Setting up Streaming Services to integrate with OnAIR

OnAIR is designed to work with the AIRCast streaming service within EventsAir, however you may also choose to use different streaming and webinar platforms such as Zoom, Twilio, Vimeo and YouTube. You can also use a mix of services.

Using AIRCast as your streaming service

The built-in AIRCast streaming platform is a service is provided directly by EventsAir and OnAIR, is very affordable, and eliminates the need for separately licensed external services such as Zoom, Twilio and other platforms. You will still need to license a video storage service such as YouTube or Vimeo if you require this. AIRCast can be enabled for specific events by visiting Event Preferences in Settings and enabling AIRCast for the current event. 

Once enabled, you can’t later disable AIRCast for that event, but you’re only charged for what’s been used, based on the lowest charge possible. At the end of each month, if you’ve used AIRCast, we use both pricing models tocalculate the lowest cost and you’re only charged that amount. Approximate costs for each of the pricing models are below, and the full current costs are detailed in this article.

• Pay-as-you-go – a few cents per minute per attendee

OR

• Day Passes – a Day Pass charge of less than a dollar for every attendee PLUS an hourly charge for AIRCast Studio and AIRCast Interpretation Studio usage (includes rehearsals).

NOTE: AIRCast also provides a Twilio account so when enabled, anything in your event that would normally use Twilio will no longer allow you to select a Twilio option (as AIRCast will take over for these). 

Using External Streaming Services with OnAIR

There are many options, and you can use different platforms for different purposes. You may also need more than one platform. You’ll want to consider many aspects, such as: concurrent sessions, webinar license add-ins, number of participants, Internet speeds and more.

This article gives some information about setting up:

• Twilio
• Zoom
• Vimeo
• YouTube
• Vonage

Choosing appropriate external streaming services 

• Webinar platforms such as Zoom are typically used to power your sessions, concurrent sessions and targeted sessions.
• Video platforms such as Vimeo or YouTube are used to store pre-recorded videos for playback in the OnAIR portal.
• Twilio is as platform used to power 2-person or small group interactions, such as video chat, exhibitor instant meetings, virtual networking and group functions, Live Support and Meeting Hub.
• Platforms such as Vimeo, Vonage or YouTube are used to host Live Streams of your sessions. These can be produced by professional AV teams or done yourself using Zoom to broadcast a live stream.

Other things to remember:

• Review your program size and format and choose what services best fit your program. 
• You are responsible for obtaining your licenses for the services you wish to provide in OnAIR.
• You’ll need multiple licenses if you plan on offering concurrent sessions if you’re using external providers.
• Make sure your webinar licenses provide for the maximum number of participants you expect to host.
• Normally, external connections are set up one time and used for all virtual events you plan to produce.

Where do I set all this up?

• In EventsAir>Application Set Up, (visible only to application administrators), open the External Connections module, and click to add a Live Streaming Platform. 
• There are details you need to fill in, such as API Key, you’ll obtain from the streaming platform itself (see the Zoom section below for an example).
• For specific set up instructions within EventsAir, you may also want to refer to other articles (for example, to set up a live stream of a Zoom Meetings Presentation via YouTube or Vimeo.) 

Twilio is free to set up and you pay as you use it. They charge per participant per minute. There are different charges based on “Small Group” or “Large Group” choices. 

[Please note that if you’re using AIRCast for your event, it will take the place of Twilio for that event.]

This platform can be used for the following OnAIR features:

• Small webinar sessions up to 40 people plus presenters
• Poster Presentations up to 40 people plus presenters
• Networking Functions (up to 4 people per conversation)
• Group Functions up to 50 people per virtual table
• Exhibitor Instant Meetings (up to 4 people per conversation)
• Exhibitor Prescheduled meetings (up to 4 people per conversation)
• Meeting Hub (2 people)
• Live Support (2 people)

Connecting to Twilio - External Connection Details

1. Navigate to https://www.twilio.com/
2. Select Sign up to Start Building
3. From there, you will be directed to your account console
4. Navigate to your Account Console.
5. You’ll see your Dashboard. Locate your Account SID. You’ll need this later.

1. Click on Settings on the left side menu.
2. Once there, select API Keys.
3. Select New API Key.
4.  Enter a name that will easily identify this key, such as Twilio API for EventsAir.

1. Select Create API Key.
2. Your API Key (SID) and Secret Key will appear.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The secret key will ONLY show up once! It is recommended that you copy the SID and Secret Key as text into a secure place if you need it later (don’t take a screen shot otherwise you will need to retype this). You will need both the API Key and Secret Key to set up Twilio in EventsAir.

Setting up the external connection to Twilio in EventsAir

1. From the Event Selection Panel, click on Application Setup.
2. In Application Setup, select External Connections.
3. Locate Live Streaming Platform.
4. Enter your Name for this connection (eg Main Twilio Account).
5. Select Meeting and Small Session (under 50 people).
6. Ensure that Twilio is selected in the Platform field.
7. Enter a Description if needed.
8. Paste your Account SID, API Key and Secret Key into the appropriate fields.

Zoom supports virtual sessions for larger audiences, such as plenary sessions. The choice of product will depend on your usage. For OnAIR, you need at least a Pro account, and to use it for webinars, a Zoom Webinar Add-in is necessary (with the needed number of participants).

Zoom has added new security protocols which require extra steps.

When setting up external connections, you may also be able to connect using your client’s Zoom Account if you have the access details.

You’ll most likely be using Zoom for: 

• Webinar sessions 
• Interactive workshop sessions

Zoom External Connection Details

To integrate Zoom into EventsAir, you will have to create two Zoom apps and obtain the necessary details for the setup. For security reasons, more information is now required. You need to connect your event to Zoom using the Server-to-Server OAuth App (not to be confused with the other OAuth App also in Zoom) and the Meeting SDK App. 

Basic instructions on how to do this are below, however Zoom may also make further changes outside of our control. 

More information can be found here: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/zoom-apps/

The steps below are given for your convenience. They may be subject to change.

The apps you need are created via the Zoom App Marketplace . Sign into your account.

You must be signed into a Pro account or higher see the right options.

From the Develop drop-down, choose Build App.

You need to select the Create button for the two apps you need (Server-to-Server OAuth App and Meeting SDK App).

Keep the Zoom app creation tab(s) open and in a separate tab, open EventsAir. You’ll need this soon. 

Give each app a name:

You will then see the left-hand menu (different for each app, as listed below). As you read or complete each section and press ‘Continue’, it’ll automatically take you to the next item on this left-hand menu. 

• In both Apps, Information is just where you fill in some basic details. For “Developer” name and email, you can put your own details. All other details are optional, although the Meeting SDK will suggest you add descriptions (this type of information, images etc would only be needed if you were making the app public, which you won’t be).
  
  
• You don’t need to use Download (which is only in the Meeting SDK App) but if you want to, it’s there so you can download the SDKs for the Operating Systems your app will support.
   
• App Credentials is where you’ll need to copy information from to put into EventsAir (more detail below).
   
• The Feature and Scopes settings are different for each app (more details below). 

“Scopes” are app permissions. Zoom has user-level, admin-level, and Master-level scopes. You can read more on the Zoom documentation pages. We’ll show you the minimum recommended Scopes set ups in this document.

• You will use Activation for the OAuth app, but you don’t need to use SDK Activation. 

IN EVENTSAIR:

Now, with your Zoom app tab(s) still open, go into EventsAir:

In Set Up panel > External Connections, add a Live Streaming Platform and fill in the following. 

You’ll need to look in each Zoom app you’ve created, mostly in the App Credentials menu, to get the codes you need for each field, as indicated below: 

IN ZOOM - there are some specific settings for each app, detailed below. 

Server-to-Server OAuth App – Feature:

From the Feature section, copy the “Secret Token” and paste it back into EventsAir to the correct field. 

EventsAir will generate an Endpoint URL when all the other information is filled in.

Back in Zoom, in the Server-to-Server OAuth App, still in the Feature section:

• Under General Features, switch on (enable) Event Subscriptions. 
• Click the + Add Event Subscription button.
  
• For Subscription Name, you can put anything you like.
  
• Webhook is selected by default – leave as is.
  
• For Event Notification Endpoint URL, paste the same End Point URL that EventsAir has just generated. This End Point URL is used to confirm ownership and security.
  
• Then select the Validate button, to Validate the URL.
   

At this point, Save your EventsAir set up.

Next, in the Zoom Server-to-Server OAuth App, still in the same section, under Event Types, select +Add Events.

• This is where you add Event Types, which will be Meetings and Webinars as per below:
• In Event Types, click Meeting and select the checkboxes for “Start Meeting” and “End Meeting”.
• Select “Done”.

• Next, click Webinar and select the checkboxes for “Start Webinar” and “End Webinar”.
• Select “Done”.

• You can leave “Event Notifications” set to “all users”
• Click Save, then Continue.

Server-to-Server OAuth App – Scopes

Select +Add Scopes to start. 

See below for Scopes for the Server-to-Server OAuth App. These are what should be set up as the bare minimum:
 
 

  Meeting Scopes:

Webinar Scopes: 

User Scopes:

  Group Scopes:

Server-to-Server OAuth App – Activation
  

When these steps are completed, you should be able to activate the Server-to-Server OAuth App, and will receive a message saying “Your app is activated on the account”. 

Now, finish setting up your SDK Meeting app:

SDK Meeting App - App Credentials
 

You should have already obtained the information you need (Client ID and Client Secret). Leave other fields blank:

SDK Meeting App – Feature

NOTE – these settings are very different to the OAuth app.

• You don’t have to do anything with this Secret Token or Verification Token.
• Switch off Event Subscriptions.
• Switch off Use App on Device.

SDK Meeting App – Scopes

The screenshots below show the minimum Scopes settings for the Meeting SDK App.

 Meeting Scopes:

 Webinar Scopes:

 User Scopes:
 

SDK Meeting App – SDK Activation screen

You don’t need to do anything here. 

You’ll see a notification that you haven’t completed the Redirect URL for OAuth, or the OAuth Allow List. 

You may see a prompt to add short and long descriptions.

You don’t need to add your app or share with others for it to work with EventsAir.

Vimeo is a platform that supports high-definition video.

There are different packages you can use with Vimeo, and the only significant requirement is that if you plan to offer Live Streaming of sessions within OnAIR, you will need the Premium account.

Otherwise, the lower accounts are fine (Plus, Pro or Business) and it depends on how much storage of pre-recorded videos you might need. You can always start at a lower package and upgrade any time you wish if your requirements change.

Locating Your Vimeo Video ID

If you are simply uploading videos to Vimeo to play back in the OnAIR Portal, you simply need to upload your video and locate the video ID.

This can be found in the URL for the video, or located in the video link details. Please note you only need the numbers, as shown here in red:

https://vimeo.com/123456789

Creating a Vimeo Live Stream

NOTE: In your session set-up, if you choose Vimeo, you have the option to set up a one-time stream or a recurring one. Getting this wrong can cause a broadcast to not work correctly. We VERY strongly recommend only using the recurring stream setting for Vimeo. This allows you to stream multiple sessions without having to set up a new Vimeo stream every time. However, even if you are only streaming one session, we still recommend using ‘recurring’, in case you have any kind of connection failure during the stream (because that would register as the end of the session, and you can’t return to it).

To use Vimeo, you will need to create a live event. Please follow these steps to obtain the information you need:

1. Navigate to Manage Videos in Vimeo and select Live Events 
2. Click Create Live Event.

1. Enter an Event Title for your Live Event and select a Privacy preference. 

Note: We recommend selecting Hide from Vimeo as this will aid in restricting access to just the OnAIR Virtual Event Portal. Click Next.

1. Note down the Video ID from the URL in the Link field, i.e. https://vimeo.com/123456789, you will need this later in EventsAir. 
2. Select Specific Domains in the Embed Privacy dropdown and then enter the following URL substituting ‘alias’ for your EventsAir alias: alias.EventsAir.com.
    
    NOTE: This feature is designed to prevent unauthorized sharing, but it it’s only supported for Vimeo within the OnAIR portal. Although it’s rare, attendees sometimes want to watch a video stream via the Attendee App. In this case, just provide the direct link to Vimeo.
    
    
3. Click on the plus symbol to add the domain. Click Next to continue. 

Change over to the Connect (RTMP) tab. 

Note: Write down the RTMP URL and Stream Key and keep them in a safe place, you will need to provide both to your AV professional. 

1. Once Vimeo receives a stable stream from your Software or Hardware Encoder it will appear. 

YouTube is a video-sharing platform.

To use YouTube with OnAIR you must create and verify a YouTube account (also known as a Google Account).

Verifying your YouTube account

Follow these steps to verify your YouTube account:

1. Open your YouTube page.
2. Click on the Hamburger Menu top left corner.
3. Click on the Help option.
4. Scroll down and select the Verify your YouTube account help topic.
5. Click on the verify your channel link in the first sentence.
6. Follow the instructions provided by YouTube.

Locating Your YouTube Video ID

If you are simply uploading videos to YouTube to play back in the OnAIR Portal, you simply need to upload your video and locate the video ID.

This can be found in the URL for the video, or located in the video link details. Please note you only need the numbers, as shown here in red:

https://youtu.be/aBcDEf12345). 

Locate your YouTube External Connection details

To use YouTube, you will need to create a new stream. Please follow these steps to obtain the information you need:

1. Navigate to YouTube Studio (click on your logo/photo as if you were about to sign out, and you will find YouTube Studio in the dropdown).

1. Click on Create then Go Live. This will launch the YouTube Studio Live Streaming Console.

1. Click on Stream to create a New Stream.

Note: This is where you will provide the stream’s Name, Description and Category as well as its availability and timing. We recommend making the stream Unlisted as this will not publicly list the stream on YouTube and will require viewers to access via the OnAIR Portal only. 

1. You will need to declare if the stream is made for children (please note, this is NOT a setting to say your content is g-rated - it is only to be used if your content is specifically designed for children). 
2. Finally, there is an option to restrict your viewers to exclude those under the age of 18. You will need to leave this option disabled for the stream to be viewable in the OnAIR Portal.

1. When you are ready select Create Stream to continue and this will launch the created stream’s Dashboard.

1. Once the Dashboard has loaded, select the Select Stream Key dropdown and select Create New Stream Key. 
2. Enter a Name and Description.

Note: We recommend giving it the same name as the stream or naming it the location that the Encoder will be used as depending on your requirements you may be managing multiple Stream Keys. 

For the Maximum Sustained Bitrate that you can support select 3000 Kbps – 6000 Kbps (1080p). This option is explained in greater detail below. Optionally you can Enable 60 fps for a smoother viewing experience. 

1. After you have created the Stream Key ensure it is the selected option.
2.  Next, we recommend you note down the Stream Key (hidden), Stream URL and Backup Server URL. You will need to enter these values into your Software or Hardware Encoder.
3.  To ensure an optimal OnAIR experience for your attendees, we recommend enabling the Ultra Low-Latency profile. 

Note: Testing by EventsAir in April 2020 indicated this will result in an approximate 10-12 second delay. However please note broadcasting in 4K and 1440p resolutions and Closed Captioning are not supported by this profile.

1.  Select the Share button in the upper right corner of the screen. 

Note: This will give you options to share your Broadcast with via other platforms as well as give you the dedicate YouTube link (i.e. https://youtu.be/aBcDEf12345). 

1.  Select and copy the latter part of the link (i.e. aBcDEf12345), this is the stream’s Video ID which is required in EventsAir.

Vonage is a video sharing and streaming platform used by programmers to drive custom video experiences. There are various pricing models, based on usage.

Creating Your Vonage Account

1. Login into Vonage at this URL:
2. https://www.vonage.com.au/communications-apis/video/
3. Select “Try it Free” to register. 
4. Once Registered, select “Create Project” (this is under the Account Overview tab on the left). The following screen appears.
5. Select Create Custom Project. 
6. Add a Project Name EG EventsAir and ensure VP8 is selected as preferred codec:
7. Copy the two keys that are displayed.

• In EventsAir, navigate to Application Setup and select External Connections.
• Create a new External Connection and select Vonage.
• Paste the two keys and add to your new external connection
• This external connection can now be selected in the OnAIR portal setup