Have you interacted with a live video stream in the past week? 79% of consumers surveyed say they have. Thanks to advances in the internet’s bandwidth capabilities, live video now touches every corner of the world wide web. In 2019, 57% of marketers used live video to launch and promote products. In 2020, global gaming video content revenue reached $9.3 billion. Some consider 2020 a turning point year for live video, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes its application into industries that hadn’t used it before. In 2021, 17% of US patient visits happened over telehealth platforms. No matter your age or what you do for a living, if you have access to the internet, you’ve probably used live video for something.

Despite its widespread popularity, there are challenges to using live video effectively. High quality live streaming with minimal lag time requires massive bandwidth. People without high speed internet connections don’t get the full benefits of the phenomenon. Another issue is compatibility. Participants using a wide variety of devices and platforms need seamless access to the same stream. As a result, most companies use a variety of video calling platforms, which can cause headaches.

Connection issues can arise due to firewalls, unsupported browsers, outdated devices, and older operating systems. Poor quality live video can be costly; waiting for video meetings to start costs nearly 11 minutes per meeting. For senior executives, the wait time jumps to 16 minutes. These minutes add up to 3-6 days of work per year.

Source: eyeson.com