Streams overview
Everything you need to know about Streams — Ombea's way of collecting feedback.
- You need admin access to do this. About roles
A Stream is a feedback collection flow — the survey, the poll, the "tap a smiley." Every Stream contains one or more Blocks (questions) and connects to one or more Touchpoints (where people respond).
Create a Stream once, connect it to as many Touchpoints as you like, and responses flow into your Dashboard automatically.
Choose Your Stream Type
| Type | Channel | Multi-question | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExpressPod | Physical smiley device | No | High-traffic areas, queues, exits |
| ExpressTab | Tablet | Yes | In-store, waiting rooms, events |
| Link | URL / QR code | Yes | Emails, receipts, printed materials |
| Website Widget | Website pop-up | Yes | Online visitor feedback |
| Desktop Widget | Employee computer | Yes | Employee pulse surveys |
| Google Reviews | Google Business Profile | — | Reputation monitoring |
| Trustpilot | Trustpilot | — | Reputation monitoring |
Creating a Stream — The General Flow
Regardless of type, the wizard follows the same pattern:
- Click Streams in the left menu
- Click the + button and choose a Stream type
- Questions tab — add your Blocks, set their order, add translations if needed
- Settings tab — name the Stream, select Touchpoints, choose your satisfaction index
- Click Save
That's it. Your Stream is live.
Start with one question. Get it running, see the data flow in, then add more questions later. You can edit a live Stream anytime.
Set up guides
- Set Up an ExpressPod Survey — physical smiley buttons
- Set Up a Tablet Survey — multi-question tablet survey
- Set Up a Link Survey — URL for email, SMS, QR codes
- Set Up a Website Widget Survey — pop-up on your website
- Desktop Widget — pop-up on employee computers (employee pulse surveys)
Stream Mix
A Stream Mix combines results from multiple Streams into one unified view on the Dashboard. You can also use it the other way — split a large survey into shorter Streams and combine them in a Mix for unified reporting.
For the full guide, see Combine Streams into a Mix.
Good to Know
Not every feature works with every type:
| Feature | ExpressPod | ExpressTab | Link | Widget | Desktop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple questions | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Branching | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Multi-language | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom styling | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Gamification | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Satisfaction index | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shortcuts | — | — | Yes | — | — |
A Stream can be connected to multiple Touchpoints. One survey running at ten locations — no need to create ten Streams.
Removing a Stream does not delete its historical responses from the Dashboard. The data stays.
Changes to question text or options take effect for new responses. Existing data is not recalculated.
Data from physical button devices arrives at quarter past every hour. All other types are near-real-time.
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