Nearly a decade ago, Microsoft first launched its video streaming service called Soapbox, which failed to get off the ground and also ran into content filtering issues. It was eventually discontinued as it could not keep up with YouTube and numerous other video services. Now, the company is once again dabbling with the idea, but this time it is targeting business users who need to upload and share content.
The company announced on its blog the launch of its new Microsoft Stream video service for businesses of all sizes, used to manage and share videos in a secure manner. In the blog post, James Phillips, VP of Microsoft BI Products group has revealed that anyone with a business email account can sign up for the free preview of the service.
Microsoft Stream features business-specific scenarios, such as organization-level sharing and tagging, and also includes hashtags, trends, likes and channels for content discovery. The service provides secure access and content protection using Azure Active Directory. Users can simply drag and drop their videos, which will then be uploaded and be ready to be shared using email or direct links. The videos can also be embedded into websites using HTML code.
It seems Office 365 Video is also set to benefit from the launch of the Microsoft Stream, but the company will be revealing more about the future enhancements once Stream is ready for primetime. Developers can use the Microsoft Stream APIs to make AppSource apps that integrate with Stream.
To register with the service, users can visit stream.microsoft.com and get started.
Source: Microsoft