Building on the Cisco Media Network, an advanced IP-based communications platform for streaming and video-on-demand (VoD), Cisco Systems, Inc.® today announced the launch of its Cisco Business Video Solution, a powerful new platform that makes organizations more agile by enabling effective, immediate and compelling communications.

The Cisco Business Video Solution provides the prescribed architecture, best practices, training tools and Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure an organization needs to deliver high-performance learning and communications. A key component of the Cisco IP Communication system, the Cisco Business Video Solution helps enable customers to take full advantage of a converged voice, video and data network to deliver a rich-media communications experience.

Utilizing Cisco’s IP networking products and best-in-breed third party solutions, the Cisco Business Video Solution is a holistic approach to video production, distribution and usage, based on nearly a decade of Cisco’s internal experience in designing, implementing and managing an integrated, company-wide streaming and VoD solution. The solution includes a set of three guides that provide the prescribed planning and operational procedures, best practices and recommended IP infrastructure for organizations to seamlessly create, manage and deploy a full suite of web-based video solutions.

“The Cisco Business Video Solution is a tried and proven solution for organizations to substantially improve productivity, competitive advantage and corporate agility across an enterprise’s core business processes,” said Tom Kelly, vice president, Internet Learning Solutions Group, Cisco Systems. “It’s uniquely designed to help administrators take the complexity out of the deployment and management of integrated streaming and VoD, while accelerating the benefits of improved sales force readiness, partner productivity and customer relationships.”

Cisco Business Video Solution Key Components
Content authoring and management – An integrated platform based on the MediaPlatform® 3.0 from Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data) partner, Interactive Video Technologies (IVT) for creating, managing and deploying live and VoD content. This platform features a Web-based interface that includes video and audio capture, synchronization with power point slides and other graphics, HTML editing, page layout and implementation, asset management and project-navigation functions.

Studio – A suggested bill of materials, implementation and deployment guides needed to install and easily operate a video and audio capture studio for both live and on demand events.

Web Portal – Provides all of the tools and process information for viewing, creating and producing live events and VoD content. The source code and interfaces are provided to allow customers to integrate this Web portal into their current Web environment.

Network Delivery – The Cisco networking products that provide high-quality, network-efficient delivery of live and on-demand content. Based on the Cisco Application and Content Networking System (ACNS) solution, this infrastructure improves the use of high bandwidth video content, while alleviating bandwidth constraints.

Cisco Media Network
The Cisco Media Network (CMN) is a platform built on Cisco’s IP infrastructure and tools for delivering rich media (video, audio, Flash) content to Cisco employees, partners and customers. In addition to utilizing Cisco routers and switches for high Quality of Service (QoS) and multicast delivery, the CMN is built on a network of ACNS Content Engines, which service more than 100 remote sites worldwide. On average, the CMN hosts 45 live streaming events and delivers more than 300 new VoD offerings per month for about 40,000 viewers.

Availability and Pricing
The Cisco Business Video Solution is available immediately. Pricing varies, depending upon the number of remote sites and network design. For more information, visit www.cisco.com/go/video.