Cloud recording billing

Introduction

You can use the cloud recording feature to record your audio and video calls to a specified cloud storage address. Alibaba Cloud Real-Time Communication (RTC) supports recording to an Object Storage Service (OSS) address. By default, Alibaba Cloud RTC bills for cloud recording based on the processing duration. The billable duration is the total processing time for the day, measured in minutes. Alibaba Cloud RTC calculates your bill by summing the total duration for each specification used during the day. For more information, see Cloud recording.

Billing details

Cloud recording fee = Unit price of the recording specification × Recording duration usage

• Unit price of the recording specification: The recording specification is determined by the value you set for the TaskProfile parameter in the AddRecordTemplate API operation. This value represents the maximum number of mixed streams and the output resolution for a single recording process. A recording task uses the TaskProfile parameter set in the task as its recording specification, regardless of whether it is an audio or video task. For more information, see Pricing of Real-Time Communication.
• Recording duration usage: Billing starts when the recording begins and ends when it stops. The duration is measured in minutes and rounded up to the nearest minute. If a single recording task is started in a channel, the recording duration usage is the total duration of that task. If multiple recording tasks are started simultaneously in a channel, the recording duration usage is the sum of the durations of all tasks.

Billing examples

The prices in the following examples are for reference only. For the actual prices, see Pricing of Real-Time Communication.

• Example 1:

  Three users are in an audio and video call that lasts 2100 seconds. The audio from all three users is recorded.

  Usage calculation:

  • One cloud recording process is started to record three audio streams.
  • Because only audio is recorded, the recording specification (TaskProfile) is Mixed_Audio (audio-only).
  • The recording length is 2100 seconds, which is 35 minutes.

  Fee calculation:

  Cloud recording fee = Unit price of the specification (CNY 0.0062/minute) × Recording duration usage (35 minutes)

• Example 2:

  Three users are in an audio and video call that lasts 3700 seconds. The audio and video from all three users are recorded as a single mixed stream with an output resolution of 360 × 640.

  Usage calculation:

  • One cloud recording process is started to record three video and audio streams.
  • The task mixes three input streams at an output resolution of 360 × 640 (360p). Because a specification for exactly three streams is not available, the next largest one (4IN) is used. Therefore, the recording specification (TaskProfile) is 4IN_360P.
  • The recording length is 3700 seconds, which is 62 minutes.

  Fee calculation:

  Cloud recording fee = Unit price of the specification (CNY 0.0262/minute) × Recording duration usage (62 minutes)

• Example 3:

  Four users are in an audio and video call that lasts 600 seconds. The audio and video for each user are recorded separately into files with an output resolution of 720 × 1280.

  Usage calculation:

  • Four cloud recording processes are started. Each process records one video and audio stream.
  • Each task records a single audio and video stream at an output resolution of 720 × 1280 (720p). Therefore, the recording specification (TaskProfile) is 1IN_720P.
  • The recording length is 600 seconds, which is 10 minutes.

  Fee calculation:

  Cloud recording fee = Unit price of the specification (CNY 0.0360/minute) × Recording duration usage (10 minutes) × 4