One of the particularities of producing a telepresence event is that different people in different locations must interact together in a coordinated manner. Therefore, it is essential to establish good coordination between the technical teams of each location from the outset. It is recommended to appoint, among them, a person who will be responsible for coordinating everyone’s work. This person will be the central pivot to whom all technical information must converge and who will make the final decisions—especially during events—to avoid delays or misunderstandings, and to ensure that everyone remains well informed about the project’s details and respects the schedule.
Technical coordination must ensure that each team member knows their role and assigned tasks. From the beginning, it is also necessary to ensure that there are enough personnel for the successful completion of a project. For example, if a telepresence project involves not only audiovisual signal transmission between different locations, but also lighting management, sound diffusion, and a composite mix of video signals for web broadcasting, it would be quite demanding for one or two people to perform all these tasks alone.
Ideally, there would be one person responsible for sound, another for telepresence control, another for video control, one for web broadcasting, another for lighting, and so on. However, depending on the project’s requirements, budget, and the skills of each team member, some roles or tasks may sometimes be handled by the same person.
- Create a shared technical folder (Project Notebook) with all technical team members, including:
- Technical specifications related to the spaces used or representing the artists’ needs;
- Contact directory gathering everyone’s information (name, phone number, email, etc.), to facilitate communication among team members;
- Notebook for recording any particularity or specific need for the project; a diagram of connections and streams to be transmitted;
- Scenographic, scenic, lighting, and connection stage plots, etc.
- Tables of intersite multimedia transmissions, audio and video routings;
- Network connection diagram and descriptive sheet of the network infrastructure;
- Technical checklist specific to the production;
- Technical preparation schedule (internet connection test, technical trials, rehearsals, etc.);
- Schedule detailing the working periods of technical team members and Scenic.
- Ensure that each technical team member has reviewed the Project Notebook documents (schedule, specifications, plans, diagrams, charts, etc.) and answer any questions well in advance, before production;
- Communicate with the IT team of each venue involved in a production, have them fill out a descriptive sheet of the network infrastructure, and send it to the technical support and network monitoring team;
- Plan real-world connection tests involving all venues and coordinate their execution;
- Ensure compliance with the schedule and the role of each team member and coordinate the technical progress of the production at all times via an appropriate telecommunication tool;
- Delegate any operational task to maintain a global perspective of technical production and remain available to respond to each team member;
- Act as an intermediary between the technical team and the general production coordination;
- Ensure that all technical equipment necessary for production is available, accessible, and functional;
- Track the service hours of each team member for billing purposes.
¶ Technical Support and Remote Network Monitoring
- Answer technical questions regarding the hardware, software, and networking of multimedia transmissions over the internet;
- Ensure compliance with technical best practices in telepresence and, if necessary, issue reminders to technical coordination;
- Guide telematic operation to relevant online resources (guides, wiki, forums, etc.), if needed;
- Assist the user in diagnosing a technical problem and, if possible, propose solutions or alternatives;
- Install, reset, or update the computer system of a telematic station, if needed.
- Remotely monitor the quality of network links, end-to-end, between different telematic stations and report any observable issues if needed;
- Make recommendations to IT services at each location to optimize the quality of their network link, from the telematic station to the ISP;
- Ensure compliance with network best practices in telepresence and, if necessary, issue reminders to technical coordination (network infrastructure descriptive sheet).
A person responsible for technical operations should not be responsible for:
- Setting up and dismantling any equipment not related to their role or operational post;
- Operating multiple systems or posts simultaneously (telematic station, sound console, video, lighting, camera, etc.);
- Technical coordination;
- Checking the availability of equipment required for the event;
- Obtaining quality access to the wide area network (WAN) of an internet service provider (ISP);
- Responding to requests and questions from anyone other than the coordination or technical team of the event.
- Setting up and dismantling the telematic station;
- Connecting and disconnecting any device to the telematic station—no one else should touch the Scenic station without authorization;
- Ensuring the proper functioning of the equipment composing the telematic station, their power supply, and their network connection;
- Maintaining constant communication with technical coordination and multimedia transmission partners (telematic operation) of the event;
- Reviewing needs, plans, and specifications in advance to coordinate well with the technical team on site and remotely;
- Operating the telematic station during connection tests, carried out before an event, following the directives of technical coordination;
- Operating the telematic station throughout the event, following the directives of technical coordination;
- Diagnosing and resolving any issues related to the operation of the station and telematic application to the best of their abilities and, if needed, contacting technical support after notifying technical coordination;
- Respecting the schedule established in advance by the client according to the terms of the technical operation contract;
- Responding to requests and questions related to telematic operation, from the coordination or technical team of the event.