Item: IBM Video Streaming
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Cloud Video (including Ustream)

Implementation Rating

We committed to Ustream for a 3 month period due to three specific events we were webcasting for three different clients. The first needed live broadcast and then VOD for an external customer update, the second just VOD for a product update, and the third an internal live broadcast to thousands of employees. There were a few issues with implementing the player appropriately to the different microsite environments, and some additional investigation and coding were required to ensure the functionality needed was retained in the different environments.

Usability

The broadcast solution gives excellent video quality, but the implementation requires some focused work. It isn't as simple as it should be and the embed codes normally need tweaking to work properly on the websites. If you have the time to implement and work through iterations and testing, it's a great solution. If you need something to implement last minute, it's risky.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We're an independent live events company, and we use Ustream to broadcast our client's internal and external communications, product launches, and any other live event where the highest quality video and cloud multi-bitrate transcoding for global delivery is needed. As a company we use many different webcast platforms, but we are impressed time and again by the image quality delivered to the viewer by Ustream.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Good quality multi-bitrate transcoding in the cloud
The customer service and technical support is quick and efficient
Competitive cost-effective solution

Cons

We have encountered VOD playback issues
Analytics are fine, but not presented brilliantly
Support could be extended to be more accessible to customers outside US

Alternatives Considered

Google Hangouts, Kollective, Kontiki, Livestream, ON24, Skype, Workcast, Wowza and Wowza

Each project we deliver is different - different region, different language, different audience, different content and different requirements. Each time we select Ustream it is because we think Ustream delivers the best looking live stream from our elemental encoder.

Likelihood to Recommend

Ustream is well suited to any event which demands the highest quality passthrough or transcoded video image broadcast.

Larger events with more viewers can be expensive using Ustream, and so clients often look to lower cost per viewer or bundled/no viewer limits solutions.

Comments

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Bob Lee
commented 9 years ago
Hello, I'm Bob with the Voice of the Customer team here at Ustream, an IBM Company. Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We're thrilled that you're using our solution and look forward to working with you and other customers to continually improve our offerings. While you'd mentioned that you're pleased with our image quality, service and support, and cost-effectiveness, you noted a few issues with VOD playback and a desire for better analytics presentation. We're constantly working on our player technology and, as we are now part of the same business unit as the Watson team here at IBM, we'll have some exciting new capabilities coming down the road for our analytics. Please feel free to reach out to me with any additional feedback and questions and Thanks Again for your review.
Stacy Nawrocki
(Vendor Representative) commented 2 years ago

Independent Webcast Provider's Review

Software Version

Modules Used