July 27, 2012, AdvancedTV Staff | Great Lakes Data Systems, a provider of billing, subscriber management and provisioning systems for small-to-medium global broadband providers, has launched the industry’s only fully integrated, real-time content authorisation service for TV Everywhere, WinCAP. WinCAP offers broadband service providers and their customers the convenience of centralised multi-screen account and parental control management, integrated with GLDS’ existing web-based self-care portal CableAnytime. Additionally, WinCAP will power the 2012 NBC Summer Olympics authorisation for several operators, including BELD Broadband, Cable Systems of Nevada, San Bruno Cable, Spencer Municipal Utilities and others.WinCAP lets subscribers manage TV Everywhere access for all content providers from one centralised customer self-care portal, hosted by GLDS. WinCAP’s real-time authorisation gives subscribers access to multi-screen content instantly with no waiting, unlike other offline, stand-alone authentication solutions that typically take hours to process. Because it’s integrated with GLDS’ existing self-care portal, CableAnytime, subscribers are able to manage TV Everywhere account management using the same credentials they use to view and pay their bill, order PPV, view VoIP usage and upgrade services.

The centralised platform also gives content providers a single point of contact for authorising content, minimising the hassles of certification on the part of the content providers. GLDS integrates WinCAP with a content provider only once, giving that provider instant access to hundreds of operators throughout the U.S. Using WinCAP, broadband service providers correlate package codes with content provider programming. When authorisation requests come in, WinCAP knows what packages to look for on a customer’s account before authorisation.

WinCAP has been in beta since June of 2012 in anticipation of several GLDS operator customers handling TV Everywhere authorisation and self-care controls for their subscribers. Commenting on the WinCAP experience, BELD Broadband’s Broadband Manager Jack Orpen said, “We have been with GLDS since 1999 and have always been pleased with their billing innovations and, like the other services they offer, WinCAP will provide the real-time authorisation and a centralised platform for our new services, such as the 2012 NBC Summer Olympics.”

“We chose to use GLDS’ WinCAP system to manage customer authorisation for our TV Everywhere programming because it was important for us to keep our costs down and deliver the programming to customers relatively quickly. The platform will also give us quick and easy access to future content for our customers, while leveraging GLDS’ easy-to-use and maintain WinCable for authentication,” said Spencer Municipal Utilities’ Telecom Manager Jeff Rezabek.

“Our mission at GLDS has always been to help small operators look big and compete effectively with the same valuable service offerings provided by large operators, at a fraction of the price, and TV Everywhere plays a critical role in meeting that goal,” said GLDS’ President Garrick Russell. “It’s our belief that every operator, large or small, should have the ability to give their subscribers access to content, where they want it and when they want it. With WinCAP, we’re letting operators shift content to a multi-screen environment and send their subscribers to content providers directly, while retaining control of their own brand and cultivating the customer relationship and viewing experience to the greatest extent possible.”

WinCAP is powered by GLDS’ flagship WinCable® billing, subscriber management and provisioning software, which has been installed by more than 400 operators in 49 U.S. states and 44 countries worldwide. It is fully compliant with CableLabs’ OLCA protocol and Adobe Pass, eliminating the requirement for operators to integrate with both protocols used by most content providers for TV Everywhere, i.e., HBO Go, Disney/ESPN, Turner/CNN, NBC and Fox. This gives operators a consolidated platform with a single point of contact for all content providers and simplifies their relationship with affiliates.

GLDS is demonstrating WinCAP for the first time at NCTC’s The Independent Show, July 23-24 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., booth #91. The Independent Show is a NCTC (National Cable Television Cooperative) members-only event, representing nearly 1,000 independent cable operators throughout the United States. GLDS is a NCTC-approved billing provider.

Read the original article here