Windows Media Services

Digital content has taken society to fascinating new levels. It’s not surprising as today’s digital media solutions allow individuals and organizations alike to use various devices to capture, download, present, and stream digital content in a matter of minutes.

The move away from conventional forms of communication has placed a heavy demand on companies like Microsoft to introduce products that not only give people and organizations more efficient ways to communicate, but also provide a mechanism to publish digital content while also reducing costs.

As a result, Microsoft introduced Windows Media Services— a free, optional component for Windows Server 2008 R2 that takes full advantage of the Internet and intranet to stream live or on-demand digital content. Microsoft also provides two major tools, both of which are freely downloadable, that perform media conversion (Windows Media Encoder) as well as content customization for presentations.

Organizations, small and large, are seeing the impact the streaming media solution has on communication and their pockets. It has improved communication by ensuring information broadcast and rebroadcast is consistent. For example, employees in an organization’s most remote location can watch a presentation live. Equally important, the presentation remains available on demand for those who missed the live presentation or wanted to review it. As this example demonstrates, everyone receives the same information. Employee downtime has also significantly decreased. Employees are traveling less for company meetings, career development workshops, and other events. The benefits do not stop there as organizations are saving money by taking advantage of their existing networks. By building upon what they already have instead of investing in other products, including satellite or television, organizations are seeing financial benefits. Not to mention some organizations’ business models, such as YouTube, bring in millions every year by offering digital media publishing services to their consumers.

Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed