It Knows Who You Are, It Knows What You’re Using

Today at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Qumu unveiled the 6.2 release of the Qumu Video Control Center product, including new, patent-pending technology called “Pathfinder.” 

Pathfinder, according to Qumo, “represents a breakthrough in guaranteeing all users of streaming video receive a quality viewing experience regardless of their location or device…a powerful solution for the preparation and “smart routing” of video and related business content like PDFs, PowerPoint presentations and other rich media.?

“These days, everyone understands how frustrating it is when video buffers or cuts in and out.  We’re striving to make quality video available to everyone,” says Ray Hood, senior vice president of parent company Rimage and general manager at Qumu. “Qumu knows the future of business depends on video being consumed anytime, anywhere. A video-powered enterprise means providing the freedom to work with existing infrastructure, the power to reach all audiences and the control to do it right.”

Here’s what Qumu says Pathfinder can do:

>> Adjust bandwidth allocations differently based on pre-set criteria defined for individuals or audience groups. 
>> Determine the network access a user has at any location and automatically select the right quality level – bitrate – of the video suitable for that location.
>> Works with legacy gear as well as with all adaptive streaming formats to cap the maximum bitrate, thus preventing network congestion and interference with non-video traffic.
>> Understands what devices are being used.  It knows whether the user is at the desk, at home using an iPad or other tablet device, or traveling using a smartphone.  It knows what video formats are supported on various devices.
>> Automatically adjusts the type of video streams for audiences from tens to tens of thousands of members, combining information about each individual’s location, rights and device to provide the best quality video stream possible. It supports both live and on-demand video streaming. For live broadcasts, Pathfinder supports transparent failover that helps ensure the viewer continues to watch a Webcast even when there was a failure along the video delivery route.

The Qumu Pathfinder works with the Qumu Video Control Center to simultaneously route to multiple CDNs, including such corporate CDNs as Blue Coat, Cisco, Riverbed and Qumu VideoNet as well as such Internet CDNs as Akamai or AT&T ACDN. Qumu VCC 6.2 is available today as software, as a hardened appliance or as a managed service in the cloud.