“As an international organisation, it is essential that staff at our headquarters have instant access to television from all over the world. VITEC’s network IPTV gives us this in an innovative and cost-effective way.”

— Thomson Reuters


Flexible and scalable

A VITEC IPTV solution uses the firm’s existing IP network to stream live TV and video to employees wherever they are without the expense of additional cabling infrastructure. Flexible and scalable, the system can easily be expanded to accommodate growth, and improves the company’s return on its network infrastructure and bandwidth investments.

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Background

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. The company’s UK headquarters are located in Canary Wharf, London, where more than 2,500 employees constantly monitor breaking news and global developments. The company’s aging coaxial TV distribution system couldn’t keep up with growth, and was too hard to integrate with staff desktop computers.

The Challenge

“As an international news organization, it is essential that staff at our headquarters have instant access to television from all over the world, enabling them to watch real-time news channels, as well as recorded and internal content in a convenient way,” said a representative from Thomson Reuters.

The company’s traditional coaxial TV distribution system could not keep up with the demands of Thomson Reuter’s growing business. It not only represented a separate cabling system from the standard IP network used to deliver email, web access, and business applications, but did not integrate easily with personal computers. Viewing TV and video content required either a separate TV display or the installation of a computer TV tuner to enable display on a personal computer, with consequent downtime for the computer involved.

Even more importantly, the existing system wasn’t scalable. Unlike with an IP network, adding users was difficult, usually requiring floors to be lifted and new cabling, and tended to degrade picture quality. This made it difficult for Thomson Reuters to add new employees and quite expensive to move to new offices.

The Solution

Thomson Reuters already uses its IP network for both data and telephony services, and adding users to such a network is simple and causes no degradation in performance. Most business facilities come already equipped with IP network cabling, making it easy to expand into or move to new offices. What Thomson Reuters needed was a way to leverage network technology to also deliver TV and video, which would eliminate the need for obsolete coaxial technology and deliver the quality and scalability to support the company’s expanding news operations.

Thomson Reuters found its solution in an VITEC IP video system, which delivers broadcast-quality TV and video to a virtually unlimited number of users over the same network as data and telephony. The VITEC solution uses Thomson Reuters’ existing IP network to stream crystal clear live TV from all over the world to over 300 displays in conference rooms and lecture theatres as well as 2,500 screens and desktops around the office, with no need for any additional cabling. Channels are supplied from a single satellite dish, keeping investment in equipment to a minimum. The installation was completed within days, ensuring Thomson Reuters’ staff experienced no disruption.

The Results

Since Thomson Reuters' technical staff no longer need to manage an additional network just for TV and video, operational costs are lower. The IPTV system is also future-proof: additional internal and external channels can easily be added, and additional end points such as TVs, projectors and PCs can be installed without the need for extra cabling, and without interrupting service. As corporate expansion requires new facilities, the existing network can be used to provide TV and video without the additional capital expense of a separate coaxial network.

Colin Farquhar, SVP Sales at VITEC, says: "It is great to see VITEC's endto- end IP video system playing such a crucial role in keeping Thomson Reuters' staff up-to-date with breaking news from around the world. What's more, by using the existing IP network to deliver TV and video, Thomson Reuters are making the most of available bandwidth and the existing network, and can easily expand the system as their business needs change and grow."

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