Gray Television Group has agreed to purchase twenty
QuickSPOT automated satellite news gathering systems from On Call
Communications as part of the creation of a new newsgathering system that will
use both satellite and cellular 3G video encoders.
In addition to the reliable satellite bandwidth supplied by
On Call's automated IP satellite system, Gray selected On Call because the
vendor was willing to work with Gray on creating a system that would combine
Gray's existing portable 3G backpack video encoders and with On Call's
QuickSPOT broadcast satellite system.
"The QuickSPOT system gives our team the same flexibility
and anytime access to bandwidth that we're accustomed to with cellular service;
it's available instantly, any time and without any scheduling," explained
Jim Ocon, VP of technology for the Gray TV station group in a statement.
"Over the next year we plan to outfit all 36 of our stations with these
units. Our test unit was an outstanding success during the recent Colorado
Springs fires, letting us cover the fires live in locations where other
stations don't have live coverage capabilities."
The idea for the combined system came when On Call noticed
how many of their clients and prospects were already using cellular bonding
technologies, which had a number of advantages but were not always reliable
because of poor cellular signals in some areas.
To overcome that problem, On Call and Gray TV worked
together to develop a system that offers both satellite and 3G connectivity and
has the advantage of lowering capital costs by using existing equipment.
