From 2016 to 2021, live video traffic quadrupled. Why?
The pandemic has created a permanent shift towards remote working, education, and entertainment. Businesses and consumers are demanding live video in order to facilitate this, and as a result, global live video revenue will reach $184 billion by 2028.
Within the corporate space, live video is more than just replacing meetings. Half of webinars are related to onboarding and training employees, and even earlier in the recruiting process, 86% of employee interviews are now conducted over video calls. From client calls to marketing campaigns and beyond, live video is the most effective way to convey information and connect with customers. Live video is not only cheaper and more efficient than in-person communication, but it is more effective than text or phone based communications; visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text by the human brain.
Businesses are also buying in to live video in order to meet consumer demand that has arisen in the aftermath of the pandemic. 17% of US patient visits were conducted via telehealth visits last year, and in 2020, the gaming industry generated $9.3 billion in content revenue. Streaming is gaining popularity: 33% of consumers interact with live video over five times a week, and 79% interact with live video at least once a week.
Yet despite all this, effective live video remains a challenge. Live streaming demands high bandwidth in order to deliver low-latency, consistent visual and audio quality. In addition, connection issues arise due to an inability to be compatible with the range of different devices and platforms that users stream from.
As a result of these challenges, live video costs employees over three days per year in waiting for meetings to start, a number that doubles for senior executives. A whopping 62% of workers never use live video for work purposes, likely due to bad experiences with such platforms, as well as a lack of familiarity.
Consumers are also suffering. Many streaming platforms are poorly designed, meaning that common functions such as screen share and muting are a hassle to use. Required downloads to join meetings create delays, and the process can be even more complicated with dialling in from a mobile device.
Given all this, and the lingering privacy concerns associated with the security of streams, it comes as no surprise that 30% of sales professionals believe their web conferencing tools are hindering sales, rather than helping them.
Luckily, these issues are not unsolvable. Eyeson, a platform made for developers, by developers, has patented a single stream technology that enables all participants to view any data source, from any device, on a single, real-time video stream. The platform streamlines screen share, recording and data overlay features, alongside any individual client integrations.
It is clear that the demand for live video already exists, and Eyeson demonstrates that seamless, low-latency live video streaming is possible to meet it. With such a positive outlook, businesses should be prepared to integrate streaming into many of their operations if they haven’t already.
