Livestreaming has become the new normal for your ministry. We are at the point that we now know the pitfalls of free livestreaming services. There is glitchy service, constantly changing technology, and little or no available customer service. Give yourself the relief of waking up on Sunday morning knowing what you are walking into (technology-wise) for your Sunday service.
We've said this before, and we're going to say it again, "Livestreaming is now a part of your ministry. It will not go away after we are all gathering in person once again." You must find a stable, livestreaming platform that you can rely on for the long-term.
In this webmaster class, we are going to go through the benefits of paid livestreaming services and a few choice options we've seen work well for ministries just like yours.
Check out our FAQ on "Which streaming services do you recommend?"
Every community is unique, so really the first place to start is just to ask. Do a poll or do a survey within your own community asking who is going to need to be remote versus who would like to go in-person and only in-person. You can use the Forms feature on your website to do this, which includes a Survey field, which includes radio buttons, checkboxes, Likert surveys, etc.
Once you have that data, decide how much resources do you need to put behind this. If you're finding that there's a good portion of your community wanting to be in-person, especially if there's somebody who's willing to donate money, you might want to look at investing in some cameras, a little better sound equipment, etc.
First and foremost, it's true with almost everything across the board, you get what you pay for. The online services that we've had the biggest, or we've seen the biggest issues with, are Facebook Live. Every time we build an integration for it and record a training, Facebook completely changes their platform. So while Facebook is great because it's free and there's definitely an audience there, you may run into some frustration points.
YouTube's been another one that's been a bit of a headache, though not as bad as Facebook.
Note that Zoom's API has changed and that the integration we originally had in place is no longer functional.
We really like Vimeo. It provides an ad-free way location to place videos. If you find yourself wanting a video archive of your worship services, or you're doing other video things where you want to embed those videos onto your website, Vimeo is definitely a great way to do that.
The Pro plan just gives access to the demo version of the live stream. To get the actual livestream, you're looking at about $75 a month, which surprisingly is one of the more affordable, paid livestream options. Do note, however, that embedding Vimeo livestreams on your site is only possible on our newer sites, so if you don't see the Vimeo Live option in your Add Media list and are interested in upgrading, please let us know.
On Vimeo, what you do is go to New Video and go to Go Live, and it's going to open up your demo player here. It also gives you scheduling options. Go to Event Setup and set a date. Set options and add a description. Copy the Vimeo ID at the end of your video link, then go to a page on your website, click Add Media, and go to Vimeo Live. Paste in your Vimeo ID, click on Insert, then it drops in a short code. Update your page.
You can also push Vimeo livestreams to Facebook and to YouTube.
Another option is BoxCast. It is more expensive, but it's a dedicated tool for livestreaming. Just like Vimeo, we also have an integration with Worship Times websites. Click on Add Media, Boxcast, put in the ID of your BoxCast video, and set your options. (More detailed instructions available at https://worshiptimes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059425372-How-to-Add-a-BoxCast-Livestream-to-Your-Website-Video-Article).
Another option is Sermon.net. Their specialty is all things sermon - audio files, videos, and now livestreaming. It's also great for long-term archiving and some extra functionality and tools that are meant just for ministries. This integration is also built into your Add Media list, just like Vimeo and BoxCast. (More detailed instructions available at https://worshiptimes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059848371-Sermon-net-Live-Streaming-with-Worship-Times-Video-Article).
Our team is here to help and support you. We also have communication and marketing plans where we can help you more directly. Submit a support ticket or email us at support@worshiptimes.org any time.
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