CINCINNATI, OH--Harris Corporation announces that the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the largest performing arts center south of the Washington, D.C. Kennedy Center, has installed a Harris InfoCaster digital signage solution. The system enables the compilation and display of high-definition video and program content on monitors around the Arts Center. Harris channel partner Professional Communications Systems (PCS) of Tampa managed the design, engineering, installation and maintenance of the complete visual display and digital messaging system.
The InfoCaster digital signage solution is at the core of the visual display and digital messaging system, consisting of an InfoCaster Creator content creation station, InfoCaster Manager network management products and multiple InfoCaster Player content playout devices. The system is integrated with a Symetrix Symnet audio system and an AMX Netlinx control system that feeds nine video zones equipped with 23 Sharp LCD displays. The primary zones are within the Morsani and Ferguson Hall lobby areas and also include multiple other on-site theaters, exterior locations and the Patel Conservatory, feeding broadcast-quality graphics and program data to patrons and visitors. Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center operators control the displays, messaging and media playback from a central location using the InfoCaster Manager solution.
“Our goal is for our patrons to experience the arts center long before taking their seats,” said Michael Kilgore, vice president of marketing and customer experiences at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. “We use the InfoCaster system to power 48 loudspeakers and 23 monitors scattered over our five-theater campus, and run it all from a marketing office on the administrative floor. The content is segmented and customized to the shows our patrons are coming to see, and before shows they see videos of upcoming events, recognition of our top-level sponsors and welcoming messages from our president. By using InfoCaster™ and the accompanying elements of the system, we can set the tone for the night’s entertainment and extend enjoyment past the show and into the evening.”
According to Greg Amato, account representative at PCS, the flexibility and precision of the InfoCaster scheduling environment set the system apart from the competition.
“The objective of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center digital signage system is to extend the customer experience beyond the main event through the use of high-definition video and music branding,” said Amato. “PCS was challenged with designing a system that would make patrons feel as if they were part of the show and, ultimately, InfoCaster was the only product that offered a comprehensive solution. The TBPAC staff is tasked with developing simple, looped graphics for everyday activity as well as highly complex, time-critical, multizone, scripted events when touring Broadway shows come to town. And, like the business they are in, this system has to ‘go on’ when the curtain goes up.”
A key component of Harris Digital Signage solutions, InfoCaster offers a complete suite of products for creating, scheduling, distributing, playing and reporting video and graphics. Users can acquire or create digital content and manage it throughout the entire delivery chain — from a central site or multiple remote locations — on a TCP/IP network. InfoCaster Creator enables easy acquisition and content creation of graphics, video and dynamic data content, while InfoCaster Manager and players synchronize and deliver content from multiple sources to thousands of remote displays spread over a nationwide network, addressing individual messaging display requirements. Advanced management, scheduling and monitoring tools give users unprecedented control and flexibility over the enterprise network.
