ATG launches upgraded audio and video streaming on any device

ATG is pleased to announce the launch of its upgraded live auction audio and video streaming service. Bidders can now hear and watch a live auction in real time on any device and in any browser with no latency.

Every year millions of people view live auctions on ATG’s live bidding service. Of those, up to half are active bidders at these auctions with the remainder just viewing the auctions. The challenge for ATG was to deliver audio and video to this large number of viewers whilst ensuring no down time over the course of an eight-hour auction and less than one second latency. After extensive testing of different solutions, ATG rolled out its new audio and video streaming service in October 2018. The new service met ATG’s criteria of extremely high levels of availability and minimal latency.

The new audio and video streaming service works on any device including iPhones and android phones. The streaming service also works on 4G networks allowing auction enthusiasts and bidders to see and hear the auctioneer and bid in an auction while they are on the move. The mobile version has been designed expressly to make bidding on a phone easy. A bidder using a mobile can see the lot images, lot description, bid button and video whilst listening to the auction all at the same time and in one screen. This is even more important now that over 50% of visits to ATG’s portals take place on mobile devices.

All visitors to ATG’s portals can use the new streaming service, regardless of whether they wish to bid or not. John-Paul Savant, CEO of Auction Technology Group commented “Listening to the auctioneer and watching a public auction live are a key part of converting new bidders to buying at auction. Despite the significant additional costs in infrastructure, we want all browsers of our marketplaces to be able to watch and hear public auctions[1] regardless of whether they intend to bid or not. Hearing and seeing the auctioneer makes the process more transparent for new bidders and encourages them to bid.”

[1] Where the auctioneer agrees to non-registered bidders viewing the auction