Can i Gymru
9th September 2008
storm™, the hosted services platform operated by Content Guru, showed off its wealth of talents recently, providing the call handling for S4C's prestigious national singing competition, Cân i Gymru (Song for Wales). The services included a live televote and real-time presentation of results.
S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru, meaning Channel Four Wales), launched in 1982, was the first television channel to offer programmes in Welsh during peak viewing hours.
Cân i Gymru was a much-heralded triumph, particularly in the light of complaints received in the past from Welsh viewers, who felt that their votes had not been registered via previous generation call handling solutions.
S4C chose storm because it offered the capacity to handle high call volumes from any region, even with demanding peaks and troughs in traffic. storm’s network architecture is centralised, allowing callers from any region in the UK to access any storm services in huge numbers.
The live event, held at the Afan Lido Centre in Port Talbot, saw Aled Myrddin win £10,000 for his song 'Atgofion' (Memories).
Using the award-winning storm RedResponse and storm RedView software, the mass numbers of calls were handled effortlessly. storm ensured ultimate customer satisfaction and rigorous regulatory compliance by implementing its unique out-of-slot network message system. Viewers were informed if they called in before lines opened, or after they closed, and were advised that they had not been charged for the call.
As the event was held over a single night, votes had to be counted in real time and the results announced within minutes of the lines being closed.
The state-of-the-art statistics package, storm RedView Dashboard, allowed producers to see live-to-the-second results as the votes poured in, allowing them to announce the winner at the end of the show, knowing that the results were fair and accurate.
The production company, Teledu Avanti, was equally impressed with storm’s performance. Jonathan Davies, Cân i Gymru producer, commented, “It was very reassuring to have such a high level of control and monitoring of the voting procedure as the vote was happening. In an age of increased focus on the accountability of programme makers, the combination of online and telephone support, coupled with detailed call logging, gave the production the kind of operational integrity that the host broadcaster S4C was looking for.”
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