Overture ENTERPRISE CLASS A/V CONTROL Reduce complexity and cost with a software based A/V control
AN IT APPROACH TO A/V CONTROL The convergence of A/V and IT is no longer just a talking point - it is a reality for many IT departments. Conventional solutions for controlling audiovisual devices are overwhelmingly hardware based, distributed, and use proprietary programming languages. In stark contrast, Medialon Overture is a solution designed by A/V veterans for the IT department. Medialon Overture is an effective enterprise-wide A/V control software. It controls, monitors, and automates thousands of A/V devices in multiple locations, integrates with IT services, and delivers visually stunning, highly interactive user interfaces It is an open database-driven software for fast and powerful integration with your existing control and management infrastructure. Use information from the room booking system to prepare your meeting rooms. Log system and user activity and interface with your SNMP monitoring software. Send alerts to maintenance staff about device failures and set up an A/V help desk anywhere in the world to remotely control your equipment. Overture fits the needs of today s IT and A/V departments and their demanding end users, who require easy-to-use interfaces from a wide range of portable devices Virtualized Today s A/V control solutions rely on proprietary hardware controllers that are expensive to install and maintain and are multiple potential points of failure. Overture software runs in a fully redundant virtualized environment, providing high availability and fault tolerance. It uses less power, has a lower cost of ownership, is easier to deploy and maintain, and is fully scalable.
Centralized Conventional control systems are distributed and rarely connected to anything but A/V equipment. As a centralized solution, Overture interfaces with building management system, Active Directory for credential management, and Microsoft Exchange for room booking integration. It allows IT operators to supervise all A/V equipment, tie in with existing SNMP applications, and offers a built-in dashboard for remote help desk and monitoring. Open Proprietary hardware and programming languages make existing solutions costly to maintain and require specialized programmers and external suppliers for maintenance. Overture offers an easy to learn graphical programming user interface and uses standard IT technologies such as JavaScript and HTML5, allowing IT operators to deploy and maintain the system themselves without needing to bring in outside specialized programmers. Any device that has a web browser can be used as a control interface, including smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Configurable Proprietary programming languages often mean complexity and inconsistency in design. Each programmer has their own approach to the solution. In contrast, Overture generates all control user interfaces almost automatically by simple configuration of a database, providing consistency in the graphical design and programming and eases deployment of multiple language versions. Enterprise Class Instead of running multiple independent systems, Overture centralizes all A/V control in one company-wide system and provides remote help desks for the A/V equipment users, which can be anywhere in the world. In addition, Overture collects data intelligence about equipment usage company wide and can send alerts for maintenance.
FUNCTIONALITIES Control Overture serves user interfaces to in-room control interfaces as web pages, which means any tablet or PC can be used as a control surface. The same user interfaces can also be served to web browsers on phones or personal tablets, if security access is configured to allow it. The pages are responsive and automatically adjust to fit the size of the screen on the device In-room user interfaces are automatically generated from data in Overture s infrastructure database, which describes the equipment in each room. Templates for different types of rooms provide an easy way to change the look and feel of user interfaces for multiple rooms, simply by adjusting the template. Since all rooms use the same templates, all in-room interfaces function the same way, reducing the learning curve for users. Room control interfaces can be multi-lingual, and function identically in all languages. Text updates based on translation information included in Overture s infrastructure database.
Monitor Overture collects real time device status information in one system, which means the data can be displayed in dashboard widgets such as charts, graphs, and lists. Alarms can be raised whenever there is an equipment error, a device needs to be serviced, or a value is outside of its normal range. This is particularly handy for tracking projector lamp hour usage or to know when the air conditioner isn t working in the boardroom! The help desk s map interface shows monitored data in real time, and the data flags can change color if a value
is in an abnormal state. The Help Desk interface also includes a dashboard where users can display data from devices system-wide, making it easy to keep an eye on system status and use. Clicking on a data flag shows real time data about devices or room status. Devices can be controlled or in-room user interfaces can be accessed to assist users who call for help. Since the data is all being collected in one system, Overture can be used to determine how much each device or room is being used. If the meeting rooms on the second floor are constantly booked, but the meeting rooms on the fifth floor are often empty, usage statistics will reveal this trend. Devices can be serviced according to their actual use, not just a calendar. Access control is a real concern for all corporations, and the AV system should be no different. Overture uses existing access control mechanisms such as Microsoft ActiveDirectory and LDAP for user login credentials and access roles management. Every user is given just the access they are entitled to, based on their credentials, no matter what device they use to access the system. Automation A centralized control system includes the added benefit of automation such as automatic power on/power off based on a fixed schedule, room booking information from Microsoft Exchange, in-room occupancy sensors, or a combination of these. Rooms can configure themselves, setting the air conditioning, powering on the display, and setting up the audio routing automatically before a scheduled video conference. When the meeting is over, if the occupancy sensors no longer see activity, the AV equipment can be turned off or put into a power saving mode, and the air conditioner can be reset to a higher temperature. Automation saves energy by turning off devices when they are not being used, which also improves the useful life of the equipment!
ARCHITECTURE Medialon Overture, as an Enterprise Class software, is designed to run in a virtualized fault tolerant environment and is made of two main software components: Control Server, which controls devices, and User Experience Server, which generates and serves all the user interfaces (Help desk, Smartphone, In-room GUI). A User Experience Server can be connected to one or several Control Servers, depending on the architecture required or the size of the project. A large venue may use one User Experience Server with one Control Server to manage all devices in the same building, while a corporation may use one User Experience Server at its headquarters, connected to 20 Control Servers one in each branch or country to centrally manage and control all its AV devices worldwide.
Control Server (CS) The Control Server controls audiovisual devices via TCP/IP and other protocols using IP to serial or I/O converters and includes drivers for industry standard audiovisual equipment. It interfaces with IT applications and services such as Active Directory Services, Microsoft Exchange, SQL databases, Building Management Systems, and commonly used enterprise-class asset management software. Ref. CS-100 CS-300 CS-700 Designation Overture Control Server up to 100 devices Overture Control Server up to 300 devices Overture Control Server up to 700 devices It includes a graphical driver editing tool, a complete SDK for developing custom plug-ins, and an API for integration with other software. The real-time graphical programming environment (Task Engine) does not require a code/compile/download process, easing automation task programming for operators. The Control Server is available in 3 versions depending of the number of controlled devices.
User Experience Server (UX) The User Experience Server categorizes all controlled A/V equipment in an infrastructure database by type, location, and an unlimited number of sub-categories and tags. It automatically generates all graphical user interfaces for the help desk, mobile devices, and in-room control interfaces using information from the infrastructure database. Ref. UX-1 UX-5 UX-10 UX-50 Designation User Experience Server for 1 Control Server User Experience Server for up to 5 Control Servers User Experience Server for up to 10 Control Servers User Experience Server for up to 50 Control Servers Graphical user interfaces are served as HTML5 and use CSS to manage look and feel, delivering a consistent user experience throughout the system, anywhere in the world, supporting multiple language versions. The help desk dashboard displays live data about device status, such as video projector lamp usage, rack room temperatures, or device failures, while the map interface uses a familiar graphical building plan model to geographically access remote room control interfaces as well as device control panels. The User Experience Server comes in 4 different versions, depending of the number of Control Servers connected.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Control Server (CS) Control Protocols Supported Network Ethernet (TCP/IP, UDP) Serial, MIDI, DMX, I/O, Infrared: With external interface Interface Hardware Supported (non-exhaustive) AMX Serial, I/O, Infrared, Touchpanel Moxa Serial SeaLevel Serial Adlink I/O Advantech I/O Beckhoff I/O Opto22 I/O Art-Net DMX 512 sacn DMX 512 Windows Serial GlobalCache Serial, Infrared, I/O Round, Ceil, Floor, Abs, Max, Min, Sin, Asin, Tan, Atan, Multitasking Kernel Several tasks can run simultaneously, synchronously or Cos, Acos, Ln, Log, Exp, Char. asynchronously. Possible to program tasks while running the project in debug mode for testing and adjusting live. Native network interconnection through TCP/IP. Unlimited number of tasks. Task Programming Graphical commands drag and drop JavaScript Driver Editing Tools Built-in graphical driver editor for serial, TCP, and UDP SDK for JavaScript for TCP, UDP, Serial, and DMX SDK for C++ Logical Programming Capabilities Variable Types: Integer, Real, String, Time, Date, Enum. Unlimited user variables. Operators: +, -, *, /, %, ^, =, ==,!=, >, <, >=, <=,, &, #, () Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Frames, Day, DayOfWeekAsName, DayOfWeekAsNumber, Month, Year, LowerCase, UpperCase, Length, CharAt, GetFieldOfEnum, GetIndexOfEnum, Random, Sqrt,
User Experience Server (UX) General -Requires Windows 7 Pro or higher operating system (Windows Server OS supported) -Manage up to 50 Control Servers (CS) -HTTP and HTTPs protocols supported for client connections -OpenCapXML and OpenCapXMLs protocol supported for CS connections -Native or Active Directory user credential access management modes -Modular server installation (static file server, access proxy, database proxy and OpenCap proxy can be installed together or separately) -Multiple log levels Security Encrypted communication between user interface and UX server (cryptographic key and certificate required) Encrypted communication between UX server and CS Encrypted authentication credentials regardless of whether HTTP or HTTPs is used Dashboard & Map Interface (Help Desk) HTML5, JavaScript Widgets Available as an App (ios or Android) Smartphone, Tablet, PC interfaces HTML5, JavaScript Widgets Available as an App (ios or Android) Database PostgreSQL 9.3 database server Multiple UX server instances can be hosted by the same PostgreSQL 9.3 database server (one database per UX server)
TOPOLOGIES As an enterprise class software, Overture can be installed following different topologies in one or several buildings, depending on the LAN / WAN configuration and IT requirements. The following diagrams show some example topologies. Single controller - All-In-One configuration UX and CS hosted on the same machine One or multiple controllers - One UX + CS(s) One UX (all services on the same machine) and multiple CS control servers on the same LAN
One or multiple controllers - Split UX (HTTP/s / SQL Proxy) + Split UX (OpenCap) + CS(s) UX services split: one server hosting the static HTTP service, the SQL Proxy service with the database, and the file server, and multiple CS control servers with UX OpenCap Proxy service on each server.
Multiple controllers - Fully split UX-HTTP/s + UX- SQL Proxy + UX-OpenCap + CS(s) - Multiple LANs UX services split: one server hosting the static HTTP service, another server hosting the SQL Proxy. Multiple CS service configuration, one with its OpenCap Proxy service on the same machine, two other CS control servers with a common OpenCap Proxy service on a separate machine. Each cluster of machines is in a different LAN, but this configuration can also by applied within the same LAN.
Overture Technical Doc FWC V5. January 2015 Copyright Medialon Inc. About MEDIALON Medialon develops user friendly yet powerful software to control, monitor and integrate audiovisual resources, information technology, and building systems to create better user experiences. Our customers include high profile museums, theme parks, businesses, convention centers, large venues, and training centers worldwide. We serve and support several thousand active control systems from our headquarters in Miami, Florida, with the help of a comprehensive network of international distributors. www.medialon.com Medialon Inc. 245 Catalonia Avenue Coral Gables, Fl. 33134 USA Tel: +1 305 445 4045 Information and specifications published herein are current as of the date of publication of this document. Medialon Inc. reserves the right to change or modify specifications without prior notice. Products or features contained herein may be covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. Medialon is a registered trademark of Medialon Inc.