Sept 7, 2016, Palisades, NY—The Video Call Center (theVCC.tv) has announced the immediate availability of Caller Queue™—the world’s first “Green Room in the Cloud”—which allows show producers to welcome large numbers of video callers into live caller-based television programs or video events. With scalability to support the audience volume of even the most popular, blockbuster live TV programs, Caller Queue gives producers complete creative control to bring just the right people to air at the precise moment when they would contribute to create the most compelling program.
“While it may seem a common thing to use video calling applications such as SkypeTM to bring a guest speaker to air,” said Larry Thaler, CEO of the Video Call Center, “what most people don’t realize is that even the biggest network programs lack the infrastructure to support more than a couple of those video callers at the same time. So while major entertainment companies want to use video caller television, they have told us they need to be freed from hardware constraints and personnel costs to enable hundreds or thousands of callers to join. Caller Queue from the VCC is the special ingredient that lifts those restrictions. Caller Queue makes it possible for the first time to screen any number of callers and keep them engaged while they wait for their opportunity to join the live program, all without investments in massive amounts of hardware or large numbers of call screeners.”
Whether one is hosting the “after show” for a blockbuster television event, a news producer bringing remotes by smartphone and citizen journalists into a breaking news segment, expanding fan engagement in a sporting event, or sponsoring a critical corporate event, prioritizing each caller efficiently is essential. Hundreds or even thousands of these video callers, including fans, expert guest speakers, reporters, stars, and others who want to participate in live programs from apps on their smartphones, can immediately connect and hang out in the Caller Queue virtual Green Room. Callers can then be screened for suitability, prepped for appearance details such as correct lighting, audio level, and camera angle, and kept engaged by watching the live show, staying connected until it is their turn.
As with all products from the VCC, Caller Queue works with any video call application from the world’s 2.5 billion smartphones or other devices, meaning callers can join live from anywhere they are. VCC has successfully tested more than a dozen different IP video calling services, including SkypeTM, FaceTime® and Gruveo (WebRTC), and new applications such as support for Facebook Live are being added all the time.
Caller Queue simplifies call screening by regulating the influx of large volumes of callers, capturing them in an cloud-based queue where they can watch the show and that ensures that no caller ever gets a “busy signal.” Information collected from the callers is presented to the producers for automatic or manual prioritization. Screeners utilize this information to editorially approve the callers, who are then made available to the on air host once a call is cleared. VCC is the only live video production solution that will work either with existing control rooms or enable the host to directly run a broadcast-caliber show without the overhead of a production control room.
The VCC powers a new breed of video-talk programming, the first true Social TV, that connects the users of the world’s 2.5 billion smartphones as participants in compelling, live TV and video events. VCC products are designed by broadcast and streaming TV professionals for professional producers and studios, combining the production quality and editorial sensibilities of world-class live television with the pacing, interactivity and wide distribution of social media.
Caller Queue is available as a stand-alone Cloud service or as part of a complete production package from the Video Call Center.
About The Video Call Center, LLC: VCC is a technology and content development company devoted to handling large numbers of IP Video remotes-by-smartphone and putting them on the air through patented assistive automation approaches. VCC licenses its software and provides caller acquisition and production services. VCC has produced hundreds of programs for the web through its Talk Center America platform, and dozens for programs or the stations of co-owner TEGNA Media. VCC is jointly owned by Wolzien LLC and TEGNA, which is a significant investor and customer. More at www.thevideocallcenter.com
