5 Important Things to Consider When Choosing a Webcam Streaming Service Provider

 Deciding to Install a Live Streaming Webcam for your Business is a Big Decision, the last thing you need is more questions than answers. Make sure you’re choosing a streaming provider that acts as a partner in your business’s success rather than a cookie cutter streaming platform. Here are 5 things you should keep in mind when doing streaming platform research: 

Embed Player Personalization and Customization: Adjusting the Look and Feel to Match Your Brand

Live streaming platforms and providers are a much more saturated industry than in previous years. With more service providers available, comes more tedious competitor research. The most basic element of live streaming is the streaming player. Live streaming providers offer a variety of different player styles with varying levels of customization and features. Consider branding consistency. It’s important that the embed player matches the look and feel of your website and brand, but keep in mind, the more minimal the better, an embed player’s features and quality may be of more importance than appearance. Consider what features will allow you to maximize audience engagement, like live weather bugs, call to action buttons and streaming time out capabilities? 

Prioritize what features are most important to your brand goals and consider how those options fit in with your style, branding and other needs. Visit the HDOnTap features page, or contact us for a free trial to get first-hand experience with what HDOnTap has to offer!

Easy Onboarding and Ongoing Hand-in-Hand Support 

Is your staff equipped with the technical know-how to set up your live stream? A crucial deciding factor of live streaming webcams is the ease of use as well as reliable ongoing maintenance. Choosing a streaming provider that can guide you through the process is important. Your streaming partner should be readily available to support you and grow alongside your business. Whether your organization is large or small, if you have dedicated IT or not, no one has time for calling customer service and being put through unhelpful automated phone trees stating your problem again and again only to be misunderstood. Live streaming support doesn’t have to feel like you’re at a dead end when you face a challenge. You should feel fully set up for success with a team of experts at your service at every step of the process, from camera installation to embedding the stream on your website and ongoing monitoring of the camera and stream. Make sure your team is available to answer questions and solve any hiccups you may encounter, not only in the onboarding phase but for the duration of your live streaming! 

HDOnTap is here to support your webcam from day one! From a dedicated Project Manager to live and self-service support options, our goal is to help your live stream thrive!

Real World Expertise Makes A World of a Difference

Simply put, some companies just don’t have enough hours under their belt. HDOnTap’s team collectively has over 20 years of experience in the industry. As pioneers in the world of live streaming, we’ve seen the industry as a whole boom and being part of that explosion has taken us around the world, installing complex off-grid solutions, climbing 75 ft. into trees to install eagle nest cams and engineering entire networks of cameras to live stream for millions of viewers. What does this mean? We’re prepared for any and every situation. When looking for a streaming partner, it’s important to consider reputation and expertise. What other clients does this streaming provider work with? What does their portfolio look like? What are their current certifications and partnerships? HDOnTap has worked with a multitude of clients and has many years of experience with all kinds of live camera installs. Check out their live streaming portfolio and case studies with clients of various industries. 

Consider a Collaborative Streaming Partner that Promotes Your Growth

When researching live streaming you may find that the basic or entry level streaming plans require you to make a sacrifice, between paying more per month and having additional advertising or logos on your live stream player, on your website! Be sure you understand clearly the agreement you choose to sign, specifically when it comes to advertising and promotions. Allowing your streaming services provider to promote your stream can be of great benefit to you, gaining exposure and drawing more traffic to your website. But ensuring that they are appropriate backlinks and information about your business in their promotions to capitalize on this new audience. HDOnTap is pleased to promote our clients’ webcams to over 35,000 users via our cams newsletter and social media following!  Additionally HDOnTap’s customers opt-in to be part of the expansive HDOnTap network of cams, on our website you can gain a fresh new audience eager to learn more about your business and support your cause. It’s a win-win for our customers, gaining fresh exposure while also streaming on your website at no extra cost for the additional backlinks, audience growth and traffic. 

Transparent Pricing that is Fine Tailored to Your Business

Reading the fine print and paying for quality streaming is important. Make sure you understand how your streaming services provider calculates your usage, and how that may cause your bill to change from month-to-month. Common options include bandwidth usage (how much data your streaming consumes) or total viewer hours (how many viewers watch your stream for how long), as well as what features are utilized in your plan. The ability to fine tune your plan and monthly streaming flexibility may not be possible with large streaming providers. We take pride in being a smaller family-owned and operated streaming service provider. Which means we’re upfront with you about pricing and want to see you succeed with live streaming. 

Our team can advise you on the best plan to fit your needs. HDOnTap offers flexible billing options including discounts for extended contracts and monthly payments on equipment packages (on approved credit). Our streaming plans are tailored to your business needs and can be customized based on what you need, so you’re not paying for features that aren’t being utilized.