Telemedia is a proudly South African company and a leading provider of a range of
dynamic media broadcasting services with a proven track record in supplying tailor made
quality products. Its portfolio of services, among others, includes satellite
telecommunications and teleport services, SNG and flyaway kits, broadcast equipment
sales and the provisioning of broadcast studios and facilities.
The company has been involved in a number of system integration (SI) projects of late,
including a studio telephone hybrid system for Radio Botswana based in the capital city,
Gaborone.
Telemedia also recently established an outside broadcast (OB) contribution microwave
system for Lesotho Television.
An interesting collaboration with Cassidian Optronics saw Telemedia installing airborne
microwave video downlinks for the Malaysia Fire Department, Airwing.
“SI usually refers to a solution that involves more than just “plug n play’,’ explains
Telemedia’s national sales manager Quentin Barkhuizen. “Some of the major aspects
that we take into consideration when having to design an SI solution include a simple
and cost effective answer to meet the requirements / specifications, as well as upgrade
path considerations. In Africa this always has to be considered because not everybody is
HD, so SD is still required, yet most equipment will do both whether it’s a flick of a
switch or the purchasing of a licence key to enable a feature. The cost implications have
to be considered especially if the client is cash strapped.’
Barkhuizen notes that if you are integrating into an existing system, you need to ensure
that the solution complements the existing workflow and ascertain if there is a trade-off
from one problem to a new one.
“Really complex and difficult to understand systems require that the operators have to
be sufficiently trained on the system for it to be successful,’ continues Barkhuizen.
“After sales service is a very important aspect for any system that has components
which were manufactured outside of South Africa. This requires that the solution
provider stock spares or has sufficiently trained personnel to service / fault find any
problem which may arise.’
With over two decades experience in the radio and television broadcasting industry,
Telemedia’s consistency in quality, attention to detail and pro-active approach has seen
its services being retained by all of their clients around the African continent.
