Q. What are the advantages of satellite videoconferencing?

A. The ability to simultaneously make announcements to all employees regardless of location worldwide; bringing people together for a meeting without having to travel anyone; the option of having a speaker participate in a meeting from a remote location; producing a broadcast quality live program for your audience.

Q. How do remote sites interact live with the origination site in a satellite videoconference?

A. There are several ways, depending on budget:

  1. Live two-way interactive video and audio
  2. Live telephone call-in questions
  3. Live web-based chat room
  4. Fax in questions

Q. How do you handle telephone call-ins from many different locations?

A. RMG uses a professional multi-line phone bridge on site that brings the caller into the program, where an operator can talk to the caller prior to air and discern the location of the caller and what questions they have. The caller is then put into a queue, where the information on that caller is listed on a computer screen. The producer/director will then select which call to take live to air for interaction with the talent.

Q. What's the difference between a satellite videoconference, a live webcast, and a live special event for video production requirements?

A. Basically, the video production requirements remain the same for any type of live switched multi-camera event. RMG provides the video support and direction services, and the output of the signal can go anywhere - uplinked to a satellite, distributed to a webcast, sent to a large projection screen for image magnification on site, recorded to videotape for future use, or all of the above!

Q. How can you handle the technical requirements needed for a video teleconference?

A. RMG has a Technical Coordinator that assures all the technical requirements for a satellite videoconference are correct, so the program can be presented seamlessly to its audience. Part of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator include confirming all satellite signals are being transmitted properly, and that client receive sites are all working and without problems. If multiple satellites are used, we stay in contact with technical monitoring points to make sure that the program signal arrives at its final destination clearly.
One very useful technique that RMG has utilized for large scale multi-site events is creating a "web-based chat room" for all the technical people involved in the program. This has helped assure seamless integration throughout the network and that the program maintains a good quality look.

Q. What's the difference in a live webcast and a live satellite videoconference?

A. Basically the "spigot": RMG's video production support is exactly the same with live switched multi-cameras and graphics support; the only difference is the signal is delivered to a webserver instead of a satellite transponder.

Q. What about a live special event?

A. Whether it's an award show or a corporate presentation, we will still need to switch cameras, videotape, graphics, and scan converters to go to a large projection screen (image magnification) so that the audience can see what's happening on stage. RMG can provide complete video support for your special live event. If your event requires video recording, we prefer to manage the audio support as well, and then deliver sound to the house PA system if needed. By doing this, we insure a high degree of audio quality for mastering to tape.