Webcast Communicator Availability

I was hoping to be able to purchase a Webcast Communicator for my Stake, however by the time I got the funding it appears that you can no longer purchase the communicator. Has anybody else encountered this problem? I know that I can use a PC and the new software, however the communicator is simple and EASY, which is a big plus. I want to have a broadcast system that practically anybody can run.

Thanks!

Justin
Spokane East Stake Technology Specialist

jrwagz wrote:I was hoping to be able to purchase a Webcast Communicator for my Stake, however by the time I got the funding it appears that you can no longer purchase the communicator. Has anybody else encountered this problem?

The Webcast Communicator item can be seen in ldscatalog.com when you use the stake's unit login, but you're right that it can't be ordered. It has a status of "Viewable, Not Orderable." I have no idea if that is a temporary status, or if the item has been discontinued. You might try calling Distribution Services to see if they have more information.

I don't know for sure, but I believe that since they have made the Webcast Communicator Software available for download that this is the new/revised solution. It can be run on any windows compatible computer and you would likely be able to purchase a well featured computer for less than the cost of the Webcast Communicator.

We are looking at low-end laptops for the receiver buildings as they are less than the Webcast Receiver you purchase through Distribution Services.

MRK Said:

It can be run on any windows compatible computer and you would likely be able to purchase a well featured computer for less than the cost of the Webcast Communicator.

You do have a valid point about the windows solution costing less. However I am more concerned about long term maintenance and reliability. I don't want to have to maintain another Windows machine (Windows updates, anti-virus, firewall, etc.) if there is a solution that will get rid of all that and just work no matter what.

I also like how easy the Communicator is to start a Webcast. Literally anybody could do it with very little instruction. The Windows solution, however, makes things more complicated and less people will catch on to setting it up.

Anyway, I just think that has got to be a way that the church can still produce the Communicator for those who want it, and also have the software available for those who want it. Different strokes for different folks.

Greetings,

The Meetinghouse Webcast Communicator is currently out of stock but expected to once again be available to order in the beginning of July, 2010.

Cheers,
Jacob

Is there any update or new information on the availability of the Meetinghouse Webcast Communicator?

We are on schedule for new Communicators to be in stock within the next two weeks.

Cheers,
Jacob

You can place an order now but then you get an email that they are backordered. Any updated timeframe for getting new units in?

We are planning a conference and need to know in order to correctly plan our options.

The Communicators are back in stock and can be ordered through LDSCatalog.com or the new store.lds.org. I have e-mailed distribution and inquired why it is still listed as back ordered. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
Jacob

UPDATE: I have been told the Communicator will no longer be listed as back-ordered by tomorrow. Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

I was contacted by distribution and apparently there is a new version of the communicator that is on hand and being shipped. It costs less and what is the standard going forward.

The new wrinkle is they will not be adding in receivers to available equipment and you will need to use laptops as the recievers in the other buildings.

We will be testing out this shortly so hopefully the new version works well.

JedWare wrote:We will be testing out this shortly so hopefully the new version works well.

Let us know how it works. The last unit was too pricey for us.

Please let us know how it goes Jed.

We just ran a test this weekend and needless to say we ran into some problems. The video seemed stable and acceptable but the audio was full of compression buzz and audio pops. Not sure if it is something that needs some mixing adjustments or a bad unit.

We tried various configurations of the Audio input level but nothing totally alleviated the sound issues.

We compared to our old slingbox solution and it was a night and day comparision in audio quality.

Was this using a recently purchased Communicator? I'm checking with our manufacturer to see if they can reproduce the issue. Can you tell me what profile you were using at the time?

starkjs wrote:Was this using a recently purchased Communicator? I'm checking with our manufacturer to see if they can reproduce the issue. Can you tell me what profile you were using at the time?

Yes. We just purchased the communicator last week.

We were using the High profile. Is there someone I should contact to work through this issue? We are debating on whether to return the unit.

Yes, please contact the Global Service Desk (801-240-4357). They will be able to troubleshoot the issue with you and escalate it to our engineers as needed.

Cheers,
Jacob

I was able to contact the service desk and they referred me to the Church office in Riverton for testing. They were very helpful and after testing were able to confirm my unit was not working correctly and I was able to recieve another unit to use for Stake conference in a week.

All my previous concerns with audio are now cleared up with this new unit. We will be doing a test run this weekend to test the whole system and this gives me a bit more confidence in the system working as a whole.

Thanks to all those that helped troubleshoot this problem.

Thanks for this update and it was wonderful to meet you in person yesterday.

Cheers,
Jacob