Frequently Asked Questions About Live Webcasting
800-272-3070 | 925-426-8230
800-272-3070 | 925-426-8230
Making the right choice in a live webcasting service partner for your events, training, corporate communications or marketing webcasts, means getting accurate and complete answers and suggestions. If this page doesn’t answer your live webcasting questions, then get on the phone and call us right now.
What is a Live Webcast?
A live webcast is a real time broadcast of an audio and/or video signal sent over the Internet. Live webcasting does not require a viewer to download the media on their device. Instead, it is sent as a continuous stream similar to a radio or TV broadcast. Live webcasts can be audio only webinars, video and audio webcasts or video and audio with accompanying graphics such as synchronized PowerPoint slides.
Viewers of a Live Webcast produced properly experience the same presentation as an in-person attendee onsite would. Our webcasts can be viewed on any device, desktop, tablet or mobile phone. The webcast can be Video, video and synchronized graphics or audio only. Users can be required to sign-in or it can be open access.
You don’t need a website or other streaming service account to webcast. We provide the webcasting and the website for viewing and distribution if needed
How does a Live Webcast work?
A user visits a website and watches the live video in real time on a computer, tablet or phone no matter how far away they are from the event. The website where the webcast audience views the webcast can be either one which we build for you or a site of your own where you embed our video stream with embed code we provide.
The website can be something as basic as a video player and synchronized slides on a page with your logo, or a custom, branded site with the video player plus user registration, polling, live chat, e-commerce agenda listings, associated learning materials and more. The user will be able to ‘play’ the live webcast as though they were tuning in to a television station.
Although the event is streamed live, and therefore requires punctuality to be viewed in full, we offer a Media Portal for archiving the webcasts to be viewed on-demand at any time.
Can you use Facebook, Twitter or Youtube in our webcasts?
Yes you can stream to social media sites and integrate feeds from social media into the webcast.
What do I need to do to Live Webcast?
If you want to webcast live, just organize the event and let us manage the rest. You really don’t want to have to deal with the technical aspects of a webcast. Let us do that.
All you need is to organize the event and have a solid internet connection. We can even set up the connection if you need us to. We’ll take care of everything else related to the webcast. From setting up the cameras and hooking up the audio, to managing the Powerpoints or graphics and then broadcasting the video feed to the web.
Typically we build, deploy and host the website and the video player to view the webcast. We can set up the website so you can restrict access or so you can sell access to your webcast. Should you want to keep the video content or host it in an online archive or media portal, we will take care of all of that, too!
How far in advance do I need to plan a live webcast?
If it has to happen, we can be webcasting in a day if you are local to us. We have full-time webcasting techs and web developer staff ready. We have our mobile video flypacks racked and ready to go. Typically, about three weeks’ notice is the minimum required time in order to ensure that there are no schedule conflicts, and that you can get your event organized to assure that you have the best audience response possible.
We can be onsite anywhere in the world within a day or two and be webcasting within hours if need be. We travel globally so we are experts at remote video production and webcasting.
Do we get a webcasting media portal?
You can choose a Media Portal for your event. The portal serves as the environment for the live webcast as well as a portal for later on-demand viewing via a session library listing that can be searched by viewers.
The Media Portal website manages user registration, stores all imagery, presentations, documents and of course the HD video webcasts related to ALL of your events. As the live webcast event airs, the Media Portal can be used to view the live streaming webcast as well as record and store in the archive for on-demand video streaming.
Does the webcast include an archive?
Yes you can have an online archive of the webcast content at the same media portal / video player address if you like. We can also give you the content to use as you wish.
How does webcast pricing work?
That’s easy. Get an online instant webcast cost quote over here to see how affordable full-service webcasting can be!
Do you handle user registration and logins?
Our webcasts include custom user registration forms and processing. You can create custom registration emails and you have complete access control for all users.
Can we use pre-produced videos?
We can switch between live and pre-recorded content, graphics., computer screens even Skype feeds during a webcast. Just let us know what you plan to do.
Are your webcasts mobile friendly?
Our webcasts and players can be easily viewed on phones and tablets.
Can you create videos from the webcast for us?
We can easily edit snippets or highlights from the recorded content.
Do you offer live support during a webcast?
If you want, we include a Live Support button that connects to our full time staff during the live event.
Do you use a backup network?
Yes. Our global CDN includes a tier 1 robust redundant network. Optionally we can include our cellular bonded connections as a backup as well as.
What kind of reporting is included?
You can access live online user reports showing who watched, from where they watched and for how long. Archives include the same level of metrics. If you need other metrics we can custom develop those for you.
Do you own all of your HD Cameras, Video Encoders, Video Switchers?
Do you employ full-time webcast techs that do this everyday with the same team and the same equipment?
Do you build a website that I can control where my content is available for on-demand viewing, sales or sharing.
I should not have to use my staff to build a webcast website and player for the webcast.
Is everything available in a secure website with the domain name I choose without any servers or web resources of ours required?
Can you tell me upfront what you do before, during and after the webcast and how much that will cost?