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NextGen Web Content Broadcasting : Webcasting & Podcasting 

Posted On April 10, 2012 by Sneha Latha filed under

Effective corporate communications requires that the target audience enjoy easy, convenient, and timely access to information. It can be managed with modern web content posting methods. Podcasting is an automated way of delivering audio and video media over the Internet to consumers. Although it is sometimes referred to as a “push” technology. Webcasting is a relatively new business tool that helps facilitate this exact requirement for large employee meetings, large marketing events, online training, secured shareholder meetings and more. This article emphasizes the use of webcasting & podcasting in modern business applications .

Introduction

As a general principle, electronic media is entering a new stage of evolution and moving toward a destination where three characteristics shall ultimately become prominent. First, media consumption will be routinely time shifted. Media consumption shall be place shifted. There is no technical reason why viewers cannot watch their TVs at home from anywhere on the Internet. Media programming will be originated by an infinitely larger number of creators on the edge of the Internet.

Among the specific business that will be impacted are:
(1) broadcast radio,
(2) software media players, and
(3) the iPod.
Webcasting allows meeting hosts and content providers to leverage streaming technology to broadcast content to large, geographically dispersed audiences.   The key benefits of webcasting include ease of use for both meeting hosts and attendees, the ability to include high-impact, rich media content elements (including audio, live video, and PC-content), and significant economies of scale.

Webcasting
Webcasting is the live transmission of audio and visual material over the internet or intranet. The greatest benefit is that anyone that missed the live transmission or that cannot attend can also view the webcast online straight after. In addition to the video image, a webcast can also be extended with extra (interactive) options such as PowerPoint slides, asking questions live), search options, chats, surveys/exams, a menu with any attachments, etc. This makes webcasting an extremely interesting application for many communication purposes.

Webcasting solutions allow people to  “virtually” attend live events, or watch previously  recorded  / archived events from the convenience of their PC.   There is no need to leave one’s office (or wherever one happens to be online at the time). To view a live event, people simply click on the webcast URL, usually provided via email, and sign in.

To view an on-demand content item, people simply go the appropriate website (often on a company’s Intranet) and click on the desired content item.   It’s just that simple. Webcast attendees enjoy a low-stress,  high-impact session that can include streaming video, streaming audio, Power Point slides, browser sessions, surveys, polling, and more.   This combination of easy access and high impact makes webcasting an effective means of corporate communications -- both inside and outside the organization.

Webcasting is the new, smart way to communicate. Webcasting enables you to reach your specific target group live. A webcast allows everyone to access your message, presentation or training directly and in a cost-effective manner over the internet or intranet. A webcast offers plenty of interactive options. The video image renders a webcast a highly personal way of communicating. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. Once a live webcast has finished, it will be available immediately and can be searched in modular fashion. This makes webcasting a highly efficient and relatively inexpensive means of communication, for your reach is huge and highly targeted.

As such, webcasting is something you can no longer imagine your communication resources being without. Whether you would like to talk to or train employees, provide information to customers (new or existing), shareholders and the press or reach other stakeholders, webcasting provides quantifiable, worldwide and visually excellent opportunities. Hundreds of organizations have now been successfully using all the options webcasting has to offer for years. The number of organizations using webcasting is increasing each month. But even the number of webcasts per organization is soaring. Once you get going with webcasting, you will immediately sense what the possibilities and results are. It will certainly motivate you to use webcasting to other communication-related ends.

Benefits of Webcasting

The majority of webcasting solutions support the creation, management, distribution and delivery of rich media information and incorporate a wealth of content provider and attendee features.
Content Provider Benefits

Attendee Benefits

In short, webcasting allows content providers to distribute rich-media information in a controlled, secure manner to large or small, geographically dispersed audiences in a cost-effective, user friendly manner. From the attendee’s point of view, webcasting makes it easy and convenient to access live and on-demand rich media content.

Webcasting Applications:

Webcasting Options

Webcasting Technology
The power behind webcasting is the use of streaming technology.    This highlights a key difference between webcasting, which leverages streaming to facilitate “one-to-many” broadcasts to virtually any size audience, and web conferencing, which utilizes various other means to enable interactive meetings with a relatively small number of participants.
Streaming allows webcasting users to see or hear the rich media content without having to download entire rich media files (which tend to be very large and can take a long time to download).   Instead, the rich media information is compressed into a series of small data chunks that are delivered to the user and placed in a viewing queue or buffer as shown below.

Webcasting vs. Web Conferencing
Vendors and end users alike have trouble differentiating between webcasting and web conferencing.   Like webcasting, web conferencing is also often used to facilitate communication among groups. While there are some key similarities between these two technologies  (both support a wide range of rich media content that can be shared on PC screens over an intranet or the Internet), the two web technologies are, in fact, optimized for very different applications. The table below illustrates a few of the key differentiators:

The key takeaways from the above table are as follows:

  1. Webcasting  enables  primarily  one-to-many  broadcasts,  while  web conferencing  focuses  on interactive meetings.
  2. Webcasts are ideal, both in terms of functionality and cost, for large audiences, while web conferences are better suited for smaller groups.
  3. Webcasts frequently involve and revolve around live or pre-recorded video to maximize the impact and connectedness with the presenter, while web conferences rarely include video and instead focus around PC content.    The use of video not only provides an additional level of connectedness  between  the  session  host  and  the  audience,  but  also  improves  information absorption and retention.
  4. Webcasts include integrated audio (broadcast only) while web conferencing typically requires the use of an audio conferencing bridge / session.

Overall, webcasting is ideal for broadcasts, while web conferencing is better suited for meetings.

Webcasting  Models
There are two traditional deployment models for webcasting solutions; the ASP  (application service provider) model and the CPE (customer premise equipment) model.   ASP offerings are service provider hosted  solutions,  typically  web-based,  that  run  off  the  service  provider’s  server  and  network infrastructure.    In  other  words,  a  company  that  utilizes  an  ASP  offering  is  effectively  buying  an outsourced solution from a service provider.   On the other hand, CPE offerings involve the purchase of hardware / software solutions for deployment within the enterprise organization.   Sometimes people refer to  these  as the  buy  (ASP)  and  build  (CPE)  models.    Each  of  these  models  offer  a  wide  range  of advantages and capabilities, but neither is ideal for all webcasting situations.
The diagram below illustrates the architecture of a typical ASP webcasting offering.

For organizations seeking a turnkey, cost-effective means of distributing streaming / webcasting content to both internal and external audiences, the hybrid ASP / CPE model is a solid choice that provides a level of flexibility that cannot be achieved with traditional models.

Podcasting

Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The distribution format of a podcast uses a form of the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) format. The term podcast, like "radio", can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often referred to as a "podcaster". Podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of files, however a podcast is distinguished by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS feeds. Usually the podcast features one type of "show", with new episodes either sporadically or at planned intervals, such as daily or weekly. In addition to this, there are podcast networks that feature multiple shows on the same feed. Podcasting's essence is about creating content (audio or video, even documents) for an audience who want to listen or watch an episode when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it.

Podcasting is a unique innovation in content publishing based in large part on its inherent simplicity and ease of use. Users simply connect their portable audio devices to their computer, log on to a podcasting subscription service, and subscribe to that site’s feeds. Audio content is then “pushed” from the original source directly and automatically to the user’s iPod or MP3 player. All of the tools needed to create, modify, and distribute podcasts are within reach of anyone with a reasonably well-configured laptop. The desire to improve the quality of podcasts has resulted in rich Web-based resources outlining principles of sound, equipment
recommendations, and shared experiences. Podcasting demonstrates the power of audio over text (listening as opposed to reading), allowing podcast users to listen and learn while they
walk, jog, ride the bus, or are otherwise away from their com-puter screen. Perhaps most significantly, podcast technology empowers users to publish audio content directly and seamlessly onto the Web.

Users must have sufficient bandwidth to download the podcast. Beyond access, there are potential issues with the format. Podcasting is primarily an audio delivery technology and, as such, has limited usefulness for the hearing impaired. Podcasting is not designed for two-way interaction or audience participation. Podcasters  are  essentially “sound  amateurs”  producing  and publishing audio feeds. The quality of speakers’ voices, speech patterns, intonations, and other sound effects may not be the same as those of a professional broadcast. Faculty who wish to record their lectures or other instruction for podcasts may need
some training, both in handling an audio-only medium and using the technology.



Steps to audio-based podcasting

Purpose of podcasting
Education

Business/Commercial

Recreation/Entertainment

This article covers only the basic concepts .For core technical aspects & consultancy you can consult the following references or e-mail at : skphind@yahoo.co.uk

References      

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About the Authors

Sunil Kr.Pandey

Head- IT & Systems
Jaipuria Institute of Management
Jaipur, Rajasthan
 E-mail:skphind@rediffmail.com

R.B.Mishra

Professor
Department of Computer Engineering
Institute of Technology(IT),
Banaras Hindu University(BHU),
Varanasi(UP)
India.

 

 








Added on April 10, 2012 Comment

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