Switchboard Cloud Onboarding Video

When live streaming, everything starts with an encoder — the app or program that sends your video signal to Switchboard Cloud — and a destination, or the channel you want to stream to, such as YouTube or Facebook Live. To connect your encoder and your destination, we’ll set up what’s called a workflow in the Switchboard Cloud platform. Your workflow dashboard is what you see when you log in. 

Since we’re sending a single, outgoing live stream to multiple destinations at once, your workflow will group all of your outgoing destinations together. You can change settings, such as the stream title, on a per-group basis.

Step 1: Connect your encoder to Switchboard Cloud. These steps will help you set up a new encoder workflow in Switchboard Cloud, so you’re ready to go live anytime. In this example, we’ll use OBS for our encoder (the steps are the same, regardless of which encoder you use, but here are some instructions you can follow in case you’re using another one).

First, we need to tell our encoder where to stream to (the Switchboard Cloud platform). We’ll do this by providing the encoder with a URL and a Stream Key, which is like a password for your live stream. The stream key will be visible already in the workflow panel on the left side of the screen. 

To see the URL, we’ll need to first select the server that’s closest to us from the drop-down menu. In our example, that’s “US East North.” Next, we need to copy the server URL so we can enter that in the OBS platform. This step will connect OBS to Switchboard Cloud.

Open OBS, then click Settings > Stream > Service > Custom. Now you can paste in the server URL. We’ll repeat these steps to add our stream key. 

Step 2: Add Destinations. Now we’ll add the destinations you want to stream to — Facebook, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, and any others. To do this, click on the “+” icon next to the social logos at the top of your workflow screen. This is where you can add new destinations or, in the future, reuse ones you created earlier. We want to add a new one, so we’ll click that option.

The next step varies slightly for every destination, but the idea is always the same: You click on the destination, authorize Switchboard Live — and you’re ready to stream. Add as many destinations as you want, and then click “Finish.”

Step 3: Go Live. Now is the fun part — simply click on “GO LIVE,” and now you’re streaming live video to all of the destinations you’ve selected at once!