A dated communications system at the District of Kitimat offices will be updated which will pave the way for smoother live broadcasts.
That’s the hope with a budget approval totalling $61,850 which will fix the town’s telephone system and replace the video system in the council chambers at the Northwest Community College campus.
Basically the District’s information systems coordinator plans to install a computer at the town’s offices that will provide a broadcast feed both to Citywest and to the Internet for livestreaming and archiving.
The work, however, ties in to the greater plans of fixing phone lines, and installing a wireless link from the college campus council chambers to the town offices at City Centre Mall.
As the IT coordinator Paul Mitchell says in his report, the city offices run on an Internet package that is inferior to many homes in Kitimat.
That is while supporting 84 computers and 12 servers.
The town has found they can keep their same rates with Telus if they upgrade to business plans, but they’ll have to upgrade their system, which has little capacity for any new lines or phone services like voicemails.
Meanwhile their improved Internet will hopefully lead to a more reliable television broadcast. As it is the District can’t effectively solve the issues as it seems the feed going to Citywest for the broadcast is fine as it leaves Kitimat.
New cameras and a new system at the town offices will help the town track the broadcast better, as well as provide an Internet broadcast which will simultaneously archive the meetings for future viewings on the Internet.
Given the low reliability of the system in place councillors were eager to find solutions to the broadcast.