Watching TV

 

Like many other technologies, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is popular among consumers and poised to form an enormous impact on business.

In basic terms, IPTV is a protocol that permits live or on-demand video/TV programming to be transmitted digitally over a broadband network through an abonnement IPTV (or IPTV subscription). It brings shows like Stranger Things to our mobile devices and allows us to binge-watch our favorite Netflix shows, all while providing another to cable and satellite television within the kind of SlingTV, Hulu, and others.

IPTV has to date proven to be successful because it allows for granular control over when and where we watch the shows we love. As IPTV moves into the business world, we’ll be ready to similarly improve the user experience within the workplace and increase opportunities for streaming and distributing company-owned multimedia content.

Why IPTV Matters

IPTV takes the following step into the digital age by shifting from purpose-built televisions and cabling to the broadband infrastructure that’s rapidly expanding all throughout the planet.

Without significant investment in hardware or infrastructure, an IPTV-based solution can service multiple devices, unlike cable. For the mobile age, this makes it a convenient alternative. Familiarity with these kinds of solutions will help organizations increase user adoption rates among millennials and “cord-cutters,” those that move far away from cable in favor of a wireless connection.

Since IPTV facilitates seamless, high-speed transmission of an incredible amount of rich video content, it also stands to create a positive impact on businesses.

  • Enterprises can facilitate meetings, seminars, and training events around the world.
  • Through timely, compelling communication, they can enrich the customer experience.
  • Including computers, mobile devices, digital TVs with a set-top device, or Smart TVs, business users can access company content through existing devices.
  • Organizations can better monitor and report on utilization and reduce costs by delivering video and television over IP networks.

 

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Kinds of IPTV Services

IPTV is meant to be fully interactive regardless of what content you select. Not only do you have to get the snappy performance you expect from traditional television, but you’ll gain access to interactive features like search, navigation, and catch-up.

The main kinds of IPTV services include:

  • Video-on-Demand. An on-demand IPTV video catalog is stored on the disk within the set-top box or within the cloud.
  • Live. Live events are captured through digital recording and streamed onto the IPTV device.
  • Delayed. IPTV provides access to time-shifted content so you’ll be able to rewind or fast forward like with a DVR.
    History and Outlook

The basic idea of IPTV has been around since 1995 within the variety of online video-on-demand. However, today’s IPTV implementation is much more powerful and complicated.

In 1996, Adobe designed the Flash browser plug-in to permit webmasters to share videos on their websites. However, early implementations were error-prone.

It wasn’t until the 2000s, with the emergence of smartphones and therefore the growth of broadband, that video content began to become mainstream. Those who experienced phenomenal growth and now serve about one billion hours of content daily are sites like YouTube (founded 2005).

As people shift to mobile, demand for video grows: quite half of the video views come from mobile devices. Mobile video views are outpacing mobile device adoption worldwide, suggesting users can still fit more video into their lives—if they need how of accessing it.

IPTV meets the requirement for a flexible, hardware-agnostic platform that provides users access to videos they require after they want it—the opposite of TV’s traditional business model.

With robust broadband increasingly available, IPTV arrives at the right historical moment. Global IPTV revenues are expected to close $80 billion by 2020.