An integrated solution: Etere Airsales

05 April 2011

Etere Airsales is a comprehensive solution for all your advertising needs.

Etere Airsales is an integrated solution for traffic, accounting and all sales management related operations. It is completely scalable to your size and needs: from the smallest single-station setup to the largest corporation. With Etere Airsales the full spectrum of advertising sales activities is supported including pre and post sales activities, sales campaigns, customer relationship proposals, commercial planning, invoicing, salesmen and agencies commissions.

Etere Airsales is the powerful solution for your sales workflow, able to give you a total visibility and inventory control to maximize advertising revenues and profitability. The integrated nature of Etere Airsales ensures information is always visible in real-time, thus allowing an enhanced inventory management and optimal decision-making. Moreover, the tight integration with Etere Web will bring you a complete view, from all places.

In the television industry, if an advertisement doesn't run, it makes the station lose money. Etere Airsales fully guarantees commercial on-air, where thanks to the affordability of Etere Automation your broadcast will be absolutely safe, and your business will become more efficiently and effectively.

Etere personnel can upgrade currently operating systems to Air Sales with a complete change management.
Key Benefits:
• Fully Windows-based so you have all the benefits of a graphical user interface, drag-and-drop spots scheduling and real-time reporting
• Multiday inventory for managing inventory across multiple days
• Automatically scheduling across multiple stations from a single contract line
• Maximized returns on investment and revenue
• Fast and easy-to-use contract entry
• Reduced operating costs
• Centralized commercial planning
• Extensive real-time information for enhanced decision making
• Consistent and reliable schedule management
• Wide range of customizable and ready-to-use reports
• Inventory definition
• Revenue planning
• Campaign management
• Sales force and account management
• Automated spots placement
• Post transmission analysis, real-time reporting and statistics
• Unlimited contract lines per order
• Visual calendar scheduling
• Seamless interface with automation systems
• Available online checking of pre-orders
• Automated preemption notification via email

• Powerful wizard to create the schedule grid
• Drag-and-drop features for spots scheduling
• Flexible customizable scheduling grid to guide filling procedures
• Capability of moving blocks with and without events
• Target audience and income on every gridline
• Different grid scenarios
• Multi-channel grid including copy and link across channels
Efficient commercial proposal management that allows to configure data-enriched, and multi-line proposals with the following characteristics:
• Single and/or multi-year deals including all necessary variables such as products, channels, constraints, discounts/surcharges and invoicing arrangements can be defined and maintained
• Automatic checking to ensure that campaigns implemented within a deal comply with all rules and constraints
• Detailed view of contract discrepancies before receiving the supervisor’s approval
• Consolidated data management facilitates cross departmental information sharing and avoids time wasted on duplicate inputs
• Fully integrated financial data configuration including multiple tax codes, company specific payment terms and predefined agents’commission rates
• Rate cards can be defined per channel featuring different discount levels for different customer categories
• Multiple rate cards for single slots
• Comprehensive rights management system that both facilitates broadcast inventory optimization and ensures complete compliance with contractual terms
• Easy to configure scheduling rules for an assisted planning
• Product category identification ensures either commercial product dissociation or positive targeted commercial placement
• Primary and secondary events planning
ETERE Air Sales uses all the technologies available from an Etere System, thus providing a complete response that embraces the following modules:
• Etere Memory, for an easy visual as run log control
• Etere Automation, the single scheduling system supporting last minute changes from Air Sales and a standard integration with more than 20 automation systems
• Etere Executive Editor, the automation editor able to display both scheduling and traffic data, to avoid post on-air reconciliation
• Etere Media Manager, to move video as scheduled with a bi-directional integration with program management systems
• Etere BMS, an integrated scheduling system for programs
• File based processing of audio leveling, format conversion and many other media functions
• Real time access to all data, at any time, from anywhere
• Access to the Air Sales system via Etere Web and ensure to your roaming sales force to have complete access over the commercial planning system, thus enabling them to create contracts and reserve space remotely
• Client’s exclusive access to its own contract information and scheduling details, from a remote location using ETERE Web with access levels left to the discretion of the station
• Automatic reservation of space based on user-defined rules and configurations greatly reduces the need for manual intervention helping to reduce operating costs and minimize the potential for human error
• The use of White and Black lists for a priority classification drastically optimizes the commercial scheduling and facilitates a “second choice” scheduling
• The versatility of the automated scheduling tool that allows manual intervention and customized planning at any point in the scheduling process
• Scheduling history always available for monitoring and regulatory purposes
• Ability to accommodate long term planning as reserved space, even in lacking of media files
• Integrated document management for a complete paperless management
• Fully integrated system where every traffic change is immediately reflected in the overall system, without any import export function
• Essential proxy file browsing from within the schedule itself, deriving in a more efficient and time-saving monitoring of media from both, a rights management perspective and a commercial perspective, ensuring in this way a complete visibility of content at all stages of the scheduling process
• Visibility of real-time scheduling returns throughout the planning process for increased efficiency and optimal use of resources
• Support of real-time monitoring of commercial crowding limitations, thus ensuring regulatory constraints are respected
• Coordinated management of alternative schedules and multiple networks
• Flexible manual scheduling available with complete recognition of scheduling rules configured at contract stage
• Efficient schedule manipulation enhanced with drag and drop functionalities
• Easy approval process for the management
• Payments track with daily, weekly and month-end reporting capabilities
• Proactively management of credit limits and credit stops for advertisers and agencies grouped either by station or consolidated across stations
• Effectively manage cash and collections with interactive aging and cash in advance functionality
• Integrated invoicing system aligned with the entire scheduling activity for a comprehensive financial planning
• Supports both at-use and pre-use invoicing, manual and automatic invoice generation, invoicing by run versus by commercial duration and other key invoicing functions
• Simplify payment processing, including lockbox imports
• Agents and Agencies commissions management, including accounts
• Export to external accounting system
• A multitude of business specific reports can be produced on-demand, covering all the areas of commercial planning
• Start your day with a snapshot of your business, based on a user-defined Everyday Report and delivered each morning via email
• A fundamental tool for audience ratings comparisons, capable of taking into account contract audience figures, targeted scheduling figures and actual reported figures, providing an in-depth knowledge of return on investment
• Fully based on Etere Reporting Services for maximum flexibility
• Real-time analysis of your system’s data
• Integration with Excel spreadsheets for easy custom statistics
• A free report manager fully integrated to create your own reports

The process of tracking what is actually broadcast is also a time consuming and costly business for most broadcasters. By integrating the business and broadcast systems as Air sales and Automation with Etere unique approach, time consuming as-run reconciliation becomes a thing of the past – the information required is already there, in the system, ready to be accessed at the press of a button. That integration also enables the fast accumulation and delivery of the reliable information that advertisers and regulators require. Combining the two functions in one framework in effect, bringing to the wider broadcast scheduling operation, the up to the last minute change culture becomes a standard in Air Sales.
Etere Airsales old
SCHEDULE STRUCTURE
• Powerful wizard to create the schedule grid • Drag-and-drop features for spots scheduling • Flexible customizable scheduling grid to guide filling procedures • Capability of moving blocks with and without events • Target audience and income on every gridline • Different grid scenarios • Multi-channel grid including copy and link across channels
Etere Airsales old
PROPOSALS
Efficient commercial proposal management that allows to configure data-enriched, and multi-line proposals with the following characteristics: • Single and/or multi-year deals including all necessary variables such as products, channels, constraints, discounts/surcharges and invoicing arrangements can be defined and maintained • Automatic checking to ensure that campaigns implemented within a deal comply with all rules and constraints • Detailed view of contract discrepancies before receiving the supervisor’s approval • Consolidated data management facilitates cross departmental information sharing and avoids time wasted on duplicate inputs • Fully integrated financial data configuration including multiple tax codes, company specific payment terms and predefined agents’commission rates • Rate cards can be defined per channel featuring different discount levels for different customer categories • Multiple rate cards for single slots • Comprehensive rights management system that both facilitates broadcast inventory optimization and ensures complete compliance with contractual terms • Easy to configure scheduling rules for an assisted planning • Product category identification ensures either commercial product dissociation or positive targeted commercial placement • Primary and secondary events planning
Series Manager
INTEGRATED
ETERE Air Sales uses all the technologies available from an Etere System, thus providing a complete response that embraces the following modules: • Etere Memory, for an easy visual as run log control • Etere Automation, the single scheduling system supporting last minute changes from Air Sales and a standard integration with more than 20 automation systems • Etere Executive Editor, the automation editor able to display both scheduling and traffic data, to avoid post on-air reconciliation • Etere Media Manager, to move video as scheduled with a bi-directional integration with program management systems • Etere BMS, an integrated scheduling system for programs • File based processing of audio leveling, format conversion and many other media functions
etereweb
WEB AND WINDOWS INTERFACES
• Real time access to all data, at any time, from anywhere • Access to the Air Sales system via Etere Web and ensure to your roaming sales force to have complete access over the commercial planning system, thus enabling them to create contracts and reserve space remotely • Client’s exclusive access to its own contract information and scheduling details, from a remote location using ETERE Web with access levels left to the discretion of the station
Etere Airsales old
RESERVATION ENGINE
• Automatic reservation of space based on user-defined rules and configurations greatly reduces the need for manual intervention helping to reduce operating costs and minimize the potential for human error • The use of White and Black lists for a priority classification drastically optimizes the commercial scheduling and facilitates a “second choice” scheduling • The versatility of the automated scheduling tool that allows manual intervention and customized planning at any point in the scheduling process • Scheduling history always available for monitoring and regulatory purposes • Ability to accommodate long term planning as reserved space, even in lacking of media files • Integrated document management for a complete paperless management • Fully integrated system where every traffic change is immediately reflected in the overall system, without any import export function • Essential proxy file browsing from within the schedule itself, deriving in a more efficient and time-saving monitoring of media from both, a rights management perspective and a commercial perspective, ensuring in this way a complete visibility of content at all stages of the scheduling process • Visibility of real-time scheduling returns throughout the planning process for increased efficiency and optimal use of resources • Support of real-time monitoring of commercial crowding limitations, thus ensuring regulatory constraints are respected • Coordinated management of alternative schedules and multiple networks • Flexible manual scheduling available with complete recognition of scheduling rules configured at contract stage • Efficient schedule manipulation enhanced with drag and drop functionalities • Easy approval process for the management
Etere Airsales old
ACCOUNTING
• Payments track with daily, weekly and month-end reporting capabilities • Proactively management of credit limits and credit stops for advertisers and agencies grouped either by station or consolidated across stations • Effectively manage cash and collections with interactive aging and cash in advance functionality • Integrated invoicing system aligned with the entire scheduling activity for a comprehensive financial planning • Supports both at-use and pre-use invoicing, manual and automatic invoice generation, invoicing by run versus by commercial duration and other key invoicing functions • Simplify payment processing, including lockbox imports • Agents and Agencies commissions management, including accounts • Export to external accounting system
Etere Airsales old
REPORTING
• A multitude of business specific reports can be produced on-demand, covering all the areas of commercial planning • Start your day with a snapshot of your business, based on a user-defined Everyday Report and delivered each morning via email • A fundamental tool for audience ratings comparisons, capable of taking into account contract audience figures, targeted scheduling figures and actual reported figures, providing an in-depth knowledge of return on investment • Fully based on Etere Reporting Services for maximum flexibility • Real-time analysis of your system’s data • Integration with Excel spreadsheets for easy custom statistics • A free report manager fully integrated to create your own reports
Flowchart of As-Run Reconciliation
As-Run Reconciliation – A thing of the past?
The process of tracking what is actually broadcast is also a time consuming and costly business for most broadcasters. By integrating the business and broadcast systems as Air sales and Automation with Etere unique approach, time consuming as-run reconciliation becomes a thing of the past – the information required is already there, in the system, ready to be accessed at the press of a button. That integration also enables the fast accumulation and delivery of the reliable information that advertisers and regulators require. Combining the two functions in one framework in effect, bringing to the wider broadcast scheduling operation, the up to the last minute change culture becomes a standard in Air Sales.