Why did Wake County adopt video streaming technology?
Wake County Commissioners and staff are committed to ensuring that the business of county government is as open and accessible as possible to the people we serve. Video streaming technology, otherwise known as webcasting, is making communications with residents easier and more convenient. The technology also offers complete transparency to government public policy and business operations, thus bringing government closer to the people.
Who will use it?
This technology will be useful to citizens, county staff, local businesses, other government agencies, legal entities, news media, visitors and global audiences. Basically, anyone interested Wake County government can use it.
Has the technology been successful in other jurisdictions?
Granicus streaming solutions have been perfected over many years of working hand-in-hand with local government. Granicus has proven success with more than 350 governments in 35 states – representing nearly 25% of the entire American population – and has successfully managed more than 85,000 streams and handled more than one million requests for streaming per month. Granicus' experience and expertise is unmatched in the industry. Locally, Granicus provides video streaming solutions for the City of Raleigh, Durham County, City of Durham, and the Town of Chapel Hill. Among other local governments using Granicus in the state are the City of Wilson, the City of Greenville, Onslow County, Mecklenburg County, Winston-Salem, City of Greensboro, Town of Indian Trail, Iredell County and the City of Wilmington.
How can a citizen benefit from this technology?
Any citizen can access the Wake County website’s video portal to watch any public meeting live or on-demand with the simple click of a mouse. This accessibility tool enables citizens to stay connected to Wake County government and track local policy decisions that affect their way of life. Viewing is pleasurable and convenient for the end user. Controls allow them to jump to specific portions of a meeting when a particular subject was discussed; keyword search makes finding information even easier for the end user who is not familiar with the proceedings of specific meetings. Additionally, Wake County intends to use the Granicus service for non-meeting-related, online video content.
Who will benefit most?
Anyone with an interest in Wake County government, including citizens who may not be able to attend the meetings in person, will benefit greatly.
What about folks who don't have access to a computer?
All Wake County public libraries have computers that allow citizens to access the Internet. In addition, Board of Commissioners’ meetings are open to the public and can be attended in person. One can also watch the Board of Commissioners’ meetings on the local access cable government channel.
What about Mac computer users?
Mac users are able to watch video on the WakeGOV site using Windows Player 9 for Macs. If you are using a Macintosh, you will need a G3 or newer with Mac OS X installed. Wake County has tested the video service on a Mac running OS X, and we recommend using the Window Media Player 9 with the FireFox browser. Mac users with an Intel processor will need to download the Flip4Mac plug-in.
What if I need technical support?
Full troubleshooting information and links to download the free Windows Media Player can be found in our help section. You will also find contact information for our Web Support Team.
Why Granicus?
With the Granicus solution, we gained more than just a video-hosting and -streaming service. The Granicus product provides the County with:
- A software tool that captures the minutes during the meeting and indexes them with the video
- An integrated tool for publishing agendas online
- Indexed video of meetings that allows a visitor to jump exactly to the point of specific interest in the video
- A feature to search past meeting videos, agendas and minutes and go directly to a desired topic
- A solution that reduces demands on the County network. The County’s website receives more than 28 million external page views a year from 2 million external visitors. That is a lot of traffic on our website! Video clips are large in file size. Placing large video files and streaming four-hour Commissioners’ meetings can place substantial demands on our network, thus slowing the site’s responsiveness to other citizens performing WakeGOV’s many online services. The Granicus service reduces the demand on our network so that video files do not slow our network response.
How much did the video streaming solution cost?
$54,250 is the initial investment cost for software and hardware, which included additional hardware for internal storage, lifetime licenses, staff training, software/hardware configuration, website integration and stream-replication software to reduce demands on the County network. A monthly fee of $2,350 includes unlimited bandwidth from Granicus data centers, hosted video storage, equipment maintenance, software/hardware support, and more.
Were there cheaper options?
Cheaper solutions were evaluated, but they lacked the features and the ability to meet all of the County’s needs. The County has been publishing video clips on the WakeGOV site for more than a year using low- and no-cost methods; however, they did not meet our needs for streaming and archiving public meetings. Granicus reliably integrates into Wake County's existing systems and infrastructure, yielding measurable cost-effectiveness and greater efficiency in streaming management and distribution than the less-expensive alternatives.
What's the best thing about this technology?
Video streaming provides complete, convenient and reliable access to the democratic process, improvements to the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of government communications, and tremendous potential for greater citizen engagement in government decisions that contribute to our community’s quality of life.