Always review the Technical Requirements before setting up a livestream to ensure the best experience.
OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is an open source app for Windows, macOS and Linux that enables you to configure video and audio to be broadcast live on the internet using the RTMPS streaming protocol.
OBS is a powerful app that provides huge flexibility and customization, giving you the ability to define exactly what you want to broadcast.
You can define many different sources, audio inputs, scenes and transitions - with a full suite of filters and plug-ins providing the ability to define professional-grade streams.
Setting up OBS scenes and other features is beyond the scope of this document, for more information on how to use OBS, please visit the OBS help portal.
Device(s): Desktop only to broadcast the livestream
Roles / Permissions: Livestreamer
Configuring OBS for broadcasting to Workvivo
- To go live on Workvivo from OBS, you will need to configure your broadcast.
- First, press the “Settings” button in OBS and click the “Output” option on the left navigation bar.
- With the “Output Mode” set to “Simple”, make sure that the “Video Bitrate” option in the “Streaming” section is set to 8500 Kbps (or lower). If you set this to a higher value, the livestream will not work and you will get an error when you try to broadcast.
- If you are using the Advanced output mode, it is recommended to use a “Keyframe Interval” value of 2 (you can use 1 also, but you may be more likely to encounter issues). If you set this to a different value, you will likely have higher end-to-end latency on your stream (i.e. over 5 seconds).
- You should also set the “CPU Usage Preset” to “veryfast” and from “Tune” select “zerolatency”.
You can customize the resolution and frame-rate of your broadcast under the “Video” option on the left-hand side. The Base (Canvas) Resolution defines the size of the area OBS will provide for each scene. The Output (Scaled) Resolution defines the actual resolution that will be broadcast.
If you are using a high speed network, we recommend using 1920x1080 for both of these options. If you are planning on screen-sharing or using motion video, we recommend increasing the FPS value to 60. This will ensure that viewers with high bandwidth can view the highest quality stream on Workvivo.
Workvivo uses 'adaptive bitrate streaming' to automatically switch between different resolutions for viewers depending on their network conditions at any given moment in time.
Going live on Workvivo from OBS
In OBS settings, click on the “Stream” option on the left-hand menu. To get the information needed, you now need to go to Workvivo.
Note: This information will change each time you Livestream.
On Workvivo, click "Go Live" and configure the settings for your livestream. You can edit the Title, add a description if required, and update configuration options for Chat, Reactions, Recordings and Viewer Count.
Next, you can choose your audience for the livestream and click "Next".
You will have the option to Broadcast on Workvivo (Native Livestreaming) or Broadcast using another app (RTMPS). When you select Broadcast using another app, hit "Next".
In OBS:
- Select “Custom” from the “Service” drop-down on OBS
- Enter the “RTMPS URL” from Workvivo into the “Server” field on OBS
- Enter the “Stream Key” from Workvivo into the “Stream Key” field on OBS
- Leave the “Use authentication” checkbox unchecked
- Note: Do not close this window in Workvivo until your broadcast has commenced, otherwise you will cancel the livestream
Click the “Start Streaming” button in OBS.
Once you've clicked the “Start Streaming” button in OBS, the button will change to “Stop Streaming” and you’ll see a green box in the bottom-right of the OBS screen, also displaying the bitrate of the broadcast, as shown in the screenshot below.
Within a few seconds, the current OBS scene will be live on Workvivo and the host UI will update to show the stream.
OBS is a great app for managing your broadcasts. Pair it with something like an “Elgato Stream Deck” to make it even easier to swap between different OBS scenes to deliver highly professional streams to your Workvivo audience.
Live Hosting Experience on Workvivo
If users have opted in for livestream notifications and email notifications at a global level, they will receive the notification that you have gone live.
On Workvivo, you will see the audience on the top left of the screen, as well as the Live Chat on the right. You have the option to Hide the Reaction Feed by clicking the three dots at the bottom of the screen.
Ending the Stream
To end the stream, press the “Stop Streaming” button in OBS. It is recommended to end the Livestream on OBS. The Workvivo livestream will end automatically.
Alternatively, you can end the stream using the “End Stream” button in Workvivo when viewing the livestream as a host. Note that while this will stop the broadcast, OBS will still show a “Stop Streaming” button until you press it or until OBS stops trying to reconnect. You’ll know that the stream is no longer as the bandwidth will be 0 kb/s, and you’ll see a message “Disconnected, reconnecting in X second(s)” in the status bar, as shown below.
Livestream Post / Recording
When your Livestream ends, if "Enable Recording" had been selected in the livestream settings, the playback recording will be posted to the activity feed automatically and will be visible to everyone in your original Livestream audience. It takes approximately 20-30 seconds for the livestream to appear as a post on the feed.
As shown below, you can see a count of ‘Live Reactions’ and ‘Live Chat Messages’ on the activity feed item. These counts refer to engagement during the actual livestream itself, as opposed to reactions and comments on the activity feed item that come in after the livestream has ended. Messages sent during the livestream are not visible on the activity feed, however if you view the livestream recording they can be seen there. They can also be downloaded from the Analytics.
Livestreamer and platform Admins can also easily access Livestream analytics via the ‘Analytics’ button (more on Analytics below).
Livestream Analytics
Simply click the ‘Analytics’ button on the Livestream recording on the activity feed to access the analytics modal.
The following metrics are provided in Livestream Analytics;
- Livestream Duration: The total length of time the livestream was broadcasted.
- Unique Viewers: The count of individual viewers who watched the livestream at least once.
- Peak Viewers: The highest number of concurrent viewers reached during the livestream.
- Peak Time: The specific moment during the livestream when it had the highest number of concurrent viewers.
- Total View Time: The cumulative amount of time viewers spent watching the livestream.
- Avg. View Time: The average duration that each viewer spent watching the livestream.
- Reactions: The total number of reactions sent by viewers during the livestream.
- Chat Messages: The total number of chat message sent by viewers during the livestream.
- Unique Chatters: The count of individual viewers who sent a chat message at least once during the livestream.
- Avg. Framerate: The average frames per second (fps) of the video stream.
- Avg. Video Bitrate: The average data rate at which video content was transmitted in megabits per second (Mbps).
- Avg. Audio Bitrate: The average data rate at which audio content was transmitted in kilobits per second (Kbps).
- Concurrent Views: The total number of viewers watching the livestream simultaneously at any given moment.
- Live Delivered Time: The total duration of the livestream that was successfully delivered to viewers in real-time.
- Live Delivered Time by Country: The distribution of live delivered time among different countries.
- Ingest Framerate: The average frames per second (fps) of the video input source before encoding and transmission.
- Ingest Audio Bitrate: The average data rate (kbps) at which the audio input source was transmitted before encoding.
- Ingest Video Bitrate: The average data rate (Mbps) at which the video input source was transmitted before encoding.
- Keyframe Interval: The interval at which keyframes (complete video frames) are sent in the video stream, which affects video quality and compression efficiency.
- Live Input Time: The total duration of the livestream from its inception to its completion, including any pre-stream setup or delays.
- Recorded Time: The duration for which the livestream was recorded for on-demand viewing after the live broadcast ended.
You can also click on the three dots at the top right of the livestream recording post and click 'Analytics' to see additional playback analytics, including:
- Total livestream playback plays
- Unique livestream playback plays
- Total livestream playback finishes
- Average percentage watched
Streaming to External Users
Streaming to external users is supported differently than internal livestreams and requires additional setup and considerations. If you plan to run a livestream for an external audience, please contact your CSM in advance for best-practice guidance.
Click here to learn more about the Playback experience / how employees View a Livestream.