Planning for the 2024 NAB Show New York is ramping up, and Radio World is asking exhibitors about their plans and expectations. Chris Crump is the senior director of sales and marketing at Comrex.
Radio World: What news will your company feature at the convention — which of your new products or services for radio will you highlight?
Chris Crump: At NAB in Las Vegas, we introduced Gagl + Hotline, a new service which is an add-on to our successful Gagl remote contribution platform. Gagl allows remote contributors to use a common web browser on a smartphone or computer, with a headset to send and receive HD Voice quality audio to a Comrex ACCESS or BRIC-Link codec in the studio.
Up to five contributors can be “Gagl’d” together, each with their own mix-minus, then connected to a Comrex codec. With the addition of Hotline, one of those five contributors can call on a Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T mobile phone just by dialing a 10-digit phone number. HD Voice quality is maintained from cellphone to studio just by dialing a phone number. Gagl subscribers will be able to upgrade their service to Gagl + Hotline in the very near future.
RW: We reported that Kris Bobo Specht retired in June. What has that transition been like? Is there any news on new hires/promotions?
Crump: Well before Kris’ retirement announcement, Comrex was in the process of transitioning Kelly Clark into the role of managing director.
Kelly has been an integral part of Comrex since 2004 and was herself recruited by Kris Specht. Our dealers and customers have all benefited from her commitment to the Comrex brand.
Over the past two decades, Kelly has really become the glue that keeps Comrex together and all of us are thrilled to have her and Technical Director Tom Hartnett to lead us into this next phase of our company’s continued success.
RW: As we look ahead to the latter half of the year, what are your goals? What trends will you be keeping an eye on as we look to 2025?
Crump: Virtualization is something that our enterprise customers have been asking for and we may have something to offer in the not-too-distant future.
We’re also looking at developing a hybrid of hardware and subscription services to meet the changing requirements of our core broadcast customers.
Comrex is always interested in improving the quality of on-air callers, especially where mobile phones are concerned. We hope to be showcasing some of these developments in both the near and long term.
RW: What else will you be watching for/looking forward to at the convention?
Crump: We’re always happy to see our East Coast customers in New York. We’ll be looking forward to learning about their upcoming projects and other developments in the SMPTE 2110 and ATSC 3.0 standards.
Comrex booth: 739
