Looking After the Calrec Community

The first lockdown definitely challenged us and we had to act quickly and respond to a fast-moving and unprecedented situation.

The first thing was our duty of care to our staff, who are at the heart of what we do and who we are, and at the same time — despite the difficulties of being in lockdown — we had to continue to look after our customers around the world.

I am proud to say that throughout this year, despite its many challenges, we have continued to deliver new customer orders on time, commission systems around the world and not for one second did we reduce our efforts in our R&D team who have kept working throughout.

Accelerated Flexibility that Works

I expect more change will come as broadcasters look at how they work, including improving efficiency and safety as a consequence of learning to work with Covid.

Live broadcast was already evolving before the pandemic as new players like Amazon entered the market, and we saw growth in new media like eSports, which all created competition for “eyeballs”.

This was already driving broadcasters to enhance the viewing experience and look for new content to attract viewers – such as niche sports and local events.

Even before remote working became an additional factor, Calrec was already well-positioned to advise and help broadcasters implement whatever technology path suited them.

Lockdown Learning

Whilst manufacturing, R&D and support remained busy, our sales and marketing teams had to find new ways to work.

With travel, exhibitions and events coming to a halt, we had to be proactive and our sales and marketing teams pulled out all the stops, not least across our digital presence.

A prime example of that was the launch of the Calrec Sound Institute, which initially provided free certified online training courses for Brio and Type-R.

The courses are comprehensive and are designed to get users up and running quickly and with confidence. Once the training is completed, users are officially certified by Calrec for Brio and/or Type R systems.

We then significantly expanded the Sound Institute to include an in-depth Audio over IP (AoIP) training course.

The number of people who have taken the course has been amazing, although with the interest in AoIP as broadcasters look for more efficiency, perhaps it’s not surprising.

Calrec has an important role as a trusted advisor to the market, especially given the complexities of AoIP, so it’s important that we help support our customers and partners.

Investing in our Customers’ Future

As part of our continuing commitment to AoIP and our customers, we created a new position just as the pandemic took hold.

Dave Sampson, a Calrec team member for many years, took on the role of Network Specialist to provide in-house expertise, further strengthening Calrec’s ability to support customers in their move to IP.

Understanding a broadcaster’s network infrastructure and the challenges of interoperability at the outset of a project and ensuring their IP network fundamentals are correct is vital, and therefore Dave’s experience has proved invaluable.

We also continued to increase product quality and innovation, building further on our reputation across the industry, with Helen Jones joining as Operations Manager.