The invaluable dedication of personnel who serve and protect the public makes us proud of events. The ability to deliver factual information about the positive impact that events have on local and national economies, the level of skill needed to carry out very dangerous missions, and the spirit that communities bond with their heroes raises our esteem for public officials. These feelings help us build a connected culture and our objective of serving the public with the ability to connect everyone, effortlessly. During the past three years, we have had the honor to participate in the networking sessions of safety circuits.
False information and inaccurate reports surrounding public events have been concerning for officials. Information has many messengers and events have various audiences. Ideally, communication shall be continuous and each new message shall further develop upon the last. Video streaming services are integral applications for live events that broadcast information to previously uninformed viewers. We research how these services impact people’s decision to engage with events. We analyze user-generated data, which includes streaming traffic and social media posted content, and extract insights about how official policy release times affect traffic demand profiles. Our analysis indicates that video streaming free riders use the available explicit signals from servers and networks to anticipate the driving concern of public officials when disclosing very important facts. These facts deliver a public service that the free riders are unable to access.
Evolution of Event Live Streaming
For providing event live streaming, it is very important to pick the right live streaming platform as different platforms have different capabilities. The live streaming platform is responsible for distribution and the storage of video content and provides broadcasted content to the required audience. Additionally, they might help event organizers to monetize their events offering pay-per-view plans or ad-based revenue models. There are several platforms available for broadcasting live videos and streaming costs vary, depending on requirements and size of the event. By providing their clients with up-to-date technology and a wide range of video and analytics tools, some of these companies have become market leaders. In the competitive space of live streaming, notable ones are IBM Cloud Video (which was Ustream), StreamingVideoProvider, Brightcove Live, VBrick Rev and Livestream.
There are different types of live streaming tools that help to broadcast events. Compared to the cheapest tools used for live streaming like phones and simple webcams, there are several high-quality live streaming tools such as professional video cameras, computer-based encoders or mobile encoders. Some of the most basic tools are free and allow doing live streaming almost instantly, while some other professional live streaming tools might require several other devices or software to be set up properly. After choosing a device or a tool for streaming, the next step is selecting the streaming platform to be used to broadcast an event.
Key Technologies and Platforms for Event Streaming Services
Key stakeholders for ESS include distinguished users (invitees, presenters, authors, and committee members), who often have the responsibility to submit the final versions of an event deliverable; attendees, who often want to favor the social portion interaction of an event; service providers, who offer support during the development and realization of the event; and spectators, who may judge the scientific contribution or commercial potential of the event itself. However, all these users have to manage poor technology capabilities within an international context of different available standards and formats.
Event streaming services (ESS) are a collection of tools and services developed to provide stakeholders with fast and convenient access to the streams of event activities like presentations, sessions, or the entire event. They also allow for further social network interactions, including chats and online questions and answers. ESS can act as virtual event amplifiers, attracting a wider audience and providing event stakeholders with superior quality transmission capabilities.
Benefits and Challenges of Live Event Video Streaming Services
The lack of renewable energy resources in remote locations poses a significant concern, especially for events of a finite duration or large-capacity events within a short operating period. Local energy management challenges in a live event video streaming service include the deployment of the Large Tower Stream System with sufficient computing resources and real-time video encoding and transmission capabilities, as well as the delivery of high-quality real-time video streaming services. Providing high-quality live streaming video services can be challenging, especially for large-scale events, such as international conferences or the Olympics, which require hundreds of cameras and real-time editing and delivery capabilities. The time-consuming construction of physical venues entails significant revenue loss during the construction period, while activities and sports technology reach lateness during the equipment configuration. Energy mismanagement in live events can cause the failure of live event video streaming services and result in a poor-quality experience, resulting in widespread condemnation, a low number of viewers, and event failure.
Real-time videos provide the highest quality video viewing experience, offering a sense of “being there” at the expense of high bit rates. Events with dedicated, high-quality, and application-specific video streaming services provide the best viewing experiences but are costly to deploy and operate. Research has shown that live event video streaming services enable viewers to attend events they would not normally have attended and provide the feeling of belonging to a live audience. Given the capacity constraints in real venues, live video streaming can significantly increase the number of people who can take part in the event and enhances consensus and commitment levels among the participants, yielding substantial benefits. Because video streaming makes live events accessible to remote viewers, it provides a distributed alternative that enables viewers in remote geographic locations to enjoy the event. The benefits of live event video streaming services are rewarded by the challenges associated with the deployment of such services.
Case Studies and Success Stories
This case introduces the problem of video streaming end-user experience and how it might be more effectively managed and controlled at the operational stage. A video expressing the questions to be addressed in this case is also available and can be seen. This case deals with the provisioning of IP video, also known as TV over IP, as a service against pre-estimated quality levels as specified by Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Such SLAs are expected to become a key element in the competition between traditional and new entrant Service Providers (SPs) and in the search for pricing mechanisms that are able to share the benefits of IP service provision in an efficient, transparent, and fair way towards end-users.
Case studies have shown that event video streaming of different types, with different viewership characteristics and obtained in diverse execution environments, is feasible. These case studies act as success stories and learning cases that contribute not only to technology but also to business and organization models of event producers and advertisers.
