Pacific Television uses Mercury Intercom to shrink the world

Issued January 2012

Trilogy Communications, the global provider of intercom systems and Master Reference Generators to the broadcast industry, today announced the successful implementation of a world-wide intercom communications system by Pacific Television Center (PAC TV).

PAC TV’s business focusses on the transmission and production needs of clients across multiple industries and international borders. Offering services including fibre connectivity, satellite coordination, receive and records, multi-format tape play outs, live shots, satellite media tours, and voiceovers, PAC TV is heavily reliant on real-time international communications.

The Mercury system supplied by Trilogy now links PAC TV’s own hubs in London, New York and Los Angeles to multiple customer networks in Australia and New Zealand with further expansion already planned. This provides a much improved feeling of working together as a team in spite of participants being thousands of miles apart. Coordination is now simple with control rooms connected via a single button push allowing workflow and speed of switching video signals around the globe to be significantly improved.

The new solution replaces the use of international phone calls which are both expensive and often the cause of delays due to the time taken to establish the calls in the first place. The system uses a range of Trilogy intercom panels including rack mounted and desktop varieties which are installed in the Master Control Rooms and are used to coordinate services such as Satellite Downlinks, Global Video Switching via Fibre and Video Tape Playback Cueing. Amongst the many advantages of Mercury was its ability to use the G.722 Audio Compression Codec which carries audio up to 7.5kHz and surpassed the customer’s expectations for sound quality. Future developments of the system will include IFB (Interrupted Fold Back) returns between the Los Angeles, New York and London insert Studios.

Jakob Nielsen, Pacific Television Center's Project Coordinator commented “Trilogy Intercom has truly changed how we communicate between our control rooms and with our clients. It has brought our employees closer together and made a world of difference with our clients. It is so simple and fast to contact another Master Control over the intercom.” He continued “The effectiveness of an intercom system versus international phone calls is like day and night.”

One of the special features of this installation has been the interconnection between the PAC TV Master Control Rooms and the existing intercom system at one of PAC TV’s clients, a major Sydney based network. Although Trilogy has signed up to the EBU Tech Standard 3347 for intercom interconnectivity, this installation surpassed this by some considerable measure by allowing command and control data along with audio to pass between systems allowing for the selection of a specific user in the other system from within the Mercury and vice versa. The advantages are significant both in terms of workflow and maximising the benefit of investment in both existing and new systems.

Background Information

Trilogy Communications Ltd
Trilogy has supplied audio communications equipment to customers in more than seventy countries since 1986. The company was originally formed to design and build video and audio infrastructure equipment for the television and radio broadcast market. It continues to serve this market but now also offers its products to a wide array of customers in defence, emergency management and training and simulation, oil and gas, gaming, and other industries.

Trilogy counts some of the world's best known names among its customer base. These include BBC, ITV, CBS, ABC, Fox TV, France Television, Arqiva, Star TV, Times TV, Qatar TV, Al Jazeera Sports and many others.

Pacific Television (PAC TV)
More than 30 years of client satisfaction and strategic alliances have made Pacific Television Center a leading force for both transmission and live broadcast production. Starting with a single loop and one studio in Los Angeles during the very early years, Pacific Television Center has become a powerhouse of connectivity with additional facilities in New York and London. Pacific Television Center caters to the transmission and production needs of clients across multiple industries and international borders by providing planning, management and seamless delivery around the globe at extremely competitive rates.

Our services include fiber connectivity, satellite coordination, receive and records, multi-format tape play outs, live shots, satellite media tours, and voiceovers.

We can provide remote location production via Western Pacific Mobile Microwave, our ENG truck and microwave system in Los Angeles. As an alternative, we can provide coordination of such services in New York, London or most any other city through one of our strategic partners.