FAQ

Let's delve into the specifics of how you can amplify your broadcasting possibilities, deliver outstanding

live productions, and embrace the flexibility of producing content anytime, anywhere, at any size

by answering some of the most frequent questions we receive.

1. How does the migration from traditional hardware to your software-based solutions work?

In short, it can be tailored to your specific needs and paced accordingly.

We typically recommend starting with a specific use case, allowing us to develop and implement a proof of concept (POC) within a few days. Our solutions are highly adaptable to meet your unique production requirements.

As you and your team grow more confident in our tool's capabilities and begin to see the range of potential use cases it opens up, the migration can naturally expand. This step-by-step approach helps in making the transition smooth and manageable.

A key aspect of our solution is its open and well-documented API, which facilitates seamless integration with third-party software and hardware already in your production workflow. This integration capability is vital for ensuring continuity and minimising disruption.

It's also worth noting that while our solutions are fully software-based, they integrate easily with hardware controllers. There is often no immediate need to change any hardware, further easing the transition.

Overall, our approach to migration is designed to be as smooth and minimally disruptive as possible. We are committed to supporting you every step of the way.

2. What are the costs associated with transitioning to On-Hertz solutions?

Our software is designed for flexibility, ensuring that the costs you incur align with your production scale and business realities.

Our software runs on cost-effective, Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware, available on-prem or in the cloud. Even for the most demanding use cases, the requirements are minimal, generally amounting to just a couple thousand euros per server. The specific hardware specifications are on our documentation portal: https://support.on-hertz.com/.

We offer versatile pricing models, including purchase and subscription options, to align with your financial strategy, whether it's more CAPEX or OPEX-oriented. Our prices are competitive, starting with an accesible entry-point and scaling according to the size of your production infrastructure.

The minimal integration cost is one of the key advantages of our solution. Our comprehensive and easily accessible online documentation strongly contributes to that easy onboarding. We also focus on designing software enabling customer autonomy, reducing the need for extensive support from the vendor.

Additionally, the training cost for your various user profiles is minimal. Our intuitive web UIs ensure a straightforward and friendly experience for each user profile, which cuts down on training time and costs and enhances overall user efficiency.
Finally, we offer a range of support options, from traditional SLAs to all-in-one

subscriptions, allowing you to choose the level of support that best fits your needs and budget.

3. How does your solution handle real-time, live broadcasting scenarios, especially during critical 24/7 operations?

We specifically engineer our solutions to excel in real-time, live broadcasting scenarios, particularly during critical 24/7 operations. The core of our offering is an engine built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on stability, which is essential for continuous live broadcasting.

We develop the engine in C++, a programming language renowned for its ability to build applications requiring stability, high performance, and efficient control over system resources, meeting the rigorous demands of live broadcasting.

Additionally, our system is designed with a compartmentalised microservices architecture. If one service experiences an issue, it won't impact the rest of the operations, ensuring continuous, uninterrupted broadcasting.

Moreover, we offer deployment in fully redundant setups, which can be configured in various ways, including N+N and N+X configurations. They ensure that there will always be a seamless, uninterrupted service, even in the face of hardware failures or other unexpected issues. Finally, it enables the possibility of blue-green deployment in case of update or maintenance.

This combination of advanced technology, architectural design, and deployment flexibility makes our solution highly reliable and capable of meeting the demanding needs of real-time, live broadcasting, especially in critical 24/7 operation scenarios.

4. Are there any case studies showing the effectiveness and efficiency gains using On-Hertz?

Yes, we put together a YouTube playlist.

It includes videos showcasing how various broadcasters have successfully implemented our solutions into their production workflows. Each case study provides insights into the specific challenges they faced, the solutions we provided, and the tangible results they achieved.

These real-world examples are an excellent way to envision how you will be able to achieve similar results. Together, we will future-proof and amplify your production workflows!

5. How scalable is Artisto as my broadcasting needs grow or change?

Artisto, our audio-first production software, embodies a highly agile and scalable approach akin to a 'Lego bricks' system. This design philosophy means users can easily and dynamically adapt their audio production pipelines to suit their ever-changing needs. It offers a level of agility crucial in the fast-paced world of broadcast production and would be impossible to match with legacy hardware.

Scaling up or down is efficient, with new instances deployable in minutes, and is one of the most significant advantages of Artisto. This way, you can always operate at peak efficiency without being burdened by unnecessary resources during quieter periods.

Our licensing model also reflects the scalability of Artisto, and is based on the number of 'nodes' in use. This means that the cost of using our software aligns closely with your actual usage, providing a cost-effective solution that scales with your needs. Furthermore, for periods of peak usage, we offer the option to rent temporary licenses. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for broadcasters who experience seasonal spikes in demand or special events requiring additional resources.

Our approach ensures that you have the flexibility to scale your operations seamlessly, both technically and financially, making Artisto a highly efficient and adaptable solution for your audio production needs.

6. How do your solutions integrate with existing systems and workflows?

At On-Hertz, we understand that integration with existing systems and workflows can often be a (if not the most) challenging aspect of adopting new broadcast solutions. We are committed to simplifying this process.

One of the main significant steps towards this objective is providing an open, comprehensive, and well-documented API that serves as the interface for any interaction with our engine.

For our Media Engine and other real-time services, we have chosen an asynchronous event-driven API (JSON over [secured] WebSocket), optimising for performance and responsiveness. For stateless services, we offer a REST API.
A wide range of software and hardware solutions have already successfully integrated our API. This includes integration with hardware controllers like MIDI or Streamdeck, broadcast controllers like EVS Cerebrum or Lawo VSM, and cueing solutions like Cuez from Tinkerlist or Pluxbox.

These successful integrations demonstrate our API's practical applicability and robustness, giving you confidence that our solutions can be effectively integrated into your existing systems and workflows without significant disruptions to your current operations.

7. How do the automation features assist our team to become more efficient?

In today's broadcasting environment, where technical teams are often under pressure due to shrinking sizes and increasing production demands, our software assists teams by automating repetitive and tedious tasks. It allows your teams to focus their energy and skills on activities that add the most value.

Our software provides complete freedom in operations, from entirely manual operations to full automation. Our comprehensive API is central to this flexibility, giving you critical controls to tailor the automation level according to your specific needs.

Artisto's 'Automate' microservice further expands these capabilities, allowing sophisticated rules based on any engine property and adapting to various broadcasting scenarios. For example, you can set up the system to automatically change the audio routing and start a backup player if a specific channel goes silent or send an HTTP command to an ad server when a bus is closed. These advanced automation options enable you to respond quickly and efficiently to various scenarios, ensuring continuous, high-quality broadcast performance.

Furthermore, our software's compatibility with broadcast controllers, like EVS Cerebrum, exemplifies its ease of integration into existing workflows, accommodating automated and manual operations.

In summary, our software is designed to support your team by taking over the routine tasks, allowing them to concentrate on more critical aspects of production. With our flexible approach and advanced automation features, we aim to ensure your team can maximise their productivity and creativity.

8. Can On-Hertz solutions be customised to meet specific needs?

Our production software, Artisto, is designed to be highly modular and customisable, ensuring it can meet various specific needs in the broadcasting industry and is adaptable for future challenges.

Customers have already successfully implemented it in a wide range of use cases:

live sport production at scale, where real-time performance and reliability demands are exceptionally high;
audio mixing, processing, and automation in radio studios, providing a robust solution for day-to-day operations;
disaster recovery in radio studios, ensuring continuity in unforeseen circumstances;
production studios for temporary channels, demonstrating its flexibility for short-term, high-impact projects;
an Audio over IP (AoIP) contribution platform for MCRs, taking advantage of the built-in support for various AoIP protocols;
recording booths for journalists, highlighting its adaptability to different aspects of broadcast production;
and more…

For a more detailed insight into these use cases, we invite you to check our YouTube playlist, which showcases these applications in action, offering you a glimpse into the potential applications within your operations.

9. What kind of training and support do you provide to ensure smooth software adoption?

Training and support are cornerstones of our strategy to ensure easy adoption of our software. We emphasise a seamless user experience, evident in our web user interfaces (UIs), which are ready-to-use or tailored to individual user profiles. This design philosophy allows users to master the software within 30 minutes, significantly flattening the learning curve.

In addition to our user-friendly interface, we maintain extensive online documentation for our products. This comprehensive documentation approach ensures that all types of users, from casual to technical, have access to the information they need. We aim to empower you to be autonomous in your projects with Artisto, minimising the need for extensive external support.

We also offer support options to suit diverse needs and budgets, ranging from traditional SLAs to comprehensive subscriptions with support and updates. This flexibility allows you to choose the level of support that best fits your operational needs and budget.

Additionally, we collaborate with a network of partners and integrators on our website, who provide integration, training, and advanced support. This network ensures that specialised expertise and tailored support are always available.

Overall, our approach to training and support is designed to facilitate a smooth and efficient adoption of Artisto, ensuring that you and your team can quickly become proficient and make the most out of our software solutions.

10. Do you provide a free trial period?

Yes, we offer a 15-day free trial period for you to experience the flexibility and power of our software firsthand without any restrictions. We understand the importance of evaluating software thoroughly before making a decision, and we want to allow you to explore all the features and capabilities that Artisto offers.

To start your free trial, please use the following form:

https://www.on-hertz.com/demo-artisto.

The process is straightforward, and no credit card is required. This means you can test drive our software in your environment, with your workflows, completely risk-free.

11. What kind of satisfaction guarantee or risk mitigation measures does On-Hertz offer?

We understand the importance of risk mitigation and customer satisfaction when transitioning from legacy hardware to software-based solutions. Therefore, we offer several measures:

Free Trial: We provide a no-strings-attached free trial for all our software. This allows you to thoroughly test and evaluate our solutions in your environment, ensuring they meet your needs without any initial investment.
Flexible Subscription Plans: After the trial period, we offer monthly subscription plans if you wish to continue testing or slowly integrate our solutions into your workflow. These plans are designed to be accessible and come with no long-term commitment. They allow you to further assess our software over an extended period without a significant financial obligation.
Transition to Extended License: Once you are satisfied with our software and ready to integrate it into your operations fully, you can either extend your subscriptions with longer commitments to benefit from better rates or switch to a perpetual license model. In the latter case, we offer a unique benefit: we will discount 50% of the subscription fees you have paid so far, applicable for up to 6 months.

These measures are part of our commitment to ensuring that your onboarding to our software-based solutions is smooth, risk-free, and aligned with your organisation's needs and goals. We are dedicated to supporting you at every step of this transition, ensuring maximum satisfaction with minimal risk.

12. How can On-Hertz help us meet our commitment to environmental sustainability?

On-Hertz enable its customers to meet their environmental commitments through several important features:

They can be scaled up or down according to production needs, so they consume less or even no energy during periods of reduced activity.
They natively enable distributed and remote operations, limiting the need for teams to travel and reducing the impact of transporting equipment on-site.
They reduce the physical footprint required, enabling better conservation of space, reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of building and maintaining larger installations.
They can be installed in data centres in the most suitable locations (e.g. outside urban centres, near natural cooling sources, etc.). By centralising resources, our solutions also reduce the number of technical centres that need to be deployed in a given area.
They can be deployed on COTS infrastructures requiring less cooling than dedicated legacy solutions and in more optimised environments (technical room VS studio).
They help to reduce electronic waste since upgrading a product usually does not involve changing the hardware. Moreover, COTS equipment is easier to recycle than dedicated equipment designed for a single use.