When doing a live broadcast there are many factors that you have to prepare for that can quickly make your event fail. You need your hardware and internet connection to function flawlessly. You also do not have any options for editing the event so many unexpected problems can arise from that as well.
With a simulated live event you get the opportunity to edit your content exactly the way you want it to appear. You then upload your content to a hosted solution that supports this simulated live feature. Through their system they will allow you to configure the event start time so that it will begin as if it was a live event. To your end viewers everything will run live so if they log in 15 minutes into the event it will start them 15 minutes into your archive file giving the appearance that the event is actually happening live.
With simulated live you won’t have to worry about hardware failures or internet outages on the encoder side. Everything is hosted server side and can be set to start automatically so you can relax and watch your event broadcast with the security of knowing all factors are covered and your content is edited the way you want it.