TalkPoint传达回顾:使网络研讨会变得简单

直到大约三年前, 对于许多公司来说，网络研讨会是一项昂贵得令人望而却步的事业, primarily because they were high-touch events produced and delivered through a mix of old and new technology. 这是, since streaming still wasn’t mature enough for some “failure is not an option” events, 网络研讨会涉及电话桥梁和接线员协助. 除了, interface design hadn’t gotten to the point where you’d trust some guy in marketing to build a registration page and player, 所以这些东西不仅需要定制设计, 但是在活动中牵手.

然后, low-cost competitors entered the market with self-service products so simple and inexpensive that almost anyone had the money and technical savvy to produce their own events. 这迫使许多老牌玩家， 例如TalkPoint，提供用户可配置和用户可操作的产品. TalkPoint的产品名为“传达”, and I’ve tested it extensively, including three live (if small) webinars.

我的印象? TalkPoint did an exceptional job making its top-flight technology accessible to novice users, with enough hidden but unlockable features to satisfy advanced designers and video production types. 传达提供了一个广泛的特性集, 非常稳健的操作, 高质量输出, 可扩展性高达10,000名观众或以上.

TalkPoint永远不会是最便宜的选择. 定价包的起价为1美元,399/month for audio-only programs up to 100 viewers and increases to video packages for up to 3,$15, 000观众,999 /月. 但如果你想要一个完美的用户体验, 非常灵活的音频/视频输入支持, CDN交付, 如果你需要的话，还可以通过服务来支持它, TalkPoint需要在你的短列表的顶部.

概述

为了将传达投放市场，它是一个真正的网络研讨会产品. 在高水平上, 这意味着视频在一个窗口, 上传PowerPoint幻灯片, 没有屏幕共享的会议产品，如GoToWebinar. 您可以上传视频并在活动期间显示, 通过一些计划复制屏幕共享, 我就是这么用这个系统的.

其中一个亮点是非常灵活的输入支持. 除了一个简单的网络摄像头界面, 您可以从视频会议单元输入, 电话, 或任何rtmp兼容的编码器, 所以如果你想要超高质量的视频, 系统可以处理. 虽然这远远超出了我的测试范围, 该系统还可以在公司防火墙内传送多播, 或Windows Media(如有必要), 或者甚至通过电话桥. 另一个优点是程序类型的灵活性, 包括现场直播, 随需应变, 模拟现场, 这样你就可以使用live Q多次运行一个事件&A，这对于那些服务于全球受众的人来说非常方便.

唯一的主要缺点是缺乏自适应流, which is available as a managed service but not in self-service Convey. The product folks I spoke with said adaptive streaming will become a priority for self-service sometime in late 2014 or early 2015. 现在您已经了解了全局，让我们进入工作流.

开始

图1 显示“事件摘要”页面, where you’ll configure and produce your event and perform all analytics. 单击左上角的“创建新事件”, you start in a wizard that takes you through all the steps in the Event Setup Checklist. If you’re really well prepared, you could finish the checklist and be ready for the event. 对于我们这些拖延症患者来说, the first priority is to create the event and registration page so you can start marketing the event.

Note that you don’t absolutely need a registration page; you can direct viewers to the event page and forgo the 信息 collection. 大多数网络研讨会的制作人都想要联系信息, and Convey facilitates collection with a range of canned questions plus the ability to create your own questions. In 图2, “你目前是否在使用HEVC”这个问题是自定义的, 其他请求的联系信息被删除.

You create the text in a blog-like editor with decent text and image controls, 但不是在其他一些系统中提供的页面布局功能, 比如Onstream的网络研讨会系统. 如果你是专业的, 然而, 您可以解锁对CSS输入的访问权限并进一步进行自定义, 我没有这么做. 从设计的角度来看, 图2所示的注册页面花费了大约10分钟, though whipping up that irresistible pitch text obviously took a lot longer.

请注意注册页面底部的社交媒体链接. 创建注册页面时, you can type in a sub-140 word description that your fans can use to easily tweet about your event. You can also generate an embed code to insert the social media buttons into other pages and forms.

The only rough edge in this process was the inability to easily preview the finished registration page. 检查我的工作, 我得登录系统两次, 一次配置页面, 第二个用于查看更新后的页面. Other creation functions offer a simple preview button which I expect will be added to registration and player creation sooner than later. 往好的方面想, 屏幕扫描帮助视频可用于大多数配置选项, 这在很多情况下证明是有价值的.

自定义玩家

接下来是定制玩家. 第一个重要的决定是视频窗口的大小, 4:3和16:9宽高比从320x180到640x480. A simple player mockup illustrates the appearance with each selected video window size to assist your decision making.

然后选择播放器中显示的内容. For example, if you disable PowerPoint, you convert the player to a video window sitting above the Q&一个窗口，你可以在玩家模型中预览它. You can choose whether to allow questions during the live and 随需应变 event, 并将问题指向一个电子邮件地址，以便进行审核, and also set an exit URL where viewers go when they close the webinar window. For branding, you can set a main banner image (the Streaming Learning Center in 图3), 选择右上角和右下角的赞助商标志, 并调整各种颜色在球员和注册页面.

上传内容

Once you finish the player, it’s time to upload content, starting with your PowerPoint slides. 与传达, 你把这些上传到系统里, 如果你想, Convey can create a PDF version your viewers can download and post it on the player. You can also upload additional PDF resources that your viewers can download. 正如前面提到的, 传达不提供屏幕共享, but it can push an uploaded video (called Overlay Videos) out to viewers, which I used to demonstrate several functions during the webinars I produced with the system.

You can create tabs on the top and beneath the viewer window for additional pockets of HTML content as shown in 图3. These optional tabs are the Reference Materials and Downloads on the top right and boxes for 关于 the Speaker and 关于 the Streaming Learning Center beneath the video window.

You can also create three types of surveys: in-event surveys with up to 10 questions that you can use for 信息al or certification purposes; an attendance survey that displays for just a few moments and allows you to check if the viewer is still watching; and a post-event survey, 最多可以包含50个问题.

传达提供了两种值得注意的安全选项. 首先是转介检查, which ensures that anyone registering for the event accessed the registration page from a specified URL. 如果这是一个内部网页面, it effectively locks out potential viewers who can’t access that internal page. As an additional precaution, you can also require a password for registration or viewing. 在我的活动中，我没有使用任何一个选项.

TalkPoint传递自助网络广播

TalkPoint's new Convey service lets users control the webcasting process from end to end with customizable features.

2012年5月29日