GatesAir Announces New 24/7 NOC-Based Remote Monitoring Service

GatesAir has announced a new 24/7 NOC-based remote monitoring service for its GatesAir Care program that supplement its other preventative maintenance services available to TV and radio broadcasters.

The new AirWatch365 service will provide broadcasters with a dedicated team of GatesAir RF experts to monitor transmitter performance, analyse RF conditions, and proactively respond to issues that affect quality of experience and uptime.

GatesAir launched its enhanced managed services program last April to address the need for skilled RF resources and services in the global broadcast industry, and ensure maximum uptime and operational efficiency for broadcasters. The program offers service level agreements across three-tiered support plans (Elite, Signature, Standard) that collectively aim to fill widening gaps in engineering skillsets, with GatesAir’s factory-trained team either supplementing or provide all technical resources required to service and support a station’s RF systems.

Broadcasters who opt in to the AirWatch365 service will have a direct line of communication to service engineers based in GatesAir's Quincy manufacturing centre. Upon a thorough evaluation of the broadcaster’s RF infrastructure, the assigned GatesAir team will set specific thresholds and conditions for alarm notifications based on the customer’s specifications across power level, modulation error ratio, and more. Engineers will also keep a watchful eye over performance trends that suggest the potential for issues, and transition into troubleshooting mode to proactively solve problems as necessary. GatesAir’s TV and radio transmitters across air-cooled and liquid-cooled product lines are applicable for AirWatch365.

"One year in, GatesAir Care has been proven to help customers that lack the internal human resources required to service an increasingly complex RF infrastructure," said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. "That complexity will escalate as we inch closer to the reality of ATSC 3.0 single-frequency networks that will introduce a collective of synchronised low-power sites throughout a market, many of which will still include a central site with a high-power ATSC 1.0 service. There is also a greater density of FM sites as more translators and SFNs come to fruition. Through AirWatch365, our experienced, dedicated support staff will provide consistent, proactive and responsive service tailored to each customer's needs, which includes the increased presence of IT technologies in TV and FM systems."

The GatesAir Care program is structured to provide a richer suite of services with each tier, with simple extended warranties, discounted spare parts, technical trainings and preventative maintenance built into the corresponding tiers. Preventative maintenance services include planned site visits designed to keep transmitters and associated RF systems in excellent operating condition, with AirWatch365 remote monitoring services positioned an ideal complement for total quality assurance. Additional services, which can include installation, commissioning, and live, onsite technical support for major broadcast events, are available with each tier.

www.gatesair.com