Chicago's Frances Xavier Warde School uses Video Furnace to power student TV show and connect its campuses.

CHICAGO -- The Frances Xavier Warde School, a highly diverse coeducational Catholic school, has begun using a state-of-the-art IP video distribution system to connect its two campuses and provide video on demand to enhance educational experiences for its nearly 800 students. The system was developed by Video Furnace, Inc. (www.videofurnace.com), a leading provider of enterprise-class IP video solutions.

With its campuses separated by about two miles, the school uses the Video Furnace system to broadcast a daily student-run newscast called "Wake Up Jaguars" live to students in both buildings. Each of the school's 45 classrooms has a set-top box and LCD projector connected to the system, and lobbies in both buildings have set-top boxes and flat-screen TVs so parents can watch the broadcast as well.

"The mission of our school is to teach students to care about, understand and accept each other," said Lisa Shydlowski, development associate at Frances Xavier Warde. "The Video Furnace system really helps because it connects the entire school. Eighth-graders can see preschoolers, preschoolers can see the older kids, and staff at both buildings can see each other. That helps promote school spirit and employee camaraderie - it helps make everyone feel unified."

In addition to transmitting student news broadcasts, the school uses its Video Furnace system to provide easy-to-use video on demand (VOD). Teachers at each campus previously shared a small number of small-screen TVs that they used to show instructional videos. Now, thanks to the VOD system, teachers don't have to share the TV sets, they don't have to wheel the TV carts from room to room, and multiple classrooms can watch the same video at the same time. In addition, the school installed 7 foot LCD screens in the classrooms, so every video is clearly visible to every student in the room.

The system is also simple for teachers to use, which was a key reason school officials chose Video Furnace. "We didn't want them to have to use computers to show videos, because that would have made it more complicated than it needed to be," said Jomar McDonald, director of technology at Frances Xavier Warde. "It works much like cable. All the teachers have to do is turn on the classroom projector, turn on the set-top box, use the remote to select Guide, scroll to the list of videos, and select the one they want to show. It's that simple."

According to McDonald, the system also was incredibly simple to set up. "It was the easiest technology installation we had to do last summer, and we did a number of them," he said. "Video Furnace had the system preconfigured so all I had to do was plug it in. And it has worked very smoothly ever since."

McDonald said the system was surprisingly affordable, even for a relatively small school. "We feel we are getting a lot more value with Video Furnace than we would have with other systems, especially because it uses an open standard. Not having to use a proprietary player makes it more affordable and easier for teachers to use. We couldn't be happier with the system."

About the Video Furnace IP Video Distribution System

The Video Furnace IP video distribution system enables organizations in every industry to improve communication, enhance collaboration and distribute content in a compelling yet secure manner over their existing high-speed IP networks. Whatever the use, from video on demand to digital signage, wherever there are networked TVs, plasma screens, set-top boxes, desktops or laptops, organizations can deliver live and recorded video, including high definition/H.264.

The system supports all operating systems, functions without non-secure players or plug-ins, requires no end-user training and can scale to support thousands or millions of simultaneous viewers. It's the only solution that provides complete control over every aspect of managing and distributing any live and recorded video. Content is encoded in real-time. Output streams are fully MPEG 1/2/4 compliant at bit rates from 300 Kbps to 12 Mbps. All streams are FIPS-197 compliant and AES encrypted at 256 bits. It is the only U.S. Army-certified solution for providing video over IP (see http://www.videofurnace.com/news-releases/19).

About Video Furnace, Inc.

Video Furnace, Inc. is a leading provider of end-to-end, enterprise-class IP video solutions. With more than 3 million users daily worldwide, the six-year-old company quickly has established its IP video system as the video distribution technology of choice in commercial, education and government settings. Privately held, the Chicago-area company distributes its products through value-added resellers, system integrators and distributors. More information is available at www.videofurnace.com.

The Video Furnace IP video distribution supports Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris 10 operating systems.

Video Furnace is a trademark of Video Furnace.

Video Furnace, Inc., 13975 Polo Trail Drive, Lake Forest, IL 60045, 847-362-6800, www.videofurnace.com