February 2023 Summaries

Mux Video introduces Streaming Export functionality, allowing customers to export Live Stream Input Health data in near real-time to their cloud infrastructure. This feature is useful for those who need raw data for custom dashboards or analytics tools and can handle large volumes of data at scale. The streaming export includes encoder metadata and detailed health data, enabling real-time monitoring and troubleshooting of live input health from the encoder device. Mux customers on the Media Data plan have this feature enabled at no extra cost, while others may request access through their sales team.

The process of troubleshooting video metrics and CDN logs can be likened to searching for lost toys, as both involve navigating through complex systems in search of a specific cause or item. In the case of video metrics and CDN logs, server-side errors may impact playback experiences, but it's difficult to know which ones actually had an impact on the viewer’s experience. Common Media Client Data (CMCD) has emerged as a solution to this problem by providing a standard way of passing some standardized data from the player to the CDN, enabling teams to get end-to-end visibility into their viewer experience and resolve issues more effectively. Many major CDNs already support or are building features for CMCD, making it an increasingly valuable tool in improving video playback experiences.

Mux has introduced resolution-based pricing for video streaming, allowing users to control costs based on the quality of video being streamed. The new Up to 720p Tier offers lower prices for Storage, Encoding, and Streaming of videos at or below 720p resolution. Videos with larger resolutions will fall into the Above 720p Tier, retaining the same price as before. This change provides more pricing flexibility without increasing complexity or higher-resolution costs.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are company-supported groups built around shared identities or experiences that offer support and community for employees while acting as a source of advocacy for issues and policies pertaining to the group. ERGs can help improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within a company by addressing disparities in employee satisfaction among different groups and promoting equitable policies and an inclusive culture. At Mux, they co-founded their first ERG, Organized Marginalized Genders (OMG), which focuses on improving DEI components such as de-biasing hiring processes, hosting recruiting events, organizing internal events for networking and community building, advocating for policies or benefits useful to the group, providing a forum for members to discuss shared issues, and advising the company on public positions, marketing, and communications. ERGs can face challenges such as significant events affecting their members or layoffs within the company, but with supportive leadership and committed partners across other organizations, they can improve cohesiveness and belonging while offering valuable learning opportunities for individual contributors and managers alike.

The partnerships team at Mux collaborated with product and venture studio Paloma on a video streaming project for their app, Pals by Paloma. The app focuses on connecting remote workplace teams through the recording and sharing of short-form video content. Paloma chose to use Mux's Video and Data APIs to handle uploading, streaming, playback, analytics, and metrics for user engagement in the app. By using Mux, Paloma was able to significantly reduce delivery time from several months to under six weeks while focusing on solving customers' problems.