PGi Partners
| Name: | PGi Channel Managers |
About PGi
Established in 1991, PGi began with a simple goal: Empower people and businesses to connect and collaborate. Throughout our 27-year history, PGi has met the changing technology landscape to bring enterprises around the world easy-to-use and effective collaboration and communication solutions.
Today’s connected business environment demands more than a connected workforce. To compete and win, you need the tools and support to enable the ultimate level of team member synergy and interaction. PGi’s flagship collaboration product, GlobalMeet®, is up for that challenge, with a complete range of reliable communications and connectivity solutions that allow people to contribute ideas in real time, from any location.
Blog Article
From Dial-Up Modems and Beyond
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Nowadays, “going live” can happen from almost any device, anywhere. If you have access to a smartphone, a trip to the beach can turn into streamed content within minutes. But this type of content wasn’t always readily available, so how did we get here today? And why do consumers love live content?
We will answer those questions, as well as share how this live content can be leveraged by businesses to increase employee connectivity, and more. But to do that, we must head back to the dial-up modem days … if you can remember those!
Podcasts: Humble Beginnings
The beginnings of what we would now call a podcast didn’t look quite then. As the story goes, a band called “Severe Tire Damage” had some very smart friends at Xerox PARC in Silicon Valley or, more specifically, Palo Alto, California. In 1993, they used a small network they called called “multicast backbone,” or “mBone,” to share out the band’s concerts all around the world, basically creating live streaming in the process.
The “Real” Live Streaming Story
In 1995, RealPlayer, created by internet company RealNetworks (then for the home PCs) began broadcasting a Major League Baseball game. A few years later in 1997, the company tried to commercialize and monetize with RealVideo, but they didn’t exactly score.
Going Mainstream … with Some Help
When former president Bill Clinton, known to be a trendsetting politician, participated in the first widely attended webcast in 1999, there were tremendous results! Over 50,000 people logged in for the presentation “Third Way Politics in the Information Age,” produced by Excite@Home Network and the Democratic Leadership Council.
Even for today, those numbers would be astounding for any business's webcast! But bigger is not always better. Even small attendance numbers can have big gains. For example, one webinar with just 232 attendees resulted in over $11K sales for a Udemy course.
Connect with Employees Through Live Streaming & Webcasting
Even though you might be thinking of lead generation and sales when it comes to webcasts, businesses can also utilize this technology to connect with employees. Think about creating a virtual town hall, or easier employee training with virtual presentations. Important messages can be delivered to whole teams and departments (even the entire company) with live streaming technology! Can you imagine what the developers in the early ‘90s would think of us now! We are using these tools in ways they could never even imagine!
Taking a cue from live streaming’s history, it’s wise to think about the entertainment value that this technology can bring leading to increased engagement. Live music, like the concert streamed back in 1993, could be just the ticket for your next virtual town hall.
Need help figuring out how to make the most of your next live stream? We have the right tools, like clear audio and professional-quality video, to get you there. Learn more today!
[link to GlobalMeet page on your website]
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Social Media Post (for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook)
Remember dial-up modems? While thankfully our tech has come a long way since then, let’s take a look back to how live streaming first began -- and how using today’s upgrades can lead to an increase in employee engagement: [link to partner blog] #PGiPartners #PGiConnect
