Since 2006, Tulare County has posted audio recordings of its board of supervisors’ meetings online. The recordings allow those who are unable to attend the Tuesday morning meetings to listen in.
Further steps were recently taken by the Tulare County Information & Communications Technology Department (TCiCT) to ensure that anyone can access the meetings.
This year, the county experienced two instances when the recording was not available. A need was identified to provide a reliable backup. TCiCT put a redundancy plan into place by implementing a secondary system.
The additional system of two backup recorders was first used during the September 9 board meeting. One device records directly from the microphone output, while the other records from its internal microphone. Both have a battery backup.
Each records to an SD memory card. The copy can then be uploaded. If the live feed is unavailable for streaming, the new system’s recording can be published online.
The secondary system continues to promote the county’s efforts to be transparent. It will be regularly tested.