Strong public demand for video streams broadcast from meetings of the highest municipal bodies and demands for greater meeting and negotiation transparency: these are everyday situations that official representatives must deal with.
Mission Strong public demand for video streams broadcast from meetings of the highest municipal bodies and demands for greater meeting and negotiation transparency: these are everyday situations that official representatives must deal with.
These videos are particularly important when making decisions about the use of public funds or when approving city development programs. Prague's district of Cakovice also needed to find out how to make Council meetings available to as many citizens of the total of 10,000 people residing in this district as possible.
Solution
To be able to broadcast live streams from meetings of the Council the city council selected NetRex. A highquality Axis P1344 camera offering HD 720p picture resolution and high-quality audio is used to film these meetings. The NetRex streaming service broadcasts picture and audio from the camera to a central application platform, where the recorded data is multiplied and distributed to viewers. Unlike regular web streams, this solution allows thousands of viewers to watch streams simultaneously without the need for a high-quality and fast Internet connection at the relevant location. A regular ADSL connection is sufficient. Recordings are continuously stored via the Internet in remote servers and also in high-quality on an SD card in the camera.
Result
Thanks to the city webpage, regular council meetings are now easily accessible to the vast majority of inhabitants in the city district from the comfort of their homes. A great advantage of this solution is the low cost – you do not need to have your own camera, and additionally the fast application of the system and easy control of the streamed broadcast via a web interface.
A magic word called transparency
Representatives of the Prague – Cakovice city district listened to their citizens and looked for ways to provide transparency and access to events and meetings happening in the city office. They decided to stream live video broadcasts from regular meetings of the city council. A good choice proved to be a solution offered by NetRex.
"Our cameras and services offer an ideal solution for live video streaming and recording, not only for regular Council meetings, but thanks to the use of optional mobile modems, also for locations with limited access to the Internet. The advantage of the solution is quick and easy installation and manageability. The powerful streaming platform makes content available to thousands of viewers without putting a significant load on the office Internet connection," says David CapouSek, Director of NetRex.
A window to the City Office
A camera with the activated NetRex system is simply connected to the Internet and the generated video code is inserted into the relevant webpage. No difficult configuration of modems or firewalls and no need to use an individual public IP address. Simply put, it cannot be any easier than this.
The easily manageable and controlled web interface allows the operator to define the quality and stream times including quick ON/OFF switching of the stream. The administration section further allows the operator to insert graphics and links into the life stream referring to other pages, advertisements, or to other stream previews. Another great advantage is the Facebook plug-in module, which makes events available in real-time to additional groups of citizens. The NetRex platform is also capable of transferring live streams to smartphones or tablets, allowing citizens to watch the videos even if they are not at home.
A high capacity SD card is used to store recordings in high resolution. This card is simply inserted into the camera. The correct operation of the camera as well as all other and necessary processes are monitored by NetRex. The system immediately reports any problems to the operator via SMS or email.