Broadband Advanced - Forbidden Fruit

How BT helped make an idea into a reality

Since joining Forbidden Technologies, which manufactures equipment for streaming video over the internet, business development director Greg Hirst has been acutely aware of the business opportunities for live video on the Web. Therefore, when BT approached Forbidden Technologies last November to take part in trials of its new business broadband service, Greg had no hesitation in accepting. He recognised that this could be the technology he had been waiting for to realise his ambitions. BT's Business Broadband Advanced service is a fixed line symmetric broadband service. It allows data to be sent over copper lines at up to eight times the speed of other technology such as ADSL.

"BT’s new high speed internet service allows us to offer the quality of video streaming now available,” explains Hirst. “We already have a number of production companies using the new technology and this is only the beginning. We are also targeting the owners of venues, particularly hotels, to educate them on the possibilities of internet based cameras, for example offering them the ability to stream high quality video over the web as part of their conference packages.”

The key to making live video streaming work lies in the two-way processing capabilities of Business Broadband Advanced. Previously, video could be downloaded from the internet in real time but uploading the source material to an internet location could be far slower, causing time delays in live feeds. Footage from a remote security camera using Business Broadband Advanced can now be viewed as it is recorded, from any location. Forbidden Technologies currently demonstrates just such an application on its website, www.forbidden.co.uk along with a variety of live demos, including live footage of Wimbledon High Street. This technology allows existing CCTV cameras to be used, without the need for footage to be monitored from a single location, which brings considerable cost savings.

"BT's new high speed internet service allows us to offer the quality
of video streaming now available. We already have a number of production companies using the new technology and this is only the beginning." Greg Hirst, Business Development Director, Forbidden Technologies.

"We’re very excited by the possibilities of this service,” said Hirst. “It is a true market enabler which will help drive changes across all industries over the next few years. Very soon, ‘attending’ company AGM's, conferences and even major events live on the internet will be a regular occurrence. One company using our video streaming technology in just this way is Travel Media Solutions (TMS). The company recently produced a live web cast from the industry’s ‘Travelmole’ conference, allowing key debates and presentations to reach a far wider audience,” he added. Whilst laying the foundations for the explosion of live video applications, Forbidden Technologies has also been putting Business Broadband Advanced to good use in other areas of the business. For example, the company plans to offer collaborative web video editing and publishing tools for both businesses and consumers, from as little as £1 per hour. The service will allow customers access to professional editing facilities at a fraction of the cost of buying the equipment themselves. The fact that it is internet based will also be particularly useful for companies who wish to edit collaboratively from different locations, without the expense of travelling.

"Although we are still testing this service some companies are so impressed by its functionality and reliability that they are buying it already,” said Hirst. “This is testament to the level of demand for smart online applications, and I am confident that we will see significant uptake over the next six months.”