AVoverIP – The Convergence Question

It’s no secret that the adoption to IP-based AV systems has become more prevalent in recent times. Streaming video and audio content over Ethernet networks enables users in any size organisation to enjoy the benefits of great quality High Definition or 4K video together with ease of use of the system, while at the same time delivering network and AV administrators substantial opportunities for cost savings, scalability and flexibility.

The change in Audio-Visual (AV) equipment over the last few years has been substantial. Standalone, proprietary systems such as matrix switches using legacy technologies like HDBase-T have given way to networked IT ecosystems. The rise in these sophisticated AV solutions have been driven by the demand in greater quality video, ease of deployment and management, as well as the requirement for enterprise collaboration and conferencing tools.

The Networked-AV ecosystem

The real benefits mentioned above can all be realised of course by the embracing of AV over IP as a technology in organisations of any size. But more than that, full realisation can only be achieved if the AV over IP infrastructure is of adequate design and capacity to meet the demand of the delivery of this real-time content.

The ever-diminishing costs of network switches, both 1Gb and 10Gb together with the availability of faster processing on this equipment is helping to address that, and has contributed greatly in the building of these infrastructures, easing the process for AV or IT integrators in terms of time and expense. Having to spend time running dedicated cabling from a control processor to individual pieces of equipment have been removed, together with the necessity of pulling cables, terminating connectors and then testing the each run.

AV over IP in contrast allows for easier upscaling, enabling the connection of multiple switches to expand any AV system. A better, and more flexible ratio of inputs to outputs is also possible, together with more potential video standards being on offer, and so more options available for video processing.

But there are business challenges to overcome. Proper system design of the network is essential. On a standalone, one-switch system this is not perhaps that much of a consideration, but on a multi-node, AV over IP ecosystem, the traffic streams need to be considered carefully and the network designed properly. The implementation of a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) is highly recommended to segregate the high-bandwidth utilisation video streams from other data on the network, and this way the most appropriate AV or IT team have control of the setup, allowing for critical updates and patching of the system by a dedicated specialist team.

Standalone environments are easier to manage, with typically an AV integrator having supplied the network switch, giving the end-user full control of what is placed on it. But in whatever setup, standalone, converged, or even a hybrid network (where there is a new, standalone AV network, connected to the existing user network only for communication and management but not streams) its important that IT departments know how to best support AV regardless of infrastructure

The Secret’s in the Sharing

Just like the AV and IT technologies themselves were (and still are to a large extent on many installations) segregated and siloed environments, so were, unsurprisingly, the respective technology teams.

This time has come for this to change in order for converged systems like AV over IP to function correctly and deliver the best possible result – basically to fulfil the promise it can offer.

AV and IT or networks teams have instead to forge a partnership and work together in order for knowledge sharing and knowledge extension to take place to make this technology work efficiently, meet user expectations and deliver consistent and easy-to-use AV systems.  This expertise can be sourced in house or farmed out to third party organisations, but either way the critical thing is for agreed guidelines for best practice be implemented along with the sharing if information and expertise, and of course, experience.

Its also worth noting that the earlier these two teams can be involved in a new-build, system upgrade or project, the better. Getting in the IT team later in an AV expansion project for example (or vice versa) can cause issues such as limiting the scope of products that can be implemented, can lead ultimately to a disjointed approach, which can mean extra cost and delays.

Introducing Best Practices

Many organisations have well-established, well-defined IT strategies, evolving over a long period of time and built on international standards and best practices. The AV industry is not so uniform. Manufacturers have designed, produced and offered different equipment, technologies and systems to suit mainly themselves for obvious reasons, and one of the premises of AV over IP is to bring this into line to a more standards-based approach.

One of the high-on-the-list functions of IT was service availability, and monitoring and managing the network and its associated peripherals is commonplace, and this should also be the same for the AV devices that are now part of the network. They are after all, as far as the IT network is concerned just another network device, so should be able to provide for standards based monitoring (such as SNMP) as this would provide the businesses with the ability to view and monitor network health on a familiar and fully integrated system.

Converging Efforts

Ultimately, the adoption of AV over IP requires a change of thought and action process from both sides (sometimes more sides, as larger organisations may have AV, IT as well as network teams to consider)

With so many technologies and systems becoming “IP-fied” in recent years – becoming packetized data to be integrated onto the IP network (videoconferencing, telephony being obvious examples) – IT departments are generally more accepting of these changes, with streaming video and networked control devices becoming more prevalent.

The technology convergence needs to – and is – happening. But ultimately it’s not just AV/IT convergence at a technical level that is sufficient – the key to a successful AV over IP integration project is to view it a business process.