Objective

Estimating Video API monthly charges using the Participant Pricing Model.

Applies To

• Video API
• Participant Pricing Model

Answer

Participant minute pricing model bills according to the number of participants in the session, which is useful for larger multiparty sessions. Technically, a participant is a connection through the API, which typically corresponds to a single person or device. But a person can connect multiple times from the same or different devices, in which case they will be multiple participants. More information about this pricing model is explained in How does Participant Pricing Model work?

How to Calculate Usage

For the above use case, User 1 connects to the session and starts publishing at 00.05 min followed by User 2 and User 3 connecting to the session. Since there are 3 participants connected in a session the number of participant minutes = each minute the number of participants connected in the session.

00.05 - 00.10 - User 1 (5 min)

00.10 - 00.15 - User 1, User 2, User 3 (3 x 5min = 15 min)

00.15 - 00.25 - User 2, User 3 (2 x 10 min = 20 min)

00.25 - 00.30 - User 2 (5 min)

Total Participant Minutes = (5+15+20+5) = 45 participant minutes.

How are the participant minutes calculated for Publishers publishing more than one stream?

Irrespective of how many streams the publisher publishes, it is still considered as one connection. The PPM would be calculated for the duration the user is connected with the session.

Are there any charges when only 1 User is connected to the session and has not yet started to publish?

No, the participant minutes will start to be calculated when there is at least 1 participant in the call who is publishing. For example, User 1 is connected to the session but starts to Publish after 5 min, the participant minutes would be calculated only after User 1 publishes. Furthermore, the billing is fully dynamic across the session with each minute looked at separately for the maximum publishers and participants there are during that minute (so minute granularity, not less).

Which is the default Pricing model?

We are encouraging users to move to the Participant Pricing model. This is the default pricing model for new users. Existing users have an option to use either of the pricing models.