Now that we know you can reach the server(s),
we can turn to the actual equipment and facilities needed to produce the live streams:

The choice of Encoders is also determined by the format you intend to use:
The choices are: Flash, Windows Media, MPEG4, or Real Media.
Each has it's pluses and minuses, as well as associated costs.
The two most preferred are Flash a.k.a FLV or F4V and Windows Media, aka WMV,
These are the most popular type of streaming video protocol. Communitek is all tooled-up
for Flash and WMV, with the appropriate servers and software. Many hosting services are also set-up for Flash and WMV. And, although we can provide an encoder for Real Media, this format requires special "Helix" servers, which Communitek does not support.
MPEG-4 is becoming more popular by the day. The cost of the encoders is greater, but along with the cost comes a reduction in the required bandwidth. This format has many applications, including true broadcast quality over web, and point to point video streaming. Call for more details on MPEG4
Flash, by Adobe, is the latest protocol, which is quickly gaining acceptance, as seen on YouTube and other video on-demand portals. Flash hosting is more expensive than WMV, since a specialized Flash server is required to relay the live streams. The big advantage of using Flash, is that it works "cross-platforms" In other words, both PC and MAC users can watch Flash more readily. For WMV, although there is a "plug-in" for MAC, some users are reluctant to download.

The next step is to determine what production video/audio equipment you need
for the venue or location of the webcast:
Communitek provides the following products for production:
Broadcast and Industrial Quality Cameras
Broadcast Quality Switchers, Keyers, and Logo Generators
Audio Mixers and Processing Equipment
Lighting, Mics, Mixers, and other productions peripherals
Referrals for Production Crews
Video Hosting Services for Live and on Demand Streaming
Video Archiving Software for Video Asset Management
Web Conferencing Software that combines Video and Slide Pushes

Lets Start with the Cameras:
The video quality pushed out to the world wide web is not going to be better than the bandwidth used, so using $30,000 broadcast quality cameras is overkill. However, for material that will be streamed and simultaneously archived to a broadcast video format, does require a broadcast quality, or very good industrial quality camera. Communitek is a supplier of Ikegami, Sony, and Panasonic Cameras for Broadcast and Industrial systems. These cameras range in cost from $3000 to $15,000. Low end consumer cameras, although not recommended, can be used as sources for live streaming but will not have the resolution of professional or industrial grade cameras. As well, we can supply "conference style cameras, such as the Canon VC-C4. Conference cameras, with remote control which run about $1200. For Webcasts that will be archived to DVCam, Betacam, Digital Betacam, or other high quality formats we recommend starting with cameras in the higher range. For Webconferencing or meeting events, where the quality is not critical, you can use the lower cost cameras.

Switchers for Multi-Camera Webcasts:
A Video Switcher is required, if you need to select multiple video sources, such as cameras and character generators, to produce one video signal for the web stream. If you already have a video switcher that is compatible with the cameras and other video sources you are using,, then you would only need to feed the composite or s-video, or SDI output of that switcher to our webcaster. If you don't have a switcher, we have a few very good switchers for live Webcasting.
The Brick House Video Switcher line is ideally suited for Webcasting..
For up to 3 cameras which have a composite video output, or SDI output, we have the Callisto-Micro. This switcher has full Frame-Synchronization, on all inputs, so you need not Gen-Lock the cameras, which is typical of older analog switchers.
For up tp 6 cameras, we have the Brick House Callisto-P which has built in Frame Synchronizers, SDI inputs, as well as analog video inputs. For large scale video production, up to 8 cameras, we have the Brick House Callisto-R and SAV MX-AIR Master Control Switcher. The SAV switcher has digital Keyers, and logo generator options. All of our switchers have the necessary output to feed the Webcasters and Simultaneously feed a video recorder.

Audio Sources for the Webcast:
The most common audio source for live webcasting are microphones, CD player, and MP3 sources. With any number of microphones and other sources, you will need some form of Audio Mixer. The Mixer serves not only the functions of mixing various audio sources, but also brings the overall audio level up to "line level", which is required by the Webcaster. The exception is our Minicaster, which has one stereo audio input which can be set to microphone or line level. For webcasts where an auditorium is being used, or there is already a "house mixer", you may be able to simply pull a feed from the existing mixer. The line level of the Webcaster will accept anything from -10db to +4b for both audio inputs (left and right or channel 1, channel 2). The Webcaster can be set-up to take one (mono) audio signal and distribute the audio over the stereo pair, for the stream, or you can discreetly feed each channel. The inputs on the Webcaster-3 are XLR balanced audio, and the Minicaster has un-balanced input. Communitek has an assortment of audio mixers, if needed to work with either the Webcaster-3 or the Minicaster systems.

Getting the Stream(s) on the Web:
The Webcaster-3, Minicaster-SD and Minicaster-HD products, developed by Communitek, provides the means to stream live video, audio, and graphics to viewers via the Internet or a private Intranet.
The Webcaster-3 is an integrated live streaming video encoder, built into a flight case, which is portable enough to ship from location to location, yet houses a very powerful Streaming Video Encoder System. This device is packaged with Audio processing, BNC video Input, an the necessary software to produce WM9, MPEG4, and /or Real Encoding. The Webcaster 3 can take one video source or video from a switcher and produce up to three different bit-rate streams, which can then be uploaded to a server for distribution on the internet (or an intranet).
The Minicaster-SD and Minicaster-HD are the latest Communitek Encoder webcasting products. These streaming video appliances are compact systems designed for quick set-up of live webcasting, which can be integrated to other peripherals such as switchers and graphics generators. All three units are pre-configured for the customer's needs and pre-tested prior to shipping.

The output connection of the Minicaster or the Webcaster require a high-speed internet or intranet connection to be directed to the servers that will host the streams (see next paragraph). You will need to have either "T1" Service, which is a 1.5Mbs internet line with dedicated IP addresses, or what is know as S-DSL (symmetrical DSL, meaning it has the same "up" speed as download speed, much like a T1). The S-DSL line must be at least 768K for a single stream. If you are encoding multiple streams, you will need a T1 line at the minimum. The exception is, if your are using a corporate LAN to webcast, which has adequate bandwidth. You can stream very high quality video over LAN, as long as you are not conflicting with normal internet/intranet traffic.

Hosting the Live Streams
In order to reach your audience, Servers are employed which relay the streams generated by the Webcaster to the viewer's desktop. Video Servers, as we call them are very high end Server computers, which are located on a wide bandwidth internet (or intranet) connection. Communitek maintains such server on the East Coast of the US, with a bandwidth capacity of 1GB. This is rather large, but it serves a multitude of users. The choices for end users are either to purchase a server, rent a server, or rent drive space and bandwidth on dedicated hosting servers, such as Communitek Video Systems.

Multiple Live Camera Sources:
With the Webcaster-3, and Communitek's multi-cam software (installed on the servers), you can have up to three dedicated cameras, streaming simultaneously, and allow the viewer to switch the video source on his/her computer. This technique does require that the servers be configured by Communitek, and there are specific bandwidth requirements, depending on audience size. For this type of streaming video set-up, consult Communitek for details and pricing.

Archiving Content
All Communitek Webcaster and Minicaster products have the capacity to record and store the live video webcast on their own hard drives. The encoded files can be archived locally and/or uploaded to hosting servers for Video-On_Demand, a.k.a "VOD". You may want to consider hosting the recorded content, by uploading to Communitek's hosting servers or to your own servers. Thus, videos can be archived for later VOD playback and viewed by your audience. Communitek also has two video archiving and retrieval programs, called Archive and Archive Lite, which allows content to be browsed, searched, and played.

Adding Slides and Graphics to my Webcast
Communitek has special software that enables slides, such as jpeg's, gif's, bmp's and other graphics to be simultaneously pushed out, though the server, to the audience. Thus, an administrator, running the Webcast, can select slides to push out to everyone's desktop, who is viewing the live Webcast. This product is called VNC (Video Network Connect), and requires additional server, other than the Video Server, with custom web pages written for your particular Webcast.