FOCUS: BUSINESS TELEVISION - Looking at BTV from a different angle/Organisations are discovering that there are more uses for business TV than simple inter-office meetings. Nick Purdom tunes into the business possibilities available for the small screen

British Airways, Rover, Standard Life, Sainsbury’s, 3M, Compaq.

What do all these leading companies have in common? The answer is that

all are in the process of, or recently have, set up their own business

television (BTV) network.

BTV has taken a long time to come of age but, despite fears that the

medium would remain a premium item, now there are real signs it could

move from being a niche technique used only by large corporates to a

mainstream business communications tool. That time may still be a few

years off, but the last few months have been the busiest and most

interesting in BTV’s short history and 1997 promises to be a year of

significant growth.

BA’s global network is scheduled for a full-scale launch in April, with

daily programming to 100 countries around the world. Rover’s network,

delivering programmes to 375 dealers via parent company BMW, should be

operational by February, 3M is rolling out a network across five

continents, and Compaq is setting up a 20-site European network. And

following the success of Sainsbury’s network set up last autumn, arch

rival Tesco is rumoured to be following suit.

So why this sudden furious spate of activity? ’The most important

development in the last couple of years is digitisation. The main reason

the eight networks we have won over the last year have chosen BTV is for

interactivity and learning,’ explains Phil Govan, director of business

development at Global Access, one of the main network installers and

operators in the UK.

All new networks being installed are digital, and the advent of digital

technology is making BTV so much more appealing than it used to be. Cost

is one of the most significant factors.

’We can operate a digital service at a lower price because we’re only

using part of the existing satellite transponder,’ explains Harry

Formosa, senior product manager, video, audio and data broadcasting at

BT Global Satellite Services. Digital satellite transmission time is

around 40 per cent cheaper than analogue, with prices quoted at pounds

900 to pounds 1,200 an hour for occasional users down to pounds 600 an

hour for high volume users.

Digital also spells reliability and higher picture quality. ’One of the

most interesting developments in the last 12 months is global

programming and being able to deliver this in a guaranteed way thanks to

digital networks,’ says Stephen Watson, managing director of production

company CTN, which is working with BA on its BTV programming.

Lloyds Bank decided to invest in a digital BTV network last summer to

run alongside the existing analogue network at TSB and carry programming

for the newly merged company. ’Digital pictures are certainly very

clear, and digital transmission is also better if you want to use

enhanced graphics and multimedia,’ reports Brian Carson, communications

manager at IS Communications, a development arm of Lloyds TSB.

Digital technology has already prompted increased interest in BTV, but

it’s still only big companies with large workforces that are buying into

it. However, the time is not far off, says Steve Garvey, manager of

corporate television at Reuters, when BTV will start to appeal to small

companies too.

’When the unit cost of encoders and decoders falls due to the volume of

people buying them, then BTV will start to make sense to a great many

more people than at present,’ he says.

But it is the increased options for interactivity that digitisation

makes possible that is really driving BTV forward. ’Companies like 3M,

Compaq and Microsoft would not have considered BTV if it was just a

one-way, passive delivery system,’ says Govan.

BTV has always been primarily an internal communications tool, with

training one of the most important uses, but it is interactive distance

learning (IDL) that is now flavour of the season with BTV users.

IDL is already well-established in the US, with users including Ford,

Xerox and the Federal Aviation Administration. The technique allows

companies to deliver cost-effective training to employees and even

external audiences, with significant savings on the trainer’s time (the

lesson only needs to be given once) and travel and subsistance expenses

for trainees.

So far the only UK user is Oracle, but most companies with new digital

networks are thought to be giving IDL serious thought, without making

any firm commitment.

Bob Clarke, chairman of production company Visage, reports: ’We’re

getting a lot of interest from existing and potential clients, and at

least one of our clients will be doing IDL this year’.

Ford has confirmed it will probably trial IDL with a couple of dealers

in its existing BTV network to monitor its potential benefits.

Digitisation is also making BTV easier to cost-justify because it also

allows BTV networks to be used for data transmission. ’Data is now

becoming much more of an issue. People we’re talking to are getting more

excited about data delivery than traditional BTV. Rover, for example, is

talking about data applications for its dealer network,’ says Geoffrey

Davies, manager of business television at satellite services company

Maxat.

’Rover’s network will incorporate data from dealers’ electronic POS

systems, and there will be data on cars available so these can be

ordered from the factory. Rover is looking at getting full value from

its investment,’ adds Govan of Global Access, which is installing the

network.

As well as a growth in dedicated company networks, digitisation could

also see a growth in specialist networks and ad hoc use of BTV. There

are currently two hotel-based networks in the UK, Beacon and Mosaic,

while the specialist Medical Television Network is used mainly by

pharmaceutical companies to distribute product information to doctors in

hospitals around Europe. PR agency Burson-Marsteller also has its own 15

site BTV network in offices around Europe which it uses for staff

communication and is also used by clients for press and analyst

briefings.

Garvey admits that Reuters has done relatively few one-off BTV

transmissions, but feels this could change. ’Digitisation will mean

immediate cost savings, and then I think we’ll get a much bigger take

up,’ he says.

New uses for BTV will no doubt continue to be found, and the future of

the new medium looks secure. The only thing that is in doubt is how BTV

will be delivered. At present satellite delivery is most cost-effective

for most organisations, but in the future Intranets and fibre cable

could be the solution.

’We can’t see people being able to transmit anything like broadcast

quality televison even down ISDN lines for quite a while,’ says Govan.

’For learning and longer programming it’s not possible to watch lower

quality images, it detracts from the message. For international players

the cost of cabling up on high-end ISDN circuits is also

astronomical.’

Stephen Watson of CTN says: ’I’ve never viewed the Intranet as

threatening.

We were the first to develop an on-demand desktop video service with

ITN, but the hardware requirement is so considerable it would not be

viable for retailers to put it in. In two years’ time I’m sure we’ll be

producing BTV through PCs, but it’s not the delivery system that’s

important, it’s the use of live and interactive visual

communications.’

Reuters currently delivers a daily 15-minute television programme called

Reuters Financial Television to the desktops of City dealers updating

them on overnight news and giving expert views on market

performance.

Live news is also covered as it breaks.

So could the same technology be used for corporate business television?’

The answer seems to be only by certain types of organisation. ’Reuters

Financial Television needs very fast PCs with a huge capacity,’ says

Garvey.

’Big banks have the type of IT networks which can handle television

applications,’ he adds.

Jeremy Kent, divisional director of Key 3D, the specialist division of

Key Communications which advises on new technology says: ’Watching TV on

a personal computer is still quite expensive, even in comparison to a

BTV network because you need a special card in every PC. The Intranet is

also a lot less user-friendly than using television.’

Kent also points out that in many businesses employees simply don’t have

access to PCs and are not used to using them. This is true in retail

environments, like Sainsbury’s, where shop floor staff don’t generally

use computers.

So it seems that BTV is set to be around for a long time, even if not

perhaps in the form that we currently know it.

’My definition of BTV doesn’t depend on satellite technology - I don’t

care whether the medium is delivered through fibre cables or over

satellite,’ says Imagination head of BTV Shaun Varga.

’There are lots of developments which will make business television more

attractive and successful in the future. It won’t just be television

under the traditional definition, but business multimedia

communications.’

CASE STUDY: INTERACTIVE TV TRAINING IS A SUCCESS FOR ORACLE

Since last April IT company Oracle has broadcast around 400 hours of

distance learning to 40 sites all over Europe, and this year plans to

broadcast at least 500 hours.

’In the IT market if you don’t move quickly you’re dead. IDL enables us

to train staff more quickly and to get complex messages across to a lot

more people at the same time with no dilution,’ explains Mike Davies,

director of the Oracle Channel.

Davies presented a simple cost justification for the network based on

500 hours use a year which required a saving of two per cent per year on

the travel and entertainment budget of employees.

Davies aims to provide those 500 hours at about the same price as most

BTV networks would spend on 100 hours. ’We’ve focused in on what people

want, which is information and content, not high-feature, high

production cost TV. This is not to say we don’t give quality. We give

what the audience wants in a very cost-effective, timely manner.’

Programmes are delivered from a four camera studio in Bracknell, and

company personnel are taught how to present their own programmes. Most

IDL sessions look at Oracle software and are aimed at people such as

product managers who don’t need a great deal of technical detail, but do

need to know what a product can do.

Training sessions can be as short as one hour, but more often are two

hours, while some last as long as four. ’We’re asking people to change

the way they view TV. Rather than being in a room with someone talking

to them they’re remote. But we want them to be active in the broadcast,

and we make sure they have to do something every 8-10 minutes,’ says

Davies.

Davies has no doubt that the most important part of the network is the

One Touch system. ’It’s an amazing tool that can give instant feedback

and gives the ability to communicate directly with the audience and

really enhance learning. Without One Touch you just have TV, with it you

have an education and information environment.’

Oracle is clearly delighted with the impact of IDL. ’We’ve surprised

people with how much information we can get across. People come away

saying they’ve actually learnt something, which is partly due to One

Touch and the reinforcement and assessment testing it allows,’ says

Davies.

Polling at the end of programmes - another application of One Touch -

reveals that 95 per cent of the audience enjoy Oracle Channel

programmes, 92 per cent believe that it is an effective delivery method,

and 97 per cent want to attend further training sessions.

Now the plan is to expand the network to encompass business partners and

customers. Simultaneous translation of programmes (currently only

broadcast in English) is also being tested to encourage greater

interaction from European audiences.

INTERACTIVE TELEVISION: LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE TALKING

The live and interactive nature of BTV has been used to sell the medium

from its earliest days, but until recently interactivity has been

limited to phone calls between remote sites and the host centre or even

just e-mail, letter or fax feedback from the audience.

Technological developments now promise to make BTV more truly

interactive, and in particular make interactive distance learning (IDL)

a reality.

Two companies are offering packages which enable students at remote

sites to participate in interactive learning sessions run by one or more

trainers at a host studio.

One Touch Systems is an US company whose eponymous product has been used

in the US by companies like Ford for a number of years, and is

distributed in the UK by Global Access. Now One Touch has a rival in the

form of UK company IML which has experience of voting response systems

in the meeting and conference business.

The two companies’ systems are similar, based on interactive keypads

which enable users to respond to questions and to communicate direct to

the host through a built-in microphone. At remote sites keypads are

routed through a site controller, a multimedia computer, which collects

responses and sends them to the host site. Here the host computer

records them and can produce graphs or other visuals, which can be used

to illustrate how the audience feels about important issues and to guide

the presenter about his audience’s understanding of what he has

presented.

Touchscreen control enables the presenter to run his own presentation,

using electronic cue cards and interactive questions and quizzes.

Student responses are displayed in real-time, and the names of students

who wish to interact appear on the screen. The presenter activates their

microphone simply by touching their name icon on the screen.

The cost of such interaction is not prohibitive. A five handset remote

system and site controller from IML costs around pounds 2,500, while the

cost at the host centre is the price of two multimedia PCs. A software

licence for a network of up to 2,000 sites costs up to pounds 20,000.

’The real advantage is not having to drag staff away from the

workplace,’ says Peter Knowles, sales director of IML.

IDL is in its infancy in the UK, with Oracle the only current user, but

an explosion of interest can be expected in the next couple of

years.

Unipart trialed IML’s multi-site system last year, asking an audience of

7,500 resellers at 35 locations in the UK what they thought about

various issues and comparing this with what customers wanted. Multisite

was also used in a live draw for a car, with the winner identified by

his keypad number.

Distance learning seems likely to be the main use for interactive

systems, but the ability of the technology to engage audiences at remote

sites in a debate and get valuable feedback on their views makes it even

more attractive.

CASE STUDY: MAKING THE MOST OF BTV’S NOVELTY FACTOR

While most BTV networks are used primarily for internal communications,

Norwich Union is using its 34 site network, set up in 1990, mainly for

communication to an external audience of independent financial advisers

(IFAs).

The insurance company expects to broadcast seven hour long programmes to

IFAs this year and has signed up industry experts to present new sales

ideas and angles. ’The programmes are about business development and

enable IFAs to pick up ideas for new and existing clients,’ explains

sales support manager at Norwich Union, Mark Harvey.

In the financial services market, where the top 10 players all have good

products and services, Harvey believes that success is all about giving

added value. ’No one else is doing this in our market place. Hopefully

the BTV programmes make the IFAs feel benevolent towards us and we can

develop business on the back of it.’

Harvey says that it is difficult to quantify the specific impact of BTV

on the company’s business because it is part of an integrated marketing

mix, but in the 18 months he has been involved with the programmes the

audience has risen from 500 to 1,000.

The programme has tried interactivity in the form of telephones and

faxes, but feedback from IFAs has shown they prefer to be given

information and then to go away and think about this in their own

time.

BTV is also used by Norwich Union on an ad hoc basis for training, for

example, instructing the sales force how to talk to IFAs, but there are

no plans at present to significantly increase this activity or to

introduce interactivity in the form of IDL systems.

As for internal communications, head of brand and internal

communications, Thomas Cowper-Johnson, says: ’We use BTV much less for

this than we used to, perhaps only once or twice a year. One of the

lessons we have learnt is that it’s dangerous to have a regular magazine

programme because you end up scheduling a programme for a particular

date and you don’t have news and information that is up to date enough

to make it worthwhile.

’We use BTV as a special occasion medium, for events such as our bonus

declaration announcement.’

For more day-to-day communications video is used. ’Staff prefer to take

information from their team leader rather than being briefed from top

and we use video a great deal in that process,’ says Cowper-Johnson.

’BTV doesn’t work quite so well when you don’t have something

sufficiently momentous to talk about. A live event creates the

expectation of significant information. If you use BTV ad nauseam then

people will get fed up with it,’ he concludes.