Streaming Media Case Study
Case Study: For One Trainer, VOD Spells Satisfaction
DSM CHEMICAL is profiting from the power and convenience of video training-on-demand.
By Mark Fritz May 5, 2004
Vincent Engelke, corporate training coordinator for DSM Chemicals North America, says that for 20 years he's been seeking on-demand video training and, to paraphrase Mick Jagger, getting no satisfaction. Today, thanks to a SuperVue video server from Axonix, his demand for on demand is finally being met.
"The ability to quickly add training video content and launch a training event delivered directly to the desktop on demand, without overloading the bandwidth capacity of our intranet, is a major plus," says Engelke.
Engelke has suffered through some less-than-ideal video training delivery methods—the use of videotapes in TV/VCR combos, for example. "People were always fighting over them," he complains. So DSM added more machines. "We started with two units, actually in the plant operating control rooms," says Engelke. "Demand for access increased, and we placed an additional eight units. Then the media [tapes] were in greater demand than we could supply."
DSM later tried running videotapes continuously (looping them) over an analog cable system to 16 separate workstations. This helped to boost the usage rate, but, says Engelke, "the problem we experienced then was the mechanical failure of the VCRs and the videotapes themselves." Also, this didn't give employees the sort of individualized on-demand access and control that Engelke feels is crucial for satisfying learners.
Today, thanks to DSM's SuperVue -based Video on Demand (VOD) system, everyone in DSM's North American headquarters (about 350 employees) has instant access to training videos. SuperVue can deliver a separate stream to every desktop. "There are no excuses anymore," says Engelke. And consequently, "our compliance training has gone through the roof," he says. This is a good thing, because compliance safety training, for example, not only protects employees but it also for protects the bottom line, as failure to comply can lead to fines from regulatory bodies such as OSHA.
Axonix calls its SuperVue an "integrated video server appliance." Unlike regular video servers which require software loading and configuring, as well as driver downloads and system optimizing, by an already-overworked IT department, a SuperVue comes with everything pre-installed and ready to go. It is "plug and play," according to Axonix sales manager Steve Auerbach. And all functions are "accessed and administered" via a standard Web browser, he says.
SuperVue systems come with different interfaces for different bandwidths—10/100Mbit and Gigabit Ethernet. The company designates their three models by the number of hours of "near-VHS" quality video their hard drives can hold. For example, the Model 600 can hold 600 hours. The company defines near-VHS quality as 320 x 240 pixels, 20-25 frames per second, 400-800 Kb/second, and it claims that at this quality level, over a 100 Mbps network, a SuperVue can ordinarily deliver 125-250 simultaneous streams.
What Engelke loves about this variable bit rate system is that he can mix and match quality levels with needed number of streams. For example, if he knows he needs to deliver training to only 20 people, he can choose to deliver the video to them at high quality. If he needs to deliver video to 200 people, he'll just have to settle for a lower quality level.
SuperVue sits on an embedded XP Pro Platform that is transparent to the user. The system can encode from just about any analog video source using browser-based pull-down menus. It imports AVI, QuickTime, MPEG-2, and RealVideo for transcoding to any bandwidth as Windows Media for final delivery to the desktop. You can also attach a camera to a SuperVue and use it for live Webcasting. Retail prices start at $3195.
Besides training, DSM Chemical is also using VOD for performance support—employees have instant access at their desktops to a large number of technical reference videos—and for knowledge management. "We had 3 people retiring who together held 120 years of work experience," says Engelke. "That's a lot of knowledge base to walk out the door." In an attempt to preserve that knowledge, Engelke has been trying to capture it on video.
This is usually done as a sort of dialog, he explains. For example, an instructional video about the operation of a certain machine will start out with a technician explaining how it is supposed to work theoretically. Then, the actual experienced machine operators will chime in with the truth of the matter—how it really works under actual factory conditions.
DSM headquarters has also used their VOD system for community outreach projects, such as the reading contest they sponsored as part of an "adopt a school" program, and to store and deliver a video about the company's United Way drive. And so VOD has become not just a training tool but also an internal/external corporate communications tool.