Microsoft Stream – The Future of Workplace Video

Video is one of the most powerful forms of media. It gives you the opportunity to convey meaningful messages, tell a story, and connect with others in ways that cannot be done otherwise. Video is a media outlet that is heavily engrained in our personal lives, and as it continues to grow, we should use it to make an impact in the workplace. This is the goal of the new Microsoft Stream business video service - to bring the power of video into the workplace and give organizations access to its many benefits.

With the preview launch of Microsoft Stream, we wanted to share some of the features that make it an easy, collaborative, and social experience for users:

• Ease of upload and organization: With easy drag and drop capabilities you can quickly upload your videos and organize them how you see fit
• Discover relevant content: With content discovery powered by machine learning you can find content through “trending” videos and searches by hashtag, most liked videos and other terms
• Watch anywhere on any device: With Stream being optimized for mobile usage you can take this content on the go with you, whenever and wherever you are.
• Secure video management: Backed by the powerful Azure Active Directory, manage who can view your content within your organization
• Engage with content: Make video social with the ability to share via email, like your favorites, and more.

Those who are using Microsoft Office 365 may already be utilizing the existing Office 365 Video platform. As Stream builds upon the feedback and success of Office 365 Video, these two platforms will converge making Stream the de facto video experience within Office 365. While Stream is still being developed, there will be no changes made to the current Office 365 Video experience.

As Microsoft continues to build upon the Stream platform, they are looking to develop something that makes video an extraordinary experieince within the workplace. As the platform continues to evolve, it will include some of the following ideas:

• Deliver corporate broadcast seamlessly: This will allow organizations a better way to communicate and connect through live video with Stream becoming the hub for both live and video on demand.
• Intelligent video search: No longer do you have to skip around the video looking for content, with intelligent video search you can search within the video. Leveraging capabilities such as audio transcription and face detection, Stream allows for a deep searching making relevant content easier to find and faster.
• Make video part of your business apps and workflows: Building on the Office 365 platform Stream is able to integrate with other apps such as Microsoft Flow, SharePoint, and many others.
• IT management capabilities: Being able to manage the content your organization shares is a big deal so Stream allows for IT to manage permissions throughout Stream. From removing and monitoring content to granting access to channels, IT has the tools to ensure the best experience for its organization.
• Microsoft Stream App Ecosystem: Instead of locking down the API Microsoft will be opening it up to allow partners to create custom applications and make them available in AppSource, Microsoft’s marketplace for business applications that was announced earlier this month. 

We're looking forward to the exciting new features coming to video with Microsoft Stream and hope you are too. For more information about Microsoft Stream and how to get started managing videos within your organization, please visit the Microsoft Stream webpage.

Contact Interlink for more information.