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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Synchronized Web Presense in Multiple Countries
With a viewership of more than 100 million, National Geographic Channel (NGC) broadcasts span across the globe, in varied time
zones. Acknowledging the power of the Internet, NGC discerned
the need for its online presence. The aim was to display program
schedules online and allow viewers to experience NGC explorations
on the web. The web site had to be customized across different
time zones and countries. To manage operations on such a large
scale, NGC partnered with solution providers in various countries
and for India, they chose Icreon (then known as Indicom). The
web site was launched in 2000. Providing high-quality
services on consistent basis, Icreon gained appreciation from
the NGC team and subsequently, the responsibility to design,
develop, and maintain all our client's web sites! |
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| Customer
Profile |
| In September 1997, National Geographic Channel launched their first channel in Europe and Australia. Their channel for Asia was launched soon after, in 1998 and
has built a loyal and devoted following. The word spread quickly
and now the Channel has grown to be available in over 133 countries
and is viewed in more than 100 million homes, in 21 languages. |
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| Business
Requirement |
| NGC wanted to launch a turnkey project
to accomplish its goal of global web presence. The operation
would require a very large & full-time, dedicated team of
professionals, not to mention the physical costs such as hardware,
OS etc. To prevent these costs, NGC chose partners, who would
manage its operations in various countries, with different time
zones. Icreon was chosen for India. |
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| Empowering
NGC's Online Presence |
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| Benefits |
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Consistent and high-end web design matching
global standards |
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In-sync event & operations management for the web
sites |
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Comprehensive online coverage & promotions for
events |
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Website traffic analysis and monitoring for consistent
performance |
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High-end graphic and Micro-Site designs |
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Interactive online games and contests |
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| Technologies used (Current): |
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| National Geographic Channel was searching
for new mediums to reach its viewers. The Internet having evolved
to what it is today could not be ignored. With growing viewership,
NGC required a strong online presence to provide extensive coverage
of TV program schedules, along with features to add value to
the basic channel subscription. NGC wanted the websites to provide
extensive TV program promotions through online activities like
contests, polls, games, and other interactive features. Apart
from this, the websites had to be maintained for India, UK,
Asia, Singapore, and Hong Kong in addition to our client's Global
Resource Center (Online) – all across different time zones,
with different types of events and contents maintained on a
daily and continuous basis. |
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| NGC client teamed with Icreon in early 2000 with
only the India website development project. Today Icreon manages
the all the other client websites also. |
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Managing six websites is only a part of
the entire responsibility. It extends to being the ever-present
technical resource for all online activity - Providing solutions
to the global network of NGC's teams, along with research &
development in new technologies are all part of the services
provided by Icreon to the Channel.
The biggest challenge in being a part of this operation is working
within global timelines. NGC plans its online promotions and
activities on a global level. It is our responsibility to deliver
within specified timelines, in-sync with NGC teams worldwide. |
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web activities involve: |
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Online program database and telecast schedule
maintenance |
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Content schedule implementation for regional websites |
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Page construction for all content |
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Online event implementation (contests, polls, etc.) |
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Promotional activities (e-Newsletters, online AV's,
etc.) |
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Application development for key processes (Banner Management
System, Global Resource Management System, Administration
consoles) |
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Implementation of interactive features |
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Beta testing, debugging and packaging for distribution
to our client's teams worldwide |
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Web server & Web site maintenance |
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Implementation and monitoring of the WebTrends Live
site analysis system |
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Offline mirror site maintenance |
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Offline Image banking |
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Icreon has a team of professionals who
are dedicated to NGC, from server administrators to proofreading
professionals - the entire gamut. In addition, we provide the
hardware infrastructure including the web server for porting
the websites. Previously, we deployed the websites on
a multi-platform and multi-host architecture, for serving web
pages and applications. The websites were hosted on the Linux
platforms. Development of applications was performed using PHP,
CGI-PERL under Linux. This setup has switched to the Windows
platform, using ASP and PHP/PERL-CGI for Windows.
APPENDIX (20 June 2006) –
Further still, all NGC websites maintained and
managed by Icreon Communications now run on the Microsoft .net
Framework.
We utilized MySQL for database management, previously. As of
now, SQL Server 2000 serves as the database management backend
for al NGC websites. A key concern while developing applications
is that they should seamlessly integrate into the existing system,
irrespective of the databases in use.
A majority of the front-end uses SSI pages with extensive use
of JavaScript. Interactive features are developed using a combination
of JavaScript and ActionScript (Flash). |
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Some of the sub-projects that we have
accomplished for our client include:
Mission
Everest – Complete online coverage of this contest
conducted in India
Mission
Mars – Complete online coverage of this contest
NGC – Geo Genius – An interactive online game developed by Icreon
Secrets
Unveiled & Secret Chambers Revealed – Complete
online coverage of program schedules for these series
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| Summary |
We believe in long-lasting relationships
with our clients and NGC is a perfect example! Over the years,
we have grown as a company, and for NGC, our services have only
improved.
Managing operations across websites catering to a diverse time
zone, we enable NGC to meet its requirements of turnkey and
high-end web presence at par with global web standards. |
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"I would like to commend you for
the excellent service you provided us, getting back to us even
at odd hours of the day and working across different time zones,
to ensure that we met our deadlines on time.…” |
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PRINTWORKS
Vertical - Entertainment & Media
Platform - Microsoft .net |
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STYLE GUIDE
Vertical - Entertainment & Media
Platform - Linux/PHP |
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BLOGGERCE
Vertical - Entertainment & Media
Platform - Linux/PHP |
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QUALITY
PROCESSES
(Web Page) |
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ENGAGEMENT
MODELS
(Web
Page) |
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CASE
STUDIES
(Web
Page) |
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