VIOCAST FAQ
CONTENTS System Requirements FAQ... 3 Webcast Functionality... 6 Webcast Functionality FAQ... 7 Appendix... 8 Page 2
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FAQ 1) What kind of Internet connection do I need to view a Live Video stream? When viewing a live video flash webcast, it is recommended to view from a wired Internet connection with a download bandwidth of at least 1000kbps. To check what your download speed is please visit www.speedtest.net. We recommend that you complete this test at various times in the day as the bandwidth can fluctuate. * If viewing on a 3G connection, please keep in mind that the connections signal strength and consistency is greatly influenced by geographical location rural areas v urban areas, lower basement locations v high-rise locations, etc. and also fluctuates as the network is utilised by a varying number of users over time. 2) How do I view a Webcast Page? You must use an Internet browser to open a webcast page. Our webcasts are compatible with most major browsers (Excluding Internet Explorer 6 and 7). If possible please upgrade your Internet browser to achieve the best web user experience. 3) Can I view the live webcast on a mobile device? If the stream has been mobile-enabled, you can view the live video stream via Apple ios and some Android mobile devices. If the stream you re trying to watch isn t mobile compatible, you will need to view on a desktop. Please be mindful of your data plan and rates when viewing live video on your mobile device. It is recommended to connect via WiFi connection where possible. 4) What browsers do we support?** Operating system Browser PC MAC Mobile Windows 7+ Mac OS X ios (iphone 3G, 3Gs, XP OR VISTA 4G, 5) Android Windows Phone 7 Internet Explorer versions 8+ Firefox version 18+ Chrome versions 24+ Safari versions 6+ Firefox version 18+ Chrome versions 24+ Safari versions 6+ Safari for ipad / iphone Chrome for Android Android and ios version 4.0 and 5.0+ respectively Viocorp do not support the following: Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 Opera Blackberry mobile devices To determine the version installed on your computer, complete the following steps: FOR PC 1. Open the browser. 2. Click the Help menu. 3. Click About. FOR MAC 1. Click the browsers name tab. 2. Click About. You can download a newer version of each browser by clicking on the links below: Download Windows Internet Explorer Download Firefox Download Safari Download Chrome Page 3
5) Does my browser require any plug-ins? Please ensure you have the latest version of Adobe Flash. You can download this at http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and upgrade if necessary. 6) What are the minimum technical requirements for viewing a live video stream? a) 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM 2 GB recommended b) JavaScript and Cookies must also be enabled. c) Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution d) 16-bit sound card e) Speakers/headphones 7) The live video player isn't loading (I'm getting a spinning wheel), what could be the problem? a) Please ensure that you have javascript and cookies enabled and that you have no security settings or adblockers that could be preventing you from loading the stream. b) Ensure that you have the latest version of Adobe Flash player c) Ensure that you don't have a Firewall or network security setting in place which could be blocking the live video feed or on demand playback (If you are working within a company network and do not have any installation rights you must ask your network administrator.) *** 8) The player loads but the video is stuttering or choppy, what could be the problem? a) In order to view the live video you will need a broadband or wifi connection. Ensure that your connection speed is sufficient by visiting http://www.speedtest.net. You should have at least 1000Kbps download speed for steady viewing of this live feed. A constant speed of at least 1000kbps is required. b) If you are on a wireless connection try switching to a wired connection, or move closer to the wireless router for a stronger signal. c) If you are running other bandwidth intensive programs you may want to quit out of these as they could be taking away from your available bandwidth. d) Network congestion can occur at any time due to the following problems: If you are connecting to the Internet through a dial-up modem. You are trying to access an event during peak Internet traffic hours. If you are connecting to the Internet from outside Australia. There is heavy traffic on your company network. e) To alleviate network congestion, you may want to consider the following: Upgrading to a faster connection Minimize the amount of applications you are running while accessing the event (this also assists with the amount of load on your computers processor) For on demand viewing, try accessing the event during an off-peak Internet traffic period. f) To alleviate these problems, consider reducing the amount of applications you have running. If you are accessing an on-demand event, try accessing the presentation at a later time when network congestion may have lessened. g) If you are on a shared Internet connection others may be using bandwidth intensive programs that are reducing your available download bandwidth. h) If you experience video stalling problems only during full-screen mode, try lowering your desktop resolution. 9) I can t hear anything or the sound is very faint. Verify that your speakers are plugged into power, turned on and volume level is up, and connected to the audio port of the computer. Your speakers or headphones must be plugged into the sound port. If you still cannot hear any audio, check your system volume settings and the volume on the video player. If your system is properly set-up, then try adjusting the system volume settings: 1. Click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel. 2. Double-click on the Multimedia Icon. 3. On the audio tab, turn up the volume. Page 4
10) What about firewalls? Can I watch at work? Viocorp s live video streaming is designed to pass through firewalls on port 80. On all firewalls, this is a normal open port for http traffic. However, it is possible to block port 80 traffic and to even block streaming traffic. If you are not receiving our streaming video, please check with your network administrator***. Keep in mind that some corporate environments block the ability to receive streaming audio or video, so it is important to check with your IT department about your webcasting status prior to the event. Page 5
WEBCAST FUNCTIONALITY The following screen shot shows you the standard transmission page for video webcasts. The main sections are described below. 1. Video Once you click launch webcast on the lobby page a video will be shown here. 2. Video Control Bar (Video on Demand) With just a click of your mouse you can play, pause, stop, fast-forward, or rewind the video. 3. Choice of Speaker or Chapters (Video on Demand) In a recording of more than one speaker you can select different speeches or chapters within that recording. 4. Slide Navigator You can jump to the slide of your choice simply by clicking on the slide you like. The video will automatically sync with your chosen slide. 5. Volume Control Volume control according to your system settings. 6. Full Screen Press the zoom button for video full screen mode. To exit the full screen mode please press the ESC button. 7. Table of Contents Tabs By clicking on the tabs the actual slide will be replaced by the relevant content included in that tab. 8. Ask A Question If enabled, please enter your question into the Ask a Question tab. This will be sent as an email to the event moderator and will show your email address details. 9. Slide Full Screen If you press this button you can see the actual slides in full-screen and video window will be minimised. Page 6
WEBCAST FUNCTIONALITY FAQ 1. I received a message that the webcast is not currently available You may see this message due to one of the following reasons: The event you are trying to access has not yet been broadcasted. Verify the time and date of the live event to ensure the start time of the event. The event may have only been available for live access. The event you are trying to access has concluded but the on-demand version is not yet available. Please check back 24 hours after the conclusion of the original event to access the on-demand version. The event may no longer be available. 2. I am prompted to register again if I have already registered for the event If you have already registered for the webcast, you can enter your e-mail address in the registered users area of the registration page to access the event, if applicable. Please note that you must have cookies and JavaScript enabled on your computer. If you require help or additional information on cookies and/or JavaScript, please refer to the Cookies and Javascript Link in the Event Help. 3. Can I access the webcast from a different computer than the one I registered from? If you have already registered for the event, you can access the event regardless of the computer you initially registered from by entering your e-mail address in the returning registrant portion of the event registration page. 4. Why are the slides not changing? Keep in mind that slides will not change until the presenter pushes the next slide. If you arrive at a webcast after the scheduled start time, you will join the audio/video in progress, but you will see the first slide of the presentation. As soon as the presenter sends the "next slide", you will see the slides change. Page 7
APPENDIX *Kind of connection: Fixed ADSL, ADSL2+, BDSL, HSDSL, Cable, Naked DSL, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G Wireless Modem, Dial-up, 3G/4G Mobile Devices. The various types of network/internet connections will differ in terms of connectivity and bandwidth required for successful live stream delivery. Even the best connections may drop out and in randomly, usually when the surrounding network is more or less congested, but also due to technical issues specific to your particular ISP (Internet Service Provider). Wi-Fi signal strength and consistency is greatly influenced by geographical location rural areas v urban areas, lower basement locations v high-rise locations, etc. and also fluctuates as the network is utilised by a varying number of users over time. Bandwidth/Network Usage/Time of Day: An average download speed of 1500kbps minimum will usually suffice for a 700kbps-1000kbps stream. Viocorp will adjust the streaming bitrate to suite the majority of the viewing audience. While your connection may test (www.speedtest.net) successfully in this regard, it is important to note that this test result represents a snapshot of the available bandwidth at that moment. The quality and consistency of the stream will be affected depending on the number of users and the demands they are collectively putting on the allotted bandwidth for that particular network. If your connection is shared (eg. in an office), there may be times of day when the network is more congested than others and this will obviously affect the flow of incoming real time media (video/audio) traffic for individual users. ** Viewing Device/Browser/Plug-Ins: The processing power and graphics card capability of your desktop/laptop will also affect the quality and consistency of live video streams, as will the browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, IE). Browsers deal with live video in different ways and will probably require a plug-in of some sort downloaded and installed to be able to view different kinds of video streams, though some browsers come packaged with the plug-ins installed already. IE (in all it s various incarnations) is known to have several ongoing issues with scaling webpage elements and live media and as much as Viocorp adapt its delivery methods to correspond with browser updates, this aspect is constantly in flux. *** Network Security/Proxies/Firewalls: Internal or Private networks (Corporations/Hotels etc.) are often purposefully designed to restrict (eg. can t use Facebook / Youtube) large amounts incoming and/or outgoing data (real time media transfer like video/audio typically requires a lot more bandwidth than normal webpage browsing). Apart from regulating actual content, the restrictions are imposed to avoid these networks crashing due to being strained too heavily by many concurrent users. Viocorp invariably needs to coordinate efforts with a Network Administrator who has specific knowledge and authorisation to manually reconfigure the internal network to allow the kind and volume of data flow that is required for a webcast to be viewed by a large number of viewers concurrently. In most, cases, the Proxy servers and/or Firewalls that have been set up to secure these networks need to be adjusted by rules to allow the specific flow of traffic through particular ports for the duration of testing and delivery of live webcasts. The stream itself will often need to be adjusted to a low quality to allow everyone on the network to be able to view it without the network crashing. Even with the help of the administrator (who knows the particulars of his/her network best) and extensive pre-testing, internal network servers often still respond unexpectedly during live media transfer when a significant amount of viewers log on. While it would be ideal for the webcast technician and the administrator to be able to adjust the configuration in real time, it is simply not always practically possible. Public networks (Wi-Fi and 3G/4G), while not necessarily restricted in terms of allowing/disallowing certain kinds of traffic, can often simply be over congested and result in live video buffering, losing sync or audio or simply not having enough bandwidth to allow any video to be viewed. Page 8