Realm Control Corp. (then known as Xolutionz) was first contacted by Southern Business Communications due to problems with the existing Synergy system at Palm Beach Community College . After some discussion regarding the best way to overcome the immediate crisis, two possible options were proposed: (1) fix Synergy, or (2) upgrade the Synergy system to Phoenix. Southern Business Communications presented the options to the staff at Palm Beach Community College for consideration. This led to the right decision: forego any further investment in Synergy and upgrade to Phoenix instead. The upgrade was implemented in early February of 2004.

The Head End at Palm Beach Community College.

Facility Automation Needs

Aside from the serial communication failures that were occurring with Synergy, PBCC was also in need of some new capabilities. The most pressing need was a solution regarding several new DVD Players that were to be added to the system. While Synergy will support some basic DVD control functionality, it was developed prior to the proliferation of DVD technology. Consequently, those facilities that need advanced DVD control are best served by Phoenix.

Another factor that encouraged the upgrade at PBCC was the obsolescence of Synergy. While Synergy is fully supported by Realm Control Corp., there is no ongoing development of the Synergy system. The many new capabilities and the improved performance of Phoenix make it the right next step for any existing facility, as well as the best solution for any new campus that has need of a Media Retrieval solution.

The Upgrade Process

The upgrade from Synergy to Phoenix was relatively uneventful. In fact, all basic functionality was working within approximately three hours, which includes the time that it took for Dan Fitzgerald of Southern Business Communications to upgrade the hardware from AXcess to NetLinx. After the core functionality was validated, the senior Technician of Media Technology and Instructional Services, William Reddy, proposed some modifications to the web client that would make their lives easier. That evening, a custom search feature was implemented that would allow searching of media titles by reference number. The following morning, those changes were completed and validated. Also, the look and feel of the web client was modified to adhere to the preferences of Bill Buntin, the Manager of Media Technology and Instructional Services. The remainder of the second day was spent installing and validating a new DVD player, training, and discussing the likely expansions that will occur in the future. In the words of William Reddy, "This upgrade was completely painless!"

Conclusion

The installation at Palm Beach Community College has further validated the viability of the Phoenix application. Realm Control Corp. is very appreciative of the sales and installation support provided by the school's servicing Dealer, Southern Business Communications. The competence and enthusiasm exhibited by Dan Fitzgerald is indicative of the professionalism inherent within the organization. And of course, special thanks go out to Bill Buntin for his willingness to upgrade PBCC to Phoenix, and to William Reddy for his assistance with the installation.



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Update, 06-09-04

When the Palm Beach Community College South Campus in Boca Raton had need of a solution for streaming content distribution throughout the campus, they immediately thought of Phoenix. After the success and reliability of Phoenix at the central campus at Lake Worth, it was only logical that it should also be installed at the Boca Raton facility. Willie Ford, the Media Director at the South Campus, worked with Realm Control Corp. to engineer a unique solution to their needs. After the specifications of their custom requirements were agreed upon, Realm Control Corp. developed the software necessary to meet those needs. Then, in early June of 2004, Shane Burke met with Southern Business Communications to install the second Phoenix Head End at PBCC.

Analog Sources with Digital Distribution

PBCC South decided to distribute the media content throughout the campus digitally, rather than modulating the composite sources over an RF backbone or baseband distribution network. Their large media collection made encoding of all existing titles impractical. Also, mass encoding of analog media can violate copyright laws. Therefore, the Media Center installed a rack of DVD/VCR combo units that are encoded realtime via Winnov encoder cards. End users then connect to the custom web client developed by Realm Control Corp. to both control the analog source at the Head End and view the embedded stream via their Windows Media plug-in. Following is a high-level overview of this topology:

To view a stream, users connect their web browsers to an event list that is dynamically generated by Phoenix. By simply clicking on a link within the event list, they are connected to the stream and the Phoenix web client is loaded in a panel to the left of the stream. Then, using the Phoenix web client, they control the analog devices mounted within the Head End. When a user clicks any transport control, such as the pause button, Phoenix controls the analog source at the Head End. Then the output of the source is encoded via Winnov, which "controls" their digital stream. In truth, the stream is not controlled at all but rather the analog source that feeds the stream.

The solution implemented at PBCC South will allow unlimited growth as the campus continues to grow because they will not have to pull RF cable to the new buildings. Instead, the media will be delivered using the network infrastructure.

Conclusion

Realm Control Corp. would like to thank the staff and faculty of Palm Beach Community college for again choosing Phoenix as their Media Retrieval solution for their growing campus. Special thanks go out to Willie Ford and William Reddy, and to the dedicated IT Department. The three day installation timeframe would have been impossible to achieve without the diligent and quick assistance from PBCC IT. Also, Realm Control Corp. extends special thanks to Southern Business Solutions for facilitating this second installation of Phoenix at PBCC.