Before attending our recent Users Group as a ScheduALL panellist, I didn’t know what to expect, as it was the first of its kind in London (after proving to be a hit in the US and Australia).  The aim was to bring together product users across Europe and give them the opportunity to describe their experiences, meet other users and provide ScheduALL with their Top 5 wish list issues. 

It was quite impressive to hear key business users describe how ScheduALL is being used to run some of the most complex and unique broadcast operations in the industry.  Hearing them describe their experiences, their reliance on our products and the level of complexity involved to integrate and embed our products in their operations made me proud to be part of ScheduALL, and proud to play an integral role in supplying such a key product to the industry.  It opened my eyes to the level of potential that is out there, as we set the trends and others follow. 

I also enjoyed the networking, which helped me better understand how our application is being used in the industry to manage a diverse range of complexities.  I also learned more about how we can ensure our high level of client satisfaction. I came out of the session feeling that our product is the right strategy and our vision is the right vision. I’m quite excited by all the new road map products that we’re offering, like Hitch and ERMa, that are helping to make our industry a smaller and more closely connected entity.

 The Users Group event was the perfect forum to show ScheduALL clients that we are listening and that we care very much about their needs – together, we can continue to collaborate to make our products better and better!

 This is a guest post written by ScheduALL Corporate Communications & Marketing Joanne Zucker

Do you remember a time not too long ago, when tablets were prescribed by doctors, all blackberries were edible and phones were only as smart as their users?  Neither do we. 

In today’s digital age, it’s hard to imagine that we once went about our daily lives without the 24/7 connection and instant access to information provided by our iPhones, iPads and other hand-held devices.  But in the not too distant past, we had put our work activities on hold when we left our homes and offices, and we often missed important opportunities and connections with friends, colleagues, partners and associates.

But luckily, we no longer have to.  In this same spirit of on-demand connection and information, ScheduALL is gearing up for a July 15 launch of Hitch, a robust mobile access platform of our industry-leading scheduling and resource management software solution.  Compatible with all smartphones and tablets, including iPhones, Android devices, BlackBerrys, iPads and more, Hitch provides media and broadcast professionals with 24/7 access to ScheduALL’s mission critical scheduling and resource management features, from any location.

So now, the ability to get things done doesn’t have to come crashing to a halt when you step away from your computer.  With Hitch, you’ll be connected to your ScheduALL system when traveling, on a shoot, in an editing suite or even on the beach.  Just click on Hitch from your smartphone or tablet and you can view, reserve and book resources, and update schedules, bookings and work orders, all in real time.

We developed Hitch in response to numerous requests for mobile system access from product users all over the world – currently 1,200 clients and growing.  And as word has spread about it, so has the industry buzz and attention.  We’re all very excited about Hitch as well.  And we know that once you see how easy and convenient it is to access ScheduALL from your smartphone or iPad, you probably won’t remember a time when you couldn’t.  But luckily, you won’t have to.

This is a guest post written by ScheduALL Project Manager Barbara Rodriguez

On the surface, the comments below would simply be an exploration of what went on with our Certification Program this year – the number of classes, cities visited, and comments on a successful initiative and year.

And it was a successful initiative and year. Since its launch in early 2010, we’ve had over 10 classes in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Miami. Dozens of students have attended and passed their certifications.

We have received glowing reviews from our attendees on the classes, the trainers, the materials…all in all…worthy highlights and accomplishments to be recorded and acknowledged in this blog.

On another level, there is a more personal side, more meaningful to me than the numbers and the overall project. We were fortunate to be part of some pretty amazing people’s lives. Our clients have been people honing their skills to better do their jobs and help their companies with higher productivity and better skill levels. Our clients have been independent contractors working to be able to provide better service to their client base in a tough economy. And our clients have been people between jobs that have seen the value of our product in an industry where added value is a basic need.

Getting positive comments and feedback from these amazing people has definitely been the highlight of The ScheduALL Certification Program this year. Being able to serve them has been our honor and our biggest accomplishment with this initiative.

To find out more about ScheduALL Certification classes and schedules, please visit: http://scheduall.com/certification.aspx

This is a guest post written by ScheduALL Lead Product Architect Steve Whiting

As the first decade of the 21st century goes into the record books, we see the phrase “On-Demand” getting a lot of play as the operative word for many items that we consume.

Video, Gaming, Shopping, News, Entertainment and Computing are just a few of the current offerings associated with the On-Demand buzzword. 

While these examples represent truly automated digital products that are indeed available on demand, other so-called On-Demand items such as labor and services are obviously not available at a moment’s notice. Initiating online chats with humans for support-oriented services can be almost real time, but people cannot just instantly appear at your facility or home to provide hands-on labor-based services. In order to meet the demand for consultive, creative or other complex services, we must coordinate schedules and locations for equipment and/or personnel resources. 

If you are a Vendor in the Media and Broadcast world, your challenge is to supply these complex services to your clients when requested. To do this, there may be times when you also become a Consumer of services provided by others. This happens when you need additional resources to support a workload that exceeds internal capacity or when you require specialized resources or services. Coordinating schedules and locations is a daunting job even in the best of situations, but when you add in the variables associated with acquiring external resources, it can be overwhelming. 

As a Freelance Vendor or independent contractor, you need to acquire enough work to maintain a full schedule while keeping your primary clients happy. Bailing out on a promised job due to conflicts can do harm to your client relationships. 

The On-Demand side of providing these services begins with the ability to verify Vendor availability. 

Allowing all of your clients to verify your availability in real-time would be of great benefit. Having an accurate up-to-date view of Vendor availability would greatly improve the scheduling process for your Clients. 

I would venture to say that some of the success of Amazon’s On-Demand shopping could be attributed to the fact that users are able to verify product availability before ordering a product. Supply and Demand requires that Demand is able to locate the Supply. Without an On-Demand connection method, Supply and Demand are simply remote islands waiting for a connection. Utilizing an On-Demand method in the Media and Broadcast sector to make this connection converts Supply and Demand into real-time collaboration. 

You may have noticed that a few key words keep appearing in these observations. They can be summed up as a phrase to identify the needed solution – Accurately Verify Vendor Availability. 

This On-Demand method can be accomplished using ScheduALL’s newest product – AVvA (remember those letters? – though not actually an acronym). AVvA is a browser-based scheduling application available free as a software as service. 

AVvA users can share availability in real-time with other AVvA users and with facilities using ScheduALL’s Marketplace community. This is done using a selective Publish and Subscribe method that enables Clients to accurately view and verify their Vendor’s resource availability on their own system as if it were a local resource. Booking requests are made On-Demand locally and update instantly on the Publisher’s schedule. 

Publishing of Personnel and/or Equipment resources can be done directly to your selected Clients and/or to our general Marketplace for global visibility. Subscribers see only availability of published resources –details of bookings made by other Subscribers remain confidential to the Publisher. 

For more details on scheduling resources On-Demand, please go to www.AVvAnow.com.

We recorded our live webinar that detailed what’s new in the latest release, ScheduALL v4.82. The webinar focused on the following:

Multiple client association in Contract Manager
On-the-fly work order reporting
Improved security to automatically disable inactive accounts and manage failed logins
New functionality for Protected Path in Circuit Selection module for terrestrial bandwidth management

To request a copy of the recorded webinar, email us.  Or, if you’re a client with a current maintenance contract, you can visit the ScheduALL Knowledge Base online (members area of our website), we have a link to the video right there on the product download page.

Our webinar was broadcast live yesterday morning, thanks to everyone who participated.  A recorded version is available here.  The format was an interview of our CEO Joel Ledlow and VP of Product Management Joel Nirenberg.  They provided insight regarding the transitions happening in the industry and how ScheduALL is leveraging its client relationships, talented team, and drive for excellence to continue to lead the way with regards to Enterprise Resource Management solutions and collaboration tools for the entire media and broadcast supply chain.

Joel Ledlow, CEO, ScheduALL

My life and exercise serving “on the road” affords great opportunity to learn from so many of you. As a student I am confused that this concept of working together is neither new, nor remedied with innovations that advance our growing cause. We have in fact been talking about the ability to integrate, interoperate and collaborate in real time for decades. From SMPTE, Broadcast Summits, to ISOG, the question of how broadcasters and vendors could self provision and manage resources collaboratively across the supply chain eliminating stale rate cards, outdated availability and enabling you the consumer to source the best possible relationship for the best value on any given project appear to be the stuff dreams are made of.

Can we not imagine the ability for a broadcaster to have their supplier network provide up-to-the-second availability of their resources from their core operations system readily available for immediate booking – this means satellite, terrestrial, trucks, freelancers, equipment rentals et al? Can we embrace the financial value of a wider visibility of suppliers for any given project? Is it foreseeable to have these options tailored with great granularity presented singularly to one customer with my unique predefined rate card AND include up-to-the-minute updates on availability and price changes?

Are we as an industry prepared to enable this collaborative capability and to seize the possibilities set before us? Increased visibility on assets, improved time management sourcing the right resource, AND an entire universe of global assets at your disposal to complete a given job or event on time and under budget is a panacea we have so longed for.

As a service provider, imagine if I could share my availability to both an individual customer, or to a worldwide marketplace of consumers who find me and subscribe to what it is I am selling. Imagine how many new clients I could cultivate. Imagine how much more competitive I could become. Again with the ability to share only what I want, to who I want and with client specific rate cards. The potential is truly mind blowing.

The very question we must ask ourselves is not IF this capability is possible, but when… and ScheduALL, a 22 year veteran of the media and broadcast community managing the world’s global broadcast operations and transmissions, is proud to be presenting solutions to this decade’s long quest.

We give you ERMa – Enterprise Resource Management application. ERMa is an adapter allowing any ScheduALL system to opt-in, to interact, share and book resources with any other ScheduALL system in real time. This means leading satellite and terrestrial providers can work seamlessly with the leading broadcasters for real time transmission bookings. Same with Rental houses working with in real time with truck companies for event preparation and execution. Same with Crews – anyone with a ScheduALL system and the ERMa adapter can link up and share as little or as much as their inventory, when they like for rates they require ALL in real time and ALL with up to the minute pricing.

ScheduALL is also proud to introduce AVvA – a free SaaS-based browser agnostic scheduling platform for anyone who does not own a core ScheduALL system. Granted, AVvA does not possess the deep business intelligence of ScheduALL, but AVvA does provide robust scheduling functionality with a kicker…

AVvA enables Freelancers, small truck companies and equipment providers to make their resource inventory available within the AVvANow marketplace and they can receive quotes request or actual bookings for events in real time from ERMa users or even other AVvA members. Not much use to pay big money to be posted on a passive directory anymore. With AVvA. collaboration comes alive – work on projects you want at rates you set all in real time. In case you are wondering – yes AVvA will integrate with Outlook and you can easily manage your bookings from your PDA / Mobile device.

In closing, we must recognize the fear of the unknown and understand our future relevance to the whole. During turbulent times it is the courageous who find smart ways to navigate the troubled turn and prepare for the acceleration of the straight away yet to come. The unbridled opportunity available to us should we begin the process of working more closely together, accelerating workflows and advancing content creation to distribution timelines is truly inspiring, but this means we must tamp down our anxiety and focus on the solutions that will drive our businesses to this very real next level. I hope that what I have been able to share helps move us from the mere dialogue of want and whiteboard and arouses each of us to explore the potential of what is now in front of each of us – Our future is so very bright should we have courage enough to seize it.

I wish you all a prosperous 2011 and invite you to watch our “Year in Review Webinar” on how to prepare for future success.

Joel Ledlow, CEO, ScheduALL

Friends, broadcasters, terrestrial and satellite service providers… Lend me your ears. I come to bury linear workflow and islands of isolation, not to praise them.

It has been written that our media and broadcast industry is in transition. I will submit to you that this transition bears more likeness to a rebirth - Fully equipped with night sweats, panic attacks, wailing and tears as we face the glaring bright lights of the unknown. 

Observing from the outside in, the imagery is more compelling wait and watch for the hard “bite down” hopes of a silver bullet and bracing for our delivery much like giving birth in the back of a 1920’s rickety pickup truck doing 100 miles per hour downhill on an economic superhighway littered with potholes and debris. Whew!

All at a time when 401ks have rapidly become 201ks, and so many of our businesses have gone beyond the proverbial high and tight financial haircut. Some of us have sacrificed entire appendages in the hopes to stop the spread of red ink or worse, been forced to undergo open heart bypass via chainsaw just to remain relevant and survive.

Our organizations have had to become flatter, faster and more focused than ever before. The sheer number of projects is on the rise, with fewer headcounts as our lusty overtures for even greater profitability, hangs in the balance

Believe it or not, I see this as our time to perform or perish! We must say goodbye to the comfort of “the way things were” and embrace faster project management, escalating client requests and thinner margins. We must look for new ways to source the best partner for the best opportunity and be able to do this in real time. We must say goodbye to passive directories, fumbled phone calls and spam blocked email strings. We deserve more and we can achieve more!

Reactive searches via even the most sacred of black books and rolodex – be gone! The media and broadcast industry must deliver more choices and suppliers MUST provide direction beyond mere feature function. The requirements today are of a much deeper understanding of the why and how as we work together to conjure the possibilities, and be damned the conventional offering of mere when, what and how many widgets would you like to buy this quarter. Trusted partnership must mean more for both parties if either is to prevail during this symbiotic dance toward the future.

We have entered an age and time where collaboration can no longer be just a conversation over coffee or whiteboard fodder. Collaboration is an imperative within this Darwinist evolution for our industry’s very survival… and this is key – The days of isolation are rudely, abruptly and violently being met with the reality of co-opetition, sharing and interoperability as we redesign our workflows and further automate the IT stack to address “in real time” the capture and distribution of content.

By the way Alice, if you haven’t read…the world’s gone digital and there is a global marketplace of ripe and ready providers eager to serve, so our looking glass aperture will need to incorporate a very wide angle lens indeed. Talent, Equipment, News trucks, Freelancers et al are readily available anywhere in the world at skill sets and price points at every level imaginable…

Now what? More on this next week – stay tuned!

Just another blatant attempt to save you time…

This tip was provided by Kate Rosen, Client Services Manager, thanks Kate!  In this video, I’ll show you how to use the numeric keypad to expand and collapse tree structures to quickly find what you’re looking for in the User Preferences, User Profiles, or System Preferences areas.  ScheduALL is extremely flexible and gives you the opportunity to configure the system to precisely meet your needs. With such a long list of items that can be modified, we try to equip you with navigation tools and shortcuts to help you find exactly what your looking for quickly and easily. We wouldn’t leave you hanging! High five!!!  Check out the video tip below…

Do you have a tip or trick that saves you time? Share it with the ScheduALL community by posting it as a comment here at ScheduALLBlog.com, or post it on our FB page, at Facebook.com/ScheduALL

Broadcast Engineering gets it! – organizations need to become flatter, services need to become richer, all while saving costs.

In this week’s story, “From islands to integrated systems,” BE takes a look at how digital content and file-based operations are changing the pace and process by which our media and broadcast giants get work done today, saying, “Underlying everything is resource management of equipment and human resources, as well as the accounts system.”

Well we also see that while islands can no longer exist within a business, the supply chain as a whole is pleading for standards in process and to be more connected. Businesses need to find resources they don’t own, book services to move their content there and now, all in a moment’s notice.

Change is happening, and it’s exciting to be a part of overcoming the challenges facing our industry today.