Upload a video and share it ahead for your viewers to watch at their own pace anytime, anywhere. That's a video on demand (VOD) for you!
But how do you set up such a video on-demand platform for your organization? What are the different options available within the market?
What if you need to create an internal private YouTube? Or stream videos like Netflix and charge a subscription from users.
This is a technology of the future and businesses are looking for ways to maximize its benefits.
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What is Video On-demand (VoD)?
Video on Demand (VOD) is when people can watch videos from a video library as and when they want, without being constrained to traditional broadcasting schedules.
A VOD platform facilitates that by allowing users to browse through a range of videos or playlists and view the ones that they want.
It's easy to find examples of VOD platforms around you. Almost all of us have watched series on Netflix and other such platforms.
They allow users to browse through a collection of movies and TV shows and view these anytime, anywhere, according to their own schedule on their device of choice.
Another example of a VOD platform is YouTube, where users can search through channels and view the content of their choice. Even watching videos on Facebook or Instagram is considered a part of a modern video on demand as you can watch the video instantaneously, without having to download it. By using this method, companies can later focus on Instagram monetization and make money with the platform.
"Some companies also post to Instagram from PC to ensure a better content quality."
On-demand video streaming is also possible on YouTube-like enterprise video platforms, where organizations can create their own corporate video library for all their corporate video content (both synchronous and asynchronous videos).
Asynchronous videos are basically on-demand videos like training or product demos - basically an advanced and more engaging knowledge sharing, collaboration and communication method for internal or external teams.
You can learn more in our blog on the definition of VOD, its history and its significance.
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Live Streaming vs Video on Demand: What is the Difference?
On-demand video is the opposite of live streaming, as it is pre-recorded, stored and then streamed whenever someone demands to view the video.
Live streaming (synchronous video streaming) is when the video is recorded and broadcasted in real-time and delivered to a user's device on the other end. Here is an article all about live streaming platforms.
Is On-Demand Video Same as Streaming?
An on-demand video may or may not be streamed. If a user on the internet views it without the need to download it, then it's called video streaming. Or else, users can still download and view a video, and it'll still be called VOD.
Are VOD and OTT the Same Thing?
Even though OTT and VOD platforms sometimes are used as interchangeable terms, there is a distinction that you must understand.
What is OTT?
OTT (Over-the-Top) is a subset of VOD that streams and delivers content over the internet rather than the traditional method like live broadcast TV.
On-demand video streaming of movies, shows, films and other videos related to entertainment gives viewers the power to freely watch the videos they want to whenever they have the time. They won't have to follow the schedule of the TV service providers.
OTT applications are often bundled with a subscription, which is either Transactional VOD (e.g., Amazon Prime), Advertisement VOD (e.g., YouTube), or Subscription VOD (e.g., Netflix).
The Past and The Present
VOD was a costly thing back in the days when videos were shared using HTTP technology, similar to webpages and other files on the internet. Over time, things have changed, with YouTube coming into the picture in 2005 and the invention of technologies like HLS, video compression and adaptive bitrate streaming.
The VOD market was valued at $60 million in 2020, and is expected to grow at a 9.5% CAGR in the next 5 years. VOD platforms are replacing traditional channels such as broadcast TV or Video CDs, DVDs etc.
The usage of VOD platforms depends on internet connectivity and bandwidth, which has led to developed economies using VOD more than less developed economies. Countries with the highest VoD user penetration in 2020 have been the USA, Norway, Canada, Luxembourg and Sweden.
While media and entertainment represent a large part of VOD usage, it's not just it. Businesses may need to stream on-demand video privately and securely as well. Such use cases include coverage of live events and sports, and even organizational trainings for employees, managing recorded meetings, sharing information with channel partners and customers etc.
VOD Platforms from a Content Creator’s Perspective
Traditional video delivery mechanisms made it difficult for people and organizations to deliver video content to their intended audience. However, the internet and VOD platforms have made this rather easy.
On simple platforms, all you need to do is upload videos that users can watch whenever they want. These public platforms solve all challenges related to video streaming, such as bandwidth challenges, compatibility issues, and more. They are perfect for content creators looking to build an audience and monetize their content.
The simplest way to set up a Video on Demand platform is through YouTube, but it has certain limitations.
YouTube
YouTube offers the simplest and easiest way to host videos. It’s also free!
YouTube helps your videos to be organically searched through Google as videos on YouTube also rank for Google keywords.
YouTube automatically creates multiple renditions for your video files, which allows users with low internet bandwidth to also be able to watch your content.
Content creators are also provided basic video analytics (reach and engagements) as well as a detailed breakdown of viewer demographics - age, gender and geography.
YouTube, however, is not a video hosting solution and has limitations in terms of storage. You will not be able to retrieve your videos if they accidentally get deleted, or if your account gets blocked due to copyright violations etc. You’ll need to keep your video files downloaded as a backup.
YouTube is suitable for personal use, smaller organizations or organizations with simple requirements. YouTube doesn’t provide the features that would allow organizations to host videos and only restrict access to their internal audience. It does allow videos to be shared privately but it’s just limited to that.
But the most important drawback is that by uploading videos on YouTube, you give away certain content rights for these videos and this is one of the main reasons why organizations go towards using paid Video on Demand Platforms.
We did a whole blog on YouTube and why an organization should go for one of the corporate alternatives to YouTube. VIDZMO's secure enterprise video platform is a major player in this domain.
6 Other Paid Alternatives and Their Limitations
YouTube is a simpler platform and does not solve other complex enterprise video challenges that arise, such as security, compliance, and also does not offer integrations to consolidate video data.
Here are a few other on-demand video platforms that you can opt for:
You can learn more in our blog on the comparison of the best video on demand platforms.
The drawback, however, of these platforms is that they are only good for external streaming of on-demand videos. Organizations may require on-demand video streaming for multiple other use cases, some of which might be internal as well. For instance, making corporate communication videos available to the entire organization as on-demand video content, or recording training and on-boarding programs and sharing them with new recruits as on-demand videos. The above-mentioned platforms fall short when such video use cases arrive.
VIDIZMO
VIDIZMO offers a VOD platform that is suited for organization-wide use cases.
It provides all the features of YouTube with much more depth and has many other advanced capabilities. The solution is AI-powered, Gartner-recognized and a Microsoft Gold Partner. Suffice to say, it is a highly secure platform for both internal and external streaming.
VIDIZMO allows you to create your own YouTube-like on-demand site/portal – with your own custom domain. It is a white-label VOD platform with custom branding capabilities.
Here are a few reasons why you should opt for VIDIZMO, a video distribution platform for on-demand streaming:
One Centralized System
VIDIZMO is an enterprise video platform, which means that it provides a system for end-to-end video use cases.
Need to manage recorded Zoom meetings? Or Train employees internally? Or embed advertisement videos on your website?
You can use one system to do it all! Create sub-portals for departments or different use cases (internal or external). Brand them differently. Set custom security policies and independent admin controls with entirely separate billing.
Or you can start by using our system for one use case, and then scale it later. The decision is in your hands.
Content Segregation - Who Can View Videos and Who Can't?
Content stored on your VIDIZMO portal can be segregated for different viewers. Organizations can select for each individual video file or group; whether these can be accessed by a certain individual, group, entire department or organization, or by anonymous users. Through Single Sign-On integrations, users and groups can be synced to improve access management.
Rich Sharing Options
You can temporarily share videos with audiences inside or outside the organization through expirable links or email. Unlike simpler platforms, VIDIZMO allows you to generate multiple links and expire them as needed. For email sharing, you can specify an email with which external participants would need to authenticate to view a video.
You can also define what recipients can do once they have the video; whether they can download, watch only once or twice, share ahead etc.
Learn more about sharing options in VIDIZMO.
Data Hosting Options
VIDIZMO allows you to store videos and stream videos on Azure, AWS or any other government or public cloud or on-premise.
These cloud providers keep multiple copies of your data at separate places (data redundancy) to ensure data is safe from unexpected events, cyber threats, and natural disasters.
VIDIZMO also offers a data retention period for stored videos, which even after being accidentally deleted by a user, can be retrieved by contacting VIDIZMO support.
Security
Speaking of security, VIDIZMO includes detailed features within the application to keep content secure. VIDIZMO offers FIPS-compliant end-to-end encryption for all video content. It includes password protection, SSO integration, Geo-restrictions, IP restrictions, role-based access controls, DRM support, and much more.
Learn more secure video hosting in VIDIZMO.
Branding
The VIDIZMO Portal is brandable and allows you to include your logo, theme, colors and even use your own domain. You can also create multiple custom video player templates for different use cases. Videos hosted on VIDIZMO are ad-free and offer no distractions to your audience.
Artificial Intelligence
VIDIZMO has many features powered by AI.
You can easily make your content accessible to a diverse audience by automatically generating accurate transcriptions and closed captions for videos through AI with further translation into 50+ languages.
You can even transcribe multilingual videos with up to 4 spoken languages (out of the 22 supported languages) or manually upload transcription files for any video.
Additionally, you can index spoken words, on-screen text, faces, objects, and other insights to improve search in a large library of videos.
Integrations
No organization can operate in a silo these days. VIDIZMO is highly interoperable supporting seamless out-of-the-box integrations with all important business applications like LMS, CMS, CRM, etc to ensure smooth video playback within these systems.
Plus, with online meetings being commonplace, VIDIZMO can integrate with video conferencing tools to allows users to automatically ingest online meetings from Zoom, MS Teams, & others to make them available as VOD.
Asynchronous meetings are the need of the hour for more inclusive collaboration. Moreso, this saves users from the hassle of having to download recorded work meetings for future viewing. Plus, you can maintain a central knowledge base.
You can start using VIDIZMO EnterpriseTube for $85/Month for internal streaming to up to 50 authenticated users - view pricing
You can also contact our team to have a customized package developed as per your needs.
For more detailed information on VIDIZMO, visit our website or watch this video.
On-demand streaming is just one type of streaming. There are platforms for other types as well. You can read our detailed guide on video platforms to learn more about what this means.