ENCO helps students master radio

Radio and TV software solutions provider ENCO enables students at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, in the United States, to intuitively operate the college’s low-power radio station WRFH FM, with minimal training required. The station recently updated its DAD radio automation software, in operation since 2015, and simultaneously migrated to a fully redundant architecture through ENCO’s Gateway solution.

“Live programming at WRFH is minimal, so we invest a lot of time in planning our broadcast schedule,” says Scot Bertram, the station’s general manager. “The students that help run the station broadcast a wide spectrum of shows from politics, news, sports, history, science, and some music for up to eight hours daily. A single day’s programming can often total up to 20 different shows, and we end up recording many in advance and playing them back through DAD.”

Hillsdale students use ENCO DAD to manage and automate broadcast content, uploading and running MP3 files while using third-party software from ENCO partner MusicMaster for program scheduling. Bertram says that by using ENCO’s enConveyor and Dropbox modules, the students can easily pull down, move around, or slot files into the DAD automation workflow. “Once everything is set up through Dropbox, our newscasts and other content are immediately programmed,” said Bertram. “The rules are already set within our Dropbox configuration, so all broadcast content is labeled correctly and played out appropriately.”

When they intern over the summer or eventually go to work in the industry, these students will see automation systems and run into many places that use ENCO. 

Scot Bertram, general manager of WRFH-FM

Due to these extensive preparation efforts, ENCO says that Bertram reached out to the company about a solution that would protect their on-air content. The solution included upgrading new ENCO-provided hardware and adding the Gateway solution to back up audio content and databases to physical and cloud-based storage devices. “We are a low-power station with limited resources, and one important system we lack is a generator,” said Bertram. “Gateway replicates and synchronizes all of our content so that when we lose power as we occasionally do, everything appears in the correct order once we resume broadcasting.”

Bertram relied on ENCO’s support team for the Gateway installation and often calls on them when he needs to install an update or training on a new feature. “I have always been thankful to have an ENCO support subscription,” he said. “They are always available when needed, and their engineering team always has a solution when something comes up. We definitely get our money’s worth from our subscription.” 

Bertram believes that the education the students gain at the radio station and the training they receive on ENCO DAD will serve them well should they aspire to a career in broadcasting. “When they intern over the summer or eventually go to work in the industry, these students will see automation systems and run into many places that use ENCO,” he said. “Familiarity with how it looks and functions is an enormous benefit, so ENCO DAD has been a valuable tool for the student learning experience,” says Bertram.