Press Releases
Programme proposal submission is history! Neoworks create online submission system for Five.
18 August 2005
Neoworks - www.neoworks.com - the software solutions consultancy, continues, together with Digital Communications agency Lateral, to work for broadcaster Five. Having completed a new CMS released earlier this year for Five, Neoworks has now created a system that enables programme makers to submit programming proposals though the Five.tv website. The system is currently undergoing a trial with the history department with a view to rolling the system out to other programming departments within Five in the future.
The initiative is a leap forward towards engaging independent production companies, and encouraging them to be collaborators in the process of creating new programming for the channel - making TV a fully interactive process.
You can access the history department trial by visiting: http://www.five.tv/aboutfive/producersnotes/controller/alexsutherland
Richard Hobbs, director of Neoworks elaborates;
"The complex system is fully integrated into the Five.tv website but it is extremely easy to use. The production company submits a synopsis of their idea online and fills in fields such as who the production team is, how many episodes they envision, which commissioning department the proposal should go to, and then that gets sent automatically to Five's programming team."
The benefits for Five are clear too - the facility enables the programme team to manage each proposal and know at all times where it is in the review lifecycle. The system also helps ensure that no submissions slip through the net and that there is no duplication of work.
This, coupled with the fact that the system also generates pro-forma responses to facilitate communication with the submitter, keeping them informed every step of the way, makes it an incredibly effective method of managing the submission and review lifecycle.
Like the rest of the Five.tv website, the website submission area is managed by Neoworks' AuCMS Content Management System. The programming team at Five then uses a bespoke web application developed in ASP.Net running on Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 to manage and review the submissions.
Alex Sutherland, Controller of History Programming at Five explains;
"We're very excited about this trial. The great benefit of this system that Neoworks have bespoke designed for us is that it manages the flow of information completely - from submission through review and beyond - it's a complete management interface for receiving proposals, reviewing them, and communicating to the people who have submitted their proposal through our website."
Neoworks complete major release of version 2.0 of their AuCMS Content Management System - terrestrial broadcaster Five impressed
27 April 2005
Neoworks - www.neoworks.com - the software solutions consultancy, has released their significant upgrade to the hugely popular AuCMS content management system.
The Neoworks CMS is the engine that powers high-profile websites including www.five.tv. This new release has been developed to radically improve the productivity of the end-users by making the interface more straightforward to use and includes some groundbreaking new functionality.
The key new features to this version of the CMS include an improved and reorganised user interface that has been optimised to allow the user to get to frequently used functions within a single click and to generally be faster and more responsive.
The new version also incorporates a powerful search facility which allows the user to search through all the content held in the CMS for words or key phrases. The facility allows searches to be limited to certain areas of the content hierarchy or to certain types of content allowing the user to quickly locate the item of content they are after.
The integrated deleted content management system ensures that clients can quickly recover any deleted data either as a result of user error or because new content could be based on previously deleted content. Clients can now view content which has been deleted allowing a user to restore it. This combined with the historical tracking of all changes made to content provides a powerful facility for reviewing and reusing historic designs and concepts.
Neoworks developed a new feature that shows which assets relate to which pages, so that the user is aware of the implications of any changes across the website which is key to understanding how the content and assets used on the site relate to each other. This can be particularly useful in understanding when, for example, a shared asset such as an image is changed which pages it will affect.
"The original version of the CMS was extremely effective, and as such, this new version is more of an evolutionary step - but a significant evolution. The first version was such a commercial and technological success, we did not want to take it apart and create something new. However this is not an overhaul just for the sake of making a change. We work closely with our clients to ensure that the systems we create evolve in accordance with their' needs."
Said Richard Hobbs, director of Neoworks
The new version of the CMS has been installed on the Five.tv website and Elin Parry, Interactive Manager, at Five is delighted with the results;
"As a valued partner of ours, we clearly appreciate the fact that Neoworks took on board our feedback and made such strides in helping us improve our productivity. One great benefit to us in this new release is the ability to add custom internal workflow procedures. For example, we can now track certain pieces of editorial and check where they are in a final approval process before they go live on the site."
Lateral (www.lateral.net), Five's Interactive strategic partner, confirm the upgraded AuCMS improvements and additional features enormously aide their efforts in keeping the site up-to-the-minute and fresh. Project Director Gerard Myers said,
"AuCMS has always been a valuable tool in the work that we perform for Five, but the new version's enhancements and improvements make it indispensable."
"All our clients have given this new release a hugely positive review, so naturally we're pleased that this has been such a resounding success. As a result, we now expect an influx of new clients and we're sure that our new CMS will be an effective tool to showcase their websites."
Added Hobbs.
Neoworks develop Royal Doulton US Site
8 December 2004
Neoworks (http://www.neoworks.com), as part of their continuing development of the Royal Doulton web site, have created an integrated e-commerce website targeting Royal Doulton's US customers (http://www.royaldoulton.com).
Royal Doulton is one of the worlds oldest and most well know chinaware companies. It is also one of the most forward looking, developing their business, product portfolio and distribution methods to accommodate modern tastes and sales channels. Consequently, the launch of their new e-tailing web site is an integral part of their growth strategy.
Royal Doulton required a dedicated web site catering for US customers offering an extensive range of Royal Doulton products. The US site will offer a selection of products targeted for the US market and integrate with local fulfilment and accounting systems.
Working with the latest version of the Blue Martini e-commerce platform (version 6) Neoworks have engineered a multiple site solution, serving UK, US and in the future other international sites from a single hardware and hosting infrastructure.
The resulting multi-region web site application facilitates customisation on a site-by-site basis of:
- visual branding
- product, pricing and merchandising data
- shipping, billing and tax calculation methods
- integration with warehousing and ERP systems
All data and configuration for the UK, US and future regional sites is managed centrally by Royal Doulton's internal web site team.
Nigel Atkinson, Director of Neoworks says:
"The new web site enables Royal Doulton to provide a product mix tailored for the American market and offers familiar payment and fulfilment options for US customers. The technical solution that has been implemented enables the global e-tailing team at Royal Doulton to bring regional sites on-line according to their global roll out strategy.
The Royal Doulton Home web site is already successfully generating direct sales at http://www.royaldoulton.com/.
Royal Doulton's General Manager Global CRM and Direct, George Kenton, said: Neoworks have designed and implemented a comprehensive software solution for our e-commerce strategy across different global markets. Our tailored web sites can accommodate a changing product portfolio, improve the customer experience, and provide a safe and secure e-tailing environment. The new US site and soon to launch Canadian site means that we can further build on established English brands in ceramics, while adopting a truly contemporary lifestyle approach."
London Metropolitan University commission Neoworks to develop e-learning tool
30 November 2004
Neoworks (www.neoworks.com) have been commissioned by London Metropolitan University's Learning Technology Research Institute (LTRI) (www.londonmet.ac.uk/ltri/) to further the development of AcademicTalk, a 'state of the art' software tool for synchronous discussion. The development is part of a larger collaborative project involving the University of Southampton, the UK Open University and Bolton Institute, that will facilitate further research into synchronous group discussion based e-learning between geographically dispersed participants.
LTRI in collaboration with the project partners have been awarded funding to develop this e-Learning tool for structured discussion by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Distributed E-Learning Tools strand of development. The aim of this initiative is to develop a distributed e-learning technical architecture that provides increased opportunities for learners through the use of better learning tools, easier access to personal learning information such as portfolios, and access to greater quantities of quality assured learning materials.
Neoworks is further developing the prototype application as an open source (Apache licensed) project for use on Windows 2000 and XP platforms.
The new application uses a XMPP 1.0 (Jabber) compliant server back end. Both synchronous and asynchronous (offline) usage modes will be available, via a store and forward mechanism.
The application will be developed using the Java language and will take advantage of the existing server-to-server infrastructure provided in XMPP.
Dr Andrew Ravenscroft, deputy director of LTRI and project leader said: "Neoworks became our clear choice due to their understanding of the innovative and emerging technical landscape in which the project has to be conducted".
Nigel Atkinson, director of Neoworks said: The combination of leading edge e-learning research and interesting technical work make this project particularly exciting".
Neoworks create Five's new media sales extranet
18 November 2004
Neoworks (http://www.neoworks.com) have developed a unique extranet, for Five, the terrestrial television broadcaster, providing TV media buyers with searchable information online about Five's upcoming programming.
Key objectives of the extranet were to enable Five's sales team to manage the release of programming information in-house and to provide flexible search options for media buyers through a simple to use interface. Neoworks worked closely with Lateral (http://www.lateral.net), Five's Interactive strategic partner, who created the design for the extranet.
Neoworks leveraged their CMS product, AuCMS, currently managing Five's public web site (http://www.five.tv), to create a programming information management portal for the sales team at Five. The programming information is published from the CMS to the media sales extranet, where TV media buyers can search by schedule information and viewer demographics.
Nigel Atkinson, Director of Neoworks says "Using the existing CMS and web site infrastructure enabled us to develop and deploy the entire solution in a relatively short period of time and resulted in very low infrastructure costs and negligible risk for Five."
Sarah Leese - Sales Programme Ratings Manager, Five "Working with Neoworks and Lateral has allowed us to create a bespoke site, which fully satisfies the needs of our clients"
FreshEnterprise and Neoworks win contract for Hadlow College Intranet
9 September 2004
Hadlow College have engaged website management company, FreshEnterprise, and Neoworks, the software solutions company, to develop an intranet for their staff and students. FreshEnterprise will take on the management of the project and Neoworks will be responsible for the technical architecture and development of the software behind the intranet.
Hadlow College puts the promotion of technology and catering to the technological needs of the students and staff as high priorities in their development, thus creating the driving requirement behind the creation of the new intranet system - a centralised internal resource for staff and students.
Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, Director of Finance and Resources at Hadlow College explains; "The development of a new intranet will not only improve standards and accessibility for students, but will also reinforce our position as a College that is always on the cutting-edge of technology. FreshEnterprise and Neoworks have a reputation for excellence in making complex solutions straightforward to use. That fact alone made it an easy choice for us to select them as partners in this project."
Gregory Kris, Director of FreshEnterprise, says; "We know that one of the main deciding factors for Hadlow College in choosing us a partner in this project is our extensive knowledge and experience of working in the education sector. But it's not just a case of selecting us because 'we've done it all before'. We are working with Hadlow to create a progressive solution; tailored to their requirements - something that will be a showcase for them in years to come."
Nigel Atkinson, Director of Neoworks, agrees;
"What we're creating for Hadlow will be the stand out solution in the sector - it will set a new benchmark in intranets for all academic institutions. The key to its success is to make it an interactive tool that every student can use and profit from, regardless of their level of technological know-how."
"Simply put, our challenge is to create a one-stop-shop, fulfilling all students' needs with regards to course and college information. It's a challenge that we're sure to meet."
Neoworks doubles up with dateindoubles.com
4 February 2004
Neoworks, have built a fully integrated bespoke software solution for dateindoubles (www.dateindoubles.com), a new online dating service that is to launch in early 2004, to catch the Valentines Day market.
dateindoubles will allow friends to sign up together to go out and meet other pairs, enabling them to feel more comfortable about online dating and to make the experience more fun. Friends fill in each other's profile description and then review other pairs of friends, after emailing other doubles in a secure environment they then, hopefully, meet up for a date.
Unusually, for a software development agency, Neoworks were involved from the beginning in all aspects of the site's development. This included commissioning a psychologist to research the application of friendship theory, which describes the effect of various factors on the success of friendships, amorous and otherwise, to the process of matching up pairs.
It's been interesting working on a site where we're involved in all of the development process. As we were developing the application that puts the doubles together it made perfect sense to be involved from the very start, providing an integrated solution and developing the technology based on the results of the research." said Nigel Atkinson, Co Founder of Neoworks.
The custom built application is designed to be flexible in functionality, enabling dateindoubles to launch new services and revenue steams e.g. communities, extended billing opportunities, growth into new territories/countries, as the business grows.
"The application is built on top of an object database abstraction layer" explains Atkinson, "this allows: easily maintainable code, faster development cycles, functionality modifications and extensions with minimum disruption and cost, which needless to say, suits our client!"
"Neoworks have understood the complexities of the project and the restrictions of a new business from the start and have been instrumental in not only making the site function smoothly but also sharing the project management."
Said Duncan Campbell, Founder of dateindoubles.