Each month, Radio World’s Buyer’s Guide section looks at new products in a specific category. This month we look at apps for radio technology.
New from ENCO is WebDAD 3.0. Bill Bennett is media solutions and accounts manager at ENCO.
Radio World: What are you highlighting for stations to allow them operate part of their workflow remotely?
Bill Bennett: ENCO is releasing its new WebDAD 3.0 browser-native control for its flagship DAD automation system. It’s more reliable and responsive than simple “remote desktop” alternatives. WebDAD allows direct control of a station’s DAD system from a web browser on the station’s local area network or around the world via the internet.
RW: What are its key capabilities?
Bennett: WebDAD 3.0’s completely modernized user interface redesign is more intuitive and streamlined, with contextually aware elements and a visually appealing dark- or lite-mode interface. Further, it’s been optimized for speed, using forms which are reactive, reducing the need to re-enter information.
WebDAD 3.0’s user security now has greater levels of granularity over permissions, allowing users to only access and modify DAD features they’re allowed to touch, while users with certain impairments or disabilities can now enjoy native support for third-party accessibility assistance tools available via their browser or computer.
WebDAD 3.0 is based on the same groundbreaking disaster recovery capabilities that the core WebDAD product enables, including the ability to edit libraries and playlists, add new content, perform voice tracking and more, as well as allowing users and programmers to access a DAD backup instance in the Cloud, or at an alternate data center, just as if they’re accessing the main studio DAD systems.
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RW: Can you give examples of who is using it?
Bennett: Many customers have adopted WebDAD, including WIHS of the Connecticut Radio Fellowship and NPR Member Station KDNK based in Colorado. Stations already using our DAD system have seen tremendous value in being able to control the station remotely.
RW: Are there misconceptions you’d like to dispel about the product or remote workflows in general?
Bennett: For people who haven’t had the pleasure of using modern web browser-based applications lately, they’re in for a big surprise. Modern designs like WebDAD are more reliable, more reactive to how the user is interacting with it, and more appealing by employing better color schemes and responsive design methods that scale to properly fit the browser size. Moreover, browser-based applications mean users of different operating systems can now access their DAD system, whether from a Mac, Linux or any modern version of Windows.
RW: What else should we know?
Bennett: With ENCO’s new DAD-DR offering, those cloud instances can even be continuously synchronized between studio and cloud, to keep all libraries, playlists and logs in sync, as well as host an IP feed to the transmitter and streaming CDNs.
