Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- During the Labor Day weekend, Stephen F. Austin State University became the first university in the United States to distribute broadcast-quality video through a unique Internet link to Texas television stations.

The unique connection provided through Vyvx (pronounced Vivex) enables television news reporters throughout Texas and beyond to conduct on-camera interviews from their studios with SFA faculty located on campus. Vyvx is a part of the international communications company Level 3, headquartered in Broomfield, Colo.

SFA’s first use of the system took place Sept. 2 when video highlights from the SFA-Tarleton State football game were distributed to two network-affiliate stations in Tyler.

“Our society relies on television to gather news and information, and this technology gives SFA a connection to major media markets in Texas that feed university enrollment,” said Andy Kesling, SFA executive director of marketing.

“This will help to increase the visibility of the high-quality faculty members that distinguish SFA,” said Kesling.

In addition to faculty experts, the university also will have the ability to distribute video of appearances by government leaders and noteworthy guests lecturers, as well as highlights of athletic competitions.

SFA’s Internet connection to Vyvx is made possible by signal encoding and decoding hardware from Streambox Inc., a Seattle-based company that provides video transport and newsgathering solutions used by broadcasters, government agencies, and enterprises worldwide.

Encoding hardware located at SFA converts a broadcast-quality video signal that is streamed via a public Internet connection to the Vyvx communications hub located in Tulsa, Okla. There, the signal is decoded and distributed to televisions stations through direct or satellite communications.

“Vyvx representatives said that SFA is the first university in the United States to use Streambox technology to connect with televisions stations through their network,” said Kesling.

The standard method of connecting to the Vyvx network is through point-to-point telecommunications. The two connections nearest to Nacogdoches are located in Dallas, 180 miles away, and Houston, 140 miles away. Vyvx quoted SFA a fee in excess of $8,000 per month for standard access to its network.

“I asked Vyvx to find another way to get video of faculty experts to its Tulsa hub, and the company suggested a connection through the Internet using special hardware,” said Kesling.

After months of coordinating with several manufactures to get equipment to test an Internet connection not previously used, SFA worked with Vyvx to complete an on-site evaluation of the Streambox hardware in July.

“The Vyvx engineering staff was extremely pleased at the quality of the signal arriving at its Tulsa operations center, especially considering it was arriving through the public Internet,” said Kesling.

During the fall semester the Office of Public Affairs will complete a small studio with a camera and lights suitable for television interviews and expand its list of faculty experts who can speak on topics ranging from business, education, and fine arts to forestry, liberal arts, and the sciences. The office also will launch a marketing campaign to Texas television stations and other media to highlight faculty experts.