Microsoft has announced it will introduce a new CDN service targeted at businesses, with video streaming enhancements taking centre stage.
The news follows the acquisition of eCDN (Enterprise Content Delivery Network) company Peer5 in August 2021 and the subsequent integration of the firm’s service into the Teams video conferencing platform.
Microsoft is keen to boast that many companies rely on Teams as their primary tool for digital, face-to-face communications, though it recognizes that the heavy bandwidth could result in less-than-ideal performance.
Microsoft eCDN is designed to allow users to “seamlessly and securely” live stream video content from around the world, according to the company’s blog (opens in new tab).
Microsoft eCDN
Microsoft hopes that the enhancements to business video conferencing will appeal to the large number of companies that have adopted hybrid working routines, with more employees resorting to home working for at least a portion of the week.
The tech giant is keen to emphasize the enhanced network reliability that would come from a business opting to use its eCDN, which utilizes a mesh network to self-balance as the number of call participants increases.
It also says the tool will be easy to adopt owing to the fact that no additional installation is required on devices, and that Peer5’s expertise combined with Microsoft Cloud and Office 365 compliance should mean that this is a “trusted solution”.
Microsoft eCDN is available for $0.50 per user per month when combined with an annual subscription, although some users have already expressed dissatisfaction that this is a paid extra, with one comment reading: “I’d love to see this as just part of the normal MS Teams license”.
TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft for confirmation of pricing outside the US.
