External production

Live events can have a professional, production-grade feel if you bring in external encoders to produce the event. Encoders are either software or hardware that is used with professional recording audio and video equipment. Encoders output a Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP or RTMPS over SSL). RTMPS is a specific protocol for streaming audio, video, and data over the internet with a persistent connection. Ultimately, it is designed to deliver smooth video and audio quality during broadcasts over the internet.

Whenever you have an external encoder for a live event through Teams, Yammer, or Stream, Stream will be the service that produces the event. Stream supports both hardware and software-based encoders. Microsoft published a document listing previously tested encoders: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/stream/live-encoder-setup.

To use Stream and leverage external encoders, you should make sure the right users are allowed to create live events in Stream...