Livestreaming Success: How Hayworth-Miller Facilitates Meaningful Connections
James Haire
General Manager
Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes & Crematory
Winston-Salem, NC
Average call volume: 1,500 calls/year
When Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes & Crematory began looking for a livestreaming solution, they knew it had to be simple, reliable, and backed by trusted support. After years of considering livestreaming, they finally found a solution that fulfilled all their needs – Encore by Funeral Directors Life (FDL). Since implementing the service, the staff at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes & Crematory can now offer families a way to stay connected no matter where they are.
James Haire, General Manager, said, “Encore supports us every step of the way and helps us create meaningful connections for the families we serve.”
Discover how FDL’s livestreaming service, Encore, has helped James and Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes & Crematory provide families with meaningful service.
Why did you decide to offer livestreaming at your funeral home?
Like many funeral homes, we had been considering livestreaming for several years, but COVID expedited our plan. When people couldn’t attend services in person, we had to find a way to meet that need.
For a while, we would just let the families livestream the services themselves. They’d bring a tablet, and we’d put it in the center aisle of our chapel. We weren’t offering a livestreaming service – we just provided Wi-Fi. It wasn’t ideal, but we didn’t want to offer an unreliable service. We held off until we could find a partner and a platform we could truly trust.
Why didn’t you go with other livestreaming options like Facebook Live?
Facebook Live was never a good solution – it was just our only option. We explored other platforms, but the costs were too high, or the responsibility fell entirely on us to manage everything.
We didn’t want to just buy livestreaming technology. We wanted a partner who would support us, evolve with us, and help us deliver something meaningful to families. And with Encore, that’s what we got. They continued to improve, test, and innovate, which gives us confidence in our investment.
How has your experience with livestreaming been?
The Encore Team at Funeral Directors Life has always been available and helpful. We’ve streamed more than just chapel services – we’ve done graveside services, church services, and even remote locations outside city limits.
The flexibility and performance of the equipment have been strong, and Encore makes managing our livestreaming service easy.
How is the setup process?
It’s very easy. You just have to put in a request, press a couple of buttons, and make sure your camera angle is right. We usually pull up the stream on a computer during services to monitor it in real time.
The simplicity was a big part of our decision to go with Encore. We needed something user-friendly that our staff could pick up quickly and use with confidence.
How has Encore’s customer service helped you and your team?
Dependability is everything. It’s great knowing that if something goes wrong, even minutes before a service, we can call someone at Encore and get help. Their team monitors the streams and provides real-time support. They stand behind their product, and that gives us peace of mind. Their level of service is a real differentiator.
How has livestreaming helped the families you serve?
Families are more spread out than ever. Certain people might live across the country, others might not be able to travel due to health reasons, and some just can’t attend the service. Encore makes the world a little smaller and helps those who can’t be at the funeral feel included.
What would you say to funeral homes that are hesitant to offer livestreaming?
If funeral homes aren’t offering livestreaming, they’re falling behind. I get the hesitation – especially for smaller firms with limited staff or resources. But if you can find a way to make livestreaming work, it’s worth it. Livestreaming is one more way to provide value to the families we serve.
In a time when people are choosing less expensive options or skipping services entirely, it’s up to us to prove why funerals still matter. Livestreaming helps us do that.
I encourage other funeral homes to do research and compare their options. I think they will ultimately end up in the same ballpark as we did. After we compared our options, we found that Encore was the best partner for us.
