Scalable digital multimedia broadcasting networks

Scalable business solutions. The idea of scalable multimedia is analogous to the idea of scalable business enterprise solutions. You can start small, with very little network infrastructure support. In fact, a single computer can serve as both the creative station, and the public playback display engine. But much more frequently, two computers are used so that the public display can run continuously while creative work is happening invisibly in the background from a separate machine. Starting with just 2 systems. Such 2-system multimedia setups are hardly a digital multimedia network, but they can be used to run a single revenue-producing photo-based cable channel, or feed a public video distribution system where all the screens are delivering the same, non-targeted messaging. Scala has installed thousands of such 2-system multimedia networks. 10 to 40 Nearby Playback Sites When you are ready to target different messages to different locations, you simply add more Scala player units. These player units are standard PCs configured according to Scala's specifications for reliable playback 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. An unlimited number of Scala player units can be added to an existing large area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), making Scala perfect for employee communication systems among buildings and offices already wired for terrestrial networking. At this point, a Scala digital multimedia broadcasting network is usually scaled up to 10 to 50 nearby locations, and the messaging can be demographically targeted and scheduled. Control Hundreds or Thousands of Remote Locations Using Satellite Many corporations these days are choosing satellite communications for a wide array of applications including credit card verification and file transfer. These satellite networks use the new generation of tiny satellite dishes (VSATs), and are perfect for scaling your multimedia network up to unlimited numbers of players, over unlimited geographic locations. In other words, from a single Scala master station, you can control thousands of remote player sites, each with a plasma screen delivering professional, high impact multimedia messaging that's easier to produce than video. Keeping Truly Large-scale Digital Multimedia Broadcasting Networks With truly large-scale digital multimedia broadcasting networks comes the formidable tasks of management, and the delegation of responsibilities. This is where Scala multimedia software truly shines. With other cobbled together software solutions, or even other software solutions made specifically for the dynamic signage industry, you're OK until you get to about 50 sites. When you grow beyond 50 remote sites is where best of breed multimedia software components such as Scala truly differentiate themselves by keeping the network manageable and under control. The industry's most stable PC multimedia software keeps your displays running, while a host of back-channel and logging features keep you aware of problems in your network. And all the work responsibilities get divided up according to areas of expertise. Delegating Multimedia Broadcasting Responsibilities No longer do you need a jack-of-all-trades multimedia expert. Give the creative tasks to your creative people, and your technical tasks to your technical people. You can even give daily message updating tasks to your administrative or marketing staff. They can update prices and specials inside a template environment, without even entering the creative areas of the Scala software. This puts them "on rails", keeping them from altering the impact and flow of the multimedia program. These administrative message updaters can be located centrally, or at the individual remote sites, making for the perfect delegation of responsibilities. For the creative tasks, you can use your internal staff, or contract one of the many creative agencies that deal in Scala-based dynamic signage networks.