An unprecedented installation on all RFO sites

The same Radio-Assist 7 system installed on each site From Tahiti to Pointe-à-Pitre, each French overseas Department and Territory now owns the same digital-audio tools within the same architecture. The new Radio-Assist 7 version which is faster and more reliable covers the whole working process of the radio station. From production to broadcast, each activity is represented: acquisition, editing of sound documents, planning, broadcasting, administration. Completely developed under Windows NT, one of Radio-Assist 7's main trump cards is to offer a simultaneous access to several products : from a single application the user records, edits or prepares a playlist. The whole process of modelling, grid editing and playlist manufacturing is borne by a single software : Feder-All. All the radio actors communicate with each other from production to broadcast. Several users can simultaneously access the playlist manufacturing from production stations. " Music-All's" latest version, Radio-Assist's music planning tool, brings a series of new and extremely flexible functions to schedulers. This integration which is synchronous with the Air-DDO broadcaster brings immediate efficiency and makes organisation and use in studios much easier.In addition to new functions, Radio-Assist 7 uses new technologies to meet security, management and automation needs within radio stations. The new Radio-Assist 7 range mainly aims at combining the evolution of radio with the latest technical advances (integration of a SQL engine, integration of DSP functions, development of a personalized database, development of transfer automata, access management to database etc).

Evolution towards a system of archiving and exchange

The project of archiving and exchange of audio documents between all RFO centres shows Radio-Assist 7's ability to anticipate the future. The archiving principle requires two skills : the automatic conversion of audio documents (mpeg 2 into mpeg 3 for instance) and the automatic management of transfers. These two automata, Media Management and Dispatcher, already exist in the Radio-Assist 7 range. Dispatcher is a very powerful multi-format export automaton which can convert and export audio files directly from one base to any destination. In the same way, a sound is automatically reintegrated by a production station as soon as a user selects an archived sound. Media Management handles the whole data traffic within a system. Its role is to carry out automatically the monitoring and the transfer of files from one field to another. For instance, when an element is given the RTA label (Ready To Archive), the file is automatically pasted on the archive server. The running of Media Management is totally transparent. It guarantees the user access to the required documents wherever they are located in the system. The Media Management automaton facilitates the creation of various fields specialised according to activity (production, broadcasting, archiving). Each field has its own structure : servers, database and so on. This activity separation generates several independent subsystems and thus ensures a better reliability of the whole.

Training for a successful installation

Parallel to the installation of these new tools, numerous training events took place. The aim is to become familiar with Radio-Assist 7's new environment. A lot of time is dedicated to practice, to reference exercises and also to radio specific editing. NETIA's training service offers several training programmes adapted to each user category : journalists, deejays, technicians, schedulers, administrators and maintenance. In groups of three or four, every user benefits from a global presentation of the system, then from a detailed training on the software that he will be using. Thanks to these training courses and to the easy use of the stations, users become quickly efficient and creative. The administrator and maintenance training is very convenient for radios and allows each RFO centre to master its digital-audio system.