July 9, 2008 - Systems and design engineers, machine builders, and others in the industrial automation industry are finding great value in a series of online videos from Opto 22, as a tool to help them understand, source, select, and apply control, monitoring and data acquisition technologies, products, and applications. Opto 22's "OptoVideos" have been downloaded by the tens of thousands since they debuted just three months ago, and are now currently featured on the websites of several industry-leading blogs and trade publications, including Control Engineering, Automation World, Design World and the online resource Automation.com."
Over the past year, Opto 22 has made a corporate-wide commitment toward leveraging Web 2.0 technologies to engage, inform, and educate new and potential customers and other website visitors," says Benson Hougland, Opto 22 Vice President of Marketing. OptoVideos premiered in mid-March and have quickly become some of the most watched industrial automation videos available on the Web. Many of the industry's most influential and heavily-trafficked websites have chosen to host videos of this type and have subsequently seen record download figures.
Automation.com, for example, is an online web portal for industrial automation, process control, and instrumentation professionals. Site publisher Rick Zabel reports a "substantial increase in our website activity, in part due to an influx of videos, podcasts and other multimedia content." All of the OptoVideos (now close to 100 titles) are currently viewable via a Flash-based media player on the Opto 22 website. However, the company also provides the HTML code so others can easily link to or embed the player on their own websites.
The videos can also be subscribed to and downloaded through Apple's free iTunes software, and can be viewed and shared with peers through YouTube as well as several popular blogs.So how does Opto 22 produce all these videos? Hougland says the company has made a considerable investment in the high-definition production equipment, development tools, personnel, and facilities needed to create and deliver this dynamic video content. Currently, the company is producing several types of OptoVideos. "PAC Your Things" video case studies feature an Opto 22 engineer visiting a customer site to conduct an interview, tour the facility, and see an industrial automation application in action.
High-profile customers and applications from all over the U.S. have been featured, including Verizon Communications in New York City and the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Other customers featured in the "PAC Your Things" video series include Michigan's Department of Natural Resources and Lumenyte International." OptoMinutes" are 60-second segments that educate the viewer on one particular aspect of industrial automation.
These videos typically offer either general instruction or advice, such as tips for choosing the right temperature monitoring sensor, or they can be specific to the Opto 22 product line, such as providing an overview of the company's operator interface terminals.Similarly, Opto 22's "Product Overview" videos provide brief introductions to the hardware, software, and accessories comprising the company's flagship SNAP PAC System. Also available are a series of software screencasts, which are narrated video presentations the company uses to demonstrate in detail the features and functionality of its award-winning PAC Project automation software suite. "Lastly, we have a number of interactive Flash tutorials that website visitors can navigate through at their own pace," says Hougland.
"Among other things, you can trace the history and evolution of the programmable automation controller (or PAC), see how our SNAP PAC System components fit together, find the correct I/O module for your application, discover different networking options, and much more."
About Opto 22
Opto 22 develops and manufactures hardware and software for applications involving industrial automation and control, remote monitoring, and data acquisition. Opto 22 products use standard, commercially available networking and computer technologies, and have an established reputation worldwide for ease-of-use, innovation, quality, and reliability. Opto 22 products are used by automation end-users, OEMs, and information technology and operations personnel. The company was founded in 1974 and is privately held in Temecula, California, USA. Opto 22 products are available through a worldwide network of distributors and system integrators.
