TrustRadius Insights for IBM Video Streaming are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Intuitive: Customers have praised Ustream for its intuitive deployment and management tools, making it a seamless choice for continuous video streaming applications. Users have found these tools to be adaptive to their needs helping make the overall experience productive and easy to use.
Useful Analytics: The analytics module within Ustream has been instrumental in empowering sales and marketing teams with valuable insights into the performance of their event campaigns.
Playlist Features: Moreover, the offline playlists feature stands out for its ability to ensure uninterrupted playback of scheduled content during technical disruptions, thus enhancing viewer engagement, satisfaction, and overall work production.
It is safe to say that the capability of this platform in content delivery and full management backend has been accepted. Even though there was the first involvement of many in its implementation, it has ensured efficient work flow of the business since the training drain period was inversely compensated by some gains obtained.
Pros
Live caption and translation services of AI.
A workplace content delivery network with global reach.
These are functions such as single authorization and full encryption.
Cons
Limited external integration options.
When it comes to the mobile app experience, it is still being improved.
Some aspects of interface customization
Likelihood to Recommend
We found the usage of IBM Video Streaming especially beneficial during vast webinars and international product presentations. We have seen that this platform effectively manages high concurrent viewer loads, which is important during promotions we've made to reach such a large audience where we have viewers at the same time.
Live Broadcasting customer events, as well as on-demand video channels to help our customers.
Pros
video quality
friendly IBM representative
Cons
Archaic interface
limited admin functionality
out of date design
Been using for years and no implementation of new features important to us
poor in-app metrics
Likelihood to Recommend
Very limited customization features. Permissions are a mess too if you want to have people assigned as chat moderators for events for instance, but dont want them access to the admin panel.
The quality of the broadcast and live captions work well, but they charge extra for live captions.
For operating a video on demand site, the design of the page is really poor and limited on customization. Been a user for years and seen almost no new innovation on the platform which has been disappointing. The metrics are a mess on the user panels too. They do provide an api link for your external metrics and/or data dumps for using something like tableau, but that features not really something to write home about and a rather basic offering.
This is an expensive platform with limited options and an outdated style unfortunately. We have been getting by for our uses but there's nothing really keeping us with IBM if another platform offering came around.
IBM Video Streaming has proven to be an invaluable tool in our K-12 school district, significantly enhancing educational delivery, professional development, and community engagement. It enables on-demand access to recorded lessons and professional development resources, facilitating a flexible and personalized learning environment for both students and teachers. Additionally, it promotes inclusivity by streaming school events and meetings for broader community participation. Its use across various stakeholders, including students, educators, and parents, has fostered a more connected, informed, and supportive school community, addressing the diverse needs of our district effectively.
Pros
IBM Video Streaming allows for the integration of interactive elements into video content, such as quizzes, polls, and live Q&A sessions. This can make learning more engaging for young students by making it interactive and fun, thus increasing their attention and participation.
Teachers in a K-5 setting can access and share professional development materials and teaching resources through the platform. This can help them stay updated on the best practices for early childhood education, innovative teaching methods, and subject-specific strategies, ultimately benefiting their students.
IBM Video Streaming provides the capability for teachers to create a library of on-demand educational videos. This is particularly useful for young learners who may need to revisit concepts multiple times to fully understand them. It also supports differentiated learning by allowing students to learn at their own pace.
Young students often benefit from visual aids in their learning process. IBM Video Streaming can deliver high-quality video content that includes animations, demonstrations, and visual explanations of concepts. This can be particularly effective in subjects like science, math, and reading, where visualizations can enhance understanding.
Cons
The platform could benefit from a more child-friendly interface that is easier for young students to navigate. Simplified menus, larger buttons, and more intuitive icons would help make the platform more accessible to K-5 students, enabling them to find and view content more independently.
Integrating more seamlessly with other educational software and platforms commonly used in K-5 settings, such as learning management systems (LMS) or classroom management tools, would streamline the educational process. This could include single sign-on capabilities, easy embedding of videos into other platforms, or synchronization of educational resources across platforms.
Likelihood to Recommend
The teacher uses IBM Video Streaming to record and upload instructional videos on various subjects, such as math problem-solving techniques or grammar lessons. Students watch these videos at home as homework and then apply what they've learned in class through collaborative projects and hands-on activities. This approach allows the teacher to spend more time providing individual support where needed.
IBM Watson Media's Video Streaming is excellent for broadcasting video behind a gate while also providing smooth functionality. It offers many customizable features for various needs within our organization and for providing informational videos to our audiences.
The off-air feature allows for select videos to play prior to scheduled broadcasts--essentially, it allows for teasers/trailers to play before the actual featured videos. This proved extremely useful for our organization to provide a looping informational trailer before we launched our scheduled programming.
In addition, the live feature integration is phenomenal. The platform integrates with Zoom and this feature takes precedence over scheduled playlists which is a exceptional aspect because the user has the ability to schedule transition videos of specific slides that will be interrupted when those on the Zoom side are ready to go live. My organization used this for a live Q and A session to further engage the community and spread awareness of a lesser known form of dementia.
Finally, the support team was beyond responsive and accommodating. Any and all questions we had with setting up the platform, hammering out the details, and configuring the videos to run smoothly were addressed by the communicative and attentive IBM support team.
Overall, this is an incredibly advanced and feature-packed platform that would serve any and all video requirements an organization may need. It is well worth the investment and I highly recommend it.
Pros
Video scheduling
Integration with live platforms like Zoom
Off-air video capabilities for trailers and informative pre-feature clips
Use of Q & A/chat box for delivering messages to panelists in external platforms like Zoom
Superb technical support services
Cons
It isn't always user-friendly or straightforward, but the technical support team will assist in any way they can to walk users through the platform.
Likelihood to Recommend
Best for
Pre-taped/scheduled videos
Providing access to specific video content over a certain period of time (e.g., limiting access to a video for a week or a month)
Provides gated features so access to content can be restricted or emails/viewer information can be collected.
Extensive metrics to determine video reach/viewership, which proves great for reporting to marketing departments.
Not best for
Videos you do not mind having available anytime
A library of content that you do not wish to place behind an access gate
One area of improvement on the platform is the ability to customize confirmation email send outs to video registrants.
We used it for a 2-hour premier of a movie and a zoom Q&A panel to major healthcare institutions around the country. We were looking for a reliable platform to provide the utmost clarity in streaming of a motion picture that was made. Also integration with Zoom was important.
Pros
Clarity.
Streaming capabilities.
Ease of use.
Cons
Integration with Zoom.
Likelihood to Recommend
We wanted a reliable streaming service with national experience and name. We worked with a great team at IBM that gave us the opportunity to produce a program and guide us along the way.
We use Ustream to live stream research sessions to clients that can't attend. We give clients a URL an unique password.
Pros
Reliable service - we hardly ever run into technical difficulties
Cons
The back end is rather complex and has lots of unnecessary sections. It is not intuitive.
Likelihood to Recommend
The service itself is very well suited to quickly setting up streaming for clients. however, the tech support is almost non-existent, and the help desk team do not read emails properly, so if you ever run into a technical issue, or an issue with your account, you won't be able to get it resolved easily.
Livestreaming all school events from concerts to sports
Pros
high-definition video
graphic capabilities
multiple channels for streaming
titling capabilities
preset keying options
Cons
I initially saw dropped broadcasts due to usb conflicts with different accepted video mixers--this could have also been due to mixer/computer incompatibility.
A handier GUI for audio instead of adjusting audio going to the audio window separately
Some preset titling revealers for sports livestreaming would be helpful.
An ability to link with existing scoreboards for livestreaming
Likelihood to Recommend
It is most likely suited for accepting input from any mixer and showing those cameras. I have not seen how well it is able to represent multiple cameras within mixers or if that is even possible. I do like the virtual display capability for separate monitors--I cannot vouch for how easy that is to set up.
We use IBM Watson Media's Video Streaming for our weekly Sunday Service broadcasting, and occasionally special events. We are able to use IBM's tools to track viewership and even integrate the stream and chat function into our website to reach people all over the United States. This is especially great for our elderly community and the rare occasion services are canceled due to bad weather.
Pros
Ease of use.
Flexibility of using different streaming software.
Great interface for viewers with no extra work.
Cons
Occasionally, I've had issues with losing connection, making it impossible to stream.
Metrics can be a little confusing to find accurate viewer numbers.
The web interface can make finding certain things like chat windows difficult to find.
Likelihood to Recommend
IBM Watson Media's Video Streaming is great where the user would like have control over their in-house video system, and not have to think about it once it hits the RTMP. It's flexible enough that you don't have to be wary of using or not using specific components.
Where it would be less well-suited is someone who is not at all familiar with streaming and would need an all-in-one plug-and-play system. That being said, this is easy to use.
We use video streaming for the online classes that we offer as part of our Master of Biblical Studies curriculum. Our online students can watch the classes live, or they can watch a recording of the class at their earliest convenience. We connect two IP address cameras to the video streaming platform (one on the students and one on the professors), and we control the cameras with an iPad. We also connect to the professor's computer as a Remote Desktop (3rd camera) to show PPT slides that he is showing to the class.
Pros
The streaming platform is easy to navigate from the back end. It does not take extensive training for someone to step in as a video live stream producer.
I like the functionality to create numerous channels to stream and host varying content.
Although the platform has the capability to produce a complicated stream with a lot of moving parts, it is also user-friendly enough for an iPhone user to set up a simple stream on his or her phone very easily.
Cons
When using a Remote Desktop source, it is very hard to connect the computer's audio to the stream. It has never worked well for us. And we have often had to use the audio from the room itself as opposed to directly from the computer.
The chat feature can be more natively integrated into the video source (chats could be overlayed on the video itself as opposed to the side). It would make the interaction more prominent.
The video editor could be significantly improved. It would be nice to be able to clip more than just the beginning and the end of a recorded video (i.e. if you want to clip a 10 second section from the middle of the video, you need to export the entire recording, import the file into a video editor, edit the video there, export the video out of the video editor, and then import the new file back into the Ustream channel).
Likelihood to Recommend
It's better for a recording scenario than it is for a live scenario when you want rich and timely interaction. Because of the 20 second delay between what is live and what the UStream end-user is seeing, it makes meaningful interaction not as seamless as you would want it to be.
