Live streams can generate significant network traffic. During internal events, without an eCDN, many users simultaneously accessing high-bandwidth content like HD streaming could overwhelm your corporate virtual private network (VPN), leading to slow performance and buffering issues.
Webex Events offers an integration with Kollective eCDN for your live streams in a few simple steps. This article provides information about eCDNs, Kollective, how to set up Kollective eCDN on Webex Events, and answers to frequently asked questions. 📖
💡 Keep in mind, the eCDN option is available exclusively to Webex Suite Enterprise (Suite EA) customers. If you’re a Suite customer and already configured the Kollective feature in Webex Control Hub, you’ll have the flexibility to toggle eCDN on and off for your streams as needed. If you’re a Suite customer but haven’t yet configured Kollective, this toggle will remain disabled.
What's an eCDN?
An Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) optimizes video and multimedia content distribution within a corporate network environment. Unlike traditional CDNs, which deliver content to global audiences, an eCDN enhances internal network efficiency, making it ideal for large organizations with substantial internal video traffic.
Introducing Kollective
Kollective's eCDN solution leverages a peer-to-peer (P2P) networking approach to minimize network congestion. Instead of relying on a single source for streaming content, Kollective's technology allows devices within the network to share video data directly with each other. Once a video is streamed to one device, it can be shared with others without each needing to pull the same content individually from the source server or the internet. This decentralized distribution method reduces the demand on the corporate network by enabling each device to act as both a viewer and a distributor of content. P2P sharing minimizes bandwidth requirements, prevents network congestion, and ensures a smooth streaming experience for all users within the organization.
When to use Kollective eCDN
The primary goal of an eCDN is to minimize the impact of heavy traffic on a company's network performance. Kollective eCDN is best suited for your company-wide all-hands meetings, town halls, and other internal events where many attendees simultaneously access high-bandwidth content like HD live streams that could overwhelm your corporate network.
How to Activate Kollective eCDN on Webex Events
The eCDN option is available exclusively to Webex Suite Enterprise (Suite EA) customers. If you’re a Suite customer and already configured the Kollective feature in Webex Control Hub, you’ll have the flexibility to turn eCDN on and off for your streams as needed. If you’re a Suite customer but haven’t configured Kollective, this toggle will remain disabled.In your Event App, add a Live Stream feature or create an Agenda Session.
When editing a Session, expand the Live stream section and activate the Enable Live Stream toggle. The, for either Sessions or the Live Stream feature, click the Stream Provider dropdown and select Production Studio.
Next, activate the Enable Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) toggle.
When you're done, click Save Changes. It's that easy!
💡 Keep in mind, Kollective eCDN is solely available with our Production Studio streaming solution and supports viewing from web browsers.
Kollective Network Readiness Test
Kollective offers a readiness test to make sure your company network is ready to begin running real events at scale. You can take the live video stream from a Webex Event and schedule an automation on a large number of corporate PCs that will open the browser at the event player page and begin streaming.
Simply log in to your Kollective portal, click to Observe on the left navigation, then click on Network Readiness. Configure your test according to your needs. Make sure you select Provide Own Event and enter Webex Events Video Player URL as your Content URL.
In the test, the video is rendered off-screen and without audio. For more information, visit Kollective’s network readiness testing solution brief.
⚠️ Caution! We highly recommend that you test your network before running a large-scale event.
Now you know all about setting up Kollective with Webex Events. Read the FAQs below to learn even more!
FAQs
I’ve been using Kollective eCDN for my Webex Webinars. Do I need to do anything else to use it on Webex Events?
No, if you’re already using Kollective eCDN on Webex Webinars, you don't need to do anything else except activate it in the Webex Events platform! Simply activate the Enable Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) toggle on your event's Agenda Session or Live stream feature.
I don’t have an eCDN option on my Live Streams. Am I missing anything?
The eCDN toggle is available for Webex Suite Enterprise (Suite EA) customers. To become a Webex Suite customer, reach out to our Customer Success Team. For more information, please visit the Webex Suite webpage or contact your Webex Suite representative.
My eCDN toggle on Webex Events is disabled. Why is that?
If you’re a Suite customer but don’t have Kollective configured in Control Hub, the eCDN toggle can’t be activated. Learn more in our Set up Kollective eCDN for Webex Events article.
What is the stream latency on the stream if I run it on Kollective?
There will be up to a 15-second latency for viewers. If you have Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations activated, this latency may increase to up to 30 seconds.
Does Kollective peer-to-peer technology work on Webex Events mobile apps?
P2P networking is available solely for viewers watching live streams from a web browser. Viewers using the Mobile App can watch the stream but without Kollective’s P2P networking.
Can I activate/deactivate eCDN while a stream is live?
Yes, you can activate/deactivate eCDN during a live stream. However, be aware that changes will only take effect when the stream is restarted. We recommend not making last-minute adjustments to your livestream setup. There are different video players handling streams based on the eCDN setting. If you change the eCDN toggle midstream, attendees will need to refresh their page to access the updated video player. If they don’t refresh, the stream will continue, but they won’t benefit from the bandwidth savings provided by Kollective’s eCDN.
What is Kollective’s Network Readiness Test and what does it do?
It’s a network test offered by Kollective to make sure your company network is ready to begin running events at scale. Visit Kollective’s network readiness testing solution brief for more information.
On which stream providers can I use Kollective eCDN?
Currently, Kollective eCDN is available solely on with our Production Studio streaming option.
Can I view my bandwidth saving on Kollective?
Yes, your Kollective admin can view the total number of viewers, bandwidth savings, and average peering efficiency in the Activity Summary of the Kollective Portal.
Questions? Chat with us or email support@socio.events.