86th FSS fine-tunes TV system Published Jan. 15, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Larissa Greatwood 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Executing the mission efficiently is key in maximizing capabilities of Airmen around the Air Force. Airmen from the 86th Force Support Squadron have done just that by revamping their television update process. The purpose of the monitors is to inform Airmen of different activities and classes happening around base from the fitness centers to the community center. These events can boost morale and give Airmen the opportunity to interact in the community. "The 15 TV displays we currently have out there, we looked at that because we had to send out one of our 13 staff members to physically go out and change the displays with thumb drives or CDs," said Bret Helenius, 86th Force Support Squadron marketing director. "Obviously that takes a lot of time because they're spread out throughout the different facilities, so it took hours to make a quick change. We identified this as a way to become leaner and meaner because that's taking away time we could be promoting events and services to Airmen." The old process of updating the displays used to take a lot of time. Keeping these updates relevant is important when informing the public. The new system will allow for the most up-to-date information to be displayed. "We were only updating the displays every month because it took so long to do; about 16 to 20 hours to go out and update them only once," Helenius said. "Essentially, it'll take less than half an hour to update them with the new system. We are able to centrally manage the TVs through a hidden website we created by inserting the various advertisements. The system will auto-refresh after six to eight hours so we don't have to send people out to update the information." "Since we've had the prototype running in the Enlisted Club for a while now, and it seems to be running well, we're going to roll them out into a few different phases," he continued. "We'll probably start with 10 different locations first and get those going. Each TV will have specific information for its location." Though the changes may seem minimal to some, the opportunity for bigger and better things are in the near future. "Eventually if we have, for example, a concert on base, we'll be able to broadcast that live on the FSS TVs throughout the base," he said. "Also, more than just static advertisements, we can have commercials and more interactive stuff, so this is really just the beginning of where we're going." By using this new system, more man hours can be put into bettering our Air Force and supporting the mission.