Truth be told, the question is really if you can ever avoid being struck twice but that makes for a lousy title.

I recently wrote a post about bringing an Echo360 pilot online in about 3 weeks.  ECHO360 INSTALL. CHOAS THEORY IN PRACTICE

I could go into a detailed post listing all the specific steps taken on the Mediasite pilot but really, the installation process was identical.

• Registration of the appliance on network.
• Physical install into lectern.
• Connection and configuration of the existing AV system.
• Camera installation and connection.
• Training on the Mediasite system.
• Scheduling classes and recordings.
• Integration with Sakai to allow single sign on and distribution
• Testing.

There were 2 primary differences between the 2 systems.

• Echo360 is really geared towards the academic market and has a concept of academic terms. Mediasite doesn’t have those. You create folders named after terms or courses. You can create subfolders. You create templates. You create schedules. Then you get a catalog which represents the recordings for a given class. Then you create an LTI integration which point to that folder. (Honestly it never really makes sense to me but it doesn’t have to. It’s easy. It’s repeatable. It works. That’s all that matters.) Both systems are equally flexible. You just have to think about how you want your content and recording structured and organized.
• The Mediasite recorder is a full computer and takes up 3U of space at the lectern. Echo360 was 1U. Not a problem for us. Once you get the system installed and running, most of the configuration can be done from a web console. You can even remotely monitor what the device is recording. Since it is a PC running Windows, it has the same vulnerabilities as a Windows box. Of course the greatest vulnerability is a user on the machine and that isn’t an issue here.

One other note. The recording appliance has a power button on the front. You know what pushing that button would do? Shut down the computer. We went into control panel and disabled that option. I haven’t tried but my guess is that pushing and holding for 4 seconds will shut that sucker down! If it goes production I’m putting a vented cover over the front since the system is accessible to the end user.

The UI is much better on Mediasite. Not just the admin stuff either. The player interface is much nicer. The editing tools are more robust and more user friendly. I suspect that the 2 companies are going to be much more competitive in 6-9 months but that’s currently where things stand.

Quite frankly I was amazed that I was able to get one lecture capture system up and running in three weeks given the infrastructure and notorious headaches I’ve encountered integrating stuff around here.

When I remember that I actually did two lecture capture systems in three weeks, I feel all powerful!

I’m not recommending you try it though. Your mileage may vary…