IP networks are the standard for delivering converged application like video collaboration, voice over IP, video surveillance, and on-demand video. Real-time applications like video and voice can become useless due to network delays and congestion, placing unique demands on the IP networks. This paper discusses designing a video-ready network and recommends steps to deploying video for positive business outcomes.
Video is an essential communications medium for enterprises. It is here to stay, and video will only become a larger and more important element of communication for all organizations. Consider its impact on business: video conferencing reduces costs and increases the pace of business as remote workers and teams collaborate easily. It enables on-demand product information, training, and support with rich and contextual information available 24x7 to employees, partners, and customers. Processes and timed workflows to optimize supply and production performance are increasingly being monitored by video so that issues can be quickly and efficiently escalated to supplier, customer, or distribution channels. Is your business ready for the change in communications paradigm that video is driving? Is your organization able to drive the efficiencies and performance necessary to keep your business partners current with the demands put upon them? And, what about your IT operation? Can your network cope with real-time communications, increased traffic, and the security challenges? The network is the key to ubiquitous and effective use of video. IP networks are the standard for delivering converged application like video collaboration, voice over IP, video surveillance, and on-demand video. Real-time applications like video and voice can become useless due to network delays and congestion, placing unique demands on the IP networks. This paper discusses designing a video-ready network and recommends steps to deploying video for positive business outcomes.
Businesses are constantly seeking ways to deliver compelling and competitive services to their customers while increasing revenue and profitability. IT has transformed how businesses operate- delivering customer service faster, enabling effective communication, and automating processes.
Effective communication tools are critical for the success of businesses. With adoption of technology, communications have undergone significant changes, new tools have emerged-email, instant messaging, presence have become an integral part of the repertoire of communication tools. Legacy telephony systems are migrating to VoIP systems to reduce operational costs and simplify integrating with other collaboration and communication tools.
Visual communication is at an inflection point in the way businesses are adopting it. The richness of information communicated and shared through video makes it a compelling capability. Video communication is used to resolve customer's issues quickly, to train customers, and to help executive management teams align the entire organization with corporate priorities. IP cameras are deployed in process manufacturing to troubleshoot issues with production lines and also for surveillance at public venue like malls and stadiums. Frost & Sullivan research shows that 76 percent of companies use some sort of video conferencing today, and 38 percent of them say it is used extensively throughout the organization.
Legacy networks were designed to handle data communications. The convergence of data, voice, video, and collaboration tools is pushing the legacy networks to a breaking point. Impact of enabling video is immediately felt on the network. Careful consideration has to be given to designing optimal networks with capabilities to support rich media communications. The goals of this white paper are to educate readers on key usages of video, barriers to adopting video communications, and recommend techniques to design a video-ready network.
Businesses deploy video-based communications in a number of ways. Some are more prevalent like webcasts and some are new uses like resolving process manufacturing issues or transparency of certain government processes. We classify these video usages broadly into two categories-live streaming and on-demand video. Live streaming is transmission and viewing of events as they are happening in real time while on-demand video is viewing or display of previously recorded videos from a stored location. The demands on the network are different for each category, real-time streaming is very susceptible to network delays while on-demand video is more resilient due to local buffering.
One-to-many live streaming: This is one of the most common video implementations. The video is relayed from a single location to many geographically dispersed viewers. A CEO's live webcast to the employees of a corporation or the CFO briefing the Wall Street analysts on quarterly revenue update are good examples of this usage. The underlying network must provide efficient multicasting support so the broad distribution of the video on the network is optimized. HP has adopted webcast to help executives communicate effectively with hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide.
One-to-one video conferencing: This is very popular with consumers while it is still ramping up adoption within business community. An engineer in Houston, Texas communicates through video chat with an architect in Palo Alto, California regarding a design issue. This requires conferencing capability at the desktop. Integration of video with advanced unified communication and collaboration (UC&C) platforms like Microsoft? Lync have made desktop video easy to use.
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