Ant Media

Whether content was created or consumed, streaming became the prime source of entertainment for most of the world’s population during the pandemic. Among all such content, live-streamed videos became especially popular. Apart from entertainment, video streaming also hit a new high due to the work from home culture, as businesses and organizations conducted video conferences to stay in touch with their workforces. However, a common and glaring issue that many video streaming solutions struggle to overcome is latency and packet loss. Despite several developments in OTT technologies, the lack of scalability and unreliable latencies in video streaming services remains a problem that adversely affects user experience. Explaining the same, Ahmet Oguz Mermerkaya, Chief Executive Officer of Ant Media, says, “Today, everyone wants to have a real-time streaming experience because they need new kinds of interactivity. With traditional solutions providing high latencies, people are in dire need of a scalable, real-time streaming solution. And we have engineered a solution that can achieve this.”

Ant Media is a New York-based provider of scalable, ultra-low latency & adaptive WebRTC streaming engine that offers real-time streaming with 0.5 seconds of end-to-end latency. Its streaming engine supports WebRTC, CMAF, HLS, RTMP, and RTSP to ensure that it is compatible with every client’s requirements. Ant Media Servers (AMS) are easy to scale, and clients can have real-time streaming services within five minutes. AMS has a rapid start-up time, and its adaptability allows it to seamlessly meeting new industry changes such as new codecs and protocols. Additionally, the streaming engine has several noteworthy features that streamline and simplify video streaming processes.

The company’s live streaming solutions utilize adaptive bitrate video capabilities, such that users can experience uninterrupted streaming, regardless of their internet speeds. As AMS is highly scalable, the video streaming can be automatically modified according to the number of viewers. AMS supports millions of viewers and streams with 0.5 seconds latency worldwide. Clients can leverage chat features to increase engagement with the audience and create a better viewing experience. To further enhance user experience, the solutions are compatible with every web browser. AMS supports instant messaging with the help of Javascript API. Additionally, AMS can be used for live video monitoring and surveillance using embedded IP camera systems without installing additional software.

As a completely open-source WebRTC streaming server, the AMS supports developers and streaming ecosystems. Explaining this, Mermerkaya adds, “We have created an ecosystem where we help people to become successful in their projects, both financially and technically. We collaborate with people, and they provide feedback which in turn improves our product.” Ant Media also provides live streaming SDKs (Software Development Kits) for integration with mobile streaming platforms. Additionally, users can also build their own auto-scalable, interactive, real-time streaming platform within five minutes.

Ant Media has a vast client portfolio in 120+ countries that include several industries and sectors such as education, gaming, broadcasting, and auctioning. Next Education, one of India’s largest online education platforms, utilizes AMS to conduct online classes. Other educational organizations such as Knovio and Knowledge Vision also employ it. Nokia uses AMS for video surveillance. NBC, Ross Video, Mega Meeting, Leap Games, Ubisoft, and LSL Auctions use AMS for broadcasting, video conferencing, gaming, and online auctions. Ant Media has a customer-centric operating model that focuses on solving individual clients’ needs to ensure a smooth onboarding process.

The company experiments with the latest technologies to upgrade its services, ensuring that clients get the best—a factor that differentiates it from its competitors. Ant Media is currently developing Spaceport—a volumetric video creation technology that will provide six degrees of freedom to video streaming. “Our dream, since the company’s founding, has been the creation of Spaceport,” says Mermerkaya. This volumetric video technology will be ready by the end of 2021 and is poised to transform the entire streaming industry.