As part of a project to modernise its infrastructure and strengthen remote contribution capabilities, France 24 has selected Quicklink’s StudioEdge and StudioCall solutions following the retirement of Skype and phase-out of Skype TX.
StudioEdge allows France 24 to integrate remote contributions via Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Quicklink’s own StudioCall platform, providing a robust solution to the growing challenges and connection issues of traditional videoconferencing tools and streamlining the production guest workflow across live news and interviews. 
The solution enables the optimisation of video and audio quality through NVIDIA-powered AI technology to provide broadcast-quality content with minimal operator intervention, said Quicklink.
Commenting on the upgrade, Eric Devoisin-Lagarde, traffic and external production resources manager at France 24, said, “StudioEdge resolved a lot of the issues we often encountered using Skype TX. Today, while we initially planned to integrate StudioEdge gradually, the majority of our connections are already being made through the platform, as it is really simple to learn and deploy. Relying so heavily on QuickLink for our remote contributions helped ease any potential workflow issues with Skype TX being recently discontinued.”
Following the successful integration of a StudioEdge server into the broadcaster’s production infrastructure supporting Paris-based channels, two further servers have been deployed, each dedicated to its own language-specific channel.
“Having dedicated servers for each language allows for increased flexibility and reduces any potential bottlenecks during simultaneous live broadcasts,” added Devoisin-Lagarde.
Prior to a live appearance, the France 24 guest coordination team manages bookings, tests connectivity and ensures video quality. Links for participation are managed within an internal media operations platform integrating directly with the MCR.
Utilising StudioCall has enabled France 24 to connect with remote guests using a web browser, with invitations sent via SMS, WhatsApp or by email, accelerating the join process and providing a high level of operator control. “StudioCall has been a great solution for those who don’t want to use Teams or Zoom; it’s easy to use and the quality is the best,” said Devoisin-Lagarde.
