VCI – Jamie Meyer

Q. What kind of products or services does your company offer for broadcasters?

A. Sales, traffic, and automation systems

Q. What’s new that you will you show at NAB2007 and that broadcasters should look for there?

A. VCI Solutions recently expanded, adding a new division focusing on broadcast automation. At NAB2007 we are highlighting the entire “Journey of Content” with VCI Solutions’ sales, traffic, and automation products fully integrated with best-of-breed broadcast partners. We can help you manage and automate the digital supply chain from Point-of-Sale to Point-of-Air.

VCI’s Automation Division will unveil the latest version of autoXe, the tested and proven automation software used by several station groups as well as small to large commercial television stations. autoXe radically changes play-to-air automation in a multichannel world. With multiple views of the on-air schedules, now you can easily manage by exception and drill down to what you need to see. The working, platform-based, service-oriented architecture of autoXe enables robust integration and interoperability with other systems to manage, move, and automate your content from Point-of-Sale to Point-of-Air.

Q. How is your new product offering different from what’s available on the market?

A. VCI Solutions’ autoXe is the most advanced, forward-thinking technical platform available today. It provides comprehensive metadata management with an open and extensible Microsoft SQL 2005 database, which enables automated file-based workflows in your broadcast operation. From our leadership in the SMPTE S22/BXF committee work to a completely automated, hands-off Pathfire play-to-air workflow, autoXe promotes open data exchange and interoperability. The new autoXe release now provides the proper tools for today’s multichannel world. With multiple views of the on-air schedules you can monitor 20 or more channels from a single screen in autoXe’s Icon View window. In the Timeline View window, multiple schedules, program events and secondary events can be viewed and edited, and in autoXe’s Grid View window you can edit and modify any schedule or event. Management by exception means the system alerts you when you need to attend to a schedule or event. autoXe lets you easily navigate and drill down to where you need to go, plus multiple people can view and interact with the schedule and autoXe manages security and user privileges. autoXe also provides value-driven device control and management with built-in expandability – now you don’t need budget approval to add another VTR or video server ports. autoXe lets you add, change, or modify your devices and drivers on your own, anytime, without any reboot. Traditional automation systems can limit a station’s growth, while autoXe automates the workflow processes for fully integrated, forward-thinking solutions.

Q. Where are you based, and how many employees do you have? Anything else we should know about your company?

A. VCI Solutions has two divisions and more than 85 employees. The Business Systems Division is located in Springfield, Mass. and the Automation Division is in Austin, Texas.