The Matrox Maevex 6020 Panopto-certified Remote Recorder makes Santa Clara University’s campus-wide transition to virtual classrooms effortless

In 2016, SCU started using the Panopto VMS in combination with a Windows-based, computer-and-capture card solution that was built, imaged, and maintained by the university’s media systems team. Not only did this solution require a tremendous amount of time to build and maintain in-house, it was also far too labor-intensive to manage with a small staff. Furthermore, unexpected updates and shutdowns of the systems made it particularly difficult for the team to maintain uniformity across devices. Lacking configuration for mass deployment software, the Window-based solution required security and software updates that forced staff to manually update each system one at a time.
Three years later, the team began to realize that this solution was unsustainable in the long term and began to look for alternatives in order to save on time, resources, and cost. A turnkey solution that comes fully integrated with the university’s existing preferred VMS, Maevex 6020 turned out to be the perfect fit. Between the standalone appliance’s ability to function without unexpected operating system updates, its configuration and firmware utility for centralized control of the devices, and its highly competitive price point with no reoccurring licensing fees, Maevex 6020 was a clear choice. According to Joel Bennett, manager of media systems at SCU, Maevex 6020 made a vast difference right away – from integration to deployment. “It is so much simpler,” he said. “Once, the AV installers install the unit, I can do everything from my desk. Before, I would have had staff here, working, building, and installing. Maevex 6020 has significantly reduced our workload.”
While Maevex 6020 was the ideal match for SCU’s streaming and recording needs since it first arrived on campus, its reliability and ease of integration became paramount to the university’s remote learning transition in early 2020. Just after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., the university was able to deploy 60 Maevex 6020 units for a current total of over 100 appliances in just 30 days. Using the intuitive configuration and firmware utility, Maevex 6020 made mass deployment effortless, allowing for the configuration and simultaneous setup of multiple units in record time. Now, every common classroom across all five academic colleges on campus is equipped with a Maevex 6020 device, providing access to streamed classes and lecture capture recordings for the university’s nearly 10,000 students.
Stream and record operations are securely controlled by the Panopto Cloud VMS and scheduled ahead of time with the full capabilities of the Panopto software scheduler. Additionally, all Zoom meetings are streamed as a backup in the event that the Zoom live stream fails.