Public health and safety concerns have certainly made it difficult for many organizations to host large events and gatherings. If yours is one of these organizations, you might be thinking, “let's just live stream our events.”

This is great if you already understand live streaming and have the production equipment in place to produce a high-quality stream suitable for an online audience. But what if you’ve never streamed an event?

No worries — it’s actually pretty easy to start using BoxCast. We help organizations make people part of the experience when they can’t be present.

Get Started with 5 Easy Steps

1. Internet: A hardline internet connection with decent upload speed (we recommend minimum 5mbps to be safe) is the most reliable way to stream. Make sure you test your internet connection and your live stream thoroughly before going live to the public.

2. Camera/Switcher: A single camera is all that’s required to capture your event, but if you want to raise your production value, we can take a feed from a video switcher as well.

3. Encoder or Streaming App: In order to stream, you need a way to capture video. Computers require a great deal of power, maintenance, complicated settings, and cost more initially than a simple hardware encoder. Unless you have the latest generation of expensive computers, your device may struggle to stream longer events. If you’re looking for consistent quality, a hardware encoder is the answer. Most smartphones are also capable streaming devices in the event you want to leverage the camera you already have to start streaming immediately.

4. Streaming Service (CDN): A dedicated live streaming service allows you to provide your viewers with the best experience possible. Learn more about what our Essential plan has to offer farther down this page.

5. Online Viewers: Promoting your live stream and informing your community is vital to ensuring your viewers know where and when to watch your events.

Need to start streaming quickly?

CHECK OUT

Have questions or need help getting started?

SET A MEETING

BoxCast Streaming Features (Essential Plan)

Our Essential plan includes important features organizations need for professional streaming. There are lots of features included in this subscription, but we’ve highlighted the most important ones here:

Automated Streaming: Eliminate the task of starting and ending your broadcast with preset scheduling. Save time and plan ahead by scheduling broadcasts days or weeks before you go live.

Unlimited Viewers: Expand your audience by streaming to as many viewers as you can reach. (Maximum of one million viewer minutes/month)

Unlimited Streaming: Stream all of your events with no limit on the number of broadcasts you host.

Unlimited Social Streaming (Simulcasting): Stream to an unlimited number of destinations, including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, BoxCast.tv, and any other RTMP destination. Reach your viewers on smart TV devices like Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV as well.

Custom Embedded Player: Control your organization's brand by sending your stream directly to your own website with a customizable player.

Outstanding Support: Our expert live streaming coaches are available by phone or email 7 days a week (Monday – Saturday, 9am–9pm EST; Sunday, 7am-9pm EST). With backgrounds in video and audio production, plus experience serving thousands of customers and setups, our Customer Support team is equipped to answer any live streaming question.

Broadcaster App
(FREE with All Plans)

The Broadcaster App is the most powerful way to broadcast 1080 HD live video directly from your iPhone or iPad.

Additional Tips for Live Streaming to Remote-Only Audiences

Address your online audience directly: Start your live stream by welcoming your audience and giving them a brief agenda of what to expect from your events.

Get creative with camera angles: If you’re streaming an event without an in-person audience, consider getting up close and personal with your shots. Placing a camera on stage or zooming in closer on your subjects can be great ways to make your live stream more immersive — and since there’s no one in the audience, you don’t have to worry about crowd shots or wide shots.

Moderate your comments: If you’re streaming to social platforms like Facebook and YouTube, it’s a good idea to have someone moderating and responding to your viewers’ comments and chat messages. This helps keep your audience engaged, and shows that you care about your community.

Share documents: BoxCast’s Documents feature allows you to provide your online viewers with the same documents you share in person, such as agendas, notes, programs, and presentations.

Rebroadcast to save time: A great way to get more out of your live events is to rebroadcast them at a later date. This is especially helpful for viewers who can’t watch while you’re streaming. Our Simulated Live feature allows you to broadcast a past live stream or prerecorded video at a later date, as if it were live!

Promote your live streams: What’s the point in streaming if no one’s watching? Promoting your live stream ahead of time gives you the best chance of getting the most eyeballs on your content. This webinar dives deeper into ways you can maximize your live broadcast viewership. Additionally, don’t forget to inform your community of any event cancellations and instruct them on how to watch your broadcasts online.