Live Webcasting FAQs for Admins

What do I need for Live Webcasting?

In order to enable live webcasting, you need to have the following:

• EchoSystem 5.1 or above
• A room or venue where an EchoSystem SafeCapture HD or Echo360 PRO is installed and licensed
• Wowza Media Server v3.5 or higher as the Flash media streaming server for live content. EchoSystem 5.5 requires Wowza v3.5, 3.6 or 4.0.

Along with those items, you need to be sure that you have completed the proper configuration steps associated with live webcasting.

Are there limitations on where students can view Live Webcasts?

Regardless of their location, individuals can view these live events from a personal computer (PC) or Mac with a broadband Internet connection of at least 515 kbps (kilobits per second) for audio and video streaming. Streaming audio with dual display, or audio with video and display requires 980-1100 kbps for a quality viewing experience. 

Are there browser limitations for Live Webcasting?

The user just needs a PC or Mac, Internet connectivity and a modern browser with Flash. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari are all supported.

Can Live Webcasts be viewed on a Mobile device?

Echo’s live webcasting feature is designed primarily for multimedia streaming to a PC or Mac via a broadband network connection. However, Echo360 supports the viewing of Live webcasts on iOS devices running iOS 5 and above. There are additional steps you may need to perform on the Wowza media server to allow for live streaming to iOS devices.

Keep in mind, however, that mobile viewing is subject to the following limitations:

• Viewers will only see the Primary Display (e.g., what is featured on a computer screen during the presentation) OR the Video for the event. They will not see both.
• Viewers may require a broadband (wifi) connection for the event to stream smoothly.

Can students participate in Live Webcasts?

If students are required to log in to the live webcasts (as controlled by the configuration of the Section), and you have registered your ESS with Echo360's Collaboration and Statistics service, the live webcast will have a chat feature that allows students to participate via text-based chat. If the chat feature is not available or you would prefer voice communication, an Instructor or Presenter can initiate an optional audio bridge (not provided by Echo360). Using an audio bridge can significantly augment Echo’s live webcasting, but note that there is a small but perceptible delay between the audio bridge and the webcast audio and video feeds. Because of this delay, if using an audio bridge, the audio feed from the webcast should be muted to avoid confusion. 

Can I use Live Webcasting for special events?

While Echo360’s live webcasting is designed for remote student access to a lecture, it can also be used to broadcast a special event (e.g., a guest speaker) to a broader audience both inside and outside of your institution.

It is important to note this capability is not a broadcast quality distribution platform -- it webcasts a unique stream or combination of streams for each active viewer. Therefore, bandwidth limitations between the institution’s streaming server, the public Internet, and “the last mile” to the viewer can cause performance issues. The bandwidth for various product combinations is provided below. It is important to confirm that your institution has the necessary network configuration to support anticipated load for streaming special events, especially if it is being broadcast to a large and geographically diverse audience.

What kind of network usage can I expect for each Live Webcast?

The below table lists the specifications for live streams based on product selection. In the table and examples that follow, kbps=kilobits per second; fps = frames per second; Mbps = megabits per second.

Both live webcasts and on-demand recordings share these specifications:

The following example provides real-world calculations for bandwidth usage:

  Twenty students are viewing a webcast that includes audio and a presentation display from the classroom's computer.

• Bandwidth from SafeCapture HD to the Wowza Media Server: ~605 kbps (475 kbps for display + 128 kbps for audio)
• Bandwidth from the Wowza Media Server to the students: 20 students x 630 kbps = 12,600 kbps (~12.60 Mbps)
• Total Bandwidth Required for stream end-to-end: 605 kbps + 12,600 kbps = 13,205 (~13.25 Mbps)

How does webcasting impact my Wowza server?

It is important to recognize that a live webcast uses streaming server resources differently than an on-demand recording, and so benefits from different improvements to the server hardware.

The items for each type of content delivery are in listed below in order of most important to least important:

Can I have Echo360 host my Live Webcasting?

Yes, but only in and for North American customers.  However, there are important considerations when a customer has Echo360 host their EchoSystem and uses live webcasting.

First, live streaming will increase network traffic and volume—which are costs born by the university. Just like streaming recorded content, streaming live content drives usage-based streaming fees.

The fees for both live and on-demand streaming are based on output bundles. There is no premium pricing for live over on-demand streaming—both are based on the volume out.  If a customer is likely to use live streaming infrequently, then the incremental costs will be small relative to the standard on-demand streaming costs. If the use case for live streaming is to support a large distance learning program, then Echo360 must work with the customer to better estimate the costs under this use case.