MUMBAI: Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) is introducing Vision Global, a product suite that integrates powerful media sales, scheduling, and digital asset management tools to bring a new level of functionality and benefit to cable and satellite networks, to the Asia Pacific region during Broadcast Asia 2005.

Vision Global provides an innovative controls component that joins a complement of well-respected Harris software products into an integrated environment. With Vision Global, users can access all of these products via a single user interface, including Landmark for media sales, Vision for scheduling, Arkemedia for digital asset management, and H-Class Broadcast Presentation Manager, D-Series, or ADC-100 for automation. Current users of any of these products may add software components to upgrade to Vision Global, while new customers may purchase the individual stand-alone products or the complete Vision Global package.

“The value of Vision Global is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Lilo Newberry, vice president of products for Harris Broadcast Communications’ Software Systems business unit. “This is because Vision Global’s intelligent interface promotes data sharing across these proven applications, ensuring that each tool has the most complete and accurate data with which to process user requests. This enhanced functionality increases operational efficiency; eliminates errors and downtime; automates the flow of information throughout the workflow pipeline; and maximizes the organization’s valuable media assets and inventory.”

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Before the advent of Vision Global, users of Vision, Landmark, and Arkemedia were required to move between one software environment and the other. The intent of Vision Global is to streamline the organization’s workflow process by enabling the user to access any of the tools within the different software packages from a single screen of menus. As a modular product, Vision Global creates a seamless work environment because each of its components cooperates as if using a common database.

With this dynamic interchange of data, Vision Global can alert users to potential conflicts such as the fact that a scheduled promo is not available for play-out. This gives traffic and production people ample time to avoid costly errors by taking action-ingesting the necessary promo onto the play-out server or swapping it for another-before airtime. By utilizing Nielsen audience ratings data, Vision Global is capable of supporting the media sales process by showing users how best to schedule and price spots to make the most of their precious inventory.

Vision Global also provides vital analysis of how the business is doing. Extensive reporting on every aspect of the operation pinpoints inefficiencies and evaluates vital criteria such as supply and demand for airtime sales, and costs versus sales figures-resulting in a better understanding of the bottom line.

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“Vision Global promotes a solid return on investment because it enhances the user’s productivity by leveraging disparate functionalities via a single user interface. It benefits users by quickly processing complex data and intuitively supporting greater efficiency in a way that would be very time-consuming for operators and managers, especially in a 24/7, multi-channel broadcast environment,” said Newberry. “To be successful, cable and satellite networks must have a handle on mission-critical information for global cable nets and that’s what Vision Global is designed to provide.”

Vision Global is a result of Harris Corporation’s strategic acquisition of Encoda Systems, Inc., a leading media management software company. Today, the best-in-class software products of Harris and Encoda have been integrated in a way that intensifies their individual capabilities. An interactive display of Vision Global will be featured at Harris Broadcast Division’s booth at Broadcast Asia. Pricing and a consultative explanation of suitability and availability will be available from the media management sales team.
 

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