Switching Streaming Providers: Simple or Stressful?

We’ve all heard about the nightmare of switching streaming providers. Between endless calls to customer service, confusing contracts that leave you disappointed, or the frightening possibility of being double-billed, it’s no wonder why organizations avoid this process like the plague! But what if we told you that changing your provider could be as easy as a few simple steps?

Whether you’re looking for a better deal, interested in higher-quality features, or your provider simply isn’t providing the way it used to, it’s probably time to consider other options for your streaming. With our guide below, you’ll gain a thorough understanding on reasons to switch your provider, how and what to prepare before switching, and finally, tips and tricks for making the official switch.

Reasons to Switch

Is your organization considering jumping ship from its current streaming provider, but just can’t come to a conclusion? If you answered yes, then no worries! We wrote up a list of our top red flags found in streaming providers, so you know when it’s officially time to make the switch.

Reliability

If your streaming provider is no longer delivering a quality stream, then it’s time to call it quits. Reliable livestreaming is worth its weight in gold and when your provider doesn’t make it a priority, it can result in some serious long-term problems. Constant black outs, dropped connections, and endless buffer wheels are all a result of poor reliability and each issue can leave your viewership on the decline and your audience disengaged. Instead, stream with peace of mind by finding a provider that guarantees a perfect stream, even through complete network outages.

Streaming Features

When working with a streaming provider, you want to be positive they have the features you need to create the livestreams you want. Trying to work around limited capabilities can often lead to poor execution of your organization’s vision and will result in more stress during production. That’s why we always suggest switching your provider if they don’t offer the features and services you’re looking for. By finding a new one, you’ll be left with higher-quality streams and a more efficient workflow.

Cost to Value Ratio

Something important to consider when looking at your current streaming provider is the cost to value ratio. The cost to value ratio refers to the comparison between the value of a service and its price. However, be sure to keep in mind that you’re going to get what you pay for. Some providers will have a higher price, but will also offer the best service available. That being said, if you feel you’re massively over paying for a service that’s leaving you disappointed, it’s time you kicked that service to the curb.

Ease of Use

Streaming can be a formidable beast, even for those who consider themselves fairly tech savvy. That’s why it’s so important for your streaming provider to have a straightforward and easy-to-use UI that equips you to stream successfully. If you’re feeling held back or nervous due to the complexity of your provider, say goodbye and find one that offers the tools and interface you need to succeed!

Customer Service

Nothing is worse than running into trouble with your stream and being left on your own to deal with the issues. Customer service is a vital component to having a good experience with your streaming provider. So, if your provider is leaving you high and dry when you’re trying to get help, then get the heck out of there and find something new! Look for a provider with great customer service that is dedicated to solving your streaming problems when they arise.

How to Prepare Before Switching

Now that you have a good understanding of when to leave your current provider, let’s go over how to prepare before leaving. We know this portion of the process can often seem dreary and stressful, but we want to assure you that making this change can be much more painless than you think. Follow along as we cover the few, simple steps you can take to establish a seamless transition.

Preparing to leave your current provider

One of the best ways to ensure a simple and easy switch is to prepare, prepare, prepare. By following our list below, you can make sure that you have everything you need, before you close the door on your old provider.

Save all videos and assets to a local hard drive

Making sure you have everything backed up onto a hard drive protects all your hard work and keeps it stored in one organized place. Not only will this make uploading everything a breeze, but it also allows you to toss out anything you’re not interested in taking with you to your new provider.

Document all presets and encoding settings

Documenting all presets and settings before you go is an absolute must. This step ensures you can pick up right where you left off with your new provider and majorly cuts down on the time you’ll need to set everything up again.

Log out of any social media accounts

Logging out of your social accounts is important, as your streaming provider will typically integrate with your social platforms via login. So while you may get logged out automatically when you leave, it’s always best to just make sure!

Take inventory of ownership

You’ll want to make sure you have an accurate picture of the assets you own and what your provider has the rights to that you can’t take with you. Unfortunately, providers can have specific policies about certain content, hardware, and software, which may leave you without much to your name So, just make sure you’re aware of what’s yours, and what’s not, before you go.

Plan your cancellation date

Scheduling a specific date for your cancellation allows you to strategize and plan accordingly, so you’re not left with any surprises—or worse, left with no provider at all. That’s why it’s always smart to mark your calendars and give yourself at least 30 days of overlap time to ensure you’ll still have service when you need it.

That being said, we get that emergencies come up! Sometimes you don’t have the ample time you need in order to plan a smooth transition and that’s where we can come in to help. During COVID, Resi helped thousands of churches switch over in just a few days. So, if you find yourself needing a quick turnaround, call us and we can assist with same-week shipping, onboarding, and deployment.

Choosing a New Provider

Now to the fun part—choosing a new provider. But where do you even start? How do you know you’ll make the right choice? To make things easier, we’ve written up the top six questions you should always ask a streaming provider before officially switching.

Question 1

Can I stream in the same resolution and frame rate as before?

You’ll want to make sure you’re getting either the same, or better, resolution and frame rate with your new provider in order to avoid any drops in video quality.

Question 2

Are there any limitations on where I can embed my livestream?

This is a good question to ask in case you want to embed your videos to multiple different platforms at the same time, such as social platforms, online video platforms, or just general websites.

Question 3

Can my livestreams be integrated into social media? Which ones?

In case you’re using many different social platforms, i.e. Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc., it’s always good to check if you can integrate your livestreams with them.

Question 4

Can I stream to multiple campuses and venues at the same time?

Many organizations have multiple campuses that they wish to broadcast the same livestream to, making it a good idea to check if multisite streaming is an option.

Question 5

What customer support do you offer? Can you troubleshoot a problem with me, live?

Customer support is a must have and knowing the parameters for how the support functions allows you to plan ahead when preparing livestreams or looking into help for problems.

Question 6

When is my content at risk of being taken down?

Copyright and censorship is a major issue when posting content to social platforms. That’s why it’s important to understand what platforms your provider can stream to and what their capabilities are when it comes to embedding content on a website.

Making the Official Switch

The time has finally come for you to make the official switch. After all your research and prep, you’ll want to make sure you have the last few details in line so the transition can run smoothly as ever. We recommend two main tips to help ensure you have everything you need including, giving yourself some overlap time with both providers and taking advantage of as many of the new features in your provider plan as possible.

Overlap Time

Overlap time is important because it not only gives you the opportunity to do one last check and make sure you have everything you need, but also gives you time to train yourself on how to properly use your new provider before relying on them too heavily. Then, once that overlap is finished, you’ll be fully prepared to begin producing livestreams like you always have, but with a better provider to support you—it’s a win, win.

Trying New Features

Once you sign on with a new provider, you’ll probably have access to a ton of new and exciting features that can help make your livestream production more efficient and better quality. You’ll want to consider all your options when choosing your specific service plan, however, we suggest you try as many of the available features as possible. This gives you the ability to really get to know your new service provider and how they can help. And who knows, maybe you’ll find a feature that completely transforms your workflow for the better.

Here at Resi, we offer a long list of incredible features, services, and hardware that can save you hours in production every week including, Resi On Demand, Customer Support 7 days a week, Encoders and Decoders, Multisite Streaming, Sim Livestreaming, Studio, Upload and Automate scheduling, and so much more. So, if you’re looking into what you should try with your new provider, we suggest trying everything! You never know what service or feature will help you down the road and bring your streaming experience to the next level.

We hope that this guide gave you some insight into leaving your current provider and showed that this dreadful process isn’t half as bad as you think. Of course, if you still have some questions on what to do next, be sure to call any new service providers you’re interested in to get a breakdown on how they can help you make the switch. Be sure to contact our Resi Sales Team today to learn more about switching to Resi and discover how we can equip you to make the best livestreams possible. Can’t wait to hear from you!