Wegener Expands Beyond Traditional Satellite Sector
Wegener, a Duluth, Ga.-based manufacturer of products that enable advertising insertions for broadcasters and corporations, is branching out beyond its traditional focus on the satellite industry by broadening its scope to the overall telecommunications marketplace.
The company’s key product to carry out its expanded mission is called the iPump, a device aimed at making the convergence of television and personal computers easy to manage, and as cost-effective and as simple to use as a video cassette recorder, said Jay Batista, Wegener’s vice president of corporate development. Wegener offers a family of iPump equipment to address the unique needs of the various customers that use business video applications.
The company’s iPump (short for information pump) products generally support end-to-end content management, network-wide content management with terrestrial back channels, conditional access, video options, audio options and digital video recorder readers.
“There are about 20 different ways to use business video,” Batista said. “Examples include point-of-purchase advertising, human-resources training libraries, digital signage used in stores, touchscreen kiosks, and delivery and verification of syndicated programming.”
The company now offers a system that lets a manager know and tend to what is happening on each of the individual systems at every receive point within a network. For instance, a human-resources professional can provide a library of training videos and then he or she can track each employee’s individual training. Or a broadcaster can create a channel and a program guide that seems to be a live broadcast, but that is really just stored programs linked to a clock.
The iPump also is used by teleports, and Wegener recently introduced an IP decoder unit that would provide selection of multiple high-definition and SD channels. The equipment also supports such advanced encoding formats as WM9.
While the search for new sources of revenue led to the company’s expansion outside its typical satellite applications, Batista said, more than 75 percent of Wegener’s sales still come from the satellite industry.
For example, Wegener provides network control, conditional access and satellite receivers for commercial programmers. The network control and conditional access allow the use of satellite receivers for revenue- generating activities. Users include a major sporting network and a high-definition provider.
Audio, data and video networks also use the company’s products. Wegener’s iPump media server integrates a satellite receiver with a video server that has IP-routing capabilities to maximize access by end users.
(Jay Batista, Wegener, 770/814-4040)
Wegener At A Glance
Headquarters: 11350 Technology Circle, Duluth, GA 30097
Web Site: http://www.wegener.com
Contact: Jay Batista, Wegener, 770/814-4040
Founded: 1979
Vital Statistics: Wegener has been providing satellite solutions for broadcast television, radio, cable TV and enterprise customers for more than 25 years. The company offers network control, satellite receivers, content management, and conditional access solutions currently used in audio-only, data-only and SD/ HD video networks. Its control system is used in more than 150 networks.
Strategic Focus: Wegener’s innovative iPump Media server allows a network to combine media storage, IP routing and satellite broadcast technology into one device. The multifunctional device enhances broadcast networks, educational networks, digital signage and business networks. The company also offers peripheral IP decoders for digital-signage solutions that allow operators to displayadvanced coding HD and SD content to television monitors.
Source: Wegener