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Vortex spins up VTX-Hire

London-based Vortex Communications has set up a new hire division to handle an increasing number of requests for the hire of its specialist outside broadcast equipment. “With the current economic situation looking set to continue, we see the demand for hire of specialist kit increasing significantly,” said Vortex Director, Ian Prowse.

London-based Vortex Communications has set up a new hire division to handle an increasing number of requests for the hire of its specialist outside broadcast equipment. Apart from the miserable weather in the UK, sport has dominated this summer with Wimbledon tennis, the Open Golf Championship, the Olympic Torch Relay and, of course, the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. “With the current economic situation looking set to continue, we see the demand for hire of specialist kit increasing significantly,” said Vortex Director, Ian Prowse. “We have always shied away from renting equipment to end-users as we did not wish to compete with customers who may have purchased kit for that specific purpose. However, looking back through our records, I saw that we seem to have sold pretty well nothing to any hire company and with this in mind and the huge number of requests to rent equipment from us for the Great Summer of Sport, we decided to set up a hire division – VTX-Hire,” explained Prowse. Most of the equipment supplied so far has been for OB use, including the industry-standard Access-IP 3G Stereo Audio Codec, the V3X Intelligent 3G Antenna/Booster, digital hybrids and other telephone interface devices – plus an unexpected business in the hire of digital clock displays, timers and countdowns. In the case of the Access-IP a full-blown 3G connectivity package has been included together with 24/7 hotline support. Hire customers are also able to credit the hire cost against the outright purchase of the same equipment if purchased immediately at the end of the hire period. Because of the difficulties that can be encountered with 3G Roaming, especially when used for streaming applications, visiting journalists are able to hire a connectivity package including unlocked dongle and SIM for use in their own audio codecs from VTX-Hire with training and support provided as part of the deal. Prowse added: “We supply quite a lot to community and hospital radio stations who are always happy to be offered special pricing for ‘previously-enjoyed’ equipment, which means that we have quite a lot of flexibility with our hire stock.” www.vtx.co.uk  By David Fox