Georgia Perimeter College: Bringing Multiple Campuses Full Circle
When Assistant Director
Glenn Sierko explains why Georgia Perimeter College implemented AxisTV
at its four campuses around the metropolitan Atlanta area, the answer is
simple. “You have to keep up with the times. It’s what’s expected by
students.”
Yet the students weren’t
the only ones looking for something better. High-definition screens had
already been installed at various locations, and the time had come to
make the most of the investment. The school’s new media team was using
Enscriber for a distance-learning channel on cable TV and VideoNet for
screens at one campus, but they were hoping for a simpler and more
consistent process for delivering content. After just a little
searching, they found the decision easy: AxisTV.
“There were some, but
not as many as you would think that were providing that level of product
and that level of integration with other products,” said Sierko. “You’d
be amazed as to what our earlier legacy system was charging us just to
maintain a VideoNet-based system.”
Adding to the cost,
software updates were getting lost because they were still being sent
through a traditional phone line and modem. The school had recently
switched to an IP-based phone system, and they had to recreate a modem
line just for the updates. It wasn’t working.
“We needed something
that was network-based and that was up to date. AxisTV seemed to be
best product that we could easily see,” added Sierko.
Today Perimeter College
uses nine Visix Channel Players in thirteen buildings to send content to
large-screen displays, and it’s a more immediate communication vehicle
for all four campuses. To help the school’s faculty and staff get word
out about campus events, Sierko’s team created a ‘media request form’ on
the same page of the employee Web site where they request audio-visual
equipment.
“If you’re having an
event that requires additional equipment, there’s a chance you would
want to advertise it,” explains Sierko. On the request form staff can
request publicity on AxisTV, and what would have been a printed poster
gets displayed on LCD screens throughout campus. “AxisTV allows you to
schedule, and the request form tells us how long they want it played.
The calendaring program is neat because there is no need to remove
slides after the event,” said Sierko.
“I think it’s nice to
have what are essentially posters as well for events,” added New Media
Designer Garrett DeHart, who takes the content sent by school staff and
formats it for the screen. “We can run many of those at the same time
and not spend the money for big glossy posters that we would have done
otherwise.”
Flexibility for the future
Perimeter’s use of
AxisTV is just beginning. Capabilities that are being explored include
integrating video, using screen space for cable news, and adding the
screen saver messaging option in the school’s many computer labs. Sierko
and his team are also looking at tying the AxisTV system to their R25
room-scheduling software and emergency broadcast capabilities. “Visix
has a knowledgeable sales staff. They had good clear view of what the
product could do and what it could do in future,” said Sierko.
