Corporatedeploymentofon-demandvideoUsage,benefits,andlessons.docVIP

Corporate Deployment of On-demand Video: Usage, Benefits, and Lessons Liwei He, Anoop Gupta, Stephen A. White, and  Jonathan Grudin November 11, 1998 MSR-TR-98-62 Microsoft Research Redmond, WA. 98052 USA  Corporate Deployment of On-demand Video: Usage, Benefits, and Lessons Liwei He, Anoop Gupta, Stephen A. White, and Jonathan Grudin Microsoft ResearchRedmond, WA 98052 ABSTRACT Streaming video to the desktop is becoming increasingly widespread. A key application for corporations is to make informational talks available over corporate intranets. However, there are costs to such deployment, including production and post-processing costs, video-server costs, and indirect costs due to increased network usage. Given the costs, we need to better understand the usage patterns and increase the benefits of such a service. In this paper, we analyze the use of on-demand video on Microsoft Corporation’s intranet. Over the past year more than 160 talks have been made available, and we analyze detailed usage-logs accessed by more than 2000 users in over 6000 viewing sessions. We report on the format in which content was put on the intranet, the viewers’ usage patterns (including impact of content format, portions of talks that were watched, change in usage patterns over time), and present implications for redesigning presentations for viewing over the network. Learning how people access video over a network will lead to redesigning video presentations, just as knowledge of how people browse Web text has led to redesigning Web pages. Keywords Video on-demand, streaming media, corporate training, digital library INTRODUCTION The steady rise in desktop computer performance and network bandwidth, together with improvements in video compression technology, are bringing us closer to the time when video on demand will be routinely available in the workplace. Key anticipated use in corporations includes live and on-demand delivery of executive briefings, and technica