By
May 20, 2019
Southern Stringers has been providing content for national and international news, broadcasts, live to airs and the web for the past 15 years. Owner, camera operator and director Shay Dewy says the arrival of gigabyte fibre has saved him at least six hours a week and is allowing him to grow his business.
What does Southern Stringers do?
In today’s language we’re content providers. We film news and current affairs for media organisations in New Zealand and overseas, film live broadcasts and film conferences and events as well as create videos for corporate clients.
What attracted you to upgrade to the gig?
As soon as fibre was available I organised a connection. I knew it would assist my business as video technology is changing rapidly and the files are getting larger.
Have you noticed any changes in the way you work with your customers?
I’m saving at least five hours every week – often more. Having fibre allows me to send raw video footage directly to clients from my office. Before the gig I had to spend at least an hour editing the video into a story, so the files were smaller. Now I send raw footage saving at least one hour editing each file I send. Additionally it means I can send the files directly from home. Pre-gig I had to travel to an office in the city to send files – again more lost time!
One of the important factors is the reduction in stress. We were always working under time pressure. We’d be out in the field filming, rush back to edit and bite our finger nails hoping the video would reach clients before their deadline. Sometimes video files were too large to send or the upload would time out and the file wouldn’t arrive with the client. Now we can work secure in the knowledge that sending files is trouble free.
In the pre-gig environment we would often have to put large video files onto hard drives and courier and post these to clients. This meant sometimes a delay of up to five days before clients received their video files. Then I’d have to spend weeks chasing people up to get the hard drive back – each of these is worth around $120 and I’d feel bad doing this but the cost soon adds up!
What opportunities is it opening up for your business now or in the future?
With more time in every working day and less stress on every job we have embraced new technology and begun mapping farms with drones. Drones are an effective tool for filming terrain maps of farms, which in turn helps farmers make decisions on cropping, irrigation and fertiliser.
What do you say to other businesses considering fibre?
I often upload my speed test and laugh at friends around the country. Having the gig has given me the freedom to take on more work without the stress of worrying about missing deadline.