Calrec has raised its offering in remote commissioning, training and demonstrations across both headless and physical products as a direct response to the media and entertainment industry’s moves remote working.

‘Our industry changes on a whim – Covid hit and it changed everything,’ says Billy Kalenda, Chief Engineer at KSLA in Louisiana. ‘Part of that change is how we interact and communicate with our equipment vendors for service and support. It now requires us to do so completely remotely via remote computer access and telephone. A bright spot was how John Herman helped us here at our station during the commissioning of our new Type R audio console. John helped us get our system built and in a usable format very quickly so that we could get on air on time and fully on budget.’

For its headless range, Calrec’s browser-based Assist application provides control and setup for Type R for Radio and Type R for TV, as well as VP2 headless console and RP1 remote production core. All can be commissioned using Calrec’s Assist, with remote training and demonstrating also possible using the same workflows.

Assist is easy to set up – users type in the IP address that is served from the centrally located core in a web browser and they have access to all console controls via a clearly laid out interface.

Physical consoles like the Apollo and Artemis also use Assist as a remote tool, while Type R hardware can access Calrec’s Configure and Connect Stream Manager apps for provide both remote training and commissioning.

‘We have commissioned multiple installations remotely in addition to product demos and training,’ says Calrec US Service & Support Engineer, John Herman. ‘Calrec already had these remote workflows built into its equipment, but we very quickly recognised an increased need for these services as soon as the severity and reach of the pandemic became clear.

‘When we first started offering remote commissioning, it was a case of helping get our customers to get on air with their new product as fast as possible,’ he adds. ‘We had to be flexible and quick to keep the process moving, and we’ve continued to adapt and refine workflows across remote demonstrations, commissioning and training. Now we have proven the concept, we feel it will be part of the process for many customers in the future.’

More: https://calrec.com