Live Professional Captioning

 

This guide will show you how to order live professional captions in 3Play Media's online platform.

 

Before ordering

As a first step, make sure the 3Play team has enabled Live Professional Captioning in your 3Play account.

You can verify this by starting a Live Captioning order. If you do not have the ability to select Service Type (see screenshot), then contact your 3Play account team to enable Live Professional Captions and to learn more about this service. 

 

 

In your account

Below are steps to order a professionally captioned event. 

 

Step 1

Navigate to the Live Captioning module from the top menu in the 3Play platform, and click "Schedule Live Captions."

 

Step 2

Pick a video platform to schedule captions for. 

 

Step 3

Select the event that you'd like to have professionally captioned. Then click "Next Step". 

 

For an RTMP or "Streamless" stream:

• Confirm the Event Start Time. Note that this time may be pulled into 3Play from your video platform. Event Start Time represents the time at which your audience-facing event will begin.
• Select service type, Professional
• Select Stream Start Time. If you would like to verify your stream connectivity prior to the Event Start Time, we recommend selecting a Stream Start Time 10-20 minutes in advance of your Event Start time.
• Stream Start Time is the time at which 3Play will start listening for a stream from your event; you will not be able to stream to 3Play prior to this time.

 

 

Note:

Your professional captioner will check in 20 minutes prior to the Event Start Time and send test captions. Charges for the event begin when your captioner checks in up to 20 minutes prior to your Event Start Time.

•  Your professional captioner will start delivering captions at the Event Start Time. 
• Test captions sent by the captioner prior to the stream start time will not be displayed on the stream. 

 

 

Step 4

The next page requires the following inputs:

• Estimated event duration.
  • Please note that if your event is matched to a captioner, you will be billed at minimum for the estimated event duration because the captioner is reserved for that duration. 
• Captioning overtime options
  • Choose to either fall back to Live Auto Captions or continue with the professional captioner, depending on their availability. 
• Event type.
  • This helps the captioner prepare for the format of the event. 

Optional recommended inputs to support event caption accuracy include:

• Event Instructions 
  • Information entered here will be automatically provided to the captioner to prepare for the event. This could include speaker notes, information on the format of the event, links to rosters, etc. 
  • Please note that speaker labels entered here will appear in the captions exactly as they are entered here. If you would like all caps speaker labels, please enter them in all caps when ordering. 
• Wordlists
  • words added here will prime our speech engine and be provided to the captioner in advance of the event for their review. 
• Event Contact
  • this field represents the contact information for the person supporting your event, and will help ensure efficiency for any support-related communication. 

 

 

 

Step 5

Upon scheduling completion, the confirmation page provides the Stream URL and Stream Key.

• For any platforms other than Zoom, you need to enter the Stream URL and Stream Key into your encoder to stream to 3Play at the Stream Start Time you specified when ordering.

You now have successfully ordered Live Professional Captions. 

 

Step 6

Prior to your event, you will be able to determine the captioner match status which indicates whether or not a captioner has been matched to your event.

• Any events that are not matched to a captioner will be auto captioned at event start time.
• Event Cancellation Policy:
  • Any events not matched to a captioner may be canceled without a fee up until the Stream Start Time.
  • If your event has been matched to a captioner, you may cancel without charge up to 24 hours in advance of your stream start time
  • If your event has been matched to a captioner, and you need to cancel within 24 hours of your stream start time, you will be charged in full for the estimated event duration (inclusive of captioner preparation time).

 

Customer Support

Leading up to your event

You can create a support case from the Actions dropdown associated with the event.  From the Actions menu in the Live Captioning Dashboard, select 'Request Customer Support'.

 

During an event  

3Play Media will provide access to real-time chat support for the duration of the event. Customers can access the Chat Support feature from the Event Details page.