When you partner with a field-tested Professional Services team, you're joining forces with experts experienced in media, IP and IT system architectures and their implementation. Helping broadcasters and media organizations around the globe design and deploy advanced processes, workflows and infrastructures that directly contribute to the bottom line, these technical support professionals have the experience and knowledge base needed when a broadcaster’s resources are limited.

Together with Professional Services personnel, broadcasters and media companies can build an efficient, flexible environment that helps them respond to today’s increasing demands to create and deliver more content for more channels. This enables them to realize the benefits of IP media, reaching new markets and increasing overall revenues, while future-proofing their investment.

Most technology providers offer some type of “technical support” or “help desk services.” This is the bare minimum and only keeps a product up and running. More forward-thinking companies that supply technology to the media industry, such as Media Links - offer an end-to-end suite of Professional Services to assist in the design, deployment, maintenance, and management of network and related hardware and software elements. These are video and IT trained experts that understand media and data transport over IP networking from a real time, mission critical media-centric perspective and know how to build scalable infrastructures to meet the demand for today’s “media-everywhere” marketplace.

Taking advantage of the full breadth of professional services options helps assist broadcast clients in keeping their network, equipment, and software up and running smoothly. The company’s technical support services also provide periodic system health checks and remotely installed software updates to keep the system current.

Media Links offers three main areas of support: Consulting, Installation and Operational Services. The first two help get a network up and running while the third keeps that system operating at its maximum efficiency and capacity, serving as an expert knowledge base for the existing technical staff or, optional outsourced engineering and operations staff. In times of critical need, these services have proved invaluable for its Professional Services clients. Most importantly, these expert services ensure that the customer realizes the maximum value from their investment in the technology and that it is always operating at peak performance.

The company’s product offerings provide a complete ecosystem solution for Wide Area Transport, Remote Production, and Local Market Contribution, with core switching and connectivity to the edge of up to 100GB/s. They are fully compatible with basically all of today’s interoperable standards, including JPEG XS and ST 2110.

A 100G IP architecture allows broadcasters and service providers to transport more media channels than ever before. Whether it’s uncompressed or compressed video, audio, and/or data over IP from remote sporting and entertainment venues to distant production studios and/or data centers, 100G technology supports both remote and distributed media production, providing the ability to connect and share equipment and resources across wide area networks. This universal connectivity ensures that broadcasters and media-related companies can work more efficiently and remotely, all while delivering robust, mission critical services with high throughput and impeccable quality.

Take, for example, a major service provider in North America, which has purchased Media-over-IP Transport technology for use in hundreds of sites across the country’s nationwide broadcast transport network. With the help of embedded Professional Services, this service provider continues to enhance its content delivery infrastructure utilizing IP services to their important national media customers. The solutions implemented allow the network operator to further optimize its infrastructure and deploy more video, audio, and data services across its network with the ability to easily scale upward to many, many more.

The professional services provided also include updates, maintenance and enhancements to a network management software control system that supervises and assures proper operation of all network components numbering in the thousands, all of which simplifies day to day operation and management.

This extensive network operation clearly benefits from the core technology supplier’s ongoing professional support services, which in turn helps ensure its ongoing success. Many customers need this type of assistance, especially when transitioning to IP-based networks that factor in all the special nuances of real time media. For many, this is all new territory that must be developed correctly in small incremental, managed steps for it to work in the most optimal way.

Multi-site permanent networks like this, as well as temporary ones used in assorted sporting, entertainment and even political events are tailor-made for Professional Services, either on site or remotely located. Customers can choose the amount of help they want and the level of operational reliability their business models demand.

How a customer may choose to leverage such services is totally up to the individual need. Some will require more help than others, but with this suite of services and solutions, they can optimize overall system and individual component performance while ensuring that assets are optimally used and protected.

These Professional Services also ensure consistent, end-to-end project management processes that make certain the job is done right the first time and commissioning is completed on time and on budget. And the services extend beyond - what the equipment manufacturer makes - to other third-party devices and systems that must be made to operate in a holistic way.

With globally sourced knowledge and local resources, broadcasters can define and design solutions that meet their specific business and technology objectives, and then work with Professional Service organizations to ensure seamless operation today and smooth future growth.

When implementing any type of media network that is transitioning to the IP protocol, the goal of most is to gradually evolve in the most manageable, non-disruptive and cost-effective way, while maximizing efficiencies. Incorporating Professional Services assistance into the design and implementation plans helps users benefit from those who have the experience, know-how and available resources.

As networks become more dynamic out of necessity to build the best and most flexible architecture, broadcasters, service providers and media companies would be wise to consider expert outside help. Many major equipment suppliers now offer Professional Services as part of their solution portfolios. If you already have a good relationship with a particular manufacturer, why not consult with them and take advantage of their added expertise?

Whether streamlining existing processes, or creating a new workflow, when they work with Professional Services, broadcasters and media companies achieve the most effective use of their available resources, saving time and money while maximizing efficiencies to grow their business with the help of specifically trained professional teams. Sometime the best solution to a technical problem is to seek the help of those who have been there and done that before.