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For many years VCC has been getting feedback from their customers that their IP-remote process and AirFirst™ platform have dramatically improved customers’ ability to use smartphones and laptops for IP remotes. Now they have study results to confirm it.

In a first-of-its-kind study of a major TV news organization, VCC used testing data from nearly a year of on-air production to compare the organization’s legacy IP remote workflow to the AirFirst process. Among the report findings:

Execution time has been reduced by more than 76% creating thousands of hours of improved efficiency

The need for time-consuming test calls has been reduced by 42%

A 267% increase in the number of air calls made reflects more quality content being produced

The report also explores the steps taken that quantifiably improved the newsgroup’s ability to create remotes from smartphones and laptops by:

Reducing time to air

Decreasing operational complexity and improving communications for staff

Using a single link to connect contributors with any of three native apps from any device, anywhere

VCC smartphone-based remote contribution provides Stamford Studios with efficient, high-quality solution for engaging busy guests during live show productions

STAMFORD, CONN. AND PALISADES, N.Y., (PRWEB) October 13, 2022  — The Video Call Center, LLC (VCC) today announced that it has been selected as a production technology partner for the third consecutive year by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios. VCC smartphone-based, remote contribution services will continue to bring live remote guests to Stamford Studios for season 16 of “The Steve Wilkos Show” and their new talk show “Karamo,” set to air in Fall 2022.

Stamford Studios’s Vice President and General Manager, Vinnie Fusco, said,

“VCC provides our Stamford Studios live productions with a very reliable remote contribution solution that enables our showrunners for ‘The Steve Wilkos Show’ and ‘Karamo’ to book compelling guests anywhere in the world. The remote production workflow has proven to be a convenient and easy solution for our busy guests and a platform that gives our producers tremendous flexibility to pursue the best storylines.”

VCC smartphone-based, remote contribution services provides NBCUniversal’s Syndication Studios-based shows with virtually unlimited remote capacity and the highest-quality low-latency audio/video to ensure a natural conversation between guest and host. For the coming season, the studio set of “The Steve Wilkos Show” has been redesigned to take maximum advantage of VCC-powered guest remotes. In the new configuration, an on-set monitor has been positioned to enhance the face-to-face interaction between host Steve Wilkos and his remote guests. In addition to the remotes, VCC provides shows with pre-production call-producing services, technology, and live support during production hours.

VCC CEO Larry Thaler said,

“We are very proud of our years working alongside the production teams at NBCU Syndication Studios. It is thrilling to be invited to continue our support of ‘The Steve Wilkos Show’ and their exciting new talk show ‘Karamo.’ Our goal is for VCC technology and our call production staff to serve as a seamless extension of NBCU Syndication Studios production team and for the guests to feel as comfortable as they would be in the studio. This new agreement represents a tremendous validation of VCC’s approach focused on creating ease for the contributor and the producers.”

VCC Technologies in Use at NBCU

VCC’s Caller Cloud® is a complete live remote contribution solution that features hands-on support from VCC’s expert video call producers using VCC’s AirFirst™ platform. To date, Caller Cloud has been used to deliver more than 20,000 remotes for streaming, cable, and broadcast programs.

AirFirst removes complexity for busy, remote guests by eliminating the need for them to download anything to their device. Connecting is as easy as clicking a link sent to them by text or email. This link connects them with an experienced VCC Call Producer who utilizes VCC’s Tenaciti™ feature and a choice of connection technologies to optimize the connection for each guest’s device and bandwidth for the best possible audio and video during long-duration shoots. VCC’s exclusive technologies and processes are used to enhance the connection between guests and the production so that the guest is comfortable, looks great, and can engage in uninterrupted two-way conversation with a show’s cast.  VCC Call Producers also take cues from NBCUniversal’s Stamford Media Center creative team to ensure that guests are fully prepared for their appearance, know what to expect, and look their best.

All VCC systems are available via the AirFirst SaaS (Software as a Service), which is offered as a do-it-yourself platform or as part of the VCC’s white-glove, full-service Caller Cloud service as utilized by NBCU. Visit www.thevcc.tv for more information.

ABOUT THE VIDEO CALL CENTER, LLC

The VCC is a technology and production services company enabling IP Video remotes-by-smartphone and putting them on the air through patented caller acquisition technology, workflow, and automation tools.  The company has a large portfolio of worldwide patents (see https://www.thevcc.tv/about-vcc/ip/). VCC licenses its software and provides caller acquisition and production services. VCC has helped clients produce hundreds of broadcast and web programs, supporting NBCU, Major League Baseball, Fox TV Stations, ViacomCBS, CNN, Discovery, Fox Sports Networks, TLC, NBATV, WWE, Vice, Bally Sports, and many others. Examples of programs and complete information about the VCC are available at http://www.thevcc.tv. The company’s latest report detailing the impact of smartphone-based remotes is also available for download.

ABOUT NBCUNIVERSAL SYNDICATION STUDIOS

PALISADES, N.Y. (PRWEB) AUGUST 26, 2022

Patents and other intellectual property developed by The Video Call Center, LLC (VCC), has been split off into a new company, Video River Group LLC. Both are wholly owned by Wolzien LLC.

VCC provides daily high end management of smartphone remotes for major news, sports, and entertainment companies through software as a service and traditional production services.

The portfolio assigned to Video River Group includes two dozen granted patents in 16 countries and the European Union, trademarks, and software that has driven nearly thirty thousand smartphone remotes to air through VCC services. The patents focus on management of large numbers of video callers for any broadcast, cable, or internet use in television and other industries and related automation tools.

“Over the past decade the VCC team has created an extraordinary portfolio of intellectual property that goes far beyond daily national television production,” says Wolzien LLC chairman Tom Wolzien. “Video River Group will explore other options while VCC continues to operate under a non-exclusive license for news, sports, entertainment, and corporate production.”

Put your remote guests on air faster than ever!

Learn more here: https://tinyurl.com/VCCReportSocial

Contact us at https://www.thevcc.tv/

#theVCC #AirFirst #remoteproduction

Data from year-long study of major TV news group identifies opportunities for newsrooms to use smartphone and laptop remotes to create more content efficiently and compete effectively

PALISADES, N.Y., SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 — The Video Call Center, LLC (VCC), a leading developer and provider of smartphone- and laptop-based IP video remote technology and services, has released a new study called “New management technology for video remotes drives change across TV News production.” The report explores the steps taken by a major cable news organization that quantifiably improved its ability to create content using remotes from smartphones and laptops by:

Reducing time to air

Decreasing operational complexity and improving communications for staff

Enhancing the ability to create more content in less time

Improving ease of use for non-technical remote guests and other contributors

IP remotes are increasingly important to television news organizations that need near-instant access to journalists and experts worldwide. With no technician at the remote end of the connection, news organizations are challenged to connect quickly and effortlessly with their non-technical guests, achieve high-quality connections, and shorten time-to-air to improve productivity.

The report uses testing data from nearly a year of on-air production to compare the organization’s legacy IP remote workflow to a modernized process using VCC’s AirFirst platform. Among the findings in the report:

Execution time has been reduced by more than 76%, creating thousands of hours of improved efficiency.  

A 42% reduction in the need for time-consuming test calls.

An increase of 267% in the number of air calls made reflects an increase in the quantity of content being produced.

According to Larry Thaler, CEO of VCC, “To compete effectively in today’s media landscape, TV newsrooms need to leverage their access to experts around the world and do so as quickly as possible. Every minute counts, so media organizations need smart tools and efficient workflows that reduce complexity for their contributors, empower their staff and accelerate time to air. Our goal with this report is to provide a glimpse of the real world data to show how news organizations can best use IP remotes to give them a competitive advantage.”

The report is available free of charge at: https://tinyurl.com/VCCSpecialReport

ABOUT THE VIDEO CALL CENTER, LLC

NAB 2022 Perspectives:The Video Call Center’s Larry Thaler on AirFirst, Solutions To Meet Increase in Live Remote Productions

New platform provides cloud-controlled management for IP-based models

Long before COVID transformed live sports production, The Video Call Center was pioneering solutions that allow content creators to get camera feeds from virtually any device into a live-production environment. From their Caller Cloud and Caller Queue solutions to HAT (host automation technology), The VCC has been at the forefront in harnessing the power of smartphone cameras as a live source while also opening the door for operations folks to rethink the conventional control room.

At NAB 2022, The Video Call Center showcased its newest service: AirFirst. The company calls the first cloud-controlled management system for live IP-based remotes. SVG caught up with The Video Call Center CEO Larry Thaler to learn more about how AirFirst enhances operational efficiencies and to get his take on the first in-person NAB Show since 2019.

What was your company’s strategy heading into this NAB Show, the first one in-person in three years?

It was the first time that we’ve publicly shown AirFirst, the new platform that we’ve put out. We’ve been doing remotes through smartphones for seven years now, and all of our knowledge is in this platform. All of the efficiencies gained in our operation are built into AirFirst.

Inevitably, for example, [prospective clients we met with] were saying, “We install all these Skype TX boxes, and we’re struggling to keep up with the volume. It’s too much work. People don’t know their Skype names; we don’t know whether they’re downloading Skype TX or have downloaded Skype for business, which doesn’t work at all. We’re getting lousy results.” We can help you, and we could take hours and hours out of your day by making the connections really efficient. There were lots of people who came to us and said, “We’ve been jury-rigging with Zoom or [Microsoft] Teams.” Those people were really drawn to the platform, and having the opportunity to show that to them was just great.

Can you tell us more about AirFirst? What does it deliver to the live-production industry?

AirFirst was really the only thing we were showing at [NAB 2022]. Of course, we still have our services business, Caller Cloud, but, quite frankly, what we wanted to do is to show that this capability can be in anybody’s hands and that we not only are willing to share that technology with people but are willing to train people in what we do. Attendees were very excited.

We had a very major broadcaster from the Middle East who came by who was struggling to do the volume of remotes that they have. One of the things that we were sharing with people was that we have a very large news customer now who’s doing approximately 25,000 remotes a year and we took 20 minutes or more off each of those remotes. When you multiply that out, that’s a big number of hours saved. We’re very excited to be doing that — not only for them but for other people as well.

Were there any additional trends or common pain points that emerged as you talked to NAB 2022 visitors throughout the week?

I think the thing that we heard the most was that, at the beginning of the pandemic, people installed whatever they could find as quickly as they could in order to get on the air. An “any port in the storm” kind of strategy. Nobody expected it to last this long. Not only are they having to use those same workflows that were hurried together, [but] they are seeing the volume of work that they’re doing in that way growing, and they can’t handle it. That’s when you need something that can handle the volume and can handle it across the whole team. That seemed very valuable to them.

What was your general assessment of NAB 2022? How did it feel being back at an in-person trade show after so long?

We had a great show. First of all, it was great to get in touch with people in person again. It felt really nice. It felt like the world was a bit more normal. We found that people were drawn to what we had, and it was great to see some old faces and meet so many new people as well.

VCC announced today it has been issued patents for our Caller Queue® process and system in the European Union (#3446445), Japan (#7023274), and South Korea (#2360662). The patent has also been allowed in Canada, Australia, and Israel. The new patents increase VCC’s portfolio to twelve. Our Caller Queue process underpins the AirFirst™ platform and is widely used to produce popular TV shows for Discovery Channel, TLC, Food Network, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, and many others.

   “While bringing a video caller to air is increasingly common, seeing it done well at scale is not. VCC’s professional clients and patent offices worldwide recognize the VCC’s intense focus on underlying processes that contribute to improved productivity, high quality, speed, and ease-of-use are unique. As VCC moves into new markets, this differentiation is valued for use in productions of all kinds, from network televisions and news to visual radio. Large and small corporations alike who value efficient production teams and whose brands are synonymous with quality depend on VCC.”

   – Larry Thaler, VCC CEO

Caller Queue enables the producers of a show to:

   -Invite virtually unlimited numbers of viewers anywhere in the world to use their smartphones, tablets, and computers to participate on-air, and on-screen, in a live television production

   -Create a branded, virtual “green room” to retain guests prior to air. Guests can digitally sign legal releases and watch the show’s progress while waiting.

   -Sort, filter, and prioritize available video callers to best meet creative requirements

   -Communicate with callers to screen and prepare them prior to their appearance on air

ABOUT THE VIDEO CALL CENTER, LLC

The VCC is a technology and production services company devoted to handling IP Video remotes by smartphone and putting them on the air through patented caller acquisition technology, workflow, and automation. VCC licenses its technology within and outside the video production industry and provides caller acquisition and production services.

VCC

has helped clients produce more than 25,000 remotes over hundreds of broadcast and web programs, supporting NBCU, Major League Baseball, CBS, Fox TV Stations, CBS, CNN, Discovery, Fox Sports Networks, Hearst interactive, International Emmys, TLC, NBATV, NFL Network, Paramount+, WWE, Vice, Bally Sports, and many others. Examples of programs and complete information about the VCC are available at