The control of the video server media, from input to output and storage in the form of digital data tape for off-line and near-line purposes demanded a software based approach to control and inventory management. In the past five years, facilities have begun to seriously look at how automated controls, in part or in total, could make a difference to the bottom line, by reducing operating costs and improving reliability through managed control.

The development and acceptance of the facility automation system was pushed onto the front page at just about the time on-line disk storage costs/unit storage stabilized. Video server implementation for spot playback and videotape library caches were now accepted and the notion of secondary (i.e., third party) software products for ingest and playout operations started a new evolution. Up until this period, broadcast station automation products focused principally on videotape and switching control. As video servers started being deployed, stations realized that the 3x5 card stock management techniques no longer made sense. Even the Excel or Access database method made no economic sense because the human factor made it untrustworthy. General day-today activities have become centered on the commercial and promotional spot inventories. These functions demanded something more sophisticated and in turn, more integrated into facility operations.

Few manufacturers had experience in controlling the multiplicity of devices found in a facility, and even fewer (besides the server manufacturers) could or would devote the efforts to controlling and integrating their products into station operations; whether automated...