The Video Call Center Awarded Chinese Patent for Smartphone-Based Production & Management

The Video Call Center (VCC) has been granted Patent #ZL 201380050976.3 in the People’s Republic of China. This expansion of the VCC’s patent portfolio reflects the company’s leadership in the field of video caller-based television production, which makes it possible to leverage the world’s billions of smartphones to enhance remote coverage while lowering the costs of live remotes and production.

This first Chinese patent follows multiple patents already awarded to the company in the U.S. and recognizes the VCC’s unique technologies and workflows for television production, including management of multiple connections with video callers who use their own smartphones, laptops, and PCs. The patent further covers managing caller information within the production team, switching the production through automated hosting techniques, and systems for connecting, prioritizing and screening callers.

In the U.S., the VCC systems are in use nationally by Major League Baseball, Discovery/TLC, Fox Sports regional networks, and syndicated shows of Sony/TEGNA, among others. The VCC solutions enable traditional and online media companies to create compelling new, live and live-to-tape content formats that bring stars, experts, journalists, athletes, and everyday audience members to air directly from the video calling apps already on their smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

“In this time of heightened interest in US-China trade, we are very pleased to have the value and originality of the Video Call Center’s intellectual property recognized by the Chinese Patent Office. The Chinese people have nearly 800 million smartphones and each is a potential contributor to live television programs,” says Tom Wolzien, executive chairman, VCC. “That makes China an exciting market for content creators to develop innovative productions using VCC technology and services.”

The expansive suite of production technologies and services from the VCC includes:

• Acquisition of callers via Internet video call using globally and regionally popular apps that allow each caller to use their own preferred device.
• Call producing, quality control, and scene optimization to ensure the best possible appearance, lighting, and connectivity for cast members and audience callers.
• Proprietary methodologies and technologies to stabilize consumer video caller applications and to keep high-quality connections open for long periods of time.
• Low-latency live monitoring to ensure that cast members see and hear each other in real-time to maintain engagement, coupled with audio processing to minimize confusion.
• Isolation of return feeds to enable contributors to see each other and react to videos.
• Broadcast-quality ISO recordings of each caller for use in post-production.
• Facilitation of communication between in-studio guests, production personnel, and remote callers for direction and management production.
• Integration with traditional control rooms, as well as fully automated and host-driven workflows for full-featured production without a control room.
• Five levels of editorial control and safety including BleepITTM online program censor protection.