Cisco VDS, part of Cisco’s Videoscape Unity TV services delivery platform, enables the distribution of video content across multiple screens, protocols, applications and networks. VDS serves as the network distribution engine behind the Videoscape architecture.

It is an open, component-based, complete, interoperable and holistic solution that bridges cloud and network functionality – providing greater levels of insight into, and management of, content delivery networks.

Deutsche Telekom’s “Entertain to go” service allows subscribers of its ‘Entertain’ IPTV service to view 40 TV channels on their PCs and mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Priced at €4.95 per-month the service gives access to the Entertain content on devices that are connected to the users’ home WiFi network, as well as allowing them to view on demand content from the Entertain video library.

“Working with Cisco to bring the ‘Entertain to go’ service to market has been a very positive experience characterized by flexibility and speed of reacting to our specific requirements. The Cisco team was strongly committed to developing and deploying new features within the desired time frame, which enabled us to bring this new service to our customers in a very short time,” said Holger Diekmann, Technical Project Lead Entertain to go and Senior Expert Service Management, Telekom Deutschland GmbH.

Foundation for Multiscreen Pay-TV Services

Key benefits recognised by Deutsche Telekom include the ability to effectively manage and monitor multiple aspects of their delivery network, including the type of viewing device and delivery logs, with customizable reporting and dashboards to enable the identification and resolution of any issues and ensure a quality of service.Cisco Videoscape Distribution Suite (VDS) features a number of components that offer unique capabilities; together they provide a comprehensive and industry leading solution.

VDS builds on the Cisco content delivery network (CDN) service footprint serving more than 50 global customers, with over 3 million cloud-based time-shifted and live video streams delivered.

One of the key components of VDS is the Cisco's Videoscape Distribution Suite Service Manager (VDS SM), a purpose-built CDN analytics and reporting solution that gives operators insight into their CDN infrastructure with a low total cost of ownership (TCO) and immediate benefits to the operations teams.

Cisco VDS simplifies CDN management while reducing operating costs through consolidated live origin services and recording, edge caching particularly for OTT content, Radio Access Network (RAN) optimization, real-time CDN analytics and remote provisioning capabilities.