Unfortunately, you don’t have GSelector or Aquira’s Live Integration with Zetta. However, you can still incorporate third party programs by utilizing Zetta’s Flat File Assignments. We’ll review how to create a new Flat File Assignment for music, traffic, and reconciliation, as well as how to customize each assignment and discuss advanced options.
We’ll start by reviewing where users can create and define their Flat File Assignments: Configuration | Flat File Assignments. Note that you can include multiple Flat File Assignments, each for their own specific purpose and corresponding station. If your Zetta features a significant number of assignments, don’t forget to utilize the search tools at the top of this workspace to filter your results. There are three common types of Flat File Assignments: Music, Traffic, and Traffic Reconciliation. Although each serves their own purpose and configuration, their setup and workflows are essentially the same.
In regards to constructing your Flat File Assignment, we’re creating a “handshake” between Zetta and your third party software. We need both systems to match information based on a specific order or column. We don’t expect you to understand all Flat File Assignments and in addition, these are typically a “set it and forget it” configuration. So if your Flat File Assignments aren’t already defined during your Zetta onboarding or you’re switching third party systems, don’t hesitate to reach out to RCS Support for proper Flat File Assignment configurations. From the Flat File Assignments window, we define basic information like the name, path/filename, computer in charge of the assignment, station etc… Make a note of the Processing Type: Auto or Manual. Most commonly, users will set this to Auto, and Zetta will automatically grab the first flat file that it sees in the defined path. Think of this behavior – we only want to automatically insert the first file because if another user accidentally exports a Traffic file, we don’t want to accidentally overwrite that day’s traffic inventory and cause any loss of revenue. Users can always manually insert another flat file via the Logs module.
As we continue to customize our Flat File Assignments, there are additional options for Templates, Type, Content Character encoding and more. Further down, we have unique, station specific flat file behavior. Feel free to reference Zetta’s F1 Dynamic Help guide for further details on each of these settings, but make a note of the Create Missing Assets, the Activate Scheduled Assets and Update Sponsor and Product, as these are everyday settings users prefer to enable. Essentially, what happens when you have an existing piece of audio in Zetta and/or your flat file inserts a new reference?
Again, Zetta is a modern, sophisticated piece of radio automation software that can incorporate almost all active third party radio systems. We also don’t expect you to understand all of your available configurations, options or workflows, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to RCS Support. Most likely, we’ve built it, tested it, and know what settings to enable or disable, pending on your desired workflow.
Speaking of testing, we’re always looking for Beta users! If you want to get your hands on the latest RCS products, reach out to your local RCS contact. If you’re looking for past RCS Live videos, like how to insert a second music or traffic log via Zetta’s Log module, then check out our Achieve here. We’re also hitting the road! The RCS Academy team will be attending many of the radio events this year, so reach out to schedule one on one time with our Academy team.