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Worlds First Live Conference Webcast
Using MPEG 4 Technology

The Challenge

Corporate communications specialist AVT Ltd helped organise the world’s first Internet Protocol (IP) unidirectional multicast using MPEG-4 technology.  This was to broadcast proceedings via satellite from the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) two day President’s Conference in London live to delegates in South Africa.  The webcast, synchronised complex PowerPoint™ images along with video and audio from the presenters standing at the podium in the UK.  It used MPEG-4 technology requiring less than two megabytes of bandwidth, as opposed to the normal five to eight for typical broadcasts via satellite.

The AVT Solution

To make the breakthrough, AVT teamed up with envivio, and Globecast who provided the uplink service and access to the commercial satellite. The broadcast is seen as highly significant for the conference industry, as for the first time it makes sharing proceedings remotely, in real time, both practical and affordable.

The technology used, allowed the VGA cable of the system to be plugged directly into the presenter’s laptop, immediately allowing the content of the PC screen along with video and audio from a camera, to be broadcast as a single interactive MPEG-4 stream, which can be delivered via satellite, CD-ROM, DVD or as a webcast.

The Results

Commenting on the live broadcast, Dr Nigel S Flint, Radiologist from Drs Van Rewsburg & Partners, a private practice in Johannesburg, said:

“Remote participation has far exceeded our expectations.  The sound and visual quality have been superb and we feel that we benefited every bit as well as the attending delegates in London.”

“We are delighted that this has been a success; it is integral to AVT’s business philosophy that we look constantly for new ways, either through technology solutions or value added services, to keep our client offer at the cutting edge.  I believe this event is a significant breakthrough for professional bodies and membership organisations who have been looking for a way to share their conferences with colleagues around the world.  There are further implications beyond that for innovative and exciting applications in the fields of distance learning and corporate communications, as well as in developing life enhancing techniques such as telemedicine,”

said Jon Fox, Head of Video & Multimedia at AVT.

The quality of audio, data and graphics throughout the webcast received a major endorsement from the South African audience.  Said Dr Flint:

“This congress has far exceeded our expectations; we have the advantage of being able to post process the slides, magnifying those of interest.  We have also been able to adjust the sound quality. Our feeling is that overall we have experienced the congress every bit as well as the attending delegates in London.”

Jon Fox is optimistic that this breakthrough will kick start a step change in the way that organisations now put together their conference and seminar programmes in the future. 

“I can foresee planners now wanting to build in a stream which enables a much greater level of global participation than has been possible with the traditional conference model.  The implications are profound for pulling in audiences who, for whatever reason, have been excluded or thought to be too remote to attend an event in person,”.

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