Internet Conferencing – video web meetings

Magdi Mikhail asked:




Are you in need of something that can boost your business by more than half and still be able to save on the cost of production? Do you want to be able to monitor your factories and met with your staff on a regular basis though you are miles away from corporate? Web videoconferencing allows you to work on these things without having to worry about cost and impact on the business.

All that you need to do is just a website away. The need for expensive equipment has also been taken away since all the equipment you would need is inside the Internet and all of it is waiting for you. So let’s start web videoconferencing.

So how exactly does web videoconferencing works? Well, like the name suggests its videoconferencing through the web or the Internet. A participant needs a computer to start off and Internet access. Basically that’s all you need. Other things that may or may not be necessary are web cams, web conferencing software and a website to conduct the virtual meeting. Usually websites may refer to URL’s that act as the conference room for the meeting.

There are different kinds of web videoconferencing and different kinds of purposes. First one is the web meeting (web videoconferencing), this usual kind of web conference that let’s participants interact in a controlled Internet environment. Usually CEO’s and business executives have web meetings when they are out of town and on business. Not only can they visit their site often they can keep close tabs on people. Usually Web conferencing allow people on the go to keep up with the requirements of the office.

Live video is another kind of conferencing over the Internet or what young people call video chat. live video or video chat is just like text chatting only it’s done through the web cam. Just like web video conferencing live video is more or less like it in purpose and setup. While web videoconferencing uses software to support the video format of the live video this is because of the limited number of formats that can be streamed over the web.

Another kind of web conferencing tool is VoIP or Voice over the Internet Phone. The concept of VoIP is no longer new to us. Some people have started using VoIP software and sites as their primary phone for business, personal and technology use. Because of it’s virtual endless capacity to call inside and outside countries and not to mention computer call functionality.

That means even without a regular or mobile phone people can communicate anytime anywhere. Now if you apply that to whatever your web videoconferencing needs that you have, you are sure to get your money’s worth.

And lastly a dedicated Internet website that would cater to all the web conferencing needs that you have. As the name mentions it is a dedicated server that acts as the conference room of your company and a gateway for all other video conferencing you will have even outside the company.

Since this is a new tool for your company to use in it’s quest to become one of the best in the world, it would be wise to master all the requirements and the processes of web videoconferencing to reap the best results from it.

Alice

Nathalie Fiset asked:




Is internet web conferencing as wonderful as many marketers advertise it to be? In this article, we will discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of internet web conferencing. In learning about these pros and cons, you might be able to discover if the technology of computer web conferencing is actually for you.

Let us first go to the pros. The advantage that is easily seen by people is that, compared to other media, internet web meeting provides means for more types of communication. Where phone conferences only allow people to send information through audio and, sometimes, through fax, internet web discussions actually transcends this and enables people to simulate being in the same room as others.

Through this kind of technology, people are able to communicate with live video feeds. This means that people are actually able to see those they are talking to and thus, use their body language and facial expressions to convey their thoughts on a certain manner. Through internet web conferencing, people are given an opportunity to identify those they are talking to.

One of the biggest problems faced by people engaged in phone conferences is that, unless they are truly familiar with each others’ voices, they can have problems knowing who is speaking and whom they are speaking to. Because of this, standard protocol requires people t state their names when they speak.

This need is eliminated with internet web conferencing. This means that time and effort which used to be wasted on the need to identify yourself can be diverted to the actual communication process. Granted, this takes away the recovery time of people taken by a surprise statement, but is that not what most bosses want? You should also know that live video feeds are not the only tools enabled by internet web meeting services.

Another type of video supported by internet computer conferencing is the stored video. That is, a lot of certain presentations require the presenter to show a video in order to help people better understand the concept or idea he is trying to communicate. This is made possible through internet web meeting. Through the internet, you can share any type of video you like whether it is a presentation, or something for the analysis of those involved in the meeting.

Video is not the only thing that’s advantageous about internet web discussions. During phone conferences, people need to stay in a very quiet environment in order to make sure that others understand what they are saying. Through the internet, the most basic means of communication is through text. This means that you will be able to read and thus, perceive word-for-word what the other parties are trying to say. This can be very useful in keeping the minutes of the meeting.

Another advantage of internet computer meeting is that you can share data in different forms and control it when it is received by the others involved in the conference. You can use software that would make it seem as if you were actually in the same room as those viewing your presentation and actually manipulate the data right before their eyes. This will help you make sure that they are on the same page.

Through internet web meeting services, you will be able to transmit animations, documents, and other types of information designed to help people perceive the information you want to transmit. This is also done in real time, which means that people are able to receive data when you send it. This is very important since a lot of companies depend on the speed of the data in order to make the best decisions possible.
Of course, internet web discussion isn’t all about the advantages. There are also certain disadvantages to this piece of technology. As you may know, although mobile internet is being developed today, there are still a lot of kinks in the system. One of the biggest kinks is it can’t exactly support mobile conferencing. The equipment can also be a problem since the tools needed for internet web forum are undoubtedly more expensive than a speaker phone.

So, is internet web conferencing the best option for you? Well, only you can know that for sure. But it does present a lot of advantages.

John

Ricky Lim asked:




Web conference services are provided by a web hosting company to its customers for conducting conferences or meetings on the Internet. Web conferencing is the base through which a business organization can hold meetings, discussions, seminars and presentations. During online conferences there are various ideas generated and shared with help of a virtual whiteboard and polling, which lead to a fruitful business decision.

Audiovisual presentations are the most important aspect of a web conferencing service, which to some extent count as a reason for its success.

There is various software that can helps in organizing a web conference for any business organization. Out of the plenty of web conference services one must choose the best. Making a choice for the best web conferencing software is just as difficult as making any sound business decision. For making this choice, you need to have a lot of knowledge about various types of online web conferencing software. It is a software as well as an online service for business as well non-business organizations.

Web Conferencing Service Options

The web conferencing services have various options for their users like PowerPoint presentations and sharing of different types of business data. They also have co-web browsing tool with a definite list to enable any kind of business presentations through the Internet.

The specific feature of web browsing includes co-browsing, text messaging as well as file and data sharing. The Business organizations also have the option of recording the minutes of the meetings that can be accessed offline as well.

Additionally, the options of data analysis and survey are also available to a business organization. During the statement analysis, automatic survey features enable the quick flow of information and analysis statements. The replay option and other web conferencing options are also available for the users of web conference services. You can even send alerts with the help of the scheduling feature.

Brittany

Al Falaq Arsendatama asked:




Now we have accepted that VoIP is no longer just a phone service, it has become feature rich as it merges with computer configurations. The VoIP’s existence has changed considerably over the last few years, coupled with the availability of broadband connection to the Internet, plus leaps in multimedia technology in which virtual operations with remote sites becomes more enhanced, makes VoIP service a viable alternative to traditional communication offerings.

Cost savings is not the only driving force for VoIP implementations, enterprises have to consider some business aspects that VoIP can bring about. VoIP creates potentials for applications that could not have been done before. Collaboration, integration, and interactivity between employees and applications are one of the several business benefits that enterprises can derive from VoIP adoption. Nevertheless, amid euphoria of VoIP technology, there are three important aspects to look at before a company goes VoIP. In the following paragraphs I will summarize the aspect of security, stability, and interoperability that play a key role in the successful implementation of VoIP.

1. Security

VoIP implementations may expose new security risks and challenges that somehow become greater concern than quality and cost-efficiency among vendors and users. VoIP networks are vulnerable to all the same security risks as traditional IP data networks, including:

Denial of Service (DoS), viruses, worms, Toll fraud and unauthorized access, Spoofing, and port scanning.

It is recommended that organizations should adopt a layered, defense-in-depth security strategy to address the issue with the increasing proliferation of new Internet-borne attacks and malicious activities in recent years. In this architecture, the network is segmented into secure zones protected by layers of firewall, intrusion prevention, and other security services. This strategy allows the organizations to logically split and secure voice and data networks in front of individual voice and data components and between interactive points in the network.

2. Stability

One of the main issues of VoIP is the amount of bandwidth required for each call. There must be adequate bandwidth reserved and the quality of the link must be well maintained throughout each call to ensure the users are not affected. As the very nature of VoIP call is real-time, any disruption during the call would be easily noticeable and unacceptable. The two issues that enterprises usually have to deal with here are bandwidth and quality of service (QoS).

VoIP calls need a data transmission speed of 64kb/s to produce the quality of voice comparable to that of a normal telephone call. That 64kb/s channel needs to remain open and unaffected for the duration of the call. Theoretically, VoIP installations would not allow such a huge bandwidth to be allocated for VoIP alone. Therefore, there needs to be a compression taking place to compact the voice data into a considerable size before it gets transmitted over a packet switching network. G.723 codec that is incorporated in VoIP standard protocol H.232 can take a 64kb/s stream of data and squash it down to a mere 5.5kb/s or so. Generally, for VoIP to work reliably over WAN links, there has to be low jitter, low packet loss, a considerably high-speed connection between the endpoints, and less than 200ms delay.

3. Interoperability

Compatibility between VoIP equipment from different vendors is a very important aspect to boost the use of VoIP products. Without standardized quality of service mechanisms businesses would need to buy all the equipment and the QoS server from the same manufacturer. The VoIP world seems to be divided between many vendors with reluctance to establish interoperability and some who are trying to be end-to-end supplier but at the same time worried about interoperability. The protocols used in VoIP communication are still considered fairly complex in comparison to most of the other protocols involved in Internet applications. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol – a signaling protocol for Internet conferencing, telephony, events notification, and instant messaging), that is regarded as simple and elegant the other protocols, is still not efficient.

On the bright side, however, SIP is approaching status as an IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standard, after several years of work. With the recent version, it has achieved a greater amount of stability and changes are becoming smaller and smaller. Phone switch companies such as Nortel have recently begun supporting SIP, and now the manufacturers of handsets and related devices will soon ramp up their support. Motorola, Avaya, and Proxim have made collaboration on the creation and deployment of IP telephony solutions that will deliver new extents of communication mobility and network connectivity.

Finally, with these three VoIP aspects covered, businesses will be able to maximize their investment by applying it as the backbone of internal communication such as phone conversation, videoconferencing, instant messaging, faxing, etc. Another area that will widely make use of VoIP is call centers, in which Web contacts, virtual operations with outsourcers overseas, and remote sites, such as home agents, all could improve the customer experience. New VoIP applications that we have not thought about may also come into existence as the services generates more business and profits for companies.

Audrey