For now, however, the financial services industry is clearly an earlier convert to streaming media. Financial institutions' IPO roadshows are not only a resource drain, they often take management teams out of circulation for two or three weeks as they physically visit investors. By offering streamed presentations, companies can eliminate certain visits they'd normally make. But as Prentiss noted, communicating from a distance cannot only save travel costs, but also can translate into more efficient marketing. She cited Akamai client Onyx Software, a maker of customer relations management programs, that used Akamai's Netpodium to broadcast seminars online.
Cost savings are just one benefit to streaming.
Visitors to Web sites offering Webcasts are often required to log-in and complete forms, providing hosts with detailed information about who's checking out the site. IBeam has developed technology that alerts specific salespeople or account managers when visitors from their territories log into streaming events. And it's often more than just a talking head rambling on. Driving this functionality, Prentiss says, is a proprietary backend broadcast management system developed by Akamai that synchronizes slides and accounts for varying viewer connection speeds. Live video is not the only candidate for streaming, as Virage has targeted the often staggering amount of video that large corporations generate for training and focus groups.