Clear-Com powers global football draft with Gen-IC virtual intercom system

Clear-Com deployed its Gen-IC virtual intercom and SkyPort virtual system management platform at the global 2024 football draft event.

The company’s technology facilitated seamless communication for 36 at-home users and 20 remote draft picks across the globe, including countries such as Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and Spain.

“Like anything, you choose the right tool for the job. Gen-IC was the correct tool for our events because they tend to be pretty channel-intensive; with several users on the Draft using 24 channels. Gen-IC also offers a much faster connection time than LQ or even EHX architecture, so there was no holding your breath to see if a client was able to connect,” said Dave Ragains, broadcast engineer at Show Machine, in a statement.

This technology facilitated seamless communication during the prominent 2024 professional football draft event, known for selecting top college players to join professional teams.

The event saw the Gen-IC virtual intercom system ensuring smooth coordination among participants worldwide. Throughout the draft weekend, an impressive 765,000 attendees experienced the event.

Clear-Com’s Gen-IC Virtual Intercom system played a crucial role in ensuring smooth communication and coordination among participants, regardless of their location.

One of the key advantages of the Gen-IC system is its ability to offload complex IT tasks to the expert team at Clear-Com.

“It’s also very nice to move some of the big-brain IT work off of my plate and let Clear-Com manage the servers, open ports, and keep the internet up. All I have to do is connect my LQs to Skyport, then point them at the correct workspace. After that, I can focus on providing customer support and getting everyone talking,” Ragains added.

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The Gen-IC Virtual Intercom and SkyPort Virtual System Management Platform represent an advancement in virtual communication technology for the broadcast industry. Designed to seamlessly integrate with existing hardware ecosystems or function as a standalone software solution, the system offers unmatched flexibility and scalability. Users can easily add virtual clients as needed, ensuring they can adapt to changing production requirements with ease.

Addressing the challenge of latency in virtual intercom systems, Clear-Com developed a unique application that can be deployed on selectable regional targets, minimizing latency and ensuring seamless communication. This feature allows for improved collaboration capabilities, making it ideal for mission-critical productions.

The Gen-IC system also features Clear-Com’s virtual clients, including the Agent-IC mobile app and Station-IC virtual desktop client, providing high audio quality and reliability. Integration with Clear-Com’s hardware ecosystems is streamlined through the LQ Series IP Interfaces, eliminating the need for dedicated interfacing requirements and simplifying setup.

SkyPort, Clear-Com’s virtual system management platform, empowers partners to efficiently manage multiple customer sites and events through a single online application. This capability allows local administrators to handle events while benefiting from Clear-Com’s extensive support network.