Vitec - Portage Public School District Gives Top Grades to EZ TV IPTV Solution

THE CUSTOMER: The PORTAGE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT is responsible for educating 7000 students. It operates three high schools, three middle schools and eight primary schools. THE NEED: The Portage School District needed a reliable, up-to-date video over IP system for streaming educational videos to the classroom at high video quality both in real time and on demand, and for delivering daily announcements as well as special broadcasts. The district’s legacy analog system was becoming increasingly unreliable and prone to breakdowns, to the point that teachers had grown accustomed to channels being down and despaired of integrating video resources in the curriculum. In addition, the system was incompatible with the infrastructure of the newest primary school building. THE CHALLENGE: The new video streaming solution had to be absolutely reliable and provide excellent video quality. Compatibility with the Windows and Mac computers that are both used in district classrooms was essential as well. In order to minimize maintenance and support expense, the Portage School District was seeking a system for which software could be loaded at one central location rather than on each of the hundreds of desktops in the district. The system had to provide central as well as local control capabilities in order to ensure that critical announcements were streamed across all classrooms. And, of course, the district was looking for an affordable solution that could grow with their needs. THE SOLUTION: The Portage School District selected VITEC’s IPTV solution to instantly upgrade its legacy analog TV system. The new system provides video streaming of TV channels enabling educational programs and current event programs to be used to enrich classroom teaching. Support for streaming of locally produced video throughout the district means that daily announcements and special performances or events can be streamed from any location in the district to all schools. The new IPTV solution also offers VOD, so that educators can choose when they want to screen TV shows and local events for each group of students. The new IPTV system works seamlessly with the school district’s Windows and Mac desktops, as well as with TV monitors. VITEC MGW 2000e platforms stream over 20 TV channels to teachers’ desktops. Using the compact, portable MGW 230 two-way streaming platform, school managers, secretaries and students easily stream morning announcements about upcoming events, daily activities and other critical information from a variety of locations to TVs and desktops throughout each school. The ability to stream from multiple locations makes it easy for more students to participate in the announcements. EZ TV System is an advanced application suite that empowers organizations to deliver live and on-demand video over local and wide area IP networks to desktops and TV screens, with no need for dedicated hardware or software. EZ TV provides permission-based access to TV channels and VOD content for faculty and students. The easy-to-use and always up-to-date EZ TV channel guide makes it simple for teachers to quickly find the channel they want. The schools were particularly pleased with VITEC’s emergency channel feature, which enables administrators to re-direct all viewers’ screens to a single live stream. The schools use it to ensure that the morning broadcast reaches all viewers. Special events, such as performances, sporting events, proms and graduation can be broadcast in real time. With the addition of the EZ TV VOD server and NPVR module these events, as well as TV programs, will be available for viewing by users either live or on demand. The Portage School District selected VITEC as their video solution provider based on its reputation for reliable products that deliver high quality video, as well as the outstanding customer service and support provided by the company. The School District was very pleased that minimal downtime was required for installing and maintaining the system. ”The new IPTV solution provides the perfect balance of centralized and local control. With EZ TV, we can be sure that all students see the daily announcements, wherever they are, and that the channel guide is up-to-date on all desktops and monitors without burdening our technology staff. Faculty and students can stream the announcements from wherever they want, and teachers have the freedom to play archived videos and TV shows when they need them with VOD.”