Challenge

One doesn’t necessarily associate technical innovation with the insurance industry. But ACORD, a nonprofit organization driving the global use of standards in the insurance industry, is not your average insurance organization. A technically savvy and leading-edge company, ACORD sought a more compelling, and effective, way to deliver its message. As Rick Gilman, vice president of communications at ACORD, explained, “A press release or an article just doesn’t have the impact needed to move this industry in the direction it needs to go. We looked for a more dynamic and captivating method of communicating that would cut through today’s inundated inboxes.”

Early on, ACORD targeted video for their enhanced communication method, and Brian Lehmbeck was brought on board as the company’s new media producer to make this vision a reality. While Brian described the opportunity as “any video geek’s dream,” he recognized the project’s challenges—namely ACORD’s international footprint. With program directors for ACORD’s lines of business standards scattered across time zones and continents, getting feedback on video content was a challenge. “I needed a way to get the rough show to people wherever they are,” explained Brian. “What was I going to do? Burn a DVD? Drop a bunch of CDs in the mail? The process couldn’t be delayed just because someone is in London.”

Solution

ACORD implemented a complete workfl ow solution consisting of Avid for shooting and editing; ProxSys Working with the vendors, Brian was able to develop a streamlined process that took him straight from shooting, editing, and review to final product.  Focus Enhancement’s ProxSys Media Asset Management solution is the centerpiece of this workfl ow solution. Brian can upload files from edit directly to ProxSys for storage and distribution.  Program directors can easily fi nd and access video from anywhere over the Internet with the ProxSys multi-user browser interface, signifi cantly cutting review time. Once reviewed, Brian can export the final version straight to Feedroom for posting on ACORD TV, their online programming site.

Result

For ACORD, the ProxSys solution has streamlined their production workfl ow and ensured that Brian receives feedback vital to producing the highest-quality content for their audience. “When I fi rst arrived, the process was not very effi cient,” explained Brian. “I would have to take the raw DV fi le and encode it to WMV in order to upload it on an FTP server.  Someone on the other side would have to download the file over a slow FTP connection. Every step took time. With ProxSys, I can dump fi les into the transcode station in real time, and they’re available for review right away.”

ProxSys Media Server

With an intuitive browser-based interface, robust features, and usage-based pricing,the complete line of ProxSys solutions from Focus Enhancements makes media asset management simple and cost-effective. With ProxSys, you can integrate your entire workflow, including acquisition, storage, and distribution, to gain unparalleled effi ciencies. Designed for fast performance, ProxSys uses rich metadata to make it easy to find and retrieve items quickly. Low-resolution MPEG-4 proxy video clips of your HD, HDV, DV, and MPEG footage allow for quick preview, protect high-resolution media assets, and save network bandwidth.