by James O'Neal~ April 26, 2006
TV TECHNOLOGY
Allon Caidar, vice president of business development for Opticomm, announced the debut of the company's newest product, the Configurator, at a Tuesday morning NAB2006 press conference.
The Configurator is designed to work with the Opticomm's Optiva line of modular fiber optic equipment.
Described by Caidar as "revolutionary," the Configurator has the ability to make even non-engineering types successful fiber optic system designers.
"Anyone can do this design process," said Caidar. "Most broadcasters do not live and breathe fiber optics and our product specifically addresses this need."
Opticomm is the only broadcast industry manufacturer offering such a system for designing fiber optic links.
SIMPLE AS CAN BE
"It's as simple as can be," said Caidar. "You just enter the basic information such as the type of signals you want to transmit, then tell it whether the stations you want to build are to be rack-mounted or standalone, give it the path length, type of fiber - even specify the type of connector you want to use - and in just a few minutes you've designed the whole system."
The Configurator provides a screen shot showing exactly how the system is going to look, including a view of the type and placement of cards within the Optiva card frame.
"The system will be exactly defined for your needs," said Caidar. "You don't need to worry about overlooking anything. The system won't let you miss anything."
The Configurator is equally at home in a large broadcast facility with complex fiber requirements, or for extremely simple and basic fiber optic connectivity.
System design and integration firms will find the Configurator's built-in pricing database especially useful in preparing quotes for customers.
GREAT MANAGEMENT TOOL
"It becomes a great project management tool," said Caidar. "Complete fiber system information is all stored in the client's folder. Any changes or additions automatically become part of the client's data base."
Caidar described the process in which fiber design and system pricing was accomplished before the Configurator.
"You'd have to call someone, wait for them to get back to you, try to describe what you wanted and finally wait for them to get back to you with a quote," he said. "That's all changed now. Opticomm can do the whole job in less than ten minutes."
The Configurator is available online for use by anyone wanting to construct a system with the Opticomm's Optiva platform.
"The whole process is very easy and straightforward," he said.
Opticomm is an NAB2006 HD Partner, providing fiber optic technology essential for transmission of show floor broadcasts to all Las Vegas convention hotels, as well as for linkage to carriers providing nationwide availability of this show programming.
© 2006 NAB
