Panopto vs. StreamShark Live Streaming Platform

Panopto is great if you have a lot of video content that you need to put in a central repository. It makes it easy to manage who sees it and how it is categorized. The captioning features are also really good too. For folks to view the video, they don't need a Panopto account. You can send them a direct link. If you want to upload videos, however, they will need a Panopto account. If you only have a few videos or care less about usage statistics, SharePoint may be a better file repository option

Incentivized

For internal communications such as Town Halls, StreamShark is a perfect solution. StreamShark provides the necessary security needed for private companies as well as a tried and true viewing experience for the end user.

• Simple to use - It really is a click-and-go system. Log in, click on record, and you're set.
• Flexible - It allows multiple information-rich inputs to be recorded simultaneously (for example, the screen, webcams, microphones, etc.). For some demonstrations, having multiple perspectives/views can be beneficial. The ability to add multiple webcams enhanced the value of some of my recordings.
• Reliable - This is critical when an unforeseen opportunity arises and you want to capture it visually and with audio. I had multiple experiences where a unique person was available briefly and due to Panopto's reliability, I was able to capture content that would otherwise have been seen by only those physically present at the time.

Incentivized

• StreamShark has an excellent live support model, which gives us real-time support on live stream productions. Another feature we like is the Okta SSO integration. This makes it simple to manage access to the videos and streams.
• Our account manager, James Broberg, is an absolute pleasure to work with. He clearly has our goals in mind when he suggests the new features in our bi-weekly meeting.
• Additionally, the StreamShark support team, namely, Yudong, Robert, and Aakanksha drive our requests to completion in a timely manner.
• The look and feel of the GUI is user-friendly.

Incentivized

• Panopto doesn't fully support Ultra courses in Blackboard - we can do quizzing, which is very helpful, but we can't do video submissions like an Original course.
• There is no built-in certificate option for completing a video and its quiz questions, which requires us to use additional systems for tracking and awarding.
• Analytics are mediocre. The reporting tools are challenging to use and to get clear information on a consistent basis.
• Quizzing is limited to multiple choice or T/F -- there is no reflection point or open-ended question format.

Incentivized

• Multiple homepages for channels e.g. one for public and one for internal.

Needs some work, but I'm sure improvements will come over time

Incentivized

Panopto has been quick to answer any questions, but their rollouts and updates have caused issues where we felt a little blindsided by unexpected changes. Their development cycle is slow and often their promises for future updates have been extremely slow or never come.

Incentivized

Great response times, had personal help from James when needed, felt like an extremely valued customer.

Cost wise, unless you have a huge audience, Panopto is better. Both Zoom Meeting and Kaltura and for more expensive and a smaller program/company may not have the demand to justify them. Kaltura - is a far superior tool, the UI is much more modern and easier for a novice user to understand, and it makes sharing videos amongst faculty much easier. The LMS integration if far smoother and the recording is much easier and faster (from within the LMS). The analytics are also present in a much cleaner and digestible way. Lastly, the quizzing feature is far more robust. Zoom - Smoother at streaming and live interactions. Stronger chat feature and supports larger audiences, it can handle over 100 HD webcams at once if needed. It does basic desktop capture and supporting audio-only formats that can easily be converted to Podcast or Soundcloud. Google Loom - This one is not listed above as it's rather new but its a FREE tool for fast video/desktop/PPT recordings and it's extremely fast and easy to share. That said it's pretty basic as far as any additional features are concerned. Post-production editing is limited to basic timeline trimming.

Incentivized

I had been researching different virtual event s and streaming platforms and kept coming up against the same problems. They either couldn't be branded, the signup flow added friction and would have caused drop off, or quality of the stream was poor. It was also important that I was able to get data and analytics from the stream. This meant that embedded YT live was out of the question because embedded YT don't always count the views. StreamShark Live Streaming Platform allowed for a solve for all of these problems.

• Panopto integrates with our LMS, D2L quite well. It makes the process very simple for our instructors and students to record and watch videos.
• It does not require any plugins or software to watch videos, as they load up in a web browser.
• The videos work on mobile and embed easily in courses or on websites.
• We also enjoy the easy sharing of videos and simplified management in the web portal.

• This service has positively impacted the organization by allowing larger audiences to receive information and act on said information in a more timely manner. This equates to more productivity around the organization, as initiatives and objectives can be efficiently shared with remote attendees in all of our different office locations.

Incentivized