device with an internet connection to take control of a Zetta Automation/Playout setup. Using a tablet or smartphone, a user can view and fire off Hot Keys for a station. Through a browser you can display your logs while the Segue/Voice Track Editor allows the user to add voice track slots in the log, edit the segue, and fire hot keys from a Hot Keys bank. Don’t let travel bans and infrastructure failure prevent your team from putting on their show.

And if the talent itself is indisposed, Zetta has you covered here too by giving you the ability to forward plan. You can use GSelector’s unprecedented scheduling power to program your music in advance, create extended sections of complex audio in Zetta and sequence it all together. It’s so easy to use that anyone with even just a little Zetta experience can step in and run the show your audience and advertisers were expecting.

Backing up to the cloud

After all, Zetta Cloud has backed up your talent’s pre-programming, so their entire show is on the system and ready to go regardless of who’s actually at the controls. Resequence music on the fly, add more music and stings to replace spoken intros and keep the show moving while your talent concentrates on getting back up to speed.

Selector2GO, meanwhile, delivers the same simple ‘mobile play anywhere’ level of control that Zetta2GO offers, but is tailor made for editing your GSelector playlists. Use Selector2GO to sign in on your mobile or tablet, then tweak or completely revamp your music programming from anywhere. This enables you to cope with changes in shows, absent presenters, or the need to edit/replace scheduled music with something more appropriate in a changing world.

Plus – thanks to Zetta and GSelector’s tried and tested, rock solid reliability – if the absolute worst happens, and you’re truly without even the most basic essentials, a simple pre-prepared music and jingle set can be remotely swung in by any member of staff with a login. This solution can take the place of your scheduled broadcasting until someone on your team is ready to get behind a mic once more.

Remote working solution

Selector2GO is part of the RCS2GO line up that joins Zetta2GO and also includes Aquira2GO giving remote access for your sales team to access your broadcast inventory. Yes, even the essential off air talent in your business have their own remote working RCS solution should teams become dislocated from HQ but need to stay in the loop.

Whatever your needs, whatever the scenario, RCS has the software that lets you make better broadcasts from anywhere. Get in touch with us to find out how easy it is to remotely run your stations with RCS today.

RCS2GO Helping Broadcasters All Over The World Work From Home

Thanks for sharing your work from home stories!  Lou Nash @Lou_Nash, Eloise Carr @Eloise_C, Carlos @carlosradioguy, Miri Green @Miri_Green and Paul Sylvester @paulsylvester75

 

 

Question and Answers in the Time of Remote Workflows

On Tuesday, RCS hosted their first of many Facebook Live sessions in which they’ll answer any questions from users, provide examples of certain remote options and overall be available twice a week for piece of mind and reassurance that RCS’s line of flexible products can assist users in executing their normal workflows in unprecedented times.

During the latest session, RCS covered each product’s remote capabilities, like the new Zetta Remote package, which is priced for stations on a tight budget that need remote access for the safety of their staff, as well as legacy mobile products like RCS Remote and iPush. After breaking down each product’s feature set, we dove into Morning Shows and how stations can combine multiple sources from different locations into their automation. For example, stations can use Audio Routing  to duplicate one Morning Show on one station to another, utilize Audio over IP to combine multiple sources in a board to a single output, or implementing a traditional FTP approach in which they reconfigure their clock structure to feature Hour 1 Segment 1 (H1S1) into Hour 1 Segment 2 (H1S2), etc… With Auto Import configuration and/or remote audio importing, users can record their next segment while their previous segment is on air. Don’t forget to duplicate your clocks and grids instead of replacing positions, so that when we all can return to our studios, users simply swap back to their original clock and grid structure.

Anticipating that multiple location inputs is the next significant piece of remote broadcasting, RCS has already begun work on a tool to combine each air talent’s source, combine them and send to automation. Stay tuned to future RCS Question and Answers in the Time of Remote Workflows for any updates.

RCS will be live to answer questions on any RCS product in the upcoming weeks. The first session’s date and time will float during the first half of the week and the second session will be locked in for every Thursday at 11am (NOTE: All times will be Eastern).