The Challenge
Reach PLC (formerly Trinity Mirror) is a significant publisher of newspapers, magazines and online content, based in Canary Wharf. With a combined audience of over 45 million readers each month, it is vital their staff remain ahead of the curve and connected with breaking news as it develops.
However, inefficiencies had arisen due to a limited number of office video displays, meaning that editors had to huddle round screens in order to stay informed on breaking news; struggling for visibility and making the process of writing stories more arduous. To solve this, IT Development Manager, Ed Rios, got in touch with AVM to provide a digital solution that would empower the newsroom.
The Solution
Firstly, it was clear that to operate smoothly within such a hectic environment, a holistic solution was necessary that would serve the needs of all staff, but doing so independently and with an awareness of their individual news items. Simply increasing the screen count wouldn’t achieve the core goal of providing correct sources of information to the right people – a custom system was essential.
For this, AVM commissioned and deployed an Exterity IPTV AvediaStream package that fed in to Reach’s (formerly Trinity Mirror) existing network infrastructure. This comprises capture, encoding, distribution and storage of live television and radio content – all conveniently handled centrally by a server so it can be managed effectively by the IT team.
In essence, this means that editors can now watch any channel straight from their desktop computer, no longer having to crowd round and contend with colleagues in order to acquire the right information. Rather, a bespoke UI was created to make the process as simple as possible – simply select the desired channel and watch immediately. Furthermore, the system enables the recording of streamed TV content for storage on the server, meaning that staff can request historic recordings and IT managers can administer it.
To ensure Reach (formerly Trinity Mirror) remained fully covered in the event of any emergency issues, an AVM support contract was put in place so that we can jump in on our helpdesk system and troubleshoot remotely at a moment’s notice, giving the client peace of mind that we are always on hand to assist.
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