The powerful and flexible Newsroom Computer System
Octopus 8.1 is a powerful, innovative newsroom system for TV, radio, sports and broadcast organizations. From São Paulo to Moscow and from Hong Kong to New York, Octopus Newsroom has over 200 installations worldwide that demonstrate the functionality and productivity gains it achieves.
The platform facilitates collaboration between news team members at all stages of the news writing and production process, from the initial receipt of a task notification to full and advanced management. Octopus Newsroom also provides all the necessary tools for publishing content to online and social media from a single platform.
Octopus Newsroom runs on Linux, Windows and Apple OS X. Mobile applications are available for Android and Apple iOS. Octopus Newsroom can be configured and customized to meet the workflow requirements of any organization, regardless of size, language, etc., so it can be used by a small regional channel with limited news coverage to large news networks, but can also be expanded as needs grow without any special development.
The new features of OCTOPUS 8.1
Desktop version
The new version 8.1 includes custom shortcuts for quickly creating new entries in the scaffold, improved assignment sorting and grouping, advanced management, archiving social media posts based on predefined rules and importing them directly into the live program.
Journalist App
Recording of audio clips attached to the relevant report for interviews or recording statements. Also improvements in content management, where each topic can be sent to a selected thematic folder.
“Scaffolding” design & management
Assignment schedule
Octopus 8's assignment desk helps organize and assign tasks to one or more users, based on a modern scheduling calendar.
Flexible news feeds
Octopus can be easily configured to meet the workflow requirements of any organization, regardless of size, language, etc. In case the workflow requires changes in the future, the system can be adapted without special development.
Contact management
Octopus includes contact management so users can store and manage their contacts in a secure, central location. Access permissions can be set for each contact individually.
Approval of editorial workflows
The system ensures that scripts, videos, CG, etc. that are to be published on social media or the website are approved according to requirements.
Source management
Octopus 8.1 helps collect incoming news feeds from agencies, emails, journalists, etc. and can handle and display text, images, and video and audio material in the same window.
Topic interconnection
Octopus 8.1 supports easy drag, drop and link of any elements within the system. Users can link wires to topics, archived topics to active ones, media files to an assignment, URL, images or PDF files to a contact, etc.
Social media, internet & reporters
Collaboration across multiple platforms
Octopus 8.1 enables users from different teams to collaborate on topics, regardless of production platforms (television,
radio, social, web CMS, etc.)
Journalists' application
Off-site users as well as in-house journalists can access the system from a smartphone or tablet.
Social media integration
Octopus integrates with social media platforms in both directions, so users can search for content, follow hashtags and keywords, post to multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook, etc. Octopus Social Media Hub tracks feedback from followers.
Website CMS Connectivity
Octopus 8.1 connects directly to web content management tools (web CMS) such as Joomla, WordPress or CoreMedia, allowing broadcasts and articles to be uploaded to web portals.
User-friendly interface for users
Unified work environment
Thanks to web technologies, users work in the same environment, whether they are in the newsroom, at home, or outdoors.
Cross-Platform client & server
Octopus is designed to run on Windows, Apple Mac OS X or Linux. It does not require parallel operating systems, additional licenses & remote connections.
Unicode support
It supports all languages and simultaneous operation in multiple languages. Also, the work interface can be translated into any language.
Flexible licensing model
Instead of assigning licenses, only licenses for concurrent users are needed.
Compatible with MOS
With MOS support it can be integrated into any environment that supports the same protocol. Placeholder workflow, thumbnails, proxy preview, item status, channel assignments, etc.
HTML5 & MOS ActiveX plug-ins support
As MOS compliant, Octopus 8 supports ActiveX and the recent HTML5 plug-ins. As ActiveX is being deprecated, HTML5 plug-ins are OS and platform agnostic with support for Windows, OS X, Linux, tablet and mobile.
PostgreSQL database
Octopus uses a powerful SQL database with advantages such as better data security, maintenance, data consistency and of course speed and efficiency.
REST API & exports
Octopus 8 provides an easy-to-use REST API, available over HTTP. This allows the creation of applications to communicate and exchange data with the newsroom. It also supports manual and automatic exports and imports.
THE Comart is official partner of Octopus for Greece. Call us for more information and to schedule a demonstration.
