Panopto Simplifies Enterprise-Scale Video Recording and Access

Launch of Panopto 4.5 Facilitates the Management of Massive Video Libraries; Expands Access for People with DisabilitiesSEATTLE, October 16, 2013 – Panopto, a leading video platform provider, today announced the release of Panopto 4.5. The update makes it easier for organizations to capture and manage video at massive scale, expands accessibility support for Section 508, and includes new security features to ensure compliance with corporate policies.

Managing Video at Massive Scale

Most enterprises and universities have hundreds or thousands of existing videos scattered across file shares, SharePoint sites, and other content repositories. With Panopto 4.5, these organizations can centralize their media assets in a single video content management system (VCMS) using new batch upload functionality. The feature allows hundreds of videos to be imported into the VCMS simultaneously. Once imported, videos are encoded for playback on any device, and can be automatically transcribed to enable inside-video search.

Panopto also introduced two improvements to its remote recording functionality. First, a new dashboard provides a birds-eye view of an organization’s entire video infrastructure. From a single screen, administrators can see live previews and confirm the health of video recordings and broadcasts taking place in any conference room, auditorium, or classroom.

In addition, new quality settings enable Panopto’s remote recorders to capture HD video. For universities participating in MOOCs, this capability can substantially reduce costs typically associated with video production. By recording existing lectures with high production quality, universities can reuse these videos for MOOC courses rather than invest additional time and costs to record MOOC-specific lectures.

Improving Video Access for Visually and Hearing-Impaired

With video-based online learning and corporate communication on the rise, Panopto 4.5 introduced three new features that expand product support for ADA and Section 508 Accessibility Standards:

• Keyboard accessibility for the web-based VCMS and interactive viewer enable blind and visually impaired individuals to navigate and access recordings.
• Screen reader support in the VCMS and interactive viewer provides an audio interface for blind and visually impaired individuals.
• Closed captions in Panopto’s video podcasts enable deaf and hard of hearing individuals to see video transcript during playback.

“Panopto’s roots are in educational accessibility. One of the original applications of our video platform was to bring Carnegie Mellon University lectures to physically disabled students who couldn’t attend class. With today’s announcement, we are expanding educational opportunity to those with visual and hearing impairments,” added Burns.

Integrating with Enterprise Security Policies

In response to increasing corporate demand for its video platform, Panopto 4.5 also includes security enhancements to ensure conformance with enterprise security policies:

• Site-wide SSL support ensures that all communication to Panopto’s web-based VCMS is encrypted.
• Password expiration, history, and strength enable administrators to apply corporate password policies to Panopto login credentials.
• An “All Users” access control list simplifies video sharing among all employees within a corporation.

Enhancing the User Experience

The latest release of Panopto’s video platform also includes a new user interface for the VCMS and usability enhancements that simplify video recording, editing, and viewing. New features include “Save As” functionality in Panopto’s web-based editor and simplified navigation within videos during playback. For more information on these and other new features, visit the Panopto blog.