💡 Why use SRT instead of standard RTMP?

• Ultra-Low Latency: SRT delivers video much faster than standard protocols, making it ideal for live interviews or point-to-point broadcasting.

• Flawless Quality on Bad Networks: If your internet connection drops packets or fluctuates, SRT automatically recovers the lost data, ensuring your viewers don't see buffering or glitching.

• Highly Secure: SRT offers end-to-end encryption, which is critical for government, emergency, or internal corporate broadcasts.

There are two ways to add an SRT destination to your Switchboard Account: directly inside a Stream Group (Method 1) or via the global Destination Manager page (Method 2)

Method 1: Add SRT Output to a Stream Group

Use this method if you are actively building a broadcast and want to add the SRT destination to your workflow immediately.

1. Navigate to the desired stream group.

2. Click Add Destination at the bottom of the stream group.

3. Select Connect More.

4. Choose Add SRT destination.

5. Populate the fields with the appropriate information. Paste the SRT URL in the correct format.

   srt://server.yourdomain.com:8890/?streamid=publish:live/abc12345

6. Give the SRT a name that makes sense.

7. Click Save.

8. The SRT destination will be connected to your Switchboard account and automatically added to the Stream Group.

Method 2: Add SRT Output via the Destination Manager page

Use this method if you are adding several social media channels and custom outputs at once, but aren’t ready to assign them to a Stream Group just yet.

1. Main menu top left > Destinations

2. Select Connect SRT on the top right.

3. Paste the appropriate information into the fields. Paste the SRT URL in the correct format.

   srt://server.yourdomain.com:8890/?streamid=publish:live/abc12345

4. Give the SRT a name that makes sense.

5. Congratulations, you’ve successfully connected the SRT output to your Switchboard account.

6. Now you’ll need to add it to a stream group.

7. Click the main menu top left > Workflow.

8. The workflow page will open.

9. Find the Stream Group you want to add the Destination to. Click the Add Destination at the bottom of the Stream Group.

10. Select SRT Output, then click the toggle button to add it to the stream group.

11. Click Save.

Ready to go Live - Start Multistreaming!

Now that you’ve connected your SRT output destination and prepared your streaming group, you are ready to go live!

1. When you are ready to go live, start sending the live video to your Switchboard account.

2. Check the preview window and make sure the live video feed is showing.

3. Once you’ve confirmed that live video is coming through, click START streaming for the destinations in the stream group, or cherry-pick destinations one by one.

FAQ

Q: Can I stream to social media (Facebook/YouTube) and an SRT destination at the same time?
A: Yes! This is the power of Switchboard Live. You can add standard RTMP destinations (such as Facebook or YouTube) and SRT destinations to the same Stream Group. When you hit "Go Live," Switchboard handles the different protocols automatically, delivering the feed everywhere simultaneously.

Q: Why is my SRT destination failing to connect?
A: The most common issue with SRT connections is incorrect URL formatting. Double-check that your URL begins exactly with srt:// and that you have included the correct port number (the numbers following the colon, e.g., :8890) and the stream ID provided by the receiving server.

Q: Can I send my video into Switchboard using SRT, or do I have to use RTMP?
A: Yes, you can use SRT! Switchboard supports "mixed protocols," meaning you can send your video into Switchboard using SRT, RTMP, or RTMPS, and output it to your destinations in whatever format you need.

How to check if your account supports this:
You simply need to ensure you are using our updated SBL to verify this, look at the Server Ingest URL your Switchboard Workflow page. If your URL contains ingest.sb.zone, your workflow is fully equipped to support SRT ingest!