Automatic Sync Technologies Partners with Desire2Learn to Enable Automated Closed Captioning
CaptionSync™ now integrates with Desire2Learn® Learning Suite and Capture to deliver automated closed captioning from within the production administration. Both companies are participating in EDUCAUSE 2012, in Denver, exhibiting November 7 and 8. Contact Desire2Learn at booth #1440, and Automatic Sync Technologies at booth #421.
EDUCAUSE – Denver, CO — November 6, 2012 — Automatic Sync Technologies (AST), a leader in captioning and transcription technology and provider of the CaptionSync video closed captioning service, and Desire2Learn Incorporated, a leader in providing cloud-based learning solutions for higher education, K-12 and Fortune 1000 companies, today announced a technology integration and partnership. AST’s CaptionSync is now integrated within the production and administration features of Desire2Learn Learning Suite and Desire2Learn Capture solutions, to support accessibility in education for the deaf and hard of hearing across its customer base.
“At Desire2Learn, we believe learning should be accessible to everyone,” said Dennis Kavelman, Chief Operating Officer, Desire2Learn Incorporated. “We are pleased to partner with Automatic Sync Technologies, as this integration with CaptionSync allows our clients to automate the captioning process and support accessibility and learning by deaf and hard of hearing students.”
The integration enables Desire2Learn products to further support multiple accessibility standards and regulations, as well as U.S. federal mandates, including Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act.
“We are excited to partner with Desire2Learn to offer users useful and important accessibility features,” said Kevin Erler, President of Automatic Sync Technologies. “Captioning media is vital to make content accessible and ensure compliance with accessibility legislation. This integration allows Desire2Learn customers to meet these needs with a very efficient workflow that reduces labor and costs. We look forward to working with Desire2Learn as it moves ahead into the global marketplace.”
About Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn is helping to transform the way the world learns. Providing the next generation learning environment and solutions to engage and inspire lifelong learners, Desire2Learn helps clients break down barriers to access the highest quality learning experiences, and is recognized for its leadership in accessibility. Desire2Learn is a global leader in cloud (SaaS) based learning solutions and provides an open and extensible platform to over 700 clients and over 8 million learners in higher education, K-12, healthcare, government and the corporate sector including the Fortune 1000. Desire2Learn has personnel in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil and Singapore. For more information or to contact us, visit www.Desire2Learn.com.
About CaptionSync™
CaptionSync is an innovative, proprietary software service powered by Automatic Sync Technologies, providing high-quality automated captioning with unrivaled speed at a fraction of the cost of conventional captioning. The simple user interface accepts electronic submission of program media and returns standard-format caption files for web-media such as Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media, for platforms such as Ensemble Video, Kaltura, Mediasite, Brightcove, Echo360, Panopto and YouTube, or for DVD authoring and broadcast. CaptionSync can simultaneously generate caption output for multiple types of media from a single submission. AST’s CaptionSync provides the Gold Standard in accuracy because it does not rely on speech recognition software and its inherent errors — AST stands apart from other providers of automated captioning for this reason.
About Automatic Sync Technologies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is an industry-leading provider of web-based captioning services for thousands of customers worldwide, enabling accurate video and rich media search and retrieval to public and private sector enterprise. Formed in 1998 and funded in part by an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant, AST pioneered the automated captioning technology to deliver the most cost-efficient, high-quality, automatic captioning service available today. AST helps government agencies and educational institutions comply with regulations to make advanced communication services accessible to hard of hearing and deaf audiences. Contact AST by email info@automaticsync.com, online at http://www.automaticsync.com, or call +1 (877) 278-7962
# # #
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Automatic Sync Technologies, Inc.
Kaye McKinzie
Quatrain PR
kaye@quatrainpr.com
+1 (415) 927-7365
Automatic Sync Technologies and EduStream Partner to Streamline Production of Closed Captions for Community Colleges
EduStream.org platform now integrates with CaptionSync™ closed captioning workflow to deliver cost-effective video content that is both accessible and searchable.
Hayward, CA and San Bernardino, CA – November 5, 2012 – Automatic Sync Technologies (AST), a leader in captioning and transcription technology and provider of the CaptionSync™ video closed captioning service, today announced its partnership with EduStream.org, a provider of captioned video-on-demand services, content hosting and live streaming services to California Community Colleges. Edustream.org is now integrated with Automatic Sync Technologies’ CaptionSync service, allowing EduStream member institutions to easily add captions to videos with only a few clicks of the mouse. File transfers are completely automated, allowing institutions to create and share accessible and searchable video content quickly and efficiently.
“EduStream is committed to making video content easily accessible to everyone of our member institutions, and partnering with AST helps us accomplish that goal,” said Osman Parada, Senior Technology Support Specialist at EduStream. “Our mission is to provide a central resource for video-on-demand capabilities for members who are not prepared to implement or manage their own request and fulfillment systems. We are excited about the integration with AST, which makes captioning user content easy.”
Colleges across the U.S. are working to meet requirements to deliver accessible content for their hearing impaired and deaf students, faculty and communities. Captioning videos satisfies several federal and state laws, which mandate that video and audio content be made accessible to people with disabilities. In addition to satisfying legal mandates, closed captioning offers benefits to a much broader set of users.
“We are pleased to extend CaptionSync’s affordable captioning and simple workflow to the EduStream community,” said Kevin Erler, President of AST. “Streamlined captioning workflows help colleges meet their legal requirements cost-effectively. Besides making video content accessible, captions also provide learning benefits for all students. Research shows comprehension improves when people are offered both audio and visual information.”
California Colleges DECT Grant for Captioning
AST is an approved vendor for the Distance Education Captioning and Transcription grant program (DECT). A program for participating California Community Colleges, the state’s DECT program can have a grant pay for eligible captioning by using approved CaptionSync DECT accounts. The CaptionSync integration with the EduStream system can also use these approved CaptionSync DECT accounts. For more information on captioning under the DECT program, please see our DECT page.
About EduStream.org
EduStream.org is a cost-effective, centralized resource for providing participating institutions with the video-on-demand capabilities they might not otherwise be prepared to implement or manage. Envisioned by the San Bernardino Community College District and realized through its strategic partnerships, EduStream.org was initially conceptualized as a means of addressing the increasing concerns of academic rigor with traditional television courses. Today, EduStream.org is poised to help educational institutions embed educational videos into their online content, expand staff and professional development programs, and increase the reach of their workforce and economic development programs.
About CaptionSync™
CaptionSync is an innovative, proprietary software service powered by Automatic Sync Technologies, providing high-quality automated captioning with unrivaled speed at a fraction of the cost of conventional captioning. The simple user interface accepts electronic submission of program media and returns standard-format caption files for web-media such as Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media, for platforms such as Mediasite, Brightcove, Kaltura, Echo360, Panopto, Tegrity, Ensemble Video, and YouTube. CaptionSync can simultaneously generate caption output for multiple types of media from a single submission. AST’s CaptionSync provides the Gold Standard in accuracy because it does not rely on speech recognition software and its inherent errors – AST stands apart from other providers of automated captioning for this reason.
About Automatic Sync Technologies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is an industry-leading provider of web-based captioning services for thousands of customers worldwide, enabling accurate video and rich media search and retrieval to public and private sector enterprise. Formed in 1998 and funded in part by an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant, AST pioneered the automated captioning technology to deliver the most cost-efficient, high-quality, automatic captioning service available today. AST helps government agencies and educational institutions comply with regulations to make advanced communication services accessible to hard of hearing and deaf audiences. Contact AST by email info@automaticsync.com, online at http://www.automaticsync.com, or call +1 (877) 278-7962
# # #
Contact:
Kaye McKinzie
Quatrain PR
(415) 927-7365
kaye@quatrainpr.com
Automatic Sync Technologies Drives Momentum with Customer Wins and Partnerships
Automatic Sync Technologies Advancing Services for Video Closed Captioning, Pushes Into Strong 4th Quarter as FCC Captioning Mandate Begins
Hayward, CA — October 29, 2012 — Automatic Sync Technologies (AST), a leader in captioning and transcription technology and provider of the CaptionSync™ video closed captioning service, today highlighted its continued momentum, spurred by strong growth in the first three quarters of 2012. AST has achieved significant milestones that include broad adoption of its services across enterprise, government and education sectors.
“Since 2004, AST has staked its reputation on innovative technology that delivers high quality, affordable captioning support and service to make video accessible as it moves increasingly into the mainstream,” said Kevin Erler, president of Automatic Sync Technologies. “We understand legislative requirements and the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). Now with FCC mandates for accessibility and captioning standards reaching to Internet broadcast channels, AST is ready to help customers meet regulation standards. We offer one of the widest ranges of format support and platform integration to keep pace with the exponential demand for video. We are proud to consistently meet the test to garner renewed government and education contracts, and expand our base of top tier enterprise customers and partners.”
Customer Growth
Over the last year, AST has consistently grown its customer base and in just the past quarter has marked several new milestones in customer wins and contract extensions:
Education
- California State University, 23-campus system. AST won a renewal of its preferred vendor status through a re-bid process.
- Kansas State University. Through RFP bid, AST won contract vendor status across multiple departments, including Disability Services, Online Learning, Food Services, Agricultural and Human Resources.
Government
- AST won a contract renewal for up to 5 years to provide captioning services to the US Library of Congress.
- The National Institutes of Health awarded AST a contract for their National Library of Medicine division.
Enterprise
- AST completed implementation of iOS support for captioning video curriculum published and distributed by its client, Pearson Education, the world’s leading education materials and technology services for students and teachers worldwide.
New Partner/Platform Integration
- AST announced its partnership with Ensemble Video and completion an integrated platform for captioning video course material at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to meet accessibility and learning requirements across the RIT student body, including students from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of nine colleges at RIT.
- AST announced its integration with Digital Rapids Corporation’s new Kayak™ dynamic workflow platform, supporting captioning for its Digital Rapids Transcode Manager® high-volume media processing software. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, with offices in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Australia and Argentina, Digital Rapids provides content transformation and workflow solutions that empower the world’s leading media organizations.
Upcoming Events
- October 31 Enterprise Video Conference – Panel Presentations
- November 7-8 Educause 2012 Booth: 421. AST is proud to be an exhibitor again at one of the leading conferences in education.
“Video Closed Captioning ABCs: Accessibility, Benefits and Compliance”
Moderator:
Paul Riismandel, Director of Curriculum Support, School of Communication, Northwestern University
Panelists:
Kevin Erler, President, Automatic Sync Technologies, LLC
Peter Schott, Director, Digital Production, Cengage Learning
J. Ian Webber, Senior Manager, Academic Technology and Media Services, Rochester Institute of Technology
###
About CaptionSync™
CaptionSync is an innovative, proprietary software service powered by Automatic Sync Technologies, providing high-quality automated captioning with unrivaled speed at a fraction of the cost of conventional captioning. The simple user interface accepts electronic submission of program media and returns standard-format caption files for web-media such as Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media, for platforms such as Ensemble Video, Kaltura, Mediasite, Brightcove, Echo360, Panopto and YouTube, or for DVD authoring and broadcast. CaptionSync can simultaneously generate caption output for multiple types of media from a single submission. AST’s CaptionSync provides the Gold Standard in accuracy because it does not rely on speech recognition software and its inherent errors¬—AST stands apart from other providers of automated captioning for this reason.
About Automatic Sync Technologies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is an industry-leading provider of web-based captioning services for thousands of customers worldwide, enabling accurate video and rich media search and retrieval to public and private sector enterprise. Formed in 1998 and funded in part by an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant, AST pioneered the automated captioning technology to deliver the most cost-efficient, high-quality, automatic captioning service available today. AST helps government agencies and educational institutions comply with regulations to make advanced communication services accessible to hard of hearing and deaf audiences. Contact AST by email info@automaticsync.com, online at www.automaticsync.com, or call +1 (877) 278-7962
# # #
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Automatic Sync Technologies and Symphony Video, Inc. Partner to Enable Broad Adoption of Captioning Service for College Campuses
Universities and colleges across the US are working to meet requirements to deliver accessible content for hearing impaired and deaf students, faculty and community. Today, Symphony Video, Inc., creator of Ensemble Video Software, and Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) announced the completion of an integrated workflow that offers built-in management controls for streamlining video content captioning. Now institutions can aggregate captioning volumes for greater discounts, allowing faster creation of more accessible content while maximizing tight budgets.
Now in release at Syracuse University, Ensemble Video’s integrated solution features seamless captioning via Automatic Sync’s fee-based service, CaptionSync™. “Syracuse University is committed to making its video content accessible to everyone, and AST and Symphony Video help us accomplish that goal,” said Neal Coffey, manager of the Video Production Unit at Syracuse University. “We are excited about the partnership and look forward to taking advantage of the streamlined workflows with the highly accurate captioning from AST. This new feature set will save Syracuse University users time and money.”
Ensemble Video is an award-winning video management platform recognized for a suite of features developed with participation from higher education institutions, including Syracuse University, the University of Illinois, Clemson University, and Colgate University.
“Our vision is focused on the needs of higher education. We are thrilled to collaborate with Automatic Sync to provide a tool that lets institutions easily and cost effectively create accessible content throughout the campus,” said Andy Covell, founder and CEO of Symphony Video, Inc., creator of Ensemble Video Software.
“At Automatic Sync, we recognize the challenges that institutions face as they try to caption more and more content,” said Brent Robertson, co-founder, Automatic Sync Technologies. “This collaboration offers tremendous value for customers in addressing those challenges.”
About Symphony Video
Ensemble Video, Symphony Video’s flagship product, is a rich media management and publishing system used by hundreds of educational institutions. With an easy-to-use interface, extensive feature set and integration with Wowza Media Server, Ensemble Video is an obvious choice for organizations seeking a cost-effective platform that enables users from across the organization to manage, share and distribute video. To learn more about Ensemble Video, visit www.ensemblevideo.com. To setup a trial or demo of Ensemble Video visit the website at: www.ensemblevideo.com/contactus, or call +1 (315) 753-0094.
About CaptionSync™
CaptionSync is an innovative, proprietary software service powered by Automatic Sync Technologies, providing high-quality automated captioning with unrivaled speed at a fraction of the cost of conventional captioning. The simple user interface accepts electronic submission of program media and returns standard-format caption files for web-media such as Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media, for platforms such as Mediasite, Brightcove, Echo360, Panopto and YouTube, or for DVD authoring and broadcast. CaptionSync can simultaneously generate caption output for multiple types of media from a single submission. AST’s CaptionSync provides the Gold Standard in accuracy because it does not rely on speech recognition software and its inherent errors — AST stands apart from other providers of automated captioning for this reason.
About Automatic Sync Technologies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is an industry-leading provider of web-based captioning services for thousands of customers worldwide, enabling accurate video and rich media search and retrieval to public and private sector enterprise. Formed in 1998 and funded in part by an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant, AST pioneered the automated captioning technology to deliver the most cost-efficient, high-quality, automatic captioning service available today. AST helps government agencies and educational institutions comply with regulations to make advanced communication services accessible to hard of hearing and deaf audiences. Contact AST by email info@automaticsync.com, online at www.automaticsync.com, or call +1 (877) 278-7962.
# # #
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Press Contacts
Automatic Sync Technologies
Kaye McKinzie
Quatrain PR
(415) 927-7365
Automatic Sync Technologies Integrates with the Kaltura Online Video Platform
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) today announced its partnership with Kaltura (www.kaltura.com), developer of the first and only open source online video platform. AST’s CaptionSync™ technology now fully integrates with Kaltura’s platform and supports enhanced features in its products and applications, including Kaltura MediaSpace™, an out-of-the-box video portal, so users can search, browse, watch, share and upload videos, and video presentations. CaptionSync enhances Kaltura’s caption support by automating the workflow for requesting and receiving captions. The integration partnership paves the way for enhanced search features, both within videos and across video libraries, and will help advance searchable and accessible digital media in education.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with Kaltura and provide joint customers with a smooth workflow to add time-coded, synchronized captions to videos with a few clicks of the mouse,” said Kevin Erler, president of Automatic Sync Technologies. “Kaltura MediaSpace application is an innovative and creative shared learning environment perfect for higher education. We are excited to be a part of the next-generation of education technology.”
With the combined Kaltura/CaptionSync integration, file transfers are completely automated, allowing streamlined production of accessible, discoverable, and searchable video content quickly and efficiently. Education technology centers can move across complete libraries and provide captioning in record time. Whether transcoding between LMS systems or enabling video management in an independent environment, or configuring Kaltura MediaSpace as a central, YouTube-like environment, the combined format and use possibilities are endless.
“We are delighted to enter this partnership with AST, our newest addition to the Kaltura Application Exchange, enhancing the wide range of solutions offered to Kaltura publishers,” said Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura’s chairman and CEO. “Together we can continue to help educational institutions enhance their learning results by using integrated video with accurate and high-quality captioning that is automated within the Kaltura Platform workflow.”
Complete and accurate closed captions are requirements for thousands of video publishers, who must satisfy state and federal mandates for content accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Two major benefits of incorporating captions is to make video searchable and to improve viewer comprehension. Captioned text reinforces learning with text search for easy back-reference and review. These are important training features for multilingual students.
“AST has been our captioning service to make our videos accessible to the widest audience, which helps us meet the regulatory mandates,” said Ben D. Zastrocky, Director, Educational Technology Center at Metro State College of Denver. “We also use Kaltura to provide our online video management, including lecture capture and now MediaSpace for instructors and students. Having these two vendors working together to advance the capabilities of available technology means we can be assured of smooth operations and concentrate on delivering the best possible education solutions for our users.”
About Kaltura
Kaltura provides the world’s first Open Source Online Video Platform. Over 120,000 media & entertainment companies, enterprises, SMBs, educational institutions, service providers, platform vendors, and system integrators use Kaltura’s flexible platform to enhance their websites, web-services, and web-platforms with advanced customized video, photo and audio functionalities. Kaltura’s features and products enable users to easily deploy custom workflows involving video creation, ingestion, publishing, management, syndication, engagement, monetization and analysis. The free community-supported self-hosted software and source-code is available for download at www.kaltura.org. A commercial version of the software can be obtained at www.kaltura.com along with Kaltura services such as streaming, hosting, transcoding, analytics, ad serving, support and maintenance packages, and professional development. Founded in 2006, New York-based Kaltura is also a founding member of the ‘Open Video Alliance’ (www.openvideoalliance.org), a coalition of organizations dedicated to fostering open standards for online video. For more information: http://www.kaltura.com, http://www.kaltura.org and http://exchange.kaltura.com/.
About CaptionSync™
CaptionSync is an innovative, proprietary software service powered by Automatic Sync Technologies, providing high-quality automated captioning with unrivaled speed at a fraction of the cost of conventional captioning. The simple user interface accepts electronic submission of program media and returns standard-format caption files for web-media such as Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media, for platforms such as Mediasite, Brightcove, Echo360, Panopto and YouTube, or for DVD authoring and broadcast. CaptionSync can simultaneously generate caption output for multiple types of media from a single submission. AST’s CaptionSync provides the Gold Standard in accuracy because it does not rely on speech recognition software and its inherent errors — AST stands apart from other providers of automated captioning for this reason.
About Automatic Sync Technologies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is an industry-leading provider of web-based captioning services for thousands of customers worldwide, enabling accurate video and rich media search and retrieval to public and private sector enterprise. Formed in 1998 and funded in part by an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant, AST pioneered the automated captioning technology to deliver the most cost-efficient, high-quality, automatic captioning service available today. AST helps government agencies and educational institutions comply with regulations to make advanced communication services accessible to hard of hearing and deaf audiences. Contact AST by email info@automaticsync.com, online at www.automaticsync.com, or call +1 (877) 278-7962.
# # #
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Press Contacts
Automatic Sync Technologies
Kaye McKinzie
Quatrain PR
(415) 927-7365
Kaltura, Inc.
Lisa Bennett
Director of Public Relations & Marketing
(212) 981-3965
Automatic Sync Technologies and Tegrity Partner to Automate Fully Captioned Lecture Capture
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) today announced a partnership with Tegrity, the leading campus-wide lecture capture service and a division of McGraw Hill Higher Education. (more…)
Automatic Sync Technologies Added to GSA Schedule 70 to Provide Compliant Closed-Captioning of Digital Video to Federal Agencies
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) today announced that its services are now available to federal government agencies purchasing under the General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70. (more…)
Automatic Sync Technologies Announces Closed Captioning in Spanish
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) today announced support for closed captioning of digital video content in Spanish. AST’s CaptionSync™ technology now delivers full text transcripts and time-coded synchronized captions for videos in Latin American Spanish. (more…)
Automatic Sync Technologies Integrates with Brightcove Video to Enable Automated Workflow for Producers
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) today announced it has partnered with Brightcove, the leading cloud content services company. (more…)
NBC Learn Teams Up With Automatic Sync Technologies To Caption Its Video Archives
Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) is proud to announce that the company was selected to be the captioning provider for NBC Learn. AST’s CaptionSync™ service will provide closed captioning for learning videos that are available on NBCLearn.com. (more…)
