Virtual events: how an eCDN will support your network when people return to the office

During the global pandemic, the use of virtual events increased massively. No surprise there. Virtual attendance became a necessity, not just an option. Yet as people return to offices alongside new hybrid ways of working, virtual events are here to stay. Not least because many organizations now enjoy the benefits of additional audience reach, are keen to reduce travel and can also earn potentially greater revenues.

Boosting employee engagement and employee experience

Virtual events are not just external conferences and trade shows though. There’s increasing demand for internal virtual events, particularly among enterprise organizations. With large employee audiences in multiple countries and regions, virtual events are essential for internal communications and training events. Many organizations have also found them important for increasing employee engagement and the overall employee experience.

Yet, whether there’s an external or internal focus, virtual events need to offer a rewarding, productive and frictionless experience. Naturally, a lot of the emphasis is on the front-end. What’s the purpose? The overarching theme? Where shall we hold it? And when? Who should speak? What will we present? How can we make this a really special event? Yet, away from that front-end preparation, it’s vital to think about the technical delivery of the content too.

Simultaneous streams could impact your network performance

A substantial return to the office could mean huge numbers of onsite employees watching a virtual event simultaneously. And this can present a challenge, especially in organizations with hundreds or even thousands of employees. A recent IDG survey showed that 87% of IT managers expect a significant to moderate impact on the network, which could present a serious challenge.

How will your enterprise network cope with the increased traffic? The overall employee experience will be poor if the performance of your network is hindered or compromised. A stable network connection is a prerequisite. The last thing you want is for people to experience buffering or jitter. Or not even be able to connect at all.

To explain more about this critical issue, we recently held a webinar, presenting alongside our partners, Kollective Technology. In the session, Stephanie Newman from Kollective talks about how their eCDN (Enterprise Content Delivery Network) can ensure you avoid any such problems.

An eCDN will deliver numerous benefits

Whether you’re trying to deliver your event to 100, 1,000 or 100,000 people, an eCDN will ensure it happens seamlessly. How? Well, Stephanie explains in more detail in the webinar, it uses its P2P (peer-to-peer) technology. Crucially, it delivers video streams to all needing them. You’ll also avoid all your bandwidth being consumed or your network being paralyzed. What’s more, it not only delivers a great viewing experience but it can also save up to 90% of your corporate bandwidth, and enable your organization to make savings on its IT budget.

An eCDN has other benefits too in terms of monitoring your traffic and security. This is particularly important with a return to the office where your employees may be using many new devices and applications. With these can come new IT security challenges; after all, your network is only as secure as your weakest entry point.

A trusted partner to support your events

Do watch the full video hosted by Kamran Khan, GTM leader, CX and Intelligent Workplace at NTT. As well as hearing from Kamran and Stephanie, you’ll also hear from Will Rea, Regional Manager, Digital Events at NTT on how we can also support your virtual events. From consulting on technology platforms, physical venues, providing cameras and lighting, to creative services, specialist production and event support. we offer a highly-experienced, expert service to ensure your events are a smoothly-run success.

What’s more, as a global business, our service is invaluable in supporting enterprise clients who need a trusted partner that can support events wherever they take place – and with the help of Kollective ensure they always stream perfectly every time, no matter how many people watch at once.

Watch the event on-demand now to find out more including details of a free trial of the Kollective eCDN solution and our Digital Events Discovery workshops.