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How does ZEGOCLOUD calculate service minutes?

How does ZEGOCLOUD calculate service minutes?

Last updated：2022-12-08 19:13

Starting on December 9, we calculate minutes of voice call and video call by the number of users rather than by the number of streams.

Users who created accounts before December 9 will still bill for the voice and video calls by the number of streams. If there are any questions about the price, please contact us.

Calculate by the number of users

Suppose N users communicate with each other for M minutes in a video call, the total service minutes = N × M.

If two users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 2 × 10 = 20.
If five users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 5 × 10 = 50.
If ten users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 10 × 10 = 100.

The service minutes purely depend on the number of users in a room, regardless of how many streams each user subscribes to.
If a user joins a room but he does not subscribe to any video streams, the duration will be counted as audio duration, regardless of whether he subscribes to audio streams.
We calculate video usage for each user based on aggregate resolution.

Calculate by the number of streams

Suppose N users communicate with each other for M minutes in a video call and each user subscribes to all remote streams, the total stream = N × (N-1) and the total service minutes = N × (N-1) × M.

If two users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 2 × (2-1) × 10 = 20.
If five users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 5 × (5-1) × 10 = 200.
If ten users talk for 10 minutes, the total service minutes are: 10 × (10-1) × 10 = 900.

If a user subscribes to multiple streams, every remote stream the user subscribes to is counted.
If a user does not subscribe to any stream at a time, no fees will be incurred during this time.
We calculate video usage for each user based on the resolution of the stream to which the user subscribes.

Example

Suppose four users entered a room at the same time and the communication lasted for 60 minutes.

All of them turned on their microphone and camera, each with a video resolution set to 720 × 480.
Use A, B, and C subscribed to all audio and video streams. User D subscribed to audio-only.
User A stayed in the room for 30 minutes and left. User B, C, and D stayed for 60 minutes.

Calculate by the number of users

User	Streams subscribed	Aggregate video resolution	Total	Usage Type	Service minutes
A	Video streams of B, C and D	720 × 480 × 3	1,036,800	Video Full HD	30
B	Video streams of A, C and D	720 × 480 × 3	1,036,800	Video Full HD	30
B	Video streams of C and D(A left)	720 × 480 × 2	691,200	Video HD	30
C	Video streams of A, B and D	720 × 480 × 3	1,036,800	Video Full HD	30
C	Video streams of B and D(A left)	720 × 480 × 2	691,200	Video HD	30
D	Audio	-	-	Audio	60

Cost of each usage type

User Type	Total usage (minutes) = Sum of all individual usage	Unit price (US$/1,000 minutes)	Cost of each service (US$)
Video Full HD	90	8.99	90 minutes × $8.99 / 1,000 minutes = $0.8091
Video HD	60	3.99	60 minutes × $3.99 / 1,000 minutes = $0.2394
Audio	60	0.99	60 minutes × $0.99 / 1,000 minutes = $0.0594

Total cost = $0.8091 + $0.2394 + $0.0594 = $1.1079

Calculate by the number of streams

User	Streams subscribed	Video resolution	Usage Type	Service minutes
A	Video stream of B	720 × 480	Video HD	30
A	Video stream of C	720 × 480	Video HD	30
A	Video stream of D	720 × 480	Video HD	30
B	Video stream of A	720 × 480	Video HD	30
B	Video stream of C	720 × 480	Video HD	60
B	Video stream of D	720 × 480	Video HD	60
C	Video stream of A	720 × 480	Video HD	30
C	Video stream of B	720 × 480	Video HD	60
C	Video stream of D	720 × 480	Video HD	60
D	Audio stream of A	-	Audio	30
D	Audio stream of B	-	Audio	60
D	Audio stream of C	-	Audio	60

Cost of each usage type

User Type	Total usage (minutes) = Sum of all individual usage	Unit price (US$/1,000 minutes)	Cost of each service (US$)
Video HD	390	3.99	390 minutes × $3.99 / 1,000 minutes = $1.5561
Audio	150	0.99	150 minutes × $0.99 / 1,000 minutes = $0.1485

Total cost = $1.5561 + $0.1485 = $1.7046