Answer to Question 34.docx

Answer to question 34

Webcast 5.2

Standard Webcast Requirements Events will be scheduled through studio suite twelve. There are two deliveries platforms, internal and external. Internal webcasts are supported by OCIO and they maintain their encoders. External webcasts are routed from broadcast rooms and delivered via broadcast encoders / circuits/ Video hosting platform i.e. Akamai or DaCast. All webcasts are treated as a broadcast, lighting, video, and audio must meet HD requirements. Many of the webcast’s are recorded for clients and a YouTube link is delivered, if editing is required and it is more than trimming the head & tail, 48 hours is the standard.

Transmitting Site Equipment Requirements All equipment is GFE and service agreements are currently in place. Contractors can suggest better practices once they have evaluated the current systems. All webcasts must be viewable on mobile devices.

HUD Broadcast standards relating to equipment installation:5.3

When an issue or area has been identified in the broadcast plant that requires installation of equipment, a series of steps will be initiated by the contractor. These steps are considered standard operating procedures when relating to equipment installation. The contactor shall identify the issue and create a write up of the issues. They will then present their results to the government staff. If a determination is made to correct the identified issue, the contractor will conduct research, study market trends, and investigate cost-effective solutions to determine the best item(s) that fulfill the mission requirements. The contactor shall collect equipment quotes from three different vendors. The contactor shall present the three quotes to the government staff. After review, the government staff will either approve or disapprove the recommendation, if approved the contractor shall purchase the equipment item(s) from the approved vendor. If disapproved, the contractor shall conduct more research, study market trends, and investigate cost-effective solutions to determine the preferred item(s) that fulfill the mission requirements. The contract team will then enter a design phase. This requires the creation of CAD drawings that integrates the equipment item(s). The contractor will create cable logs, cable labels, wire line drawings, and a proposed timeline for installation. All this information will be packaged together and presented to government staff for approval. As the equipment item(s) are delivered they will first be sent to the broadcast administration office to be inventoried. The item(s) will be appropriately tagged and put into the master broadcast inventory system. Once completed, the equipment items will be delivered to the contract engineering staff. The Contactor shall set hard dates and schedule the upcoming installation dates with the broadcast administrative staff. The contractor reports what equipment in the broadcast plant will affected during installation times. This will be relayed to all broadcast staff. The contractor shall perform the installation. All equipment installations shall be conducted to manufacture’s standards. Any changes that may occur during installation must reflect in the CAD drawings, cable logs, cable labels, and wire line drawings. When the installation is complete, the contractor shall perform a functionality test. The Government Broadcast Engineer will be present to ensure that standards and quality control have been met. All data/paperwork that has been created during the installation will be reviewed for accuracy, and uniformity by the Government Broadcast Engineer. Once approved the accumulated data will be saved digitally and printed out to be archived into the Broadcast Engineer’s file storage server and hard copied filing system.

Once the equipment installation reaches final approval by the Government Broadcast Engineer and PPM, an after-action meeting will be held with contractors and government staff to review best practices, and challenges that may have occurred during the equipment installation period.

LIFE CYCLING

5.3 Broadcast Engineering and Maintenance

Life Cycle Standards:

All equipment, that has been in use for three to five years from installation/commission date, will be annually assessed by both contractor and government staff. The contactor shall use the HUD broadcast inventory system to identify the equipment. The contactor will use the inventory to determine the age and location of equipment. The contractor will test the identified gear for functionality and performance. The contractor will document any issues that the equipment may or may not have.

If the equipment is performing to standards but is within the lifecycle window, the contractor will still document the performance. The contractor will notify the government staff about the age of the equipment to determine if a replacement is necessary even though the equipment is operating to the prescribed standards. If the equipment is found to be deficient or underperforming, the contractor will conduct research to determine if the issue can be fixed by repair, or the item should be replaced. The contactor will determine if the equipment can be fixed in-house or sent out to an authorized maintenance facility for repair. If the item is to be replaced, the contractor will conduct research to determine if a cost-effective solution is available. The contractor must also consider technological trends that have changed since the broken item was installed/commissioned. This must be reflected in the contactors research.

The contractor shall present their recommendations to the PPM. A discussion will be held to determine the appropriate avenue to take on the life cycled equipment. The item will, either be fixed, replaced, or decommissioned. The contractor will provide documentation throughout the process and at the end of the determination. The documentation will be disseminated and will reflect within the HUD broadcast inventory system.

EFP 5.5 no further information, references back to Production for video gathering standards.

5.6 Audiovisual (AV) Support

The Office of Broadcast and Communication coordinates the set-up, operation, training, and breakdown of all AV equipment in the Departmental Conference Room (DCR), the Auditorium, Room 2235, and other areas in and around HUD Headquarters. Additionally, the office is responsible for providing AV support to the Secretary in the DC metropolitan area and nationwide as required.

Scheduling will assign A/V support after clients have attended a preproduction meeting to determine level of support needed. The audiovisual support team shall contact the client at 10 days out and again at 2 days out from the event, verify time/location and actual support needed. The contract staff shall provide reinforced audio that is clear and audible through GFE racks, mobile racks, ceiling speakers, mobile speakers, and wired /wireless microphones. All Audio equipment is maintained by the engineering tech group. The A/V support team will also assist the client with projected media, often this is in PowerPoint, videos, computer internet links the team shall verify video is stable and viewable by client and event attendee. The Projectors, video walls, screens are all GFE and maintained by the engineering tech group. The A/V support team shall stay the entire event when clients are new users of equipment. When a return client has just “power on” needs, the A/V support team shall assist with the kickoff of the event and then check on the event every 30 min. The A/V support team will notify the PM, PPM, or Lead producer if the client’s event has expanded past the above A/V support.

5.9 Information Technology (IT)

The contract system administrator (SA) shall use the current security software (GFE) to maintain the entire broadcast network. The SA shall recommend new security software, if needed, when evaluation of system Is completed. System and individual workstations shall have the security software updated daily/weekly/monthly with routine maintenance done on the same schedule. Routine maintenance that requires the routers/switches/network connections to be shut down, must be requested through the PPM at a minimum of 7 days in advance, if any emergency maintenance or a critical failure happens, the SA must notify the PPM within 30 min with the initial findings. The PPM and SA will collaborate on best way forward and the PPM will notify the contract PM and HUD staff. Any router/Switch failure that causes an event disconnect or loss of ability to function normally will be considered a critical failure. Critical failures must be repaired within 48 hours, a deviation is only acceptable if parts are not available under the highest purchase and shipping research. The SA is also responsible for operation and maintenance of the broadcast (B-cast) Wi-Fi network in support of the broadcast team. Maintenance and reporting of failures will follow the above for Switches/Routers/Network. The System Administrator will work with the Senior Engineer for planning of lifecycle broadcast IT equipment.

5.7 Master Control Room (MCR)

MCR Responsibilities The Master Control Room (B-160) is a location in the HUD Broadcast facility where all audio and video signals are routed, controlled, recorded, captioned, and checked for quality control.

The Master Control Technician is the individual that coordinates all video and audio signals in the HUD Broadcast facility and directs the signals to their applicable locations. The technician ensures that the audio and video signals are routed from various studios, recordings, fiber up-links, and web streaming are on-time and on-schedule. The technician is responsible for routing all audio and video signals to their appropriate locations. These locations are broadcast devices such as caption encoders, video teleconference equipment, recording devices, streaming encoders, and fiber optic transmission for off-site connections. The technician is responsible for ensure quality control of all audio and video signals in the HUD Broadcast facility. The technician will need to have basic knowledge of video and audio broadcast standards to ensure quality control has been adhered to.

The Master Control technician is the scheduler and point-of-contact for technical requests in the HUD Broadcast facilities. These include, scheduling and submitting webcast requests to the HUD IT Web Team, the Office of Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and other support contractors for web streaming. They Coordinate live captioning requests with the contracted caption company. Scheduling with the fiber up-link contractor to provide audio and video connections to various organizations around the country. Processing in-house and off-site requests for copies of archived videos. They are also the point-of-contact for assisting HUD clients with streaming, and archived video links.

The Master Control Technician is accountable for the digital media management in the broadcast facility. Digital media management includes the digital asset management server system, SSD back-up drives, and tape back-up for deep archives. The technician ensures quality control throughout the systems. The technician is also responsible for the management of all digital asset storage throughout the facility. It is their responsibility to coordinate and clean-up of out-of-date unfinished and unarchived video from the asset system. This will require interaction and communication with the government and contract staff to determine what video assets will be archived and what will be deleted.

The Master Control Technician process all audio and video requests within the HUD Broadcast Department. When Editors request that certain files are to be copied or moved around the digital asset management server infrastructure, the requests go through the Master Control Technician. The technician will move or copy the files around per the request. The technician is responsible for managing the request. Additionally, certain live events may require video playbacks, in-show video routes, and coordination with off-site locations. The technician is responsible for managing and executing these requests.

5.10 Services

No further information- refer back to services