Audio Broadcasts can be made by an author of a geminar anytime. But usually, authors broadcasts when he/she receives a “beckon” notification from an audience member. However, an author is actually free to broadcast live audio whenever needed. The current audience viewing that Geminar page would be able to hear the author.

Any viewer of the Geminar can click on the “Beckon Author” button at the top of the chat area. This will result in a notification being sent specifically to the author. If that author had setup the notification app (ntfy.sh) he/she would get the notification inside his/her own phone.

Broadcasts are done using a simple broadcasting software. We recommend BUTT – it is available for Windows, Macs and Linux https://danielnoethen.de/butt/ You can also broadcast audio from your mobile phone. Use the CoolMic app to broadcast from an Android phone. The author of BUTT also has an app for iPhones that can be used for broadcasting.

For a complete list, see the section on source clients here: https://icecast.org/apps/

A source client is named thus due to the fact that the audio source originates from that software. Any such “source client” software; i.e. one that would transport your live audio to your audience, would need the following data:

1. The type of broadcasting to be done. Choose ICECAST (or ICECAST2 if that's available.) Do not choose “SHOUTCAST” or “WEBRTC” as those are different technolgies.
2. The address of our icecast2 server setup for Geminars. This would be radio.sabufrancis.com
3. The “mount point” used for that Geminar you are broadcasting into – it will look something like this /GEM_xxxx That means the first 5 characters are /GEM_ Some software omits the first slash. The mount points are shown for each Geminar in the author's own dashboard – and nowhere else. Please keep these mount points private.
4. The codec to be used. This MUST be OPUS
5. The bitrate to be used. This MUST be 96kbps or less. If your Internet connection is slow, choose 64kbps.
6. The username to be used – this is always the author's own username at Geminars.
7. The password to be used. This is used only for that author. It is NOT the same as the regular account password. You can read this password in the Profile dialog.

All “source client” would surely need the above information. Each software has its own way to configure. We'll explain how to do that with BUTT – you can search for the same settings in any other software that you use.

Listening is quite easy. When an author starts broadcasting using any of the mentioned source clients with the correct settings, then that views of that Geminar will get a system sent message in the chat; telling them what to do. Typically, an extra “Hear!” button will be seen just below the video area. Click on that to listen to the author speaking. If the Geminar video was currently playing, it would get paused. Viewers do NOT need any extra software. It works within the browser itself. Do not leave the page, though.

Audio Broadcasts are always paid by the author and never by the audience. Our home page has the current pricing: A tiny amount of credits are deducted for each minute of audio broadcast. The deduction is done at the end of the broadcast.

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