Microsoft Stream is a video platform that businesses can use to securely store and share videos, as well as facilitate collaboration. Another way to describe it is that it combines the best of Microsoft SharePoint and YouTube.
The original Stream app, now called Stream Classic, was released back in 2016. Four years later, in 2020, Microsoft introduced a new edition built on Microsoft SharePoint. While Stream Classic still works in 2023, its features are slowly being shut down over the next few months, and it’s scheduled for retirement at the beginning of 2024.
With Microsoft Stream, you can organise videos into different categories and channels to make it more convenient for your audience to find what they need. Not only that, but you can set precise permissions to control which users will get access to certain videos in order to watch or modify them.
Other useful features include streaming live events, storing Microsoft Teams calls, and adding Microsoft forms to videos. Furthermore, Stream comes with text features such as video captioning, automatic transcribing, and subtitle management.
Read on if you want to learn more about how Stream can benefit your company and how much it would cost if you decide to implement it.
Microsoft Stream Features
There are plenty of features to look forward to when using Microsoft Stream. Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones below.
Live events
You can stream live events in the same way that you would on Facebook and Instagram. This feature is great for remote employee meetings, international customers, and any time when in-person meetings are not possible. It allows users to experience the benefits of video streaming with the familiarity of the Microsoft environment.
Channels
Channels are a handy feature for organising videos based on their goals or objectives. For example, you can create Stream channels for onboarding, training, and human resources, as well as for the CEO to share major company updates.
Saving calls from Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has consistently been one of the most popular webinar and meeting solutions among remote workers. However, due to time variations and other factors, not all users are able to join Teams calls at the same time.
With this feature, they have the ability to record and share meetings for later viewing. Recorded Teams calls are automatically saved in Stream Workspaces as a part of Microsoft 365 Groups.
Group Workspaces
When users create a Microsoft 365 Group, a workspace is created in Stream for the videos. A workspace in Stream is just a safe place for you to store videos. It honours group membership, so only members of the Microsoft 365 Group get access to each workspace.
Integration of Microsoft Forms
Another amazing Stream feature is the ability to embed Microsoft Forms into videos. As a new employee views the videos, such as onboarding videos, forms can be used to collect information or give a quiz.
Video captions
Captions are another great option when it comes to making videos more accessible. This is an essential tool for people who have hearing loss or audiences with varying language proficiency. Stream improves on this feature by allowing administrators to initiate subtitles with a single click, resulting in speedier caption generation for the users.
Custom subtitles
Video subtitles can also be manually added by administrators by either uploading the subtitles or obtaining a template and re-uploading an improved version. The text can also be saved as an image by users (which is great for meeting minutes).
Microsoft Stream Benefits
If you’re considering if you should use Microsoft Stream for your business, here are six important benefits that you should be aware of.
IT management
Businesses must manage the content shared within their organisations. The IT staff can manage permissions throughout the organisation. They have all the resources they need to monitor, filter, and even block Stream content to ensure the greatest user experience possible.
Video security
Users may limit who they share videos with and organise them into logical containers. In addition, the user can restrict access and secure important content as needed, and they have full control over who can modify a video and which channels and groups it will appear in.
Video transcripts
Audio is automatically transcribed, which enhances accessibility and enables more detailed searches inside the videos. It also has a reliable facial detection capability that allows viewers to see where each person is in the video. By clicking on the speaker’s chronology, users can jump to any point in time.
Improved engagement
Microsoft Stream includes interactive video engagement capabilities that allow users to like, comment on, and share videos published to the service. Users can find material by searching for “trending” videos, hashtags, most liked videos, and other factors using machine learning-based content discovery.
Big storage capacity
Stream has a massive storage capacity, allowing you to store 100,000 videos up to a total of 50 GB. Furthermore, Microsoft Stream’s shared storage for all users simplifies storage availability management across the company.
Integration with Microsoft services
It is compatible with other Microsoft services, such as SharePoint. As an example, if a company works with SharePoint users who provide an employee training session, Streams allows them to distribute the information immediately on SharePoint.
Microsoft Stream Pricing
When it comes to Microsoft Stream’s pricing plans, you have four options to choose from, including Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Office 365 E1, Office 365 E3, and Office 365 E5.
For a quick glance at their features and pricing, take a look at the list below.
Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise ($12 user/month)
Enterprise Office with cloud-based file sharing and storage. Business email addresses are not included.
Office 365 E1 ($10 user/month)
Email, file sharing and storage, Office on the web, IM and meetings, and other business services are available. Office is not included.
Office 365 E3 ($23 user/month)
All of the tools from Microsoft 365 for Enterprise and Office 365 E1 are included, as well as security and compliance.
Office 365 E5 (custom pricing)
Office 365 E3 tools plus voice, improved security, and analytics features.
