Web Video Hosting What You Should Be Looking For

In this day and age, every company is involved with media whether they want to or not, which is why web video hosting is key. As far as video goes, most companies are experienced with producing and disseminating a large variety of content through more than one channel of distribution.

Every organization sends out their video content through the Internet – it must pass through a service provider or content distribution network. Of course, you expect a good quality service. The “quality-factor”, which takes into account many factors, is something you should discus carefully with the provider before you sign on the dotted line. Because no one names and sells their services in the same manner, the following are a few of the most important questions you should ask when trying to find the perfect provider.

What does the service provider support as far as delivery is concerned? Streaming is a term that is used very broadly lately, and it seems to mean many different things depending on who you ask. Some service providers in the past would sell and promote their services even though they didn’t provide delivery from a media server, instead delivering content through progressive download from a web server. This isn’t actually streaming. In a lot of situations this is acceptable, but if you need actual streaming services or both, you should ensure the provider has the ability to support it.

A good way to find out what they provide is to ask to view a sample clip of a live piece. If the stream you are seeing is live, then you can be sure it’s coming from a media server that truly has the capability of streaming. Also, always ask about the protocol being used for streaming. Many service providers claim to provide Flash Video streaming, but it is actually Flash Video delivered through progressive download. If the provider does streaming from a Flash Media Server, it must be delivered through the RTMP protocol. If this isn’t the case, then it’s not really streaming.

What formats are supported by the service provider? All providers are different - some support all of the formats, while some support only a few of the formats. Some only support one of the formats. It’s rare that any one provider will support streaming content in Windows Media, Flash, QuickTime, and Real formats. While it may seem strange that providers don’t support all of the formats at once, there is a logical reason.

Oftentimes a provider is only looking to capture a specific vertical or industry; one example is webcasting space. In this case they wouldn’t support Flash Video, since the Flash Video platform is not often utilized for live streaming. Another reason: a provider may not support a certain format because the format provider has not given them permission unless the provider is certified and licensed for it. Whatever host you end up choosing, always look for a quality provider, such as SiteSell. Companies that offer their customer more than just hosting are often the best choice, even for web video hosting.