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Every major broadcaster acknowledges that they have to consider disaster recovery. Apart from meeting audience expectations, if a channel is off air, it cannot transmit commercials. Without commercials, it has no income. Getting the station back on airand broadcasting commercialsis clearly vital.

But, given todays very reliable technology, a large investment in replicating the primary playout center could be seen as wasted money: a lot of hardware (and real estate) that will never go to air.

The question, then, is how to ensure business continuity through a disaster recovery site that gets the channel on air in the shortest possible time, that can be operated from anywhere, and involves the least amount of engineering support to launch. And the answer that broadcasters are increasingly turning to is the cloud.

On DemandStart-up costs aside, it can be extremely cost-effective to keep a standby system in the cloud: ready to start when you need it; dormant when you do not. For many, cloud-based disaster recovery serves as a good, practical first experience of media in the cloud.

Whichever provider you choose, what you buy from them is access to effectively infinite amounts of processing power and storage space. We have worked extensively with AWS and other cloud suppliers, but AWS also offers some media-specific services (through their acquisition of Elemental) like media processing, transcoding and live streaming.

It is important to bear in mind that moving to the cloud is not an all or nothing, irreversible decision. The very nature of the cloud means it is simple to flex the amount of processing you put there, so if you should decide to back away it is simple to do so.

The cloud is an element within the IP transitionyou decide when and how to make that transition, and when and how much to use the cloud. For many broadcasters, disaster recovery is an excellent way to try out cloud services.

Keeping it FamiliarWith todays software-defined architectures, systems should perform identically whether they are in dedicated computers in the machine room, virtualized in the corporate data center, or in the cloud. Consistent operation is especially important in disaster recovery deployments; if disaster strikes, the last thing you want is for operators to scrabble around trying to make sense of an unfamiliar system.

That does not mean that the primary system and the disaster recovery site must be identical. But with a well-designed cloud solution, you should be able to emulate the same user interfaces. This makes it easy for the operators to switch back and forth between the two different environments.

It also means you can set resilience and availability by channel. You might want your premium channels to switch over to disaster recovery in seconds, for example, while some of your secondary channels can be left for a while. That is a business decision.

Content is Still KingOne of the common misconceptions about cloud playout is that synchronizing content between premises and the cloud demands a lot of bandwidth and potentially high costs. This need not be the case.

Faced with the imminent obsolescence of video tape libraries, and wary of the eternal cost of maintaining an LTO data tape library, many broadcasters are looking to archive in the cloud. You load the content once, confident that all the technology migration and maintenance will be carried out, flawlessly, by someone else.

You may have collaborative post-production by hosting content and decision lists in the cloud. Contentprograms and commercialscan be delivered direct to the cloud.

Playout, archiving, post and traffic may be managed as separate departments, but if you combine them content is only delivered to the cloud once. It is then available for playout without the high egress costs, and is securely stored at significant cost savings.

Outsourcing SecurityBroadcasters have traditionally sought very high availability from the technology delivering premium channels. Five nines used to be regarded as the gold standard99.999% up time. Even that, though, is equivalent to about 5 minutes of dead air a year.

AWS offers its broadcast clients unimagined availability, up to maybe nine nineseffectively zero downtime. And it achieves that without any maintenance effort on your part: no disk replacement, no routine cleaning of air conditioning, no continual updates of operating systems and virus protection.

If the disaster is that your building has to be evacuated because of detected cases of a communicable disease, playout operators can work from home with exactly the same user interface and functionality as if they were sitting in the MCR.

If you want hot standby (complete parallel running in the cloud for almost instantaneous failover), then the technology allows it, if you choose to pay for the processing time. Alternatively, pick your own level of cold or warm standby, confident that, even from cold, loading and booting the channel playout instances can be accomplished in just a couple of minutes.

Cyberattacks are becoming an all-too familiar headline. Other industries have seen crippling incursions and software systems held to ransom. Developing a business continuity strategy that protects from such attacks is paramount.

Again, the cloud is the right solution. A good cloud provider will deliver better data security than you can do yourself. AWS has thousands of staff with the word security on their business cards. While no organization can hope to be perfect, a good cloud provider will give you your best shot at complete protection, because that is their business. The alternative is to build your own data security team: an unnecessary overhead and a challenge to develop, recruit and manage.

AWS is even used by the U.S. Intelligence Community, which suggests that it is probably working.

Doing it LiveOne comment that is often heard is that you cannot run live channels or live content from the cloud. This is simply not true. At Imagine, we have implemented primary playout systems that feature live content.

In the United States, we recently equipped a SMPTE ST 2110 operations center and cloud-hosted disaster recovery channels for Sinclairs regional sports networks (RSNBally Sports Regional Networks). For Sinclairs Tennis Channel, we provided core infrastructure for a large-scale ST 2110 on-premises broadcast center and a cloud-based live production center for pop-up live events.

The biggest requirement for sports television is that live should be absolutely live: no one wants to hear their neighbors cheer and wait to find out why. Minimum latency is also critical for the big money business of sports books.

Sinclair spun up live channels around the 2021 Miami Open tennis tournament in March, and again for the French Open from Roland Garros. All the playout, including the unpredictable live interventions associated with fitting commercial breaks into tennis matches, was hosted in the cloud, with operators sitting wherever was convenient and safe for them.

As consumer preferences move from broadcast to streaming, what happens after the master control switcher becomes ever more complicated in preparing the output for all the different platforms. That level of signal processing is better done in the cloud, especially with transcoding-as-a-service providing high-performance, affordable delivery.

Stepping-Stone to Next-Gen PlayoutDisaster recovery is fundamentally a business issue, a strategic decision. Using the cloud can deliver the best total cost of ownership, but it can also be a valuable stepping-stone in the broadcasters transition to IP connectivity and outsourced hosting.

The technical and operational teams gain experience and confidence in the cloud as a suitable broadcast platform. Routine rehearsals of business continuity mean that operators will learn how similar the performance of the cloud and on-premises systems, and how the user interface seamlessly switches from one to the other.

This experience gives confidence to move on towards a completely cloud future. Pop-up channels can be created in minutes not months, so it is easy to service sports events or music festivals, while only paying for processor time when you need it.

The cloud is infinitely scalable, so you can add channels or services, support new delivery platforms, and test market 4K and HDR. The direct linkage between the cost of delivery and the revenue won makes for easier business management.

As the legacy playout network reaches life-expiration, broadcasters will know what the cloud can do, and have built up solid information on the costs of operating in the cloud. That knowledge will be invaluable in evaluating proposals for the next generation of playout.

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Disaster Recovery in the Cloud | TV Tech - TV Technology

The use of two or more monitors is the norm for many business workstations, and users expect excellent performance when accessing virtual resources on these monitors, regardless of the endpoint.

Unlike a traditional desktop, users can't resolve issues with their thin client monitors and display settings on their own locally because thin clients do not host the OS. Therefore, IT administrators must deliver these resources to the end users' devices and ensure that they have the proper configuration to handle multiple monitors.

There is no universal method to configure thin clients with every virtual desktop management and delivery platform. Still, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) provides a reasonable example that IT administrators can use to learn the general process for enabling multiple monitors on a thin client endpoint.

CVAD user sessions, also known as HDX sessions, present resources to users based on a series of bitmaps on the screen, and organizations often rely on thin clients to provide access to these resources at a low hardware and management cost.

When a user launches or modifies a virtual application or desktop within an HDX session, the server or cloud hosting the virtual resources modifies the bitmaps and sends the updated info to the end-user device. Whether a user is accessing these resources via a Windows, Mac, iPad, Chromebook or thin client device, the session processes are the same. However, once multiple monitors are in the mix, IT has to take administrative action to ensure users have a quality experience. Several challenges exist with multiple monitor deployments on thin clients, and IT admins will need to troubleshoot certain issues.

If any use cases require multiple monitors or extremely high resolution, IT will have to carefully review the model specifications of any thin clients the organization deploys. Many environments that benefit from thin clients, such as call centers, hot desks and general business workers, also benefit from dual monitors with about 1920x1080 resolution.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops can support up to eight monitors, but most thin client devices can only support single or dual monitors. In addition, screen resolution support varies from thin client to thin client. Thin client hardware capabilities are typically far less than full Windows or macOS devices. To address this, thin client devices can run a dedicated OS, such as Igel OS. This stripped-down OS can run as a physical device or via UD Pocket in a USB port that can support eight monitors and 4K resolution. Long gone are the days of Video Graphics Array displays.

Where dual or multiple monitors are in use, it is best for IT admins to deploy monitors based on the same size and resolution. However, this is not always possible, and issues may arise because of these discrepancies.

The most common issue is that users can only see CVAD sessions on a single monitor.

In many cases, multiple monitors will function properly by default, but issues can still arise. Problems with session presentation on multiple monitors focus on two main areas: the CVAD setup and the thin client configuration. Most often, issues will occur on the local thin client device, but the CVAD configuration may require modification.

The most common issue is that users can only see CVAD sessions on a single monitor. If an individual user reports this issue, it is most likely related to the end-user device. This may be a hardware issue or thin client configuration issue. For example, on the HP t430 thin client device, dual displays require HDMI and DisplayPort connections; a display connected via just the HDMI cannot serve as both connections for dual display.

IT admins must allocate sufficient memory for the CVAD environment, whether based on a server or workstation. This is especially important for 4K monitors. In addition, users running GPU-enabled Virtual Delivery Agents need sufficient GPU capabilities as well.

The graphics policy settings are key items within Citrix policies. In particular, the display memory limit setting may affect screen resolution for multiple monitors. The default setting is 65,536 KB, which may not be sufficient; numerous high-resolution HDX sessions require more memory than this.

HDX session presentation on a single monitor may lead to thin client configuration issues. If the thin client is not in multimonitor mode, a virtual desktop admin can remedy this with a configuration setting. For example, on Igel devices, admins can go to the window setting and ensure that the multimonitor configuration is not set to restrict full-screen sessions onto one monitor.

Where the size or resolution of the monitors differs, it is possible that the alignment of screens does not display correctly. Most users will want their CVAD session to be aligned horizontally along the top, but they may prefer center or bottom alignment. Users can adjust monitor alignment appearance on their own via the on-device display settings.

The local settings need to be adjusted if the user sees one or more screens rotated improperly -- upside down or at a 90-degree angle. Using Igel devices as an example, admins can select screen rotation on the client settings and rotate right or left.

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Setting up and troubleshooting multiple thin client monitors - TechTarget

HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced that it has been recognized as the Interaction Analytics market share leader, based on a 39.4 percent share of seats by DMG Consulting LLC, a leading independent research and consulting firm. This is the tenth consecutive year in which NICE has been named the market share leader, based on seats in DMG Consultings Interactions Analytics Product and Market Report. Notably, NICE received the top customer satisfaction score of 5.0 in DMGs Interaction Analytics Vendor Satisfaction Analysis across all 24 vendor, product capabilities and product effectiveness categories. Click here for a complimentary excerpt from the report.

DMG Consulting's 2021-2022 report attributed NICE with a lead of more than 9 percent in the number of seats over the nearest competitor in the Interaction Analytics market. NICE received a perfect 5.0 customer satisfaction score for product capabilities such as omnichannel capabilities (the ability to capture, aggregate and analyze data from all voice and digital interactions), sentiment analysis, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities as well as real-time capabilities. Also noteworthy, NICE earned a perfect rating for each product effectiveness category, specifically for the solutions ability to identify and mitigate pandemic-related impacts for customers, and support work at home/remote agents amongst others.

Donna Fluss, President, DMG Consulting, said, A unique and highly beneficial aspect of Interaction Analytics is its ability to address voice and digital channels and put together a comprehensive story of CX. Looking at feedback in each channel has always been important but gaining visibility into what is happening across channels and enterprise business units is essential to understanding the overall customer journey. This is becoming even more important as activity in digital channels picks up momentum as a result of the digital transformation.

Organizations globally are racing to engage in digital conversations as a way to deliver transformative experiences, said Barry Cooper, President, NICE Workforce & Customer Experience Group. Having received perfect 5.0 customer satisfaction ratings in DMGs 2021 Interaction Analytics industry research, we consider it a clear vote of confidence from our customers. We believe it is a direct result of our focus on cutting-edge innovation, such as Enlighten AI, which allows organizations to meet customers at their digital doorstep.

Enlighten AI is a set of purpose-built AI technologies that are embedded across the NICE portfolio of solutions, making every CX application and process smarter in real-time. It analyzes every interaction to identify the successful behaviors that drive extraordinary experiences. NICE Enlighten AI, developed based on over 30 years of industry expertise and using amongst the largest syndicated interaction datasets, offers an array of out-of-the-box self-learning AI solutions including Enlighten AI for Customer Satisfaction, Enlighten AI for Complaint Management and Enlighten AI Routing.

DMG Consulting LLC's annual Interaction Analytics Product and Market Report' comprehensively analyzes the interaction analytics market, competitive landscape, product innovation, and market, business and servicing trends and challenges. The analysis provides an in-depth review of interaction analytics solutions, including how they enhance other applications and are an essential tool for capturing the voice of the customer, understanding the customer journey and measuring and improving the customer experience.

About NICEWith NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), its never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the worlds #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered contact center software. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform - and elevate - every customer interaction. http://www.nice.com.

Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICEs marks, please see: http://www.nice.com/nice-trademarks.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Cooper, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the Company). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as believe, expect, seek, may, will, intend, should, project, anticipate, plan, estimate, or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; competition; successful execution of the Companys growth strategy; success and growth of the Companys cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company's products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Companys dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners;, cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law.

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NICE Named Global Market Share Leader for Interaction Analytics with Perfect Satisfaction Scores Across All 24 Categories - Business Wire