IBM Watson Media releases mobile video streaming app

IBM Watson Media announced the release of its mobile streaming application for iOS and Android. The Enterprise Video Streaming solution is a live and on-demand streaming platform that connects the broadcaster to viewers via computer or smartphone, according to the blog post announcement.

With technology enabling an increasingly remote and widespread workforce, video conferencing capabilities have become a stable among businesses, according to Lifesize’s 2019 Impact of Video Conferencing report. Video conferencing is also known to help improve work culture, by facilitating communication and reduce expensive business travel.

“Video is becoming the method of communication, collaboration, and distribution of contact around the world, in nearly every industry,” said David Mowrey, vice president of product and business development at IBM Watson, Cloud Video, and Broadcast Solutions. “What the enterprise video application does is it allows businesses to leverage the power of video and communicating with their customers, employees, partners, and amongst themselves.”

IBM’s mobile video streaming application is an addition to its established web conferencing platform. The web conferencing platform has existed for four years, allowing customers to conduct meetings and presentations, but this is the first time the system will allow users to broadcast live video at the palm of their hands, Mowrey said.

Supported by IBM Watson, the application features artificial intelligence (AI)-powered automated closed captioning to all video, and allows administrators to edit closed captioning if needed. The app also generates advanced metadata from the video content, which allows businesses to search and index content to see what videos are most engaging for employees, according to the blog post.

In the past, live video broadcasting in the enterprise required large production teams and equipment. However, with IBM’s application, “I don’t need a big production or set. I don’t need lighting and a fixed camera or big bandwidth pipes. I can pull out my mobile phone and start broadcasting on-demand, anytime to anyone in the corporation,” Mowrey said.

“With a button click, the app allows you to broadcast to any groups that you have set up within the platforms. These groups generally mirror back to your corporate directory we call those channels,” Mowrey said. “You launch the application, select the group that you want to broadcast, hit a button, and that team can watch your stream.”

Many use cases will become easier with the app, allowing users to merge meetings, stream a corporate town hall, and conduct trainings without hiring a production team. Executives can instead just use their smartphone, allowing for easier and more frequent video streaming, Mowrey said.

“It’s also really helpful in corporate situations. You might just come back from a customer and say, ‘I want to tell the team what I heard [and get] real time feedback from the field,’” Mowrey said. “Just click a button, and go.”

To keep information secure, the application gives the business complete control over the distribution, storage, and access of the video content, allowing executives to grant individual access to specific employees, according to the blog post.

The app also integrates with corporate directories for authentication and security, Mowrey said.

Consumers expect video content. It’s the number one way of consuming content [in general], and that is flowing through to the enterprise,” Mowrey continued. “It’s in the enterprise’s best interest to align with the consumer habits.