Avior˜ + Ohio
“The IT departments of Amherst, Worthington and Upper Arlington were all instrumental in coordinating efforts to offer innovative technology, improve meeting accessibility and increase citizen engagement for their respective Cities” said Natascha Ross, Swagit’s Account Manager.
DALLAS (PRWEB) April 11, 2019
The cities of Amherst, Worthington, and Upper Arlington, Ohio have recently enhanced their transparency and citizen engagement with upgrades to live and on-demand City meeting webcasts, using hands-free video® streaming and broadcast services provided by Swagit Productions.
“The IT departments of Amherst, Worthington and Upper Arlington were all instrumental in coordinating efforts to offer innovative technology, improve meeting accessibility and increase citizen engagement for their respective Cities” said Natascha Ross, Swagit’s Account Manager.
With these services, the Cities are also able to make more efficient use of their meeting staff. Swagit’s team of video professionals remotely control the video direction of Swagit’s Avior™ broadcast system and spearhead the production of the Cities public meetings, while Swagit’s EASE™ framework automates other manually intensive tasks. In addition, Swagit integrates on-demand meeting videos with their agendas by adding jump-to points for specific agenda items. This indexing service enables residents to find the specific content they need, stepping through video by searching for or clicking specific agenda headings.
All three Cities live stream their City Council meetings on their City websites. After the live meeting broadcast, meeting videos are also available for on-demand viewing. Key features of the on-demand videos are:
- An indexed agenda accompanies each archived video – making it easy for viewers to choose which meeting agenda items they wish to watch, and then jump directly to that particular point within the video.
- The “search” tool can be used to locate specific words used within agenda items; clicking a positive search result will take the viewer to the exact agenda location within a meeting.
- A “Share” tab provides a shareable link to any specific point in a meeting video.
The IT Department for each city were the driving forces behind this latest step in their Cities’ commitment to government transparency. They saw the importance to their residents of a convenient 24/7 tool that enhances access to their government in action, while recognizing the combination of cost savings, reliability, and service provided by Swagit.
- Amherst City Council and Council Committee meetings can be viewed at https://amherstohio.org/city-council/live-stream-and-archived-videos/.
- Upper Arlington City Council meetings and conference sessions are available at https://upperarlingtonoh.gov/city-council-city-clerk/#localscroll-council-videos; meetings are also livestreamed to Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofua .
- Worthington City Council meetings have live captions, and are available at http://www.worthington.org/1885/Live-Stream-Video-Archives.
About Swagit Productions, LLC
Swagit Productions, LLC, based in Dallas, TX, provides hands-free video streaming®, broadcast, and captioning solutions to local, state and federal government agencies. Swagit pioneered the Avior™ Broadcast System – a complete package of HD PTZ (Pan, Tilt and Zoom) cameras and professional video-switching equipment that enables any client to fully outsource the production, operation and distribution of multi-camera broadcasts for public meetings. Swagit’s progressive online, mobile and social platform solutions include the sole-source EASE™ hands-free webcasting® system for public meeting indexing, plus agenda integration, archiving, on-demand playback, closed captioning and the innovative Sound Search™. Swagit’s focus is on emerging technology and relevant avenues of distribution – for example, Swagit’s ISD/Community/PEG (Public, Education and Government Access) portal and app featuring social media integration and on-trend resident engagement.
