Will you touch our automation or transmitter systems?▼
Not without your chief engineer, and not inside the equipment. Automation, playout, master control switchers and transmitter remote control belong to engineering and their vendors. Our role is the corporate network, the user devices and the boundary between them and the air chain. We plan boundary changes with engineering, schedule them away from critical programming and keep a rollback ready. If a vendor needs remote access, we help make it logged and time-limited rather than always on.
How do we secure our EAS equipment?▼
Start by making sure the encoder/decoder isn't reachable from the public internet, then change any default or shared passwords and limit management access to specific engineering machines. Keep firmware current in coordination with the manufacturer, and log who accesses the device. EAS gear is governed by the FCC's Part 11 rules, and your engineer remains responsible for its operation and required tests. We handle the network placement, access controls and monitoring that keep unauthorized people away from it.
What happens to our logs if traffic goes down?▼
That depends on the plan you have before it happens. We help you document how logs would be produced during an outage, whether from a recent export, a standby system or a cloud instance, and back up the traffic database to isolated storage so it can be restored cleanly. We test restores with your traffic manager. The goal is that a ransomware event on the business network becomes a recovery exercise, not days of running a backup loop.
Our reporters work from everywhere. How do you protect their laptops?▼
Reporter laptops get managed like any company device: encryption, EDR, automatic patching and remote wipe through MDM, whether they're Mac or Windows. Access to newsroom systems and media storage runs through secure remote access with MFA rather than open ports. We also discourage public Wi-Fi without the VPN. If a laptop is stolen from a news van, we lock and wipe it, revoke its sessions and get the reporter working on a spare.
Someone hijacked our station's social media account. Can you help?▼
Yes. We work with the platform's recovery process, secure the email account tied to it and remove unauthorized sessions and connected apps. Then we prevent a repeat by moving station accounts to shared management with MFA, named users and recovery options the station controls, not a former producer's personal phone. We'll also check whether the attacker reached other systems through the same credentials. Public statements about the incident are your news director's and GM's call.
We're a small station group. Do we need all this?▼
The core pieces scale down well. Separating the air chain from office systems, securing EAS devices, MFA and managed laptops for staff, and isolated backups of traffic and newsroom data are the controls that matter most at any size. For a group, we standardize those across stations so each one doesn't reinvent its setup. We provide help desk support during business hours and work alongside your engineering staff at each market.
Do you provide Broadcasters IT Services in Houston and nearby areas?▼
Yes. LayerLogix is based in the Greater Houston area and delivers broadcasters IT services to businesses across Houston and the surrounding communities, including The Woodlands, Spring, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, Cypress, and Pearland. For most Houston-area clients we can be on-site the same day when something needs hands-on attention, and our help desk is available during business hours, with after-hours emergency support. Call 713-571-2390 to check coverage for your specific address.
What does Broadcasters IT Services cost for a Houston business?▼
Pricing depends on your size and what you need, so we do not publish a one-size-fits-all number — but Houston businesses generally pay a flat, predictable monthly fee rather than surprise hourly bills. We start with a free, no-obligation assessment of your current setup, then give you a clear quote in plain English with no hidden costs. That way you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit.