Why webcast?

Presenter
Milly Jones
Programming and Marketing Services Manager
Instructional Communications Systems
University of Wisconsin-Extension

Title
Why webcast?

Description
The webcast service managed by ICS can help you solve your presentation dilemmas with a full-range of features for recording, publishing, distributing, and viewing rich media presentations.

Date Recorded
March 2006

Text
Hi. I’m Milly Jones, Programming and Marketing Services Manager for Instructional Communications Systems, and I want to welcome you to this introduction to the new Webcasting service managed by ICS.

Do you need to make your presentations available with graphics over the web? Would you like to create demos of new products or services that could be easily accessed on CD or the web? How about hosting a live streamed event with the ability for attendees to send questions to the presenters through their web browsers or for the presenters to use live online polling?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of those questions, then you’ll like the features that Mediasite offers for recording, publishing, distributing, and viewing rich media presentations.

What is ICS Webcast? It’s a fully integrated system, using Mediasite, that allows the capture and recording of audio, video and data, such as PowerPoint slides, in a streamed media presentation. It automatically syncs a speaker’s video with the delivery of his or her support data – such as graphics, slides, videotapes or DVDs – into a single, seamless presentation.

Presentations created with Mediasite can be presented live, so attendees can log in to an event URL and see and hear the presentation as it is happening, or they can be recorded and archived for later, on-demand viewing and distribution, either on web or CD.

Live presentations can be made even more dynamic by using the interactivity tools built into the system: polling and text questions allow participants to send questions and feedback directly to the presenter through the media player on the web.

Mediasite addresses a variety of communications solutions for education and government including:

Training – You can use webcasting for training and seminars without the headaches and expense of moving trainers from location to location
Online lectures and Distance Learning – Deliver live courses on the web using familiar software tools
Communications – Hold team meetings, briefings, online events or course promotions live
Knowledge Management – Capture expert presentations and project briefings to build and share knowledge across your organization
Conferences – Capture keynote speakers and hold online breakout sessions with remote participation.

In addition,

Webcasting is easy for presenters to use -- no need to modify the way they present. They can simply plug in to the system and let it do the work
Presenters can concentrate on their content and not on the “production.”
You can host live or archived presentations. Presentations are available via web browsers at any time and anywhere.
It’s cost-effective. Content can be preserved and re-used
It’s versatile. The Mediasite system can capture and integrate a wide range of content and digital formats
It’s easy for the end users. Participants don’t need anything more than a web browser and media viewer
It’s portable. You can present from any room in The Pyle Center or from other remote locations using ICS Webcast.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to ICS Webcast. You’re invited to learn more about how you can use webcasting for your rich media presentations. Contact us by phone at 608-262-3772 or check our web site at uwex.edu/ics/webcast. Thanks for participating.