WHO WOULD BE A TECH-MAN!?!
So, after a period of relative stability across our broadcast platform, we noticed an increased number of outages in our DeePlay 24/7 autoplay, and our web player needed to switch to the emergency player more and more. Following discussions with our platform partner, shoutca.st (now Unmuted), we worked out that the problems were actually coming from the third link in our broadcast chain, Centova.
Let me explain.
Our music doesn't just get sent from our studio direct to your listening device. First it has to be encoded via our Mixxx player and sent to Unmuted's servers via our local ISPs. They encode it still further and pass it on, via their local ISPs, in the format that Centova, one of the world's largest internet radio streaming services, require. They then pass it along, via their ISPs, to your listening device. Your device then unencodes via your chosen player app or software. That's a long chain with many links. Throw in our website host WIX, Amazon networks for Alexa, and our operating systems, and you can see it has many chances to break.
Unmuted came to us with a proposal. How about we let them do the Centova role, with new software and the complete removal of 2 to 3 pieces of that chain? All at no extra cost.
It was a no brainer on paper. But it did mean that everything would need to be changed. All our website coding. All our web & app players. Alexa. Radio Directories. Internet Radios. Our individual broadcast players. It would be a massive under-taking.
Now, if only we knew some mad tech-man, willing to take on the job!
Step forward Tech-Man. not just any tech-man, but Mad Tech-Man.
So we planned very carefully. We gave plenty of warnings and step by step updates of what would happen, why it would happen, when it would happen and what would need to be done next.
To everyone's surprise (including the Mad Tech-Man), the switch-over went without a hitch.
We were off air for around 30 seconds. The web players and applets were updated (and changed) in less than a minute. (Of course, that isn't what really happened, Tech-Man spent 2 days doing parallel changes before hand).
Alexa was back within 3 hours.
Radio directories updated within 24 to 36 hours.
Internet radio settings within 12 to 72 hours.
And lo, Mad Tech-Man surveyed all he had done and created, and his heart filled with gladness and joy.
Except since then the rest of the world has decided to attack the other parts of the chain. Microcrap have done update after update (to fix the stuff they broke in the previous update mostly, with each fix updating causing more issues!) affecting some of our DJ's sensitive setups. Internet providers decided to do backbone switchovers and upgrades with little or no warning.
And Centova decided to switch priority broadcasting uptime to their big commercial partners, squeezing out smaller players with outages all over the place.
But wait, that last one didn't affect RRO! We were no longer with them!
Now, if only everyone else would leave us alone to just do our shows and have fun playing the music we all love.
Yes folks, even a Mad Tech-Man can dream deluded dreams....