PlanetStream Blog

Bandwidth & On-Demand Video Streaming

I thought I’d add an explanation of Bandwidth and its relation to On-Demand Video Streaming, as I’ve been asked by a few customers about it and how it impacts on them.

When we mention 'bandwidth', we are referring to the amount of information/data that can be sent over a network in a given period of time. The amount of bandwidth that you use will depend upon:

a) How many streaming visitors you get to your site.
b) How many streams you have on your site.
c) How many visitors play those streams.
d) What bandwidth levels users connect at (modem / broadband)

Obviously music and entertainment sites with frequently updated audio and video content attract people who are likely to want to play media clips, whereas websites catering for specialised interests groups will not be as demanding on bandwidth usage.

Due to this we have a range of different pricing models for you to choose between and if necessary change between on a monthly basis. We suggest that you sign up for a standard package, and analyse your statistics for three months to gauge your exact requirements, then change the account if necessary.

Want to know more? You can email me on steven@netsecrets.co.uk or call me on 01386 792972.

Embed Microsoft Windows Media Player into your webpage

I receive a lot of questions from customers who want their On-demand videos to be easily accessible for a wide range of clients, family etc. on the Web. As most streaming multimedia files are in one of the three major formats — Microsoft Windows Media, Apple’s QuickTime, or RealAudio/Video – it can be difficult to decide how best to display the video on your website.

An ideal solution to this issue is to encode or convert your video files into WMV format and embed the Microsoft Windows Media Player right into the Web page, as the vast majority of PCs have Windows Media Player on them, and people are familiar with it. A lot of people tell me they hear the words “embed into the web page” and think this involves some major work – truth is, it’s a very simple thing to do!

Embedding a Windows Media video file is done by inserting code in the web page's HTML. Our shared streaming server space allows you to upload video and audio files via FTP, and then by using the Control Panel in the File Manager system, it will generate the HTML code for you. Just sign up for one of our On-Demand WMStream packages and follow these simple steps:

• Step one – Encode your Video file into WMV format.
• Step two – Upload the file to our shared streaming server.
• Step three – Use the control panel to generate the HTML code for you
• Step four- Embed the HTML code into your webpage.
• Step five – Sit back and enjoy your video!

See? I told you it was easy! The HTML code will look something like this:

<OBJECT ID="MediaPlayer" WIDTH="384" HEIGHT="380" CLASSID="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"

STANDBY="Loading Windows Media Player components..." TYPE="application/x-oleobject">

<PARAM NAME="FileName" VALUE="http://links2.planetstream.net/dave/SHFullVideo384x2882spkf.asx">

<PARAM name="autostart" VALUE="false">         

<PARAM name="ShowControls" VALUE="true">

<param name="ShowStatusBar" value="true">

<PARAM name="ShowDisplay" VALUE="true">

<EMBED TYPE="application/x-mplayer2" SRC="videofilename.wmv" NAME="MediaPlayer"

WIDTH="192" HEIGHT="190" ShowControls="1" ShowStatusBar="1" ShowDisplay="1" autostart="1"> </EMBED>

</OBJECT>

And will produce the following video embedded into your webpage (Click 'Play' to start video):

And that’s how easy it is to embed a Windows Media video file straight into your webpage with PlanetStream's WMStream Package. Interested? Want to know more? You can email me on steven@netsecrets.co.uk or call me on 01386 792972.

My First Blog

Hello – My name is Steve Pedrick and I have recently joined the Streaming Specialists here @ PlanetStream, and this is my first post on the blog. I thought I’d share my experiences of the first few days and what I’ve learnt in that time. The first thing I’ve noticed is just how easy to implement and low-cost video & audio streaming is here @ PlanetStream!! Due to the wide range of packages on offer, it’s easy to find one that suits your needs – and the best part is they’re adaptable so you can order more data storage & transfer etc. when your video or audio stream gets really popular! Another brilliant feature is the free trial Of On-Demand Streaming. I was particularly impressed by the fact that PlanetStream can meet all your streaming requirements - From a single promotional video to show on your business website to a complete online media library, we can ably handle your needs.

I’m looking forward to helping you find the right streaming media service for your business – you can email me on steven@netsecrets.co.uk or call me on 01386 792972.

Steven Pedrick Joins the Streaming Specialists

PlanetStream are delighted to welcome Steven Pedrick who has today joined our Customer Services team as a streaming media adviser. Steve has a wealth of experience in IT, media and customer relations through working for several years at Evesham Technology and will make a real difference to PlanetStream Customers' experience.

Steve can be contacted on 01386 792972 or steven@netsecrets.co.uk.

Want To Work With PlanetStream?

PlanetStream are looking to recruit a sales/client service specialist to join our young dynamic team in rural Worcestershire.

The person we want will have a basic understanding of the internet so that he/she can help clients choose the most appropriate streaming solution. The position is mainly office based, taking warm sales enquiries, generated by telemarketing or coming from our very prominent websites. There is no cold calling involved.

This might suit someone who has worked in telesales for an IT or internet business and who is looking for something more interesting.

If you are interested please contact Sandy Burt on 01386 792972 or email sandy@netsecrets.co.uk.

BlogCatalog Listing

We have submitted this blog to BlogCatalog which looks a really useful resource. Take a look at:

http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/internet/web-hosting

If you can suggest any other good places to register blogs please post details in a comment.

Costs for streaming video

It's quite difficult to "guesstimate" costs for video streaming but I am often asked for a general idea of costs involved. What follows is my current best stab at it.

The costs of streaming live events are a function of the duration of the events and the maximum number of concurrent viewers the client wishes to be able to view it. A 20 minute event watched by 500 people will cost much less than a 3 hour event watched by 5000. Although related to this it is not a straight line equation as economies of scale apply. The bigger the number the lower the unit cost so here are some typical scenarios.

To stream a live event lasting 2 hours to 500 concurrent viewers would cost £468, to 1000 viewers £728 and to 5000 £2080. Additional discounts would apply were this being done on a routine basis.

The costs of streaming archived videos is on a similar basis. It is largely based on the size of the video file (a function of length and quality) and the number of viewings over a given period. So if we recorded our 2 hour live event at a reasonable quality it might result in a file of, say, 250 MB.

If this were viewed by 100 people a month the cost would be £30 per month; 1000 viewers would cost £115 per month and 5000 viewers £290 per month. This assumes the video is in Windows Media Player format. Other formats such as Real, Quicktime or Flash would incur higher costs.

There's a lot more info at:

http://www.planetstream.net/live-streaming.html - for live streaming

and at:

http://www.planetstream.net/on-demand.html - for archived streaming.

Internet Radio And TV - 24 x 7 Streaming

Getting more and more requests for internet Radio and TV hosting so thought a quick post might help.

The cost of an "always on" service, suitable for an internet TV or Radio channel, is based on just 2 factors, the bit rate of the broadcast and the maximum number of concurrent listeners or viewers. the bit rate is dictated by the quality required for your broadcast. For audio content 32 Kbps is just about OK, 64 Kbps pretty good and 128 Kbps is excellent. For video you can start at 128 Kbps, 300 Kbps is pretty good and 800 is excellent. But even at the lower bit rates viseo can be quite acceptable provided you serve it up in a small window rather than a full page.

The maximum concurrent users required is often over-estimated as viewers and listeners tend to dip in and out of a broadcast so whereas 500 might listen or view an event it can be that no more than 100 are connected at any one time.

There's a calculator to give you an idea of costs on the PlanetStream website at:

http://www.planetstream.net/24-x-7-streaming.html

Alternatively give PlanetStream a call on 01386 792972 or email info@planetstream.net for more advice.

Live Streaming for Business Coaches

Many business owners are benefiting from one-to-one coaching from Business Coaches, helping them to grow their businesses, free up their time and plan their future exit from the the business. Highly respected franchises such as Action Coaching and Ology have spearheaded this and traditionally have delivered the service via monthly face to face coaching sessions backed up with weekly telephone sessions.

This has been very successful but even better results can be achieved by increasing "face to face" contact using live video streaming. The coach can broadcast live via the internet to one or several clients and the sessions can also be archived for access later.

The equipment required is not expensive and because of the restricted number of viewers the live streaming service costs little. PlanetStream can help the coach set up the facility and once established it can be used over and over.

The same idea would work for life coaches, sales coaches, indeed any consultant or trainer conducting regular sessions with clients. For an example of a site making good use of this technique take a look at:

http://www.andygwynntraining.co.uk/

New Idea - Video Testimonials

I am a member of a business networking organisation, NRG, which meets monthly at Worcester Rugby Club, (https://www.nrg-networks.com/).

At the end of the meeting I noticed a flurry of activity with people setting up lighting and cameras and generally heaving furniture around the place. On questioning them I discovered they were going to shoot some video testimonials for the NRG website.

What a nice idea! We all know how powerful a good client testimonial can be in a sales situation but when it's just in writing there can be a nagging suspicion that it's a setup. If you can hear the client waxing lyrical on the quality of service he's received though, how much more powerful is that!

As you can see in other posts we are starting to make use of video content as "info-mercials", to get a core message across quickly on a web page. Must admit I hadn't thought of that for testimonials but not being someone to pass over someone else's good idea you can be sure it will be on our menu very soon.

Indeed if someone out there wants to be a guinea pig we'd offer some pretty serious incentives to cut our teeth on such a venture. If you are up for a try at it email me - tonyb@netsecrets.co.uk