In an attempt to solidify its approach to business apps and its ambition to remove barriers, Microsoft announced today the launch of Stream (preview), a service that enables users to share videos with their work colleagues. The service, in essence, is similar to other video streaming platforms like YouTube and Vimeo with the added trust factor of Microsoft.
Microsoft says that Stream will democratize access to and discovery of video at work. The aim is to take the “work” out of managing video storage and security and help organizations and their employees to communicate and collaborate with video more easily. The service, for now, is free to use.
The Redmond giant says that anyone with a work email address can now sign up to the preview version of Stream and start enjoying its perks. The platform allows users to upload, view, search for, tag and share videos. And while all these features and more are provided by services like YouTube, many businesses prefer Microsoft and Stream may appeal largely to them.
What to expect…
The service is very easy to use and users can upload videos by simply dragging and dropping them. Organizing your channel and viewing other videos are even more simple. Stream also comes packed with a “trending” videos service that is powered by machine learning. This will bring out the videos you’re most likely to watch and like. Other than this, you can search for videos using hashtags, too(#perfect).
The service is also compatible will almost all types of devices to improve user-experience. There is no comprises on the privacy front and you have the power to manage who views your videos. This secure application access is enabled by Azure Active Directory, a recognized leader in identity management systems, to protect sensitive corporate content.
Microsoft also adds that with further development in Stream, the company may bring the service to Office 365 to enhance users’ multimedia experience. The Office 365 video streaming service was welcomed by many users with open arms and Microsoft hopes to make the service better with this new integration.
The company is also hoping that Stream will draw a great deal of developer attention. To feed this and improve the service even further, the company is releasing APIs for outsourcing. J
We believe our partners will take Microsoft Stream experiences to the next level. Using Microsoft Stream APIs, partners will be able to create custom applications and make them available in AppSource, Microsoft’s marketplace for business applications we announced earlier this month.
