What are radio automation systems good for?

You can use automation systems to:

• schedule recording and playing of your radio programs.
• Provide a stack of cart machines to play annoucements.
• To automate recording and playback of syndicated programs (satellite, internet).
• Record programmers shows and allow them to burn them on to cd and archive them.
• Allow your station to be on the air 24/7 and let you get some sleep.
• Automate subscribing and publishing to rss feeds (podcasting).

How much do automation systems cost? Or actually what has to happen? You need to:

Get a computer. A fast one anything 1 Ghz or faster with a least 528 Megs of ram. That's about the speed of your average computer 3 or 4 years ago. Get as much hard disk storage as you can.

You need an operating system. Something you are familiar with or are willing to become familiar with and like.

Then you need the automation software.

Questions to ask of your organization?

What type of computer skills do you have? How much time do you have? What kind of current experience do you have with audio and computers (iTunes, winamp, audacity)?