There are a few services you can use to setup your internet campus such as LifeChurch’s www.Churchonlineplatform.com, or 316 Networks http://solutions.316networks.com/ and these are some good services. But the online software that has the best user experience and is the most cost efficient has to be Plain Joe’s Media Social (www.mediasocial.tv) Internet Church Campus software. Media Social has come up with the easiest solution; if we look at the following screenshot we see how they setup their online campus software. Here are the features of Media Social’s Internet Campus Software
- Ad Space – Ad space area for the ministry with images to showcase products, events and services of the ministry.
- Login/Logout – This is the login/logout area of the administrator.
- Who’s Online List – This area shows who all is logged in to the internet campus. This area is used for the ministry to communicate with individuals as well as see important information about everyone logged in and watching.
- Video Player – This is the major viewing area of the online campus. The live or archived video stream is shown here in 640x480 format.
- Announcements/Polls – This great feature allows for real time announcements and polls displayed right under the video player. A great way to communicate with online viewers in a quick and efficient manner.
Here are additional features with Media Social’s Internet Campus Software. Let’s start by looking at the icons that are in the left column of the interactive module beneath the announcements/polls area.
- Livewall – The livewall is the live chat area for real time communication and chatting with administrators and online viewers.
- Notes – The Notes tab allows users to take notes and email them to themselves or others.
- Schedule – The schedule tab shows the schedule for live and/or archived shows.
- Facebook – The Facebook tab is the facebook integration where users can interact with facebook within the internet campus.
- Map – The Map tab shows the locations of online users, anywhere in the world.
- Unlock Tab – The unlcok tab allows the tab to unlock from the page and become it’s own webpage module.
- Additional Ad Space – Beneath these tab features is additional space for image ads for ministry events, products and services.
With all these features setup for you, your organization is responsible for providing video content that you want to stream (mp4 video files) as well as a live streaming provider. In my last book, The iChurch Method Vol. 1, I talked about how to use livestream.com or Ustream.tv as a free live streaming provider and that solution could work with Media Social as well. Another feature not mentioned here that’s available in the back-end is the scheduling feature. Many ministries want to broadcast at a certain time and/or setup a schedule of shows for the day or week. This feature is available via Media Social and the internet campus can become an entire media center for the viewers with scheduled programming very similar to the traditional television experience.