Spirit FM, a Christian radio station based in Campbell River, British Columbia, has been owned and operated by Total Change Christian Ministries since 2009. In order to comply with the Canadian Radio–television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) mandate to broadcast emergency alert messages, General Manager Terry Somerville began searching for a cost–effective solution. After coming up empty–handed, he approached OpenBroadcaster, a provider of open–source software and custom, solid–state fan–less computers. OpenBroadcaster was able to supply Spirit FM with an emergency alerting solution that was both compliant with regulatory requirements and one–third the cost of the competition. The station was also able to beta–test the product in its studio environment. After experiencing the benefits of OpenBroadcaster’s solution, Spirit FM has since spread the word among the network of faith–based broadcasters of which it is a part.
