Choosing a recording and replay system with low scalability and expandability may result in costly challenges when upgrading your system.
This article is part 5 of the 6-section Technical Whitepaper: Crucial elements to consider when choosing your ATC recording solution
When choosing your ATC recording solution you must always consider the system’s scalability and expandability. Poorly designed platforms may be difficult and expensive to upgrade, resulting in unpredictable costs and a drain on human resources.
Typical challenges that may arise include problems with integrating new sites into your existing solution, new investments requiring an excessive amount of time to get up and running, and facing difficulties keeping the hardware up-to-date.
Red flags
To avoid getting locked into a potentially costly and time-consuming recording and replay solution with low scalability and expandability there are several red flags you should be aware of:
- Additional channels and sources require new tender processes
- Additional channels and sources require on-site re-installation
- The existing solution cannot easily be upgraded with new channels and/or sources without re-installation of a new version – or replacement of the system as a whole
- The vendor does not support a nationwide solution, and/or is limited to one site only
- There is no leasing option, only a one-time purchase
- The solution is not designed to handle future changes, such as migration to the cloud
These issues are remnants of outdated solutions that still linger on today, and should be avoided in order to keep costs down and efficiency up.
What your vendor should provide
Now that you know which properties and red flags to avoid, let us take a look at the aspects you should favor when choosing your recording and replay solution vendor:
- New channels and sources should be included without reinstallation or a restart of the existing solution
- Upgrades and updates of the existing solution may be done remotely and without the need for on-site assistance
- Your vendor should support a nationwide solution
- Your vendor should support digitalization and cloud features
By choosing a vendor that can satisfy these requirements, you will have much more control over the costs, time, and resources needed to keep your system up-to-date and working with high efficiency.
See what other aspects you should consider when investing in a recording system:
