New studios for Free State Department of Health

A brand new turnkey iCAM studio has been implemented at Bophelo House, the Free State DoH's headquarters.

"The new studios, which were commissioned for the first time in May 2011, will allow us to more efficiently and effectively create content, edit it and repurpose it for different audiences. This solution sees us move from outdated technology and infrastructure to a Standard Definition digital system which will serve us more than adequately over the next three to five years, allowing us to scale our operations as needed. We will also be able to easily move to HD technologies in a couple of years if we feel it necessary", says Louis Barnard, head of the iCAM project for the Free State DoH.

The iCAM facilities include three control rooms, one main and two smaller broadcasting studios, two editing rooms with voiceover booths, and one central apparatus room. The auditorium at Bophelo House can also serve as a broadcasting studio. There is also editing equipment and central storage with server based play out.

Broadcasting via satellite

The studios are used for content creation by DoH trainers and officials, as well as University of the Free State lecturers and professors who have entered a partnership with the Free State DoH. Traditional tutor led training using teaching aids like projectors, videos and slides is recorded, as are announcements and 'magazine' show interviews and debates on topical issues. Content is then broadcast via a dedicated 24-hour satellite channel leased from Telkom to the 40 iCAM enabled classrooms at clinics, hospitals and other DoH facilities dotted around the province. Content is decoded at these sites using set top boxes. In the majority of instances the tuition is interactive, with facilitators standing by to respond to live questions from learners around the country. iCAM is also used for managerial meetings and corporate communication.

Almost 16 000 DoH students - from administrative to nursing staff, emergency services personnel, doctors and pharmacy staff - pass annually through the 40 iCAM enabled classrooms dotted around the province. The iCAM system is vital to the Free State DoH and its benefits are enormous. It not only allows to inexpensively enhance skills levels of different personnel groups, but ensures new methods, approaches and information are disseminated to the correct groups timeously.

"The Free State DoH studios are on a par with any commercial studio. We designed, supplied and installed a turnkey Standard Definition (SD) digital solution to meet their needs now and into the future. Among others, the main studio is fully kitted out with four Sony cameras, while the two smaller studios make use of a 'hands free' solutions that do not need a cameraman", says Steven Lauter, Sales Manager of Jasco ICT Broadcast Solutions.