Online video for high schools and middle schools is a great way for schools to communicate and engage their community. From filming events or classroom lectures with a professional camera to using a user friendly, portable flip camera, school faculty and staff have endless possibilities of sharing their message online to students, friends, family and alumni.
For example, several Southwest Chicago Schools including high schools from District 230 and middle schools from District 140 using ClickStreamTV to broadcast their graduations live on the internet. District 230 had first used ClickStreamTV in 2009 to broadcast their high school ceremonies, and once again used ClickStreamTV in 2010. Although colleges and high schools have streamed their ceremonies live for a couple years now, District 140 led the way for middle schools to use this ground breaking technology and stream their eighth grade ceremonies live as well!
ClickStreamTV provided the Southwest Chicago Schools with an easy-to-use, branded video player for the schools to stream their live video of the graduations ceremonies on the web. ClickStreamTV was built for users without any IT knowledge, so any staff or faculty member could use the system. The ClickStreamTV system also provided comprehensive video statistics for the schools to monitor the graduation viewers.
Answering the schools’ need for a simple system for friends and family to use, ClickStreamTV system allows the school’s viewers to watch videos from any computer system, smartphone and iPad. They can also easily navigate through other video content on the schools’ video player, such as past school productions that may be viewed on demand.
With ClickStreamTV’s system and support, District 230 could easily stream their graduation live and add video for on demand viewing, such as the archived ceremony or special events to their ClickStreamTV player.
The schools successfully streamed their live graduation to over 7,000 people who were unable to attend the ceremonies. The system’s automated statistic tool track their video content effectiveness, which helped the schools to evaluate how their videos were received by viewers. With ClickStreamTV, the schools are now able to communicate more effectively with the community by streaming video live or on demand of their graduation ceremonies, sports games, and school productions to special events. They can even improve their email communications by using ClickStreamTV’s Video Email tool, which allows them to target recipients with their videos and messages, and track their effectiveness with the ClickStreamTV statistics tool.
ClickStreamTV, a leading online video solution for small to medium sized businesses, announced today that its video and content management platform supports open web standards for online video.
“First there was Real Player, then Windows Media, Flash technology and now open source standard HTML5 as industry leaders such as Apple and Microsoft have recently noted,” said Kevin Yahl, president of ClickStreamTV. “Due to the constant emergence of new technology, we developed ClickStreamTV with an open source system to ensure that our product was a high-quality, onetime investment that would adapt to future technologies.”
ClickStreamTV, built with open source languages, is able to quickly change its infrastructure to adapt to include new formats for streaming online video. Over the next couple of months, ClickStreamTV will be incorporating HTML5 into the system.
The single system utilizes the proper video formats to deliver video to any online player including Flash and Windows Media; smartphones including iPhones, BlackBerrys and Androids; and other technologies including iPods and iPads.
“We are dedicated to our customers and strive to provide them with a solution to reach their audience regardless of what device they are using to view video,” said Yahl. “Our open system was built to include multiple video formats to provide universal streaming to any computer system, smartphone or media device.”
With ClickStreamTV, video is automatically encoded and stored in multiple formats for delivery to any media system and does not require additional applications for multiple device streaming. ClickStreamTV’s exclusive Speed and System Wizard automatically detects the viewer’s media device and streams the optimum video quality and correct format to the viewer.
While everyone is worried about their Flash videos not being able to play on iPad’s, ClickStreamTV users don’t have to. As promised, our open source system allows for quick updates and is able to stream to any emerging technologies. No apps need to be downloaded, no IT knowledge is needed.
ClickStreamTV will seamlessly deliver video to the iPad using Apple’s preferred H.264 codec, in addition to Macs, PCs and smartphone devices, including the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. The iPad is one of the first technologies not to support Adobe Flash, the most common video format used today.
“Apple’s iPad is going to revolutionize the streaming media industry,” said Kevin Yahl, president of Digital One. “We recognized early on that the industry is ever-changing due to emerging technologies and built our system to be adaptable.”
ClickStreamTV’s open source-based platform encodes and delivers video in multiple formats from one central management system, providing businesses the flexibility to reach their greatest potential audience. The platform does not limit video support to one format, but enables viewers to watch video in Flash, Windows Media, and appropriate formats for smartphones and the iPad.
ClickStreamTV’s single system also features an exclusive Speed and System Wizard, which automatically detects the viewer’s media device and streams the optimum video quality and correct format to the viewer.
“We are continuously improving ClickStreamTV to be the most complete, integrated and easy-to-use system,” said Yahl. “Our clients will never have to reinvest in a new streaming solution, download new applications or develop their own extensions to be able deliver video to any device.”
ClickStreamTV clients will now be able to begin using the new encoding feature and deliver video immediately to the iPad.
Digital One today announced extended mobile support for its online video platform ClickStreamTV to include Android smartphones in addition to iPhone and Blackberry support, launched in September 2009.
“Smartphone usage is rapidly increasing, it is essential for businesses to be able to reach their audiences through their mobile phones,” said Kevin Yahl, president of ClickStreamTV. “With the introduction and rising popularity of Android phones, we expanded our mobile support to allow our customers to reach a wider mobile audience.”
ClickStreamTV automatically encodes and prepares video in multiple formats to stream to Macs, PCs, and smartphones, now including the Android, all from one central management system. Users can also select to encode and stream video in single format.
As new phones are created for the market, ClickStreamTV’s open source system will continue to expand compatibility, much in the way it currently adapts its streaming formats to new computer browsers and operating systems, such as the Android.
ClickStreamTV’s exclusive system automatically detects the user’s computer or phone and delivers the appropriate video format and interface to any computer system, browser or smartphone all from one centralized management system.
ClickStreamTV recently announced the online video solution provider is partnering with EC Suite, a global provider of e-commerce, hosting and CDN solutions, to provide enterprise-quality video for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs).
“Over the past 20 years in sports broadcasting radio, TV and cable, ratings have been decreasing as online content viewing has been increasing at an incredible rate,” said Kevin Yahl, founder and president of ClickStreamTV. “We’ve developed ClickStreamTV to allow SMBs a solution to provide high-quality video online that was once only available to large enterprises.”
EC Suite will offer the ClickStreamTV product to provide a simple solution for customers to put video on the web. SMBs can easily sign up and enroll for ClickStreamTV without requiring installation, additional hardware or IT staff to operate.
The ClickStreamTV and EC Suite partnership includes Limelight Network, Inc as the content delivery network to provide high-quality streaming at no additional cost. Using ClickStreamTV, customers can easily stream optimum video live, on demand or generate revenue from pay per view (PPV) video players.
“Due to the movement to online media, there now is a need for businesses to monetize their video content with a pay per view system,” said Yahl. “ClickStreamTV was built to provide SMBs the tools to publish and monetize video online at a price they can afford.”
Monetizing video with a PPV system is possible through ClickStreamTV’s partnership with EC Suite, which enables reliable recurring payment processing for video purchases using ClickStreamTV. However, customers are not limited to using the EC Suite service and have the option of using a provider of their choice for content monetization.
ClickStreamTV’s open source based system automatically delivers video to any computer system, browser or smartphone all from one centralized management system. Video statistics and Video Email tools are also included in every ClickStreamTV package for SMBs to optimize their online video media.
To learn more or start using the ClickStreamTV video solution, go to www.clickstreamtv.com/signup or www.ecsuite.clickstreamtv.com.
ClickStreamTV: Signing Up for an Online Video Platform
So you’ve made the decision to put video content on your website, congratulations! Most online video platforms (OVP) require you to contact a sales associate to begin set up an account, have your video player designed for you and then you can begin to start streaming your video online. However, going through a “middle-man” can take many days as your information is processed and the OVP creates your account and player for you to use. So what happens if you want to change something about your player, you’ll have to contact your sales associate again. Not only is this process tedious, but it will cost your business money and time. 
ClickStreamTV removes the middle-man, high costs and time frustrations as customers can now automatically sign up online and begin using their ClickStreamTV account immediately, without needing any IT knowledge.
Digital One unveiled an online self-provisioning feature for its ClickStreamTV video management platform that provides small to medium sized businesses (SMB) a simplified way to manage and publish online video.
“We designed the ClickStreamTV system for the SMB market,” said Kevin Yahl, President of Digital One. “Self-provisioning takes ClickStreamTV one step further in simplifying and automating the way SMB’s sign-up and use online media.”
ClickStreamTV’s self-provisioning feature allows customers to automatically sign-up and enrollonline at www.signup.clickstreamtv.com. Customers will have access to their account in minutes.
Once signed up, users will be directed to their Media Control Center, which is where all design, managing and publishing will take place. Users will then create their video player, manage online media and publish video online in minutes.
Customers can customize the look of their website’s video player from designing the player layout, choosing from an existing template or creating one, uploading images such as logos and adding elements including text, links or PDF files to their player.
“As the professional use of online video increases, SMB’s need an affordable, simple system that is easy to sign-up for and will properly manage their media,” said Yahl. “ClickStreamTV is a software as a service (SaaS) product that eliminates IT burdens and reduces high costs of putting video on the web.”
Enrolled users can upload their video content to ClickStreamTV and the system handles encoding, video storage and delivery in one click. The same system allows users to organize video content with playlists and channels, send video emails to targeted recipients and monitor video effectiveness with the system’s statistics tool.
ClickStreamTV’s exclusive system automatically delivers the appropriate video format and interface to any computer system, browser or smartphone all from one centralized management system. With this technology, the system delivers the optimal video stream required and enables internet users to view uninterrupted video content anywhere, at anytime.
Jennifer Zaino over at Semantic Web has posted an article discussing the future of online video and makes a special point to discuss how connection speeds effect video quality.
For example, for a long-form piece of video, it’s possible that the connection degrades during the play time, especially for consumers using WiFi connections which ebb and flow in terms of quality, or for those using cable modems, where increasing neighborhood online traffic may disturb connection quality. “So our system has to be a lot smarter about what bit rate to use in any given time. We need an infrastructure on the back end to create many different versions of a piece of video, splice it up and have the intelligence that says, based on the quality of the connection, what to send down the pipe for a smooth video experience.”
Now where have I heard this before? Perhaps it is ClickStreamTV, which has a back-end built around detecting system settings and delivering not only the correct file format, but a bit rate that is tailored to fit the speed of the user.
Video producers and video streamers have to realize that every users is essentially on a unique system. Optimizing video content for one setup while ignoring users on older machines or even different operating systems is an easily avoidable mistake. As internet video is pushed into the future, know that not all your viewers are also leaping into the future. HD video and Windows Media delivery may seem professional, but it won’t matter if less than half your audience can actually view the content.
Sometimes it isn’t a bad idea to look back while you’re moving forward.
The Next Generation of Video [Semantic Web]
The enonomy may be in a nose dive, but that doesn’t mean online video is on the decline. In fact, according to some analysts, online video is benefitting from the current market climate. Business of Video had this to say on the topic:
I think it is also crucial for all facets of the online video industry to keep things in perspective and set expectations properly. For instance, at the beginning of this year it was all about how online video advertising was talking all this money from broadcast and print advertising. The death of every medium except the Internet was being predicted and as a result, people expected more than what was possible. The most aggressive prediction I saw was for online video advertising to be a billion and a half dollars in 2008. Now, at the end of this year, it looks like it will be more along the lines of $500 million. While there is nothing wrong with that number, even if it was a billion and a half dollars this year, that’s less than 3% of the entire TV advertising market, that the industry is predicting such immediate death for. Lets be positive and excited about the growth we have coming, but also be realistic.
Now is a time of growth, not decline. While the online video marketplace may still be in its infancy, this can be viewed as a positive position. We can hope that in the coming years, the shift between television and online becomes even greater, turning online video into the dominant force in the marketplace.
Hard Times Are Good For The Online Video Industry: Don’t Give Into The Scare [Business of Video]
Every day I read about a new company willing to place ads near videos as a source of income. For some reason, video producers feel they can monetize their content with well placed ads. KeyStream are the latest offenders. According to Wired:
The new feature, called SmartAd, uses an algorithm that automatically identifies and inserts ads into portions of the video stream that aren’t exactly essential to the clip’s digestion. Think: put an ad on every square inch of a race car or baseball infield fence.
Every sqaure inch? That’s seriously bordering on spam. When will companies learn that if content is not popular enough, it will never reach enough viewers to have ads become effective. If a producer is streaming popular content, they are better off offering pay-per-view features. Let users pay a few dollars for content they can’t get anywhere else.
KeyStream Inserts Ads Into Video Blank Spaces [Wired]
With tomorrow’s presidential election set to be a historical event regardless of the outcome, it has gotten me thinking about how the candidates have used online video in their campaigns and how they could have used streaming media tomorrow night.
From the very first YouTube debate, the Internet, and more specifically video on the Internet has played a vital role in campaigns. Going beyond traditional campaign ads, both presidential candidates have used the web to house a collection of videos aimed at giving voters a clear understanding of their stances.
Barack Obama has dubbed his video portal BarackTV and has included in it introductary videos on himself, his wife, as well as running mate Joe Biden. Also in the collection are ads, video from his campaign tour, as well as speeches he has given. The advantage Obama has in this market is that he commands the support of many young, tech savy individuals. Rather than hoping supporters and undecided voters catch his appearances on television, or expecting articles in newspapers to drum support, Obama has created a one-stop destination for information about himeself.
McCain on the other hand has taken a different approach to his video content. Located on his official site, the Republican cadidate has chosed to use video to deliver two messages. The first are the standard attack ads that are seen on television. The other, more important message, focuses on McCain’s stances on various issues. Many times, voters can’t find the information they need on a candidate’s policy on a specific issue, and McCain has attempted to remedy this problem with video.
Looking ahead to tomrrow night, how might campaigns use streaming video while voters are at the polls?
One suggestion is to stream live video from rallies and campaign headquarters, giving supporters an inside look at this important night.
Another suggestion is to provide streams of events going on throughout the country such as concerts. Perhaps even charging supporters a small fee that could be used to fund the events or even benefit charity.
As this election marks the first intensive use of the Internet, tomorrow night could be the first national coming together of video and viewer, with the entire country focused on one single event