Consumer Link Ensures Validity of Research Methodology Using Mediasite by Sonic Foundry

MADISON, WI — Sonic Foundry® Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), a leader in automated rich media communications technology, today announced that Consumer Link, New Zealand’s premier market research fieldwork company, is using Mediasite® as the communications and training platform for its research teams dispersed throughout New Zealand.

Using web-based telephone interviewing software and premier panel packages, Consumer Link conducts advanced surveying that combines the best of traditional face-to-face and telephone interviewing methods along with leading edge technology and a high degree of user-friendliness for respondents.

When the Consumer Link research teams begin a new research project in the field, they undergo a full briefing about the specific requirements of that project. A project manager or the client discusses project goals with the first group of interviewers, and the following night, a new team must pick up where the first group of interviewers left off. The staggered communication and geographically dispersed teams resulted in the need for a tool that would ensure continuity throughout the entire lifecycle of a project.

“We needed to ensure that every team received the same exact information and had a consistent idea of what the end goal was,” explained Aaron Overington, Consumer Link’s IT manager.

“With Mediasite, we stream training resources to any location and eliminate the risk of forgetting critical training information. We’ve been able to implement standardized training across all regions, and it is more economical because we only have to record training information once, and we don’t need to fly people around the country to make sure the research teams are all on the same page,” Overington said. “Mediasite enables us to have consistent information shared across all interviewers.”

Mediasite is a transformational communications medium used to deliver critical information and share knowledge, connecting people around the globe. The Mediasite system automates the capture, management and delivery of multimedia presentations (combining audio, video and accompanying graphics) for live or on-demand viewing via the web.

“Each day, organizations like Consumer Link are creating a strategic advantage for their businesses by increasing the accuracy of communications shared between project teams, and eliminating the need for travel to keep staff on the same page,” said Rimas Buinevicius, chairman and CEO of Sonic Foundry. “Mediasite offers leading research organizations like Consumer Link the ability to ensure the validity and consistency of its research methodologies, which is imperative to providing customers with the most valid research results possible.”