Controlling a live webcast

Updated on 24 Jan 2024

Article summary

Did you find this summary helpful?

Thank you for your feedback

Controlling a Live Webcast

Multiple Webcast Usage
Reusing the same Webcast for multiple live broadcasts may impact the DVR's performance and the video quality when automatically uploaded to VideoManager Pro.
To ensure optimal performance, we recommend creating distinct Webcasts for each live session.

During a webcast, the system administrator leads through the event, releasing presentation slides at the correct time or supervising the chat.

As a system administrator, you can see the list of all created webcasts.

To begin, select the desired webcast in the list. The detail view of the selected webcast will then open. WebcastOperator > Controlling a Live Webcast > Webcast_Prelive.png

The detail view consists of the following areas and functional components:

Area/ Functional Component	Description
Webcast name and ID	At the very top, just to the right of "WebcastOperator", the webcast name and ID are displayed.
Status selection	Depending on the state of the current webcast, you can switch to the next possible status by means of the provided button. For example, the system administrator can switch from post-live to pre-live to test a planned webcast. You can switch to the on-demand status in the WebcastManager. Once the webcast has switched to on demand, you cannot change the status anymore. Note Any event in live state for more than one hour after its scheduled end time is automatically switched to post-live state. Start time and duration of an event are configured here. Note Videos in Post-Live state that use the DVR recording are only available for a limited time. It is recommended to switch the state of the even to "On Demand" to make the video available without any limitation. Configuration of an event to "On Demand" can be found here.
Viewers	Number of the currently connected webcast viewers (updated every 15 seconds).
Preview button	Click the yellow preview button to open the consumer view in a new tab.
Slides	All presentation slides uploaded to the WebcastManager are represented in the left window pane. Highlight the desired slide to open it in the slide preview.
Polls and Surveys	Add a link to the desired third-party polling or survey application. You can also copy the link or open the polling/survey link directly.
Slide Preview	The slide preview pane gives a closer look at a selected slide before you push it to the stream at the correct time in the presentation. Push the slide by clicking the [] button in the top right corner of the slide preview pane. There will be a short time delay before the corresponding slide is visible to users in the consumer module. Tip The slide preview shows the currently selected slide from the presentation. After pushing the slide, the preview automatically switches to the next slide of the presentation. You can at any time select another slide and thus individually determine the order.
Live stream preview	The player is located beneath the slide preview. Here, the live stream of the event as well as the currently released slide is visible.
Chat	If the chat feature has been activated for the webcast, you will see the chat history in the right window pane.
Q&A	If the Q&A feature has been activated for the webcast, you will see the requests of users in the right window pane. In contrast to the chat function, a direct interaction between users is not possible.

Slides in the Webcast

Webcast Operators are now able to see the slide delivery status of a Webcast event.

Slide Statuses

Operators will see the following elements while publishing slides to Webcast.

Default State

If a slide has not been published and is not the upcoming slide, the slide remains unchanged.

WebcastOperator > Slides in the Webcast > Screenshot 2021-12-20 at 11.37.09.png

Published State

If a slide is published and delivered successfully, you will see a dark grey bar at the bottom of the slide as well as a grey Checkmark.

WebcastOperator > Slides in the Webcast > Screenshot 2021-12-20 at 11.37.37.png

Last published slide

The last published slide is the live slide shown to attendees of the Webcast.

In the Slides section, you will see a green bar at the bottom of the slide and a green Wifi symbol.

WebcastOperator > Slides in the Webcast > Screenshot 2021-12-20 at 11.36.49.png

Slide preview

Slide preview shows the upcoming slide that needs to be published to the operator. It is indicated with a blue bar at the bottom of the slide.

As well, a blue eye icon will be displayed on the slide's right-hand side.

WebcastOperator > Slides in the Webcast > image2021-12-23_10-33-12.png

Pushing Slides

Operators will see the following state changes whenever they push slides to Webcast.

Successful push

The Slide Preview will show the next slide when a slide is successfully delivered to the audience.

WebcastOperator > Slides in the Webcast > Screenshot 2021-12-19 at 15.36.57.png

Unsuccessful push

An “unsuccessful push” might happen due to a network issue. In this case, the streaming server is not able to insert the slide into the stream.

If a slide is not delivered successfully, the slide preview will not move to the next slide and will stay on already published slide. As well, an error message will be displayed.