The multi-faceted Audiovisual Unit of the European Parliament has selected Provys to supply a resource management system. This contract resulted from a global public tender to supply a software solution to help plan the AV Unit’s resources.
Provys’ detailed analysis of the tender’s listed requirements showed that the European Parliament not only needed an administrative tool for all resources, but also a collaboration tool to help all the AV Unit’s departments to share those resources. This second tool would be project oriented, clearly linking every activity with all other related objects and activities.
The main changes that the Provys management system delivers to the AV Unit’s operation are the simplification of processes and total control over all resources, including their use. This is aimed at delivering greater effectiveness, fewer errors and increased availability of the Unit’s free-of-charge services that are offered for internal use at the Parliament, as well as for all European and international media.
“The fact that the Provys solution streamlines workflows and regards every production job as a small project is one of the most attractive characteristics of this system. Clients will have an option to easily order our resources over the web, and our colleagues will be able to access our planning online, with common mobile communication tools,’ says the European Parliament’s audiovisual/IT Engineer.
Martin Junek, commercial director, Provys, comments, “We are delighted to be working with the European Parliament. No two management projects are the same and our careful analysis of the requirements in this tender definitely helped to put us on the right track. Our customer will soon see the first benefits coming through, and there will be much more to come.’
As the Provys system is project oriented, the European Parliament will receive more detailed feedback, such as reports by category. For instance, it will be easy to track the use of an editing room by various national ENG crews, or how members of the European Parliament (MEPs) use the production facility for TV statements, to convey their important messages. This is expected to deliver greater efficiencies over the general-purpose spreadsheet software it replaces.
System implementation is ongoing. For smooth overall project management and hardware supply, Provys has partnered with AA Media Group, a well-respected systems integrator. The Provys solution can help the client’s operation, making all data available in real time across the whole organisation, be it in Brussels or Strasbourg. All new data is instantly available on a central database server. This allows the application of a hierarchical approach to resource management that was specifically required by Brussels, typically under areas such as Project > Activity > Booked Resources. Provys seamlessly facilitates this need.
Integration with existing systems is planned for the later stages of the project. Then, as Provys is a management tool, it can gather task status information so actions are triggered when a status changes. Using everyday communications, such as e-mail or SMS, Provys can distribute messages to production crews and receive feedback sent from their smartphones.
