Home / Churches: what you need to know about live streaming

Churches: what you need to know about live streaming

10 Jan 2019 - 12:36

Churches and other places of worship connect people by bringing the community together and playing an important role in the societies of cities, towns, and villages. Live streams from churches can become widely popular, especially during the holiday season, when there are many concerts and midnight masses held in churches all over the world. Furthermore, these places of contemplation and belonging can broaden their reach and impact with a little help from technology – and that technology is live streaming.

 

Why try live streaming?

The essential question that comes to mind is: How can live streaming benefit a church? The answer has several aspects. Not only are you giving people who are ill, disabled, or far away an opportunity to ‘attend’ church, it’s also a positive step for the entire congregation. Moreover, you can significantly extend your reach for greater impact and a wider audience. Consequently, your live stream can bring new people to the church!

 

What you need

Today, affordable technologies speak in favor of live streaming, because installing and running a successful live stream doesn’t have to be an arduous or pricey undertaking. Streaming platforms such as YouTube Live and Facebook Live are widely popular and free. With the right software and hardware, you can spread the word of sermons and parish events at a relatively low cost and with high efficiency.

While some argue that the minimum cost of a streaming bundle is about $5,000 (a setup comprising a camera, switcher, encoder, cabling, tripod etc.), at CamStreamer we believe that a quality live broadcast can be achieved with much less money and can be affordable even for cost-sensitive parishes and congregations. Our application runs directly onboard an Axis IP camera. It means that you don’t need any additional hardware, excess cables, processors, and so on.

 

Example:

1x AXIS M5525-E	999€	This camera features HDTV 1080p resolution and 10x optical zoom, which provides both zoomed-in detail and a broad overview. Moreover, the camera’s outstanding light-sensitivity ensures excellent video even in the challenging lighting conditions inside churches. A great deal!
1x CamStreamer App	299€	CamStreamer App is a smart application that runs onboard an AXIS IP camera and streams live video right to YouTube, Facebook, and many other streaming platforms.
Total	1,298€

 

The camera is a computer in and of itself, so it can connect to the online video platform right away. A few seconds is all it takes.

 

In conclusion, it’s always important to consider which live streaming option best suit your needs depending on the size of the congregation, return on investment, and the expectations you have. To get some inspiration on how to utilize a broadcast with the CamStreamer App, take a look at our Live Gallery!

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