How AIRCast streaming costs are calculated

Introduction

This article helps you understand more about AIRCast and the difference between Pay-As-You-Go Streaming and AIRCast Day Passes. We automatically apply the lowest cost streaming plan for the previous month, based on your usage.

What is AIRCast?

AIRCast is the optional, ultra-low latency streaming platform that is built into OnAIR. It's used to provide video streaming for the following:
(* indicates OnAIR Portal only)

• Sessions
• Unlimited concurrent sessions
• Undocked session viewing*
• Break out rooms (up to 40 attendees per room)
• Host/Presenter broadcasts into breakout rooms
• Networking (Up to 20 attendees per conversation)
• Group Functions (Up to 50 attendees per group)
• Poster Sessions*
• Exhibitor Instant Meetings 
• Exhibitor Pre-scheduled Meetings 
• Exhibitor Presentations
• Meeting Hub Calls
• Live Support Calls
• Host Live Feed broadcast
• Live Stream from an RTMP source
• Live Stream from Zoom
• Control Room session previews*
• Two backup streams for sessions*
• Automatic recordings for sessions (not breakout rooms)*
• AIRCast Studio to manage presenters and content for sessions*
• AIRCast Studio Streaming to AV Partners*

What’s the advantage of ultra-low latency video?

Delivery of ultra-low latency live video requires significant computer power, but this is distributed globally around a powerful Content Delivery Network (CDN) and a cluster of load-balanced, dedicated ingest servers to be able to capture the live stream, process it, and deliver it anywhere in the world within just 2-4 seconds. The result is almost-real-time video for attendees, significantly enhancing the experience, particularly with live calls, live poll, live Q&A and audience/presenter interaction. 

Do I have to use AIRCast?

AIRCast is totally optional and for the most part, OnAIR functions will work with platforms such as Zoom, Vimeo, YouTube or Brightcove. However, using AIRCast allows you to make the most of all OnAIR features and it can be enabled by selecting Enable AIRCast Live Streaming Platform when you set up your event, in the Set Up panel, under preferences. You’ll see this incurs a cost. 

AIRCast Streaming Plans

There are two methods used to calculate AIRCast usage and streaming costs, and we always charge the lowest of these for your month's usage:

• Pay-As-You-Go streaming is calculated on a pro-rata basis. There is a cost per thousand hours of viewed content which is divided (or multiplied) based on what’s been used. So if your attendees only watched 100 hours of content in total, the monthly charge-per-thousand-hours would be divided by 10).
• AIRCast Day Passes are costed per attendee, per day and cover all viewed content. There’s also a broadcasting loading, based on what you broadcast from your AIRCast Studio. That includes up to 16 high definition (HD) presenter streams: one primary ultra-low latency HD stream, ultra-low latency HD mobile device stream and two backup HD streams (for sign language translation, interpretation, and/or closed captioning), and recordings.

Current costs for each option are available at the end of this article or from your account manager.

Should I choose Pay-As-You-Go streaming or Day Passes?

You don’t need to choose which plan you want. Since both plans include all the same great features, when you use AIRCast, we’ll just charge you each month based on the lowest cost plan for all your events for that month.

• Most clients will see reduced rates by using AIRCast Day Passes, with up to 50 percent reduced streaming costs.
• However, if your event is relatively small and has a limited amount of AIRCast content, the Pay-As-You-Go streaming option still might be less expensive.
• Our billing team will assess your entire month’s streaming usage and always apply the least expensive streaming plan to your invoice.

Do I have to use AIRCast for all sessions?

OnAIR is designed for maximum flexibility where you can use different streaming platforms in different sessions. For example, you may decide to use AIRCast Studio for Panel Presentations and pre-recorded videos or Zoom for others.

More about AIRCast Pay-As-You-Go Streaming

Pay-As-You-Go streaming (calculated on a pro-rata basis on an amount per 1,000 hours for all viewed AIRCast content) is usually the more cost-effective pricing option for smaller events. 

How is this billed?

You don’t need to pre-pay for AIRCast. You’re only invoiced for what you’ve used, and billing is calculated in five-minute increments for all viewed content in OnAIR and the Attendee App (including the OnAIR portal in Remote Attendee Mode). So if your attendees only viewed a total of 100 hours of content, that’s all you’re billed for. At the end of each calendar month, we’ll send you an invoice for the AIRCast streaming you’ve used for your events. 

As mentioned, we’ll always compare your AIRCast usage and apply the least expensive plan to your current month’s invoice.

How do I check my usage?

When setting up your OnAIR Portal, enable the Analytics tab. When this is enabled and you have access, you’ll see an AIRCast Engagement tab. This will show you in near-real-time how many AIRCast hours you’ve used. Analytics must be downloaded within 30 days of the relevant event and can't be retrieved after this time.

Is there an extra AIRCast broadcasting charge with this option?

No. If you choose Pay-As-You-Go Streaming, there’s no additional broadcasting charge. 

Do I have to choose Pay-As-You-Go when I create my event?

Not at all. You just sign up for AIRCast streaming when you create a new event and our billing team will automatically give you the lowest streaming option for the month.

More about AIRCast Day Passes

AIRCast Day Passes are generally more cost-effective for larger events and make it easier to calculate costs in advance.

AIRCast Day Passes are charged per attendee, per day, for all viewed content. There is also an additional charge per hour for any AIRCast Studio broadcast time.

How are AIRCast Day Pass fees calculated?

When any attendee logs into the OnAIR portal or Attendee App and watches or participates in any AIRCast streamed content, a Day Pass will be charged for that attendee for that day. This includes using any other features powered by AIRCast, such as video calls, networking activity, sessions broadcast from AIRCast Studio, Exhibitor meetings/presentations, Live Support calls and the like.

However, if an attendee logs into the OnAIR Portal and only, for example, watches a pre-recorded video in the Resource Gallery or looks at the Meeting Hub list, you will NOT be charged a Day Pass fee for that attendee. 

(Using both the Attendee App AND the OnAIR Portal only incurs one Day Pass fee, regardless of how often a user switches between the OnAIR Portal and Attendee App that day.)

Does a Day Pass last for 24 hours?

Yes, however please note that Day Passes are charged for the 24-hour period starting at 12:01 AM and ending at 11:59 PM in your event time zone.

What about broadcast charges?

With the Day Passes AIRCast plan, there’s also a per-hourly broadcast loading, which starts when your sessions actually begin and you see the Session Live indicator in the top of the studio. 

Are AIRCast Studio rehearsals charged?

Normally no, since the AIRCast Studio is not broadcasting or ‘Live’. However, any presenters or hosts who have signed into the OnAIR Portal will incur a Day Pass charge.

NOTE: You would only be charged the broadcast loading for your rehearsals if you actually broadcast them as live sessions, (e.g., create an additional session for the rehearsal and broadcast it).

Can I choose which events I want to use Day Passes for?

No, since the lowest cost plan is automatically applied for your entire month’s billing. We’ll look at your entire previous month and always apply the lowest cost streaming plan. For this reason, you don’t need to choose plans, and the same plan will apply to all events in that month.

Streaming to an AV Partner 

There's no extra cost (beyond what's described above) if you use AIRCast Studio to manage your session content and stream that to your AV Partner.

RTMP Stream via AIRCast

You may have some sessions where the content is being produced by an AV company, your venue, or an external producer, and they want to send a live video feed into AIRCast using RTMP. 

• Normal AIRCast streaming costs described earlier (Pay-As-You-Go or Day Passes) apply.
• If you have concurrent sessions, you need one RTMP stream per track. 
• These are set up in the Presentations module when you create your sessions. Read more here.
  
   

CURRENT AIRCAST STREAMING COSTS (all costs are in US dollars and are exclusive of any local taxes that may apply)

Pay-As-You-Go: 

US$350 per 1000 hours of viewed content per month (US$0.35 - 35 cents - per hour, per month)

Day Passes:

US$0.75 (75 cents) per attendee per day + US$25 per hour broadcast charge

EXAMPLES 

In the first example, the client would be charged on a Pay-As-You-Go basis, as this is the lower cost.

In the second example, the client would be charged on a Day Passes basis, as this is the lower cost.

However, if the client held these two events in the same month, they would be charged for both events on the Day Passes basis, as this would be the lower total cost (and the same cost calculation is applied to all events for that month).

For more information, please talk to your Account Manager.