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

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Cloud Video (including Ustream)

Implementation Rating

Implementation was a snap. We needed to be up and running as fast as possible and couldn't afford to waste time on setup. We had TV engineers and IT staff involved and everything went as planned.

Ustream does everything it's supposed to do. It delivers high-quality live video with zero downtime. The backend is easy to navigate and the setup could be done by a child. We stream live video on several channels 24-hours a day, 7-days a week with very few issues. When we do have downtime it is always a local issue.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use IBM Cloud Video to live stream newscasts from our tv stations, important press conferences, live weather updates, regional sporting events and internal company communications. Being a media organization with its credibility at stake, it is critical that we are consistent and IBM Cloud Video has been extremely reliable. The quality of the stream has been exceptional.

Pros and Cons

Pros

When there is breaking news we are able to live stream to multiple websites from the Ustream app. It's as easy, or maybe even easier than Facebook live.
Reliability is extremely important to our company and I can't recall a single instance of downtime with Ustream in the past 3 years.
The quality of the stream is exceptional. The live stream of our newscasts looks nearly as good as our HD broadcast.

Cons

Improved metrics would be helpful. I would like to see more robust metrics in the future.
I don't like that there is a large fee to have a VAST tag applied to each channel.

IBM Cloud Video Business Outcomes

We have increased sales by not only selling preroll ads on several of our streams but also by selling commercials within the stream and sponsors. We have the rights to broadcast and stream high school state tournaments in North Dakota which draw viewers from all over the world and increase revenue in an area we weren't able to take advantage of 3 years ago.

Alternatives Considered

Ustream had more experience than many of their competitors, they were also able to beat them on price. I have looked at Livestream and they seem to be geared more towards broadcasters and news outlets. They offer easy to use and affordable cameras, revenue sharing ads and many other features that are attractive.

Likelihood to Recommend

Weather in North Dakota and Minnesota is always unpredictable. We use Ustream to live stream important weather info to our website, Facebook and our weather app. When the power is out our viewers know they can count on us to live stream breaking weather information on our website, app and Facebook.

Comments

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Bob Lee
commented 8 years ago
Hello. I'm Bob from the Voice of the Customer team here at Ustream, an IBM Company. Thanks very much for taking the time to review our platform. We appreciate your insights and are especially glad that our ease-of-use, quality and reliability have been meeting your needs. We'll keep working to improve in all of these areas and look forward to sharing some exciting new features in the coming months, including enhancements to our analytics, that we think you'll find valuable. Thanks for your business.

When reliability affects your credibility go with Ustream

Software Version

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