ENCO to Unveil Cloud-Based Radio Automation Disaster Recovery Solution at IBC2019

New DAD-DR provides fully-synchronized, ready-to-run backup of station’s local automation and playout system to minimize on-air interruptions and protect advertising revenues

Southfield, MI, August 22, 2019 – ENCO today announced DAD Disaster Recovery (DAD-DR), a cloud-based companion to the company’s renowned DAD radio automation system that is ready to take over program and ad playout on a moment’s notice in case of a natural disaster or critical technical failure. Providing a fully-featured clone of the broadcaster’s on-premises DAD deployment, DAD-DR stays in continual synchronization with changes made on the local DAD system to ensure that backup content is up to date and that all scheduled ad spots will run. DAD-DR will make its world exhibition debut at IBC2019 in stand 8.A59.

“Disasters that threaten broadcasters’ on-air operations aren’t limited to natural occurrences such as weather-related events, but also include power outages, targeted cyber-attacks, computer viruses, and even equipment failure,” said Ken Frommert, President of ENCO. “Having a complete, up-to-date disaster recovery solution is essential for keeping stations on the air and protecting their advertising revenues. We have already deployed cloud-based fault tolerance for some stations on a customized, individual basis, and with radio enterprises increasingly confident in using the cloud for backup and disaster recovery, the time is right for us to offer it to all of our customers as a packaged solution.”

DAD-DR works seamlessly with ENCO’s browser-based mobile control interface, WebDAD, allowing users to remotely update playlists, add new content, voice track shows, and perform library maintenance – even if the station is completely out of commission. The transition from the station’s main DAD system to the cloud backup can be automated or controlled from a web browser, ensuring customers are able to switch over to DAD-DR even if they can’t get to the studio in person.

The benefits of having a fully-synchronized backup automation and playout environment in the cloud extend beyond just handling unexpected operational interruptions. DAD-DR also makes routine systems maintenance less disruptive, as stations performing on-premises upgrades can switch over to their cloud-based backup during the process to eliminate any risk of on-air impact. “This may end up being the most common usage of DAD-DR,” added Frommert. “While actual ‘disasters’ may have the greatest risk of business impact, they are fortunately relatively few and far between. In contrast, stations frequently update their systems, software or infrastructure, and having DAD-DR at the ready helps them avoid any downtime. Plus, with DAD-DR, broadcasters have a constantly updated, offsite backup of all of their valuable assets.”

The subscription-based DAD-DR service will be hosted on ENCO partner StreamGuys’ broadcast-grade cloud infrastructure. StreamGuys’ proven infrastructure was built and optimized specifically to meet the 24/7 reliability and performance needs of broadcasters and premium media organizations, making it an ideal platform for cloud-based disaster recovery. DAD-DR can also be deployed on other popular cloud platforms if requested or required by customers.

DAD-DR is available immediately. The IBC2019 conference and exhibition will take place from September 13 to 17 in Amsterdam.