First of all I'd like to say that Bits on the Run is the best administrative interface that I've come across and the feature functionality is extremely impressive and fully automated.
I also like the "pay-as-you-go" model and I requested it back when you guys were asking for suggestions when starting up the service. However, there is one major flaw that really contradicts this model and places a limit on views.
The problem is that, with Bits on the Run, the entire length of the video gets deducted from your account immediately, even if you only click the play button for a second or two. Basically, every time I click play once for a second, .1 GB or 100MB is deducted from my account. I know because I did it and watched it. This caused me to run out in two days and have to spend $50 more. Most people DO NOT watch the whole video. Also, and more importantly, when you have customers testing videos to make sure that the players are functioning on each page of their site (which is smart), they will click play once at least on each page. So if a customer has a training course with 300 slides, they will at least deduct 30GB just by clicking each video for one second.
This is not how other pay-as-you-go providers that I used tracked usage. My other provider only deducted what was actually watched. Most of my customers have very little actual minutes viewed so it is very affordable and easy to budget.
I understand that this might be something to do with HTTP streaming vs. RTMP, where the whole video is being downloaded regardless. However, I don't want to be forced into using RTMP with Bits on the Run and lose HTML5 support, etc.
So is there a way to stop the default stream method from transferring the entire unwatched video every time the play button is clicked? I don't see any performance difference vs. the RTMP method where the entire video was not downloaded and I wasn't charged.
If not, I see no way to figure out a pricing model with my customers, other than limiting them to play button clicks and telling them to be sure not to click play "unnecessarily."
Again, I am not complaining, since I think the service, players, and automatic transcoding are amazing features - we just need to be able to make sure we don't lose our shirts when we price a customer.
Some or all of my problem may be due to user error or lack of knowledge so hopefully there is a simple solution.
Right now I am afraid to check my account everyday :)
Thanks guys.
We do not traffic the entire video stream the moment users click play. However, because our downloads are fast (1 min videos will generally download in 15 seconds), you could be paying for the entire video while only watching the first portion. You can see this behavior in the player itself by means of the "download" bar that is stacked below the progress bar in the controls.
The solution here "is" RTMP streaming, and in fact a large portion of our user base (all newer accounts) are on RTMP streaming. For HTML5 support, we still fall back to HTTP, so all will continue working.
We'd be happy to switch your account to use RTMP streaming. There'll be no downtime or other service changes, just the reduced bandwidth.
Do note that quite a few customers prefer HTTP, b/c the files can play smoothly also over slow connections. If your target audience is known to have slow connections, RTMP streaming could stutter b/c the bitrate of the lowest stream (the 320px) is still higher than the bandwidth of the user (we're talking sub-512k here).