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Webinar Recap: Delivering Live Video in Challenging Network Environments

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Global organizations rely on video communications to connect their dispersed workforces but providing a high-quality digital experience to every employee no matter their location is a challenge faced by many multinational enterprises operating in APAC countries. Legislative technologies like the Great Firewall of China, poor bandwidth and latency issues can be disruptive and prohibitive to delivering enterprise video at scale.

During our webinar Delivering Live Video in Challenging Network Environments , Stephanie Newman, Director of Channel and Alliances EMEA at Kollective, was joined by Luca Licata, Director of Technology and Engineering at wtv. and Garrick Ransome, Technical Director APAC at Kollective to discuss trends, challenges and possible solutions when delivering global video communications.

The Growing Demand for Video at Scale

From live event webcasting to day-to-day video conferencing, video has become standard practice in the enterprise. 2020 saw, on average, a 45% growth in live video usage, according to a recent IDG Market Pulse Survey and Luca Licata pointed out that utilization of wtv. EasyWebcast jumped from 950,000 visitors to 1.5 million during this time.

The use of video has allowed international workforces to communicate and collaborate in real-time. This, alongside initiatives like the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, has led many corporations to open up in China. As part of the Kollective APAC team Garrick Ransome has seen the ability to engage with employees in China become an “essential requirement” for many global organizations.

The challenges of engaging a dispersed global workforce

Video is a bandwidth intensive application and even in the best of circumstances can put a significant strain on the network. Low bandwidth and slow technology adoption in APAC are common challenges Garrick Ransome has faced working with customers in the region. To support video, IT often has to make compromises like reducing the quality of the video or, as Luca Licata experienced, splitting a webcast into multiple sections for each department.

China presents its own unique challenges due to infrastructure and legislative technologies. The Great Firewall of China negatively affects live streaming due to added latency, packet loss and congestion. Video applications that don’t have infrastructure located in China require users to pull streams from outside the country leading to an inconsistent experience, disconnects or failed delivery.

Engaging Employees Effectively with Video

The shift to video has been a challenge many networks have not been prepared for. While there is always the option of purchasing additional hardware and making costly upgrades Luca Licata and Garrick Ransome shared alternatives that organizations can quickly adopt to ensure quality video delivery in challenging environments.

Using platforms with infrastructure located in China, like wtv. EasyWebcast, bypasses the Great Firewall, Luca Licata said, and allows viewers to pull the stream from a nearby content delivery network point of presence (CDN PoP). He went on to add that the use of a China-based CDN will help reduce latency, but as employees begin returning to the office and pulling video simultaneously, network bottlenecking becomes an issue. To avoid this, he recommends adding an enterprise content delivery network (ECDN) to optimize the network for video delivery at scale. Kollective’s ECDN uses smart peering technology to distribute content efficiently and reduces up to 99% of bandwidth consumption.

Diagram of traditional CDN content delivery versus Kollective ECDN

How to deliver live video events in china

Many enterprises rely on a multi-tool strategy for communications and some of those platforms do not have infrastructure inside of China. Garrick Ransome brought up the example of Microsoft Teams and Stream which do not have local CDN PoPs and yet are heavily adopted by global organizations. He detailed two scenarios to use these applications in China:

  1. Bypass the Great Firewall by routing through wide area network (WAN)
  2. Go through the Great Firewall

In the first scenario, what can deter organizations from using this is the cost of the WAN links. For this solution to be viable for video at scale, traffic must be reduced. In this situation he recommends using Kollective’s Browser-Based Peering to:

  • Lower transit costs
  • Optimize network performance
  • Reduce bandwidth consumption

Scenario two comes into play for many companies that do not have the infrastructure to route through WAN or their corporate policy mandates they connect through the Great Firewall. Going through the Great Firewall means added latency, unpredictable packet loss and congestion which can lead to a poor experience or event failure. This scenario requires the use of a latency tolerant solution like Kollective Agent to:

  • Provide persistent caching
  • Communicate over a latency tolerant UDP-based protocol
  • Add an extra buffer to help recover packet loss

speak with an expert on enterprise video delivery

If you’re having difficulties delivering live video in challenging network environments, Kollective can help. Speak with an expert today to learn more about the solutions available to you.

The post Webinar Recap: Delivering Live Video in Challenging Network Environments appeared first on Kollective Technology .

To view our Partner blog, click here

How to Optimize Your Network for Live Video in 60 Seconds

browser-based peering

If you want to deliver live video to all your employees but don’t want to invest in hardware, download software or purchase additional bandwidth, you need Kollective Browser-Based Peering . Our enterprise content delivery network (ECDN) is powered by WebRTC technology – that means all you need to get started is a browser.

Signing up for a free trial of Kollective is so easy, it can take as little as 60 seconds. Here’s the proof: 

 

Choose the right ecdn

When optimizing your network for live video, make sure you pick the ECDN that will scale with your business. Kollective Browser-Based Peering will help you exceed expectations for high-quality events by delivering buffer-free video to every employee, regardless of their location, device or bandwidth capacity.  

WHY KOLLECTIVE BROWSER-BASED PEERING?

  • Simplicity: Auto-provision your ECDN trial in 60 seconds. Kollective is the ONLY WebRTC solution that lets you sign up, choose your integration, configure it, and try it immediately – for FREE!  
  • Intelligence: Confidently deliver high-quality video streams. Our browser-based solution uses smart peering algorithms that tune to your network, delivering the intelligence you need – no agent required.  
  • Control: Scale live video to the network edge. From out-of-the-box configurations to advanced bitrate and playback controls, Kollective puts the power of peering in your hands.  
  • Analytics: Customize live events and network insights. Instantly see your aggregate performance metrics or dig into the data down to a single node or endpoint with Kollective IQ Analytics. 

STAY ON THE FOREFRONT OF ENTERPRISE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SECURITY

With enterprise video gaining traction worldwide – it’s safe to say video communications are likely a focus of your organization’s 2021 digital transformation goals . Kollective makes it easy to save bandwidth and deliver high-quality video, whether your personnel are working physically distanced in the office, remotely or at home. 

In addition to saving your organization up to 99% of bandwidth, Kollective Browser-Based Peering is Secure by Design. Our ECDN uses standard web-based protocols with all data transfers encrypted and signed. We do not receive, store or process customer content, nor are we able to decrypt the source content.

MAKE SMARTER DECISIONS FASTER

Kollective IQ is the only enterprise-ready analytics and intelligence platform intuitively designed for the way you work. Whether you’re a network administrator, manager of a corporate communications team or a video producer, Kollective IQ is designed with intuitive workflows that simplify data exploration to help you make intelligent decisions, fast.  

In addition to standard network and event workflows, Kollective IQ lets you to choose which data sets you want to highlight. Create the custom dashboards, metrics and visualizations that align with your business goals and then save them for future reference.  

Kollective IQ makes it easy to package and send data when and where you need it. Easily automate your data imports with simple data export tools and database integrations, connecting Kollective IQ to the leading business intelligence platforms on the market. 

ADD KOLLECTIVE TO YOUR NETWORK

Now that you know more about Kollective Browser-Based Peering, it’s time to add it to your network. Sign up for a free 30-day trial.

The post How to Optimize Your Network for Live Video in 60 Seconds appeared first on Kollective Technology .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Teams Live Events Buffering Fix: Peer-to-Peer Streaming

browser-based peering

When distributing important video communications at scale, Teams Live Events is your organization’s most valuable tool, but buffering can ruin the experience for even the most committed employees. Make sure you keep them engaged by using peer-to-peer streaming to deliver the highest quality video at the lowest possible bandwidth.

How Video Buffering Impacts Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement is an important factor in workplace satisfaction and productivity. Interactive live events allow yous to effectively communicate with your team in a way that feels connected and collaborative for employees. When Teams Live Events go off without a hitch, they create an environment that feels more inclusive. However, when buffering is more common than the video itself employee engagement is negatively affected. 

As the distribution of live events and enterprise video communication grows, user expectation for high quality will increase as well. According to Understanding the Impact of Video Quality on User Engagement , “a 1% increase in buffering ratio can reduce user engagement by more than three minutes for a 90-minute live video event. We also see that the average bitrate plays a significantly more important role in the case of live content than VoD content.” 

IBM Watson Media also says 53% of employees report that video buffering is the largest detriment to workplace productivity, and lagging internet bandwidth is largely to blame.

What Causes Live Video Buffering? 

We’ve all experienced the dreaded, seemingly endless buffering icon during an important town hall or CEO update, but why does this happen most often in large, company-wide meetings? It’s simple – unstable internet connectivity due to an overloaded network. 

Enterprise organizations with multiple offices and satellite employees understand and have likely dealt with the challenges that come with broadcasting live and on-demand video to a distributed workforce. Most corporate networks do an excellent job handling the demand for one-to-one voice and video calls, but things can – and often do – go south quickly when trying to deliver video messages at scale.

Think of your network like a highway on college football gameday. Every other day of the week, it’s fine; traffic flows seamlessly. But on gameday, the hour before kickoff, traffic is a nightmare. What normally suffices as a two-lane road, needs to be expanded substantially to meet the needs of ticket holders. 

The same is true of your network. Without a solution in place to optimize it), the more employees who log on to participate in a live event, the more network bandwidth is needed, which can lead to substantial buffering – or even a crash.

How to Fix Teams Live Events Buffering

The quickest and most scalable way to fix r Teams Live Events buffering is to invest in an enterprise content delivery network (ECDN) powered by browser-based peering.

With a peering solution, your dispersed workforce can stream Teams Live Events without overloading and impacting your network. Browser-based peering uses your existing network – and an intelligent peer-to-peer architecture,to deliver content to your organization more efficiently. No hardware to buy, no software to install. Kollective’s browser-based peering solution scales these communications across your network, allowing you to deliver high-quality live video to your entire organization and achieve 100% delivery at only 1% the bandwidth. It’s so simple you can be up and running in just six clicks.

Image showing peering with Kollective ECDN

To see how it works, demo Kollective’s browser-based peering for yourself.

The post Teams Live Events Buffering Fix: Peer-to-Peer Streaming appeared first on Kollective Technology .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Improve Network Efficiency with Browser-Based Peering

browser-based peering

Organizations with many branches and remote locations know the challenges that come with broadcasting live and on-demand video to a distributed workforce. While most corporate networks do an excellent job handling the demand for one-to-one voice and video calls, things can – and often do – go south quickly when trying to deliver video messages at scale.

Think of your network like a highway on college football gameday. Every other day of the week, it’s fine; traffic flows seamlessly. But on gameday, the hour before kickoff, traffic is a nightmare. What normally suffices as a two-lane road, needs to be expanded substantially to meet the needs of ticket holders.

Although an infrastructure upgrade would take care of the problem, it’s not a cost-effective solution to address an infrequent event. The same logic can be applied to CEO Town Halls, All Hands Meetings and other important updates that need to be streamed to your employees at large.

Yes, you have the option to buy more bandwidth or upgrade servers, but that still caps your network. If your company grows or if your consumption of cloud services continues to increase, so will your bandwidth needs. The most scalable solution is to invest in an enterprise content delivery network (ECDN) powered by browser-based peering, also known as peer-to-peer or P2P.

How Browser-Based Peering Improves Network Efficiency

Modern ECDNs that use P2P networking rely on cloud-first microservices that supply scale and global reach. Instead of installing new hardware, it uses your existing network infrastructure – and the employees watching your event – to deliver content more efficiently. Kollecitve ECDN , for example, uses Microsoft Azure in conjunction with distributed client software and often uses in-place features within modern web browsers and cloud-first applications such as Microsoft Teams to scale video communications.

At content ingest, the first user to join the event at a particular location sources content directly from Azure Media Services CDN using HTTPS and creates a peering mesh that additional viewers from the same office will pull from.

Each peering node, as users are called, retrieves information about other nodes via the signaling process. Here, the requesting node establishes a WebRTC communication session with other nodes to determine and request the required data from available peers. In this instance, the WebRTC data channel is used as a transport mechanism.

Peer-to-peer communication utilizes DTLS/SCTP over UDP as the reliable and secure transport between nodes. DTLS provides a secure encrypted channel while SCTP delivers a reliable connection and congestion control.

Below is what your network looks like without an ECDN when broadcasting Live Video via Microsoft Teams, Stream or Yammer. With each user pulling the content directly from the source, the WAN gateway is overloaded, resulting in poor user experience or, worse, failed video delivery.

Enterprise network without an ECDN

This is what it could look like with a P2P ECDN like Kollective:

How Kollective's P2P ECDN scales video via peering

What If a User Leaves the Peering Mesh?

Peers can join or leave the mesh without impact to other users. If a peer leaves the meeting the intelligent peering mesh will simply adapt and reposition the other users without impact to the viewing experience.

Each receiving peer monitors the performance of the node they are sourcing from and, in the event of poor supply, can request content from alternate peers. If a user is unable to communicate with other peers, the machine falls back to the CDN for content retrieval, ensuring 100% content delivery.

Does Your Network Need Browser-Based Peering?

Now that you know what browser-based peering is, why it’s important and how it works, it’s time to see it in action. Visit our demo page to learn more.

The post Improve Network Efficiency with Browser-Based Peering appeared first on Kollective Technology .

To view our Partner blog, click here