How Video Can Reduce Training Costs

And How to Double Your Bandwidth Efficiency in the Process

SYNERGY BROADCAST SYSTEMS 16115 Dooley Road Addison, TX 75001 972-980-6991 or 800-601-6991 www.synergybroadcast.com

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Recent economic conditions have placed unusual burdens on cities across the country and forced cut-backs and delays on every variety of project. Training for fire and rescue personnel is no exception as budgets have been trimmed curtailing travel, conferences and other special activities that can benefit training of first responders. Even though budgets have been slashed the need for additional training continues as fire and rescue units face increased danger from a wide range of situations from chemical and biological to accident, fire, natural disasters and even the potential for terrorism. In the absence of field, classroom and hands-on training, video becomes an important learning tool. We know from research1 that people tend to remember:”

10% of what we read 20% of what we hear 30% of what we see 50% of what we hear and see.

What’s new to this research is that we will remember 70%-90% of what we see, hear and experience. The experience element does not always mean hands-on because today’s visual learners get almost the same experience from a well done training or demonstration video as they do from hands-on work. Skeptical? Think about any news stories where someone has saved a life and when interviewed about how they knew what to do, answered, “I learned how to do this from television or watching a video.” Recent research into using video in a classroom or training session shows that people who are exposed to regular integration of media into instruction:

Outperform non-exposed peers on tests Score higher on writing assignments Are more active in class discussions Apply more varied and creative approaches to problem solving Use more figurative language.2

HOW AND WHEN TO USE VIDEO Video can be used in a variety of ways to enhance any training topic. Here are some examples of best practices for classroom use:

Always preview video in advance to make it easier to connect to training objectives.

When possible, show short clips from longer programs to either introduce or reinforce discussion.

Set the stage for attentive viewing by giving participants active assignments before a clip to encourage their attention and post discussion.

Use the pause button to promote interactivity between yourself, the video clip and the participants.

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Where appropriate, use the pause button to freeze on a specific frame of video to encourage the participants to search for more detail.

Lead-in’s to video segments could include:

“Listen for this term…” “Think of similar examples…” “Watch for…” “List the things in the video that…”

After the video:

Check for understanding Reinforce a point Connect to real examples Ask, “what did you see, etc…”

It’s clear that video is an important tool. What’s also clear is that it is important to reduce training costs while improving results and training effectiveness. In these times of bare-bones budgets, departments must introduce new and better ways outside of classroom and hands-on training and video-on-demand fulfills this need in several ways:

Video On Demand delivers video when and where it is needed and this is especially critical for fire and rescue personnel who operate on unpredictable schedules and interruptions.

Video On Demand provides for focused one or one usage or classroom or small group usage. Video on demand can be used in the fire station for a small group meeting; in the training center for classroom use or one-on-one by fire fighters during shift downtime.

Video On Demand can be reviewed again and again to improve comprehension and understanding so personnel learn at their own pace for added retention.

Video On Demand is the right technology for new fire fighters because they have grown up in the Internet generation and are very familiar with new technologies, social networking and multi-media and are used to acquiring knowledge in this manner. While it is clear that video makes sense for training in today’s environment the bigger question to address is the implementation and management of a system in a municipal environment so it saves money but also offers improvement versus other alternatives.

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VIDEO DELIVERY OPTIONS There are multiple video delivery options available for today’s fire and rescue departments.

1. Duplication and Delivery: This is a stand-by system for many facilities that provide the most basic video training. Training programs are copied to a videotape or DVD and it is mailed or delivered to each fire station or individual in the department. The advantage of this method is that every station or person receives a copy. The bad news is that this method is not cost effective. Consider the cost of duplication equipment, media, staff time and distribution expenses to deliver the program. In addition to the costs of duplication and delivery there is no way to track that the intended user actually viewed the program or monitor content over time is it can be lost, tossed, stolen or damaged which results in additional costs for duplication and delivery of more copies. Technical difficulties also exist. VHS tape is no longer available for purchase as this format has reached “end of life” and has no future. DVD, on the other hand, is the current technology but format wars have been waging on the newer formats HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray and earlier formats suffer from “too many format types” (DVD-R; RW, etc.) which can cause a duplicated DVD to play properly on some brands of DVD players but not play properly on other brands.

2. Satellite Delivery: Content driven satellite delivery has existed for many years but is both costly and passive similar to watching network television. There is no interactivity and the biggest drawback is all programming is on a schedule that cannot be individualized to deal with the unpredictable nature of a fire and rescue shift. This means it is possible that a program can be broadcast multiple times on the satellite but never viewed by the right personnel because the schedule never coincides with their actual time in the station. This makes satellite delivery the most costly and inefficient.

3. Municipal Cable Channel: Many cities have negotiated deals with their local cable company so that fire and rescue has a specific private cable channel available to them as part of the local cable franchise agreement. In the past these channels were usually funded by the franchise agreement but in recent years some of these arrangements have come under attack by the cable companies as they attempt to “re-harvest” local channels back into their system. For cities that operate a fire and rescue channel they find that these channels have the same issues as satellite delivery. That is, the system depends on a schedule which automatically

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makes it inefficient. In addition to inefficiency, the cable channel requires dedicated personnel to make sure it contains suitable content or the satellite signal serves as the primary source of content.

4. Streaming Media: The Internet and city-wide networks offer the potential for streaming media to desktops and laptops but a lack of control and supervision makes this option difficult. City IT Departments must ensure that certain types of data and network traffic receive high priority to keep the city fully functional. Things like utility databases, IP phone systems, 911 call centers and other important functions should always have priority. Streaming video from unknown sources can have a very negative impact on network performance and is not secure which typically results in the source being blocked. Another potential problem is the use of city-owned PC’s in the fire stations. These are usually needed for departmental communications and not practical for video streaming use.

All of these options are available but each one has a variety of weaknesses that cities need to avoid to ensure timely delivery of programming without interruption of services or unnecessary costs. OPTIMAL SOLUTION What’s needed is a solution that provides answers for the drawbacks in today’s traditional methods:

1. Content needs to be available 24/7 and easy to access and view when personnel have time during their shift. Anything that is scheduled is inefficient.

2. Content should be viewable on any TV in the fire station whether it be an analog TV, LCD flat screen or HD plasma screen TV and not require a dedicated PC.

3. The system should be easy to manage and maintain to reduce personnel and operating costs.

4. The system should be capable of providing live programming if necessary for emergency situations or special events.

5. Content should be deliverable using the city’s network but only during off hours so normal and high priority network traffic is never compromised and with specific traffic controls so IT managers can maintain Quality of Service for the entire network. Solutions with this feature provide cities with the ability to double their network traffic just by utilizing night-time bandwidth without compromising peak traffic or the quality of video available.

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VideoCourier Can Double Your Bandwidth Utilization VideoCourier provides cities and municipalities with the ability to deliver video content to multiple locations using “off-peak” bandwidth and place important education and training programming in the hands of fire and rescue personnel so they can maintain their training and education during down time on their shift. About Synergy Broadcast Systems Synergy Broadcast Systems was established in 1987 and is located in Dallas, TX. The company provides turnkey video automation solutions that are modular, flexible and economically scalable to fit the needs of most facilities and provide a migration path for future growth and expansion. The company’s products and solutions include IPTV, remote video delivery, broadcast and cable automation, video on demand, media conversion, archiving and digital signage. For more information on how VideoCourier can help you double your bandwidth productivity please give us a call. We’ll be happy to help you work through the various issues and identify a customized approach that works best for your situation.

Synergy Broadcast Systems 16115 Dooley Road Addison, TX 75001

972-980-6991 800-601-6991 972-980-6994 Fax

http://synergybroadcast.com

1 Lall, Geeta Rani, Ways Children Learn, Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1983, p.5. 2 Research project by Teachers College at Columbia University, 1992.