Additional RTMP Source option for Town Halls using RTMP

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Additional RTMP Source option for Town Halls using RTMP

Keith D 0

I was setting up a new Town Hall meeting using RTPM. I saw a new option on the Meeting Options page in the Production Tools area for "Additional RTMP Source". The tool tip says it would automatically switch over when a network issue occurs. We encode using a Primary and a Secondary encoder as a backup. Obviously each encoder uses the same RTMP URL. Will turning on Additional RTMP Source work in our situation? I hope it could, because it would relieve a lot of stress about switching encoders off and on and waiting for the secondary to connect, and then manually switching it on.

Thank you.

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Answer 1

Hi @Keith D,

Good day, and I appreciate the clear description of your issue.

Regarding your question about the Additional RTMP Source option, it is worth knowing that this feature is specifically designed to work with two separate RTMP ingest endpoints, where each stream has its own unique URL and stream key generated by Teams. Since your current setup has both the Primary and Secondary encoders pointing to the same RTMP URL, the automatic failover will unfortunately not trigger as expected. This is because Teams needs to monitor two distinct streams independently in order to detect when the primary encounters a network issue and switch over to the backup accordingly.

The great news, however, is that only a small adjustment to your current workflow is needed to make this work exactly the way you are hoping for. Please follow the steps below to get everything configured correctly.

1/ Confirm whether your Town Hall provides a separate secondary RTMP stream for this feature

Open the Town Hall in Teams, select Meeting options, and then go to Production tools.
Turn on RTMP In and then enable Additional RTMP Source.
Review what Meeting options presents for RTMP details and check whether it displays both a primary RTMP stream and a secondary RTMP stream that you can configure separately.
If both streams are shown, configure your primary encoder with the primary RTMP details and configure your secondary encoder with the secondary RTMP details so Teams can perform the automatic switch when needed.
Reference: Use RTMP-In in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

2/ Validate the behavior with a short test event before production day

Schedule a short test Town Hall and start streaming using the primary encoder first.
Briefly stop the primary encoder stream to simulate an interruption, and then monitor whether the Town Hall continues by switching to the additional RTMP source automatically.
Record the timing and the outcome so your production team has a simple runbook for the live event.

3/ Confirm policy and network readiness to reduce the chance of ingest interruptions

Verify that RTMP In is allowed for the organizer in the Teams meeting policy, because RTMP In availability is controlled through policy settings.
Ensure the RTMP ingest endpoints are reachable and that the required ports are allowed for RTMP and RTMPS traffic, since these are prerequisites for stable ingest.
If this is a high visibility event, align with Town Hall network quality guidance so the stream is less sensitive to jitter and packet loss during production.
Reference: Manage RTMP-In for Teams meetings, webinars, and town halls - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If you have any updates regarding the issue, please feel free to share them with me.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation.

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Keith D 0 Reputation points

2026-04-06T18:36:31.54+00:00

Has this function been officially released and tested?
Vy Nguyen 9,890 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-06T20:16:33.0033333+00:00

Hi @Keith D,

Thank you for following up on this.

From your question, this functionality has been officially announced by Microsoft and is in the process of general release for Teams Town Halls. Microsoft introduced the Additional RTMP Source feature as a supported reliability enhancement, designed to automatically switch to a secondary RTMP stream when an interruption occurs, and it is positioned as a production‑ready capability rather than a preview or experimental feature.

At the same time, Microsoft recommends validating this behavior with a test Town Hall using your specific encoder setup, as this helps confirm that the automatic switching works as expected within your own production environment before a live event.

For your reference that you can concern: MC1261595 - Microsoft Teams town halls now support backup Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) strea…

This link is shared by community members for your convenience. It points to a third-party site that is not managed or verified by Microsoft. We can’t guarantee the quality, safety, or suitability of any content or software found there. Please review carefully and make sure you understand any potential risks before using it.

Thank you again for your time and patience. I truly appreciate your support and understanding.
Keith D 0 Reputation points

2026-04-07T18:21:15.3066667+00:00

I was about to do a test of this new capability but discovered it looks like it has not actually been implemented yet. When I set up the test, I clicked on enable Additional RTMP Source. After saving and publishing, here is what I see in the Production Tools meeting options:

I saved it but I still don't see a secondary URL or Key. The current URL does not have the stardard opening characters:

[Moderator note: personal info removed]

I assume the current "server ingest URL" of [Moderator note: personal info removed] is the specific number of the stream. Will the full-length URL show in this field in the future?

Is this because it is not fully functional yet? According to the article you linked for me, this capability will roll out at Late April. At that time, I will test again. Will both URLs show up at that point? Will it require one or two keys?

Thank you.
Vy Nguyen 9,890 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-07T22:53:46.9966667+00:00

Hi @Keith D,

Thank you for sharing the results of your testing and for the detailed explanation.

What you are seeing aligns with the current rollout state of this capability. Although the Additional RTMP Source option is visible in the Meeting options, the backend functionality that exposes a secondary ingest URL and key has not yet been fully activated in all tenants. At this stage, the numeric value shown under Server Ingest URL represents an internal stream identifier rather than the full RTMP ingest endpoint that encoders normally consume.

Based on Microsoft’s announcement, this behavior is expected until the broader rollout completes later in April. Once the feature is fully enabled, the Meeting options page will present a complete ingest configuration, including the full RTMP URL, and the interface will surface the information needed to support a true secondary stream. At that point, the intent is that both the primary and additional RTMP sources become visible and usable for production scenarios.

Your plan to retest after the late April rollout is the right approach. At that time, the updated interface should clearly indicate whether one or two URLs are provided and how stream keys are handled for primary and secondary encoders.

Wishing you a smooth rest of your day.

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Additional RTMP Source option for Town Halls using RTMP

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