Welcome to the second instalment of Meet Your Maker Q&A! Meet Your Maker is a series of behind-the-scenes videos and blogs that illustrates the wide range of in-house skillsets used to design and manufacture our market-leading broadcast technology whilst exploring the amazing people behind Calrec.
This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Calrec's Lead Customer Support Engineer, Darren Silcock, about the importance of our close customer relationships, bespoke 24/7 support contracts & training and Calrec's no-nonsense approach to customer support.
1. What is your role with Calrec and what does it entail?
As the Lead Customer Support Engineer, I head up the Customer Support team to ensure that all customers receive an exceptional level of service, support and technical advice.
2. How big is the Customer Support Team?
We have seven UK-based engineers including myself, plus a highly technical Customer Support Manager. We support all Calrec customers and distributors around the world and have dedicated Calrec-trained US-based engineers on the East and West Coasts of America.
3. In what ways does Customer Support provide support to Calrec customers?
Customer Support provides a huge array of support facilities. One of the most important aspects of the Customer Support role is that we establish close relationships with all our customers. This allows us to gain a sound understanding of customer requirements, their systems, operational and technical requirements and provide a better, more empathetic level of support.
We also support site visits to customer facilities and OB trucks for commissioning, upgrades, system health-checks and onsite training. Part of this is handling upgrades for customers who operate 24/7 production schedules to ensure as little impact and risk as possible. This not only requires a high level of knowledge of the customer's system but also an exceptional background knowledge into the system/platform; how it's evolved over time, and any changes that have been made to hardware or software configurations.
We undertake system diagnostic work using system logging to allow events to be analysed. There is a large amount of telemetry within Calrec systems to allow us to cover events with extreme detail and accuracy.
And let's not forget training. The support team provides many training courses, often customised to suit customer requirements for specific configurations or site facilities.
And then there's operational and technical consultancy - we're not just here for problems! We are always happy to spend time discussing any new or changing workflow requirements that a customer has to help them identify and implement solutions
4. What is the global coverage? How do you work with other people in other countries?
Some customers we are able to deal with directly, but around the world, we work with an excellent and ever-expanding fleet of distributors.
Working with distributors allows us to provide a much better level of support as it provides customers with dedicated personnel that have been trained by Calrec engineers. It also allows local knowledge and practices to be maintained keeping a personal touch to the level of support.
5. How do you ensure local representatives are fully trained?
All distributors will visit the factory in the UK for an extended period to undertake an extensive range of training on all or specific Calrec products. It allows us to go through all the operational and technical training requirements, a huge amount of practical learning, configuring systems for their specific customer base, Q&A sessions, and a factory tour to see the build and progress of consoles.
Distributors have the complete freedom to immerse themselves into Calrec's world and products; it gives them a chance to not only use the products fully but also meet and get to know everyone in the factory. It's important that local representatives get to know people they will be working with in the factory on a day-to-day basis.
6. What about spares holding? How is that managed?
We hold a large amount of stock within the UK factory at Hebden Bridge and at strategic sites across the globe to ensure an extremely quick turnaround time. It is important that our customers get the parts they need asap to return to normal operation.
This not only covers our current range of products but also our legacy products there's a large amount of the older Calrec products still in daily use around the world!
Every console, asset and module that has ever left the factory is recorded, and this database is maintained daily. A good example of this is a commissioning visit for a new console. Prior to the console leaving the factory, every bit of information is recorded at the point it has completed factory testing. During the commissioning visit by the engineer if there is a new release of software this will be installed during that visit. The Customer Support engineer then makes sure that all records for that console are updated accordingly.
This ensures that any future replacement or additional hardware is configured correctly. Much of our hardware/software utilises a self-managed software process where a verification process is completed by the card itself on fitment. This further ensures spares are always configured correctly.
Calrec operates an AEU (advance exchange unit) for managing and distributing spares. This is a program whereby we ship a replacement part to the customer fully configured, and once fitted the original unit is returned to the Calrec factory for repair where it remains. This speeds up the process and allows facilities to get back up and running quicker.
7. What are the different levels of support contract?
We have three off-the-shelf levels of Support Contract that provide round-the-clock access to support servic
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
02/07/2026
Summer is heating up - and GeForce NOW is taking players along for the ride.
Start the month with Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, bringing a galaxy fa...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Welcome to the second instalment of Meet Your Maker Q&A! Meet Your Maker is a series of behind-the-scenes videos and blogs that illustrates the wide range of in-house skillsets used to design and manufacture our market-leading broadcast technology whilst exploring the amazing people behind Calrec.
