Worship Musician February 2020 | Page 187

I don’t think that most churches in general are promised land. techs simply click on the service element they overly fixated on viewing experience perfection. That’s certainly not our primary goal. But need and click play. A counter shows the time In truth, it’s been pretty sweet. until the next clip and a buffering indicator consider the value that nothing should distract and status message box keep us informed someone who is experiencing an encounter The switch was an investment. We installed an about our internet feed quality. Even with all with Jesus. That matters, possibly on an eternal encoder at each campus. After setting up the the dropouts and reconnections my campus level. With today’s technology, we felt there had system we performed extensive testing. We experiences through the local public internet, to be a better streaming option. spent an afternoon training our tech directors, the LA1 playback is flawless. The system works who in turn trained our campus volunteer well. Just as promised. So, after lots of research, about three months technicians. Since the rollout, on a weekly ago we switched away from one of the basis—although streaming with LA1 can be We’ve pushed the system a bit into unknown most common streaming platforms. Please fully automated—we decided to add one more territory. Chris Stape, our lead broadcast tech, understand that we had a great relationship step than on the previous platform so we could devised a way to use LA1 automation features with the provider. They did a lot of work with us break up the feed into labeled sections at the so that on one screen in the broadcast booth to help us through years of streaming. But our broadcast level to make it easier for our campus he can view web cams from all our auditoriums specific issues presented unique challenges technicians. We’re pleased by the support from in real time (with a 90 second delay). He can that seemed insurmountable. LA1, and we’re operating smoothly. monitor and address any issue he sees. And that’s while we’re simultaneously streaming We took a nod from churches like Elevation, And all those claims that LA1 made? So far to each campus as well as Facebook and Seacoast, Christ Fellowship, Red Rocks, and they’ve delivered. Since implementing LA1, our website. We’re talking LAN and Cloud Passion City, and began using Living As One. I have yet to utilize a backup due to internet distribution with scalable delivery in 1080p or issues. The image and sound quality have even 4k UHD. We picked Living As One for several reasons. been good. Our public internet signal has The LA1 website promises to provide video not improved, but LA1’s patented Resilient that “never glitches, pixelates, or loses quality.” Streaming Protocol works despite our internet They state that their system can handle inconsistencies. And because we can use So here’s the takeaway about Living As One. complete momentary internet outages without public internet, we’re looking at significantly I don’t wake up at night wondering what we’ll losing any data. Further, they claim to be easy lower ongoing costs. do if the feed drops on Sunday. Although we to operate: simply start the encoder at the Sweet! always keep a backup cued up and ready to broadcast campus, then a technician at the Our volunteers prefer LA1. Now that they’re go, we don’t need to play from it. My volunteers satellite campus selects the event from a menu used to the system, they say that it’s easier are successful. The congregation experiences on a computer screen and clicks play. than before. There’s no more cueing up to find a great, glitch-free, uninterrupted encounter. a start point. The broadcast campus embeds We’re happy. Really, really happy. To us, that sounded like the streaming an exact start point so our campus volunteer Whether you’re a large multi-site streaming to multiple campuses or a single location wanting to step up your online or on-campus live service presence, consider Living As One. You may find it to be a game changer for you, too. Timothy J Miller A worship pastor and technician for over 30 years in small, medium, large, and multi-site churches. In addition to being the WSC campus technology director at Bayside Community Church (an 8-campus, 12k+ congregation along Florida’s Gulf Coast), he writes for church leadership and worship- related publications. His recent book, Born For Worship: The Best You Can Be In Worship Arts Ministry, uses mini-chapters to help teams and individuals explore the biblical foundations that result in growth and effective service. htworship.com [email protected]! February 2020 Subscribe for Free... 187