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You can check a Switchboard Live broadcast remotely in two places: Switchboard’s Workflow page shows whether it is receiving your encoder’s video and the state of its destinations; YouTube’s Live Control Room shows YouTube-side stream health and status errors. These are dashboard checks, not proof of automatic alerts to your phone when you are away.
What “offline” means
Being offline can mean you are away from the streaming computer, or that the broadcast itself is not live. Switchboard uses OFFLINE for workflow or destination status when a stream is not actively live. You can still open its dashboard remotely, provided you have internet access and account access.
The documented workflow shows visual status in the dashboard. The Switchboard and YouTube help pages do not establish that an operator away from both dashboards will automatically receive a call, text, push notification, or email.
Check the stream remotely
- Open Switchboard’s Workflow page: Switchboard Workflow Page. Its confidence monitor previews the video Switchboard receives from your encoder. When video is not arriving, the monitor can show no activity, the encoder pane can show “Not receiving video,” and destinations can show OFFLINE.
- Check the incoming signal: When the encoder is connected and sending video, the Workflow page can show connection status, bitrate, FPS, errors, and live/offline status. This tells you whether the feed is reaching Switchboard; it does not confirm that every viewer can play the YouTube stream.
- Check the YouTube destination: Switchboard’s Destination Details documentation describes destination broadcast status and a URL for viewing the live stream. Open that URL, preferably from a second device, to check the viewer experience as well.
- Open YouTube Live Control Room: Review stream health and Stream status for YouTube-side ingestion or delivery problems. YouTube says Stream status can include specific error messages with instructions. See YouTube’s guide to live-stream metrics.
How to interpret what you see
Switchboard shows no video or “Not receiving video”
The problem is upstream of Switchboard or at the encoder connection: Switchboard is not receiving a video feed to forward. Check that the encoder is running, connected to the intended workflow, and sending video. Switchboard’s Workflow Page states: “If the confidence monitor shows no activity and your status doesn’t read ‘Encoder Connected,’ Switchboard isn’t receiving any video and cannot send to your destinations until it does.”
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Switchboard receives video, but YouTube is offline or reports an error
The feed is reaching Switchboard, but the destination’s state or YouTube-side status needs attention. Check the destination details and YouTube Live Control Room’s Stream status for an error message and its suggested action. A healthy incoming signal at Switchboard is not by itself confirmation of successful YouTube delivery.
The YouTube viewing page does not show what you expect
Check the actual viewing URL from another device and compare it with the destination status and Live Control Room. This separates the signal Switchboard receives from the stream as presented on YouTube.
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What the dashboards do—and do not—tell you
| Where you check | What it can show | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Switchboard Workflow page | Encoder connection, received video preview, bitrate and FPS when video is arriving, errors, workflow live/offline state, and destination status. | That every viewer can play the YouTube stream, or that an away operator will receive an alert. |
| YouTube Live Control Room | YouTube stream health and Stream status, including specific error messages with instructions. | That Switchboard is receiving the encoder feed; check Switchboard for that part of the signal path. |
Switchboard’s Updates changelog includes a stream-health feature announced February 9, 2026. It describes a visual healthy, warning, or bad health badge, with encoder connection status, quality tier, bitrate stability, and troubleshooting guidance. This is a documented dashboard feature, not a guarantee of alert delivery or a specified failure-detection time.
Scheduled YouTube events still involve operator checks
Switchboard’s scheduled YouTube Event instructions describe manual actions on the event date: keep Switchboard and YouTube Control Room open, start the encoder, check the confidence monitor, and use the Go Live controls. The guide also describes YouTube Auto-Start, which starts when video arrives. That option is not evidence of unattended alerting, automatic failure recovery, or an end-to-end guarantee.
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After the broadcast
Use YouTube Analytics for post-stream metrics when appropriate. YouTube says live metrics become available there within minutes after a live stream ends; for real-time stream health during a broadcast, use Live Control Room instead. See YouTube’s metrics guide. The separate YouTube live-streaming guide covers getting started with live streaming.
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