We are really excited to introduce our speaker Backstage: an easy and powerful tool to power your streams. 

With this in-house backstage, Swapcard becomes even more all-in-one, so it reduces the set-up time and the number of providers you need to deal with. 

From everyday in-person streaming to professional keynote broadcasting, Backstage can do all this and more.

Using our best technology and our HD low latency stream RTMP protocol (Swapcard streaming), Backstage is closing the gap (and the need) for a third-party studio or streaming app.

The goal of Backstage is to provide a tool to generate and edit live streams into Swapcard by inviting speakers to the session and deciding which speaker takes the stage.

Up to 99 speakers can be invited and 16 at a time can share the center stage!

To enrich the streams, Backstage allows users to share moderator and participant screens.

Two versions of Backstage are available right now: one for moderators and one for speakers. Moderators are the creators of sessions and therefore have the option to create a Backstage session and invite speakers. Speakers can then join to start participating in an event app session.

Professional hardware can be used to enhance our 1080 HD videos by selecting any connected hardware like mics and cameras. This equipment can be selected and swapped out while on a stream.

Seamless live streaming with high-definition video and crystal-clear audio is of course at the center of Backstage, allowing a low-latency stream with integrations for the community to quickly participate and interact.

Full and easy integration with Swapcard Studio allows users to create a session and start streaming in a matter of seconds.

To access Backstage as a creator, simply create a session and select “Live Backstage” : 

Users added in the studio session as speakers can participate as they join.

Speakers can easily join via an invite link or by simply opening the event app and navigating to the session. Once in the session, invited speakers will see a button prompting them to join the stage. Clicking on the “Join Backstage” button will redirect the speaker Backstage. Now, the speaker only has to wait for the moderator or directly join the Backstage session.

Speakers and moderators alike have the option to select hardware while in the waiting room or when in the stream. They can also toggle mute or unmute and turn the camera on or off.

Moderators can decide who takes the center stage and who is on the stream by simply toggling the user switch to on. A default layout template will be available for now, and different ones will be available at later dates.

The option to go live or end a stream on the event app is also for the moderators to decide by simply clicking the “Go live” button in Backstage. There is no need to be present in Studio. If moderators wish to have control of ramp credentials, stream data, and so on, they can continue using all of the existing features in Studio for RTMP.

Both Speaker and Moderator versions are accessible at any time from mobile and web.

Screensharing into the Backstage

As a moderator or a speaker, you can share your screen with Backstage.

On the Backstage platform, a new button just below the main stage allows you to share your screen:

Once you click on it, a pop-up from your browser will ask which screen or window you would like to share, and then it will appear in the bottom list as shown below:

At any time, while any speaker is sharing their screen, the moderator (and moderator only) will be able to invite the person screen-sharing on the main stage.

The Main Stage layout will then automatically adapt to allow for maximum space of the screen sharing.

Available features now in our first version

Moderator view with functionalities:

• Toggle speakers on or off stage
• Mute/unmute self
• Mute/unmute speakers
• See participants in speaker reel
• Set moderator on or off stage
• Add up to 16 speakers to live canvas
• Set up a studio session with Backstage functionality
• Go live on event app from Backstage
• Invite users within a community from Studio to participate in Backstage session
• Stream to event app using Swapcard RTMP
• Option to select a third-party provider if Backstage is not a preference
• Closed captioning in stream through Backstage
• Screensharing

Speaker view with functionalities:

• Jump from event app to Backstage as speaker, if invited
• Mute/unmute self
• Stream to event app using Swapcard RTMP
• Closed captioning in stream through Backstage
• Views depending on if speaker is on live canvas or in waiting room
• Waiting room
• Waiting view for speaker
• Screensharing

Upcoming features

Backstage will continue to add features in the future

• Private chat among moderator and speakers
• Display the session live discussion (chat, questions, polls) in backstage
• Select from a list of banner formats and be able to enter text to show in stream 
• Select from a list of template formats to change the format of the stream 
• Upload a logo and a background to the stage
• Upload a video file to stream it live
• Backstage as a sandbox (for pre-recording a session)