Futuri Mobile integrates with several automation systems, including NexGen 2.10.2 or higher. This article is primarily geared toward your station's IT/engineering staff, but it's also beneficial for program directors to have a general understanding of this information at a higher level.
There are two basic pieces to integrating NexGen with Futuri Mobile:
- Now Playing information - Song elements will be configured to export from NexGen to Futuri.
- Music Logs- We'll install our software, called Echo to watch the folder where your station's music logs are saved. These music logs are used for Song Alerts:
- Song Alerts - Users can sign up to receive alerts when their requests are about to play on your station. Futuri's system compares what your station is playing now with what's scheduled in the near future so that we can send these alerts ahead of when the request actually plays (so there's time for the user to turn on the radio).
Installation
To work through this installation process for the first time, please contact Futuri VIP Support. A remote session with one of our Support Agents should only take about 30 minutes per station.
This process includes the following steps:
Now Playing setup
The Now Playing export from NexGen to Futuri can be set up on any machine with NexGen installed, but you must log in as an administrator.
In NexGen’s main menu, go to Config, click Station, and select the station you’re integrating with Futuri.
Note the station’s number on the Station screen because you’ll need that later.
Once you’ve selected your station, click the Export button.
Fill out the export details as listed in the screenshot below. The credentials on lines 7 through 9 must be obtained from Futuri VIP Support.
TCP-IP Settings notes:
- The IP Address should be the internal IP of the PC that will run Echo (likely your utility machine) (and cannot be 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1). The port should generally be 9000 for the first station you configure, 9001 for the second station, and so on (since each port can only be used for one purpose).
- Legacy stations may still be configured to export to the IP Address 54.86.247.145 and port 8080. This is still supported, but newer stations should use the IP and port specified in the previous bullet point.
Once you've configured this Now Playing export, click OK. You'll need to restart NexGen on the Aserv for the changes to take effect. However, it is NOT necessary to restart the entire computer, so this task can usually be done within the duration of one song.
Echo Setup
Futuri's Echo software sends a copy of the station’s music logs, which are required for Song Alerts.
As of version 2.5.3 (released Fall 2014), Echo can also send Now Playing information to Futuri and return winning Takeover/ Top Song / FaceOff choices back to NexGen.
You can submit your station information here, and our VIP Support Team will pre-configure your Echo application for you.
To install Echo (typically on the station’s utility machine), create the folder C:\Echo\XXXX (where XXXX is the station’s call letters) and extract the contents of the downloaded Echo.zip (link above) to the same folder. If you are setting up multiple stations, each should have a folder in C:\Echo (with its own Echo files inside).
In the newly extracted folder, place the station.xml file, Futuri VIP Support will provide. It must be saved in the same folder as Echo.exe.
Note: Microsoft .NET 4.0 or higher is required for Echo. If you're running Windows 7 or higher, you should be all set, but If needed, you can download .NET 4.0 by clicking here and following the instructions. When .NET 4.0 is confirmed to be installed, run Echo.exe and navigate to File > Boot on Startup so that Echo will start up with the PC.