Cisco has introduced technology advancements for the Cisco Digital Media System (DMS) that will help organizations enhance their customers' experiences, facilitate learning and improve employee productivity. As part of its suite of digital media products and services, Cisco has unveiled an interactive application, called Enterprise TV, a number of major advancements, including a new Cisco Digital Media Player 4400G, and increased functionality for the company's existing digital signage and desktop video applications.
In the 18 months since it was launched, the Cisco Digital Media System has gained significant market traction, seeing strong success across financial services, retail, education, sports, entertainment, and other industries. It now supports the delivery of high-quality, dynamic digital media communications for more than 600 customers around the world.
The Cisco Digital Media System is a key component of Cisco's business video strategy, which combines systems and services, using the network as the platform, to enable end-to-end, any-to-any video solutions that create powerful visual networking experiences.
"As the leading promoter of motorsports activities in the United States, we're in the business of creating compelling experiences for thousands of racing fans," said Bob Shafto, director of information technology for International Speedway Corp. "With Cisco's digital signage, our ability to reach those fans with more targeted visual communications is a significant opportunity. Utilizing digital media in a sports environment will provide us with more effective ways to increase revenues and have more intimate experiences with our fans."
The latest Cisco DMS 5.0 release includes the following new technologies, along with interface and usability advancements:
•Cisco Enterprise TV (ETV): A new interactive digital media application that allows organizations to deliver on-demand video and broadcast live TV channels over an Internet Protocol (IP) network to digital displays. With a remote control, users can access content through simple, intuitive on-screen menus and program guides; and organizations can create and customize lineups and content libraries. Enterprise TV uses the same hardware and management platform as Cisco Digital Signage.
•Cisco Digital Media Player (DMP) 4400G: A highly reliable, IP-based hardware endpoint that enables digital signage and Enterprise TV through the ability to play high-definition live and on-demand video, motion graphics, web, and dynamic content on digital displays. Powered for advanced digital signage, the DMP 4400G includes new hardware options of up to 4 gigabytes of local storage and support for MPEG-4/H.264 and Adobe Flash 9; this builds on the support for standard-definition and high-definition MPEG-2, RSS, and other web formats and dynamic data of the DMP 4305G model.
•For Digital Signage: Cisco DMS 5.0 delivers support for advanced digital signage content, including Flash 9 video, scrolling tickers and emergency notifications. This application uses the same hardware and management platform as Cisco Enterprise TV.
•For Desktop Video: Cisco DMS 5.0 includes new content-level viewing security options, detailed usage reporting, the ability to share content and embed videos into web pages or other applications, closed captioning, and video portal support for non-English languages. Cisco Desktop Video gives users access to on-demand videos and live webcasts at the desktop.
In addition, Cisco Wide-Area Application Services (WAAS) customers can use their existing wide-area network (WAN) optimization solution with DMS 5.0 to efficiently deliver digital media to branches, stores and other remote locations worldwide without making additional infrastructure investments.
"As businesses rapidly expand the use of video in key business processes, they are looking to simplify its management, consolidate the deployment of video applications, increase sales and reduce operating costs," said Thomas Wyatt, senior director and general manager, Cisco's Digital Media Systems business unit. "With the innovative advancements we're introducing today, the Cisco Digital Media System is the first solution in the industry to deliver a comprehensive suite of digital signage, Enterprise TV and desktop video applications, all managed from a single platform for the creation, management and access of compelling digital media over the network."
With the Cisco Digital Media System -- complemented by Cisco's broad partner ecosystem of deployment, solution-development and content-creation partners -- Cisco provides customers with all of the key elements for a successful digital media implementation.
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