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    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event

    Face-to-face communication has been fine-tuned through millions of years of evolution, yet most corporate content owners have done little with Internet video beyond YouTube postings.

    There is untapped potential in the streaming of video from events or conferences – take for example the hundreds of thousands of U.S. Federal public hearings, state regulatory sessions and association meetings annually. Live streaming makes it possible to target key opinion leaders and influential executives crucial to the streaming entity’s enterprise.

    Traditionally, when an organization decides to webcast a meeting, it might share a PowerPoint presentation and a telephone conference bridge line. This media experience has not changed much since the late 1990s, and the overall media experience is of low quality.

    Another option is to broadcast the video on a free live streaming platform. Although better than a webcam and a Webex-type platform, the quality of the media experience varies. Also, with the free platforms, the organization loses control of its copyright by using an external platform.

    These do-it-yourself strategies are relatively easy in the beginning, but the low quality and lack of control affect the organization’s image and limit its ability to control access to its content.

    Tim Treanor, president and CEO of OVS Media, a leading live event streaming leader, explains how companies can seamlessly stream an event online.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 1

    Live Streaming 101

    Click through for a closer look at how companies can seamlessly stream an event online, as identified by Tim Treanor, president and CEO of OVS Media.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 2

    Lights, Camera…

    Capture of video through a camera at the meeting site – Contract cameras or coordinate with an organization or venue to use its own cameras and connect them to the system. Quality media productions begin with understanding proper production values and having quality capture equipment and lighting at the first access point for the platform.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 3

    Video Compression

    Compression of the video signal into streaming media – Deploy video-encoding hardware and software on site that will compress the video signal for transmission on the Internet. To webcast a live event, the streaming entity remotely activates and manages the equipment and streams the event over the Internet to the customer’s end users. The signal is encoded in high quality to provide continual maintenance of a quality streaming experience – all via remote management and as a managed service offering.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 4

    Media Delivery

    Seamless delivery of streaming video through the website of the broadcasting organization – Video is streamed from the source directly to an entity’s website where it is posted for viewing. This involves streaming media infrastructure that takes video content, hosts the content, distributes the content, and manages the content. This enables streaming content to be seen live and also to be archived and available for later replay. Some streaming media companies have their own video content distribution networks (VCDN). This is an important component if it is desirable to view the video content at a later date.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 5

    Landing Pages

    Viewing the streaming video on a computer or mobile device via the website of the broadcasting organization – This is an important distinction from the streaming video hosting sites, where an organization needs to embed the streaming content into their own site and manage the video access web pages. Most entities having an event streamed use the streaming company to manage the streaming media “landing page” as well as the streaming media hosting. The landing pages have the same look and feel as a client’s existing website and seamlessly integrate with it. Landing pages, and video content, can be hosted by the streaming company’s servers. Content and access to the video can be controlled if the organization is broadcasting a closed meeting and/or wishes to charge viewers for access.

    Five Steps to Seamlessly Streaming an Event - slide 6

    Scale and Repeat

    Process is scalable and repeatable – As mentioned, technicians working remotely implement the encoding process, manage the video landing page and maintain the VCDN, thereby remotely managing all aspects of a successful live broadcast. Scalability means the host needs to be able to respond to spikes in demand, for example, simultaneous viewers ranging from 50 to 10,000. Broadcasting streaming video live requires control, redundancy and a high quality process from an experienced and competent streaming video provider. Managed services reduce the risk and ensure the broadcast happens without fail.

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