Cover Story
Cover Story
As with any market development , you see an initial surge – almost hysterical – with uptake and people proclaiming it ’ s a game changer . And then it ’ s tested in real-world cases , and the nuances of its strengths and drawbacks become apparent . - Bridge Technologies
( latency , jitter , delay etc .) to assure services are fit for purpose . The Broadband Forum is including this in its standards work so there is a common approach to delivering this continuous monitoring ( as part of its OBUDP- ST project ). Interra Systems : Throughout the lockdowns , broadcasters and TV service providers were dealing with limited IT infrastructures and minimal access to their systems when working from home . If a video delivery system wasn ’ t functioning properly or broke down , prompt customer support was critical . So , partnering with technology providers that offered responsive , remoteready support and engineering departments was — and still is — essential . When access to a physical location is either limited or nonexistent , companies still struggle to maintain uninterrupted operations . Accessing systems , performing software updates , and managing systems via remote logins are all significant hurdles . Plume : Data from Plume IQ reveals that smart home data usage has soared by 16 % comparing the second half of 2021 with the
“ We ’ ve seen a huge uptick in interest regarding cloud-based QC , monitoring .” - Interra Systems same period in 2022 . This increase , partly due to the new working practices that have become popular in the postpandemic world , highlights that service providers should adopt a proactive approach to T & M to mitigate the risk of network congestion , which would negatively impact customer experience . Torque Network Systems : I don ’ t think lockdown has substantially affected T & M , with perhaps one exception . Despite being less important to overall QoS and QoE , broadcasters still cannot wean themselves away from ‘ monitoring ’ live video on a video wall . Usually mounted in the master control , the common practice for decades to have a human set of eye balls to watch screens 24x7 makes less sense in these days of glass-toglass digital infrastructure , multi-profile ABR streaming and complex systems for dynamic local ad insertion .
While systems that measure objective parameters can be easily viewed from anywhere , lockdown put a severe dent in how live content can be monitored . It is not practical to install a full monitor wall in your house . Perhaps , lockdown and the increase in remote work will relegate this common practice to history . We ’ ll see . VeEX : For the most part , it seems to be back to normal . However , the increased interest in easy-to-use remote access / control for test equipment seems to have stayed . WorldCast Systems : During the lockdown , the media and broadcast industry faced significant challenges and had to adapt swiftly . These challenges included a sudden shift to remote work , making it harder to monitor and control broadcast equipment . There was also a surge in demand for online content as more people stayed at home , requiring robust monitoring and control systems to maintain quality . Flexibility in scaling production became crucial to respond to changing demands , and cost efficiency was a top priority due to economic uncertainty . Remote monitoring and control emerged as essential for business continuity and operational efficiency . Lockdown measures led to a reevaluation of T & M approaches in the media sector . Solutions like Kybio , offering remote monitoring , centralised data access , scalability , and easy deployment , became highly valuable in helping organisations adapt to new working conditions , ensuring operational continuity , and maintaining content quality despite lockdown challenges . The need for adaptable T & M solutions became increasingly relevant .
Has there been an increase in virtualised / Cloud-based services ?
Bridge Technologies : As with any market development , you see an initial surge – almost hysterical – with uptake and people proclaiming it ’ s a game changer . And then it ’ s tested in real-world cases , and the nuances of its strengths and drawbacks become apparent . That ’ s entirely what the situation with the Cloud is now . There are certainly huge advantages to its use - across a variety of applications – but it isn ’ t a panacea for everything , and broadcasters need to be analytical about their specific operational context .
That ’ s why at Bridge we ’ ve kept the options open for them . We have moved many of our VB330 network monitoring services to AWS , and for some users the ability to select what they need , when they need it , at the scale that suits them will be a huge advantage . But we retain the ability to deploy the VB330 on a software , embedded or appliance basis because each carries different strengths and opportunities . Being open and honest with clients and truly considering their context and needs is far more important than shoehorning them down a singular ‘ on-trend ’ path . Broadband Forum : There has been an increase in cloud-based services but not an exponential uplift . In all reality operators are building software-based containerised services inside the network but recognise that the best approach is a balance of software containerised services within the subscriber CPE , as well as cloud-based . This balance depends on the intelligent Application Services Gateway and assured cloud repository containing the new applications . Alternatively , OTT cloud-based services will remain ‘’ best effort ’. Interra Systems : Since the pandemic-driven lockdowns , we ’ ve seen a huge uptick in interest regarding cloud-based QC , monitoring , and
“ QoE scores have remained consistently high in smart homes leveraging AI-powered adaptive WiFi .” – Plume
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