Frequently Asked Questions
What is RequesTV?
RequesTV is one of the first software developed for the Cable Television operators that will let them start their own Near-Video-on-Demand Channel. The computer at the Cable Operator's end running RequesTV will act as a Video Jukebox. Cable subscribers can demand Videos and important information by dialing the computer through their telephone. The requests will be queued and played one after the other. RequesTV also informs the viewers of the exact time as to when their demand will be played.
How does RequesTV actually work?
After installing RequesTV on your system, you will be required to build a collection of Video files on your Hard Disk Drive. RequesTV supports dat, mpg, avi and mov formats. These videos can be copied from the VCDs' or other sources. One Music Video of around 5 minutes in MPEG-1 version occupies 50 MBs' of your Hard Disk space. So for a collection of 100+ Music Videos you should ideally go in for up to 8.3 GB Hard Disk. Once these video files are copied onto your Hard Drive, they can be directly played without the aid of any VCD player.
What is the procedure that my viewers have to follow to request a song of their choice?
Your computer running RequesTV will be connected to a dedicated telephone line through a modem. You will have to give publicity to this telephone number through your cable channel. All that your subscribers will have to do is dial the phone line that is connected to your computer using push button telephone. A selection menu will pop on his screen with upto 10 options like "HINDI SONGS","POP HITS", "COMEDY SCENES",etc.(these options will be set by you) The viewer selects the option by punching in the digit next to the Category Name. A Video List will then be displayed from which the viewer chooses the song/video number of his choice. Once the three digits for a Music Video are punched in, the computer will register the request, give the caller the playtime on their TV screens and hang up the phone line to take the next request. Meanwhile the requested video will be played after other videos in the queue are played.
How will I gain from starting a Request Channel?
Adding a channel that lets viewers interact with it will surely give your Cable Company a boost, as you will let the viewers enjoy videos of their choice. You can also give a lot of information like Emergency Numbers, Train Timings, Market Information, Star Signs etc. through this channel. On the revenue front, You can play a spot ad between two requests. You can also display local advertisements in the form of crawlers at the bottom of the screen along with logos.