Live streaming, recording, archiving for podcasting and rebroadcast or viewing-on-demand happen automatically with SGrecast from Stream Guys.
For many churches that have been caught by surprise by the recent demand for streamed services, solutions like Facebook Live have been an attractive quick fix for reaching their community. However, in order to expand your reach, you’ll need to use a content delivery network (CDN) where your church can post their live stream without requiring a lot of internet bandwidth on site. What some churches are learning is that a CDN isn’t always a “set it and forget it” option.
“The typical story is that the church often goes with the cheapest possible CDN, and then when they have problems there's no technical support.
A full-service CDN is a good idea, even if you have a seasoned IT team backing you up. Why? Because speed and experience matter.
Likewise, if they have unique requirements or needs, many times that CDN cannot think outside of their typical box to offer a viable solution. It's the same way with Facebook Live and YouTube Live. There's no technical support and lots of things can go wrong,” says Tim Labelle, global account manager with StreamGuys.
Using a CDN allows you to take control of your own streaming feed and send it to a variety of outlets simultaneously so people can watch on their platform of choice. However, it’s important to note that along with the opportunity for expanded reach, there are added complexities that may require tech support – whether it be during initial set up or early one Sunday morning when things don’t turn on or connect properly.
If your live stream is down on Sunday morning, there may not be time to assemble the IT team that normally works Monday through Friday, or your IT team may not have a deep enough understanding to effectively troubleshoot some of the unique complexities of streamed content.
A full-service CDN is a good idea, even if you have a seasoned IT team backing you up. Why? Because speed and experience matter. If your live stream is down on Sunday morning, there may not be time to assemble the IT team that normally works Monday through Friday, or your IT team may not have a deep enough understanding to effectively troubleshoot some of the unique complexities of streamed content.
24/7/365 tech support is something you may expect from a full-service CDN service shop like StreamGuys, but the company aims to take its “hands-on” approach even further by offering services that can save the church money, expand your audience, and save valuable volunteer resources. For example, the company’s cloud-based SGrecast platform allows you to record, podcast, and rebroadcast automatically. The audio portion of your service can be automatically and immediately stripped from the live video stream and made available for its own live listening and downloading later. This can expand your reach to audio-only podcast and streaming platforms. Additionally, video and audio content can be converted into a 24/7 loop, along with other programming that can run on the church’s website for a live stream experience offering a compelling mix of your content. The recorded service can be automatically programmed to start at certain times of the day or week in a pseudo or simulated live broadcast. Of course, along with any of your services in the archive, the service can be made available for viewing on-demand. These solutions are in addition to the standard CDN services that you might expect, including sending a simultaneous feed to Facebook Live, YouTube, and other delivery platforms.
If you need expert hands-on support on Sunday morning, or creative digital media solutions, StreamGuys might be the right choice for you. They will help you take control of your distribution, squash those technical issues, and get your message out.
For more information about StreamGuys, visit https://www.streamguys.com/services/sgtools/sgrecast
