Livestreaming made easy.

Your digital signage can be put to great use right now, in concert with your social media, web, email and corporate communications.

Following up on information about livestreaming included in our last post, we wanted to explain how to use it to stay engaged with audiences who are self-isolating during this time of changing social norms. Livestreaming is an amazing, accessible technology that’s going to be getting a lot of attention in the coming weeks. You may have already used a video-conferencing app like Zoom, Skype, Join.me, Google Hangouts or others to make contact with family members, friends and colleagues.

Livestreaming your digital signage playlist is quite similar. Here’s the simplest “What" and “How" we can think of to explain it, followed by the all important “Why” below. If you see an application for this in your organization and want us to provide some consultation, please let us know.

What:

Yes, you can present the same looping stream of content in use on your signage network to your employees, customers and other audiences directly to their homes and temporary offices via your website. It’s fairly simple to do. In addition, you can also livestream a conference presentation or exercise class from a camera (or multiple cameras), your web cam or mobile device in much the same way.

How:

You will push your current playlist through a livestreaming platform to your website.

You can livestream directly from YouTube, but wouldn’t you want this service to be hosted on your own site where you can offer other information or services as they view?

Platforms:

There are numerous streaming platforms of varying cost and capability. YouTube (free) and Facebook Live are oft-used free services, or for more advanced professional capability to hold conferences, classes or demonstrations, a paid service such as Wowza, Twitch, Periscope, UStream, Iris or Dacast may be the ticket.

Again, trying to keep things simple here, if you’re considering livestreaming, consult with a professional digital services company like Quast Media to speed your learning curve and find the system that works best for your needs.

Here’s a great article about various streaming platforms to help you learn more.

The technology part: (this won’t hurt, we promise!)

1. If you have digital signage, you'll need a dedicated player like the one running your signage now, and an encoding device. The player can be new or pulled from your existing network. That means you can continue to engage audiences with an investment you may have already made. If you've never live-streamed, the encoder is something you'll need to purchase.

2. If you want to make it really easy, just send your content to us at Quast Media and we'll stream it through our player for you. Give us a shout and we can tell you more about how this works.

3. If you want to livestream something other than your signage from web cam or mobile device, you can download encoding software to your device that allows you to add cameras, live screenshots, titles, graphics, allowing you to create more production value. It may seem confusing, but it’s worth the investment of time to look into it, obviously.

Why:

It’s kind of a no-brainer. While there are a few steps involved, working with a qualified digital services provider like Quast Media can get you up and running fast. On March 17th when we decided to write this blog post, people were just realizing that livestreaming was an option for them.

By March 23rd, many people knew about it and were planning to attend exercise classes, yoga meditations, concerts, theater and conferences via livestreaming. Suffice it to say, things are happening at warp speed and companies and their audiences are showing just how nimble they can be out of necessity — ourselves included!

If you want to learn more about how to take advantage of the the process of livestreaming, reach out to us. Quast Media would be more than happy to help. We would love to hear from you on this post — your questions, thoughts and ideas that may help propel this conversation forward. We wish you a safe and speedy recovery to anyone who has been directly impacted by Covid-19.