In the near future, if you're planning to buy some equipment to feed audio back to a radio or TV station, you might want to ask the manufacturer of that equipment if it is ACIP compliant. ISDN lines are disappearing in some countries (as soon as 2010 in some places) and so broadcasters are starting to use IP over broadband technology to get the audio back to the studio. Its obviously important that the equipment at both ends is compatible even if it is of a different make (just as your mobile phone works no matter who made the handset). I note that a group with the EBU Technical department has now published an interesting document in the hope that manufacturers will work on interoperability standards even if they are competitors in the marketplace. There is a publicly accessible website that's gone up as well.
So why is this important? For the punter in the field trying to do a decent reporting job, it's going to vital that this project moves from a well thought-out proposal into practice. Even if you're non-technical, if manufacturers get the message from reporters that compatability is important, that may help the development team squeeze the required cash out of the upper management.
New ISDN installation service IS being discouraged by Verizon in the New York area. There are very few installers and repair techs who speak ISDN here. I had to fight tooth and nail to get it installed at our new location. I certainly would have lost if I wasn't ISDN experienced. They want you to use DSL and don't understand that some equipment is ISDN only. the writing is deeply on the wall. I've hooked up with studios running software only over ip and it worked perfectly.
ReplyDeleteISDN died in DC at least four years ago. Verizon's big pitch is FIOS, fiber optics a pipe big enough for the net, the phone and broadcast TV. More channels than Comcast and cheaper.
ReplyDeleteFios net speed 5 mbs down and 2 mbs up.
Notes: Verizon is the NorthEastern's US telco, Comcast is the 2nd largest cable company in the US. Both offer the so called triple play of Net, TV and the phone.