Ever since the pandemic, digital connectivity has been expedited. People have gotten used to the fact that meetings can be conducted remotely and can be as effective as physical meetings. As a result, many workplaces were able to shift to a work-from-home model that helped maintain social distancing while not hindering the workflow.
Since most of us have familiarized ourselves with tools such as screen sharing and whiteboards by now, the growth in the usability of video meeting tools has plateaued. Custom media streaming options are a great way to enhance the value that attendees gather from the meeting.
So how can custom media streaming help you up your game? Read on below to find out!
The Problem with Video Sharing During Online Meetings
Custom media streaming can include direct video streaming from any source. Videos are one of the best ways to teach and relay knowledge otherwise as well. Mostly the screen sharing option is used in meetings for sharing videos with the participants connected online.
It is unlikely that you would not have experienced a video or sound lag when viewing videos shared through the screen share option. A lag in the video, like buffering, has been found to have a tremendous impact on viewer engagement.
This is true for highly engaging games for the viewers like soccer as well. The research found that even in a highly popular soccer game, a 1-3 minute decrease in engagement or active viewing time was recorded for a buffering ratio of just 1% (Source).
In recent times and situations, Zoom fatigue is a newly coined term that refers to the disengagement caused by freezing videos and lagging audios during meetings. However, with video sharing through screen sharing, the likelihood of video lag increases to 3 times!
The technical reasons for the lag are tied to the bandwidth use, which typically increases with resolution, quality of video and, most important, number of participants. Several solutions are trying to address this problem with specific approaches. Video.io is using automatic bandwidth management that reacts to changing network conditions and automatic switching between peer-to-peer and group sessions.
Vonage even contracted testRTC to analyze bandwidth and CPU use, showing that their algorithms can provide better performance at low bandwidth compared to selected competing solutions by aggressively reducing incoming bitrates. However both approaches have their cost, reducing video quality and using additional client resources. This inevitably impacts the message you want the video to convey or the use you want to put the video to.
Enter eyeson’s innovative patented Single Stream technology designed from scratch to deal with the problem and offer best quality at (almost) any bandwidth. Using streams by uploading and processing in the cloud maintains the bandwidth, allowing viewers to experience seamless streaming on their devices. As far as the ideal bandwidth for live streaming is concerned, it depends on many factors. As a general rule, the minimum bandwidth requirement for live streaming is 0.5 Megabits per second, which can go up to 25 Megabits per second for 4K UHD bandwidth.
How Can Custom Media Streaming Up Your Meeting Game?
Since video streaming can pose a lot of issues during online meetings, using a custom media streaming service is a great way to directly stream videos onto the meeting platforms.
So, here’s how you can use custom media streaming to enhance your viewer’s engagement and get rid of the lags and the buffering that impacts the overall quality of the message that you are trying to convey:
Streaming from a Security Camera
Integrating streams from a security camera into meetings live and uninterrupted is a great way to share media there and then during discussions rather than uploading downloaded security footage later on.
A great use case for streaming security footage is a hotel boardroom meeting that wanted to critique their staff’s behavior, responsiveness, and overall service quality directly.
Also, the recorded footage or any video for that matter streamed directly onto the meeting without the need to share it through a screen sharing option gets rid of the lag issue that impacts the user’s attention, information dissemination, and engagement.
Streaming from a Drone Feed/Bodycam
Just like security cameras, streaming from a drone feed might be giving you an FBI agent feels. While the best use case might be spying, drone feeds can also be used for streaming live events like weddings, birthday parties, or even hosting virtual events and conferences.
Imagine attending a wedding or a conference virtually with the drone feed or bodycam making you feel like you’re in the event rather than on a stationary laptop. This was probably the best use case of streaming a video directly from a live source onto a meeting app in 2021.
Streaming an Online Game
When it comes to gaming enthusiasts, the option to stream online games with friends is a dream come true! So, streaming games into casual meetings feel like playing with your best buds without the physical proximity even across the border.
So, time to recreate gaming night from a decade ago? You bet!
Streaming any other Video Source
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past year, you have most likely experienced buffering during videos and lag due to bandwidth lowering on screen sharing options.
Streaming from popular video content websites like YouTube and Facebook may add to the overall conversation when lag and buffering cause meeting attendees to lose interest quickly. This lag even comes in sharing pre-recorded videos.
So, even if it is a set of individuals with high interest in the subject like the soccer game mentioned above, they’re not safe from disengagement.
Let us tell you, once you start using custom media streaming in your meetings, there is no going back to the basics. So, if you are ready to witness the next-level revolution in online meetings and casual meetups, custom media streaming is the way to go. And our recommendation is to choose a service based on its simplicity of usage, low rates, and 24/7 available customer service.
Summing It Up
When it comes to online meetings through platforms like eyeson, Google Meet, and Zoom, the possibilities are endless and have changed our world immensely in the past year.
People have hosted virtual baby showers, attended weddings from across the country, and led revolutionary corporate discussions. One new way to up the meeting game is using custom video streaming. It is a great way to stream video through live streams like drones, security cameras, bodycams, and also videos on YouTube or in your storage.Therefore, if you’re ready to up your meeting game and engage the audience on the next level, direct and uninterrupted video streaming is the way to go!
