WorldCast Systems has announced that its Ecreso transmitter division has upgraded the AiO line of FM transmitters.
Now available is IceCast/ShoutCast streaming reception. A release explains, “With this new capability, the transmitter ensures audio backups when the main sources are faulty” by switching to an “IceCast/ShoutCast stream and continuing to broadcast the program live from a web radio source. The advantage is increased reliability and reassurance of staying on-air, without the fear of adding to infrastructure costs.”
The AiO line already has an onboard backup SD card that can step in on failure but the IceCast/ShoutCast feature provides an interesting option, especially if the time down might exceed the SD card’s recorded programming or if the station prefers or relies on live programming. Also a stream input would allow retention of commercial rotations.
Of course if the internet is down at the transmitter and the transmitter was reliant exclusively upon an IP feed for the main program this won’t help but you can’t fault WorldCast for that.