Computer Software

Web conferencing software can be used to give sales presentations, do product demonstrations, give online training and to meet with anybody anywhere across the globe. All that is required is that all the meeting parties should have access to an adequate Internet connection.

Several factors need to be considered when you are looking for an online meeting and web conferencing solution. Factors that will determine the success of you online meetings and web conferences are as follow.

The greater the complexity of the solution the more scarce IT staff will have to be involved to make it work. Online meeting and web conferencing software is available that is so simple to operate that all staff, even those that are practically computer illiterate, can use it.

Meeting security is vital. The more secure online meeting products available today will use true end-to-end encryption for total security. Your web conferencing software must have an advanced communication architecture that uses industry-standard SSL and U.S. government-standard 128-bit AES encryption.

Some solutions are really difficult to implement, requiring in-depth information technology skills. You require a fault-tolerant architecture that provides you with high online meeting reliability and availability. Your web conferencing software must work as you expect it to every time you want to use it.

The solution payment plan can greatly impact on its successful implementation. Most providers will charge you on a pay-as-you-use basis. This payment option works against successful implementation.

You will find that your staff will not bother with your preferred solution if it is difficult to use. They will rather travel to other cities and even countries to visit parties with which they need to collaborate to ensure that they achieve their business objectives. On the other hand, if your online meeting software is user friendly, it will attract frequent use.

Be sure that you will, with little in-depth computer knowledge, be able to implement and use your online meeting software. To prove that the solution is working, do a real time demonstration of your products to a real audience. Look for web conferencing solutions that offer a free trial period. Only buy when you are comfortable with your chosen solution.

You or your employees must be able to collaborate online with other parties when they/you produce official documents. You will find this to be a really convenient feature to have at your disposal.

You must be able to pass control of the presentation to other attendees. This functionality is an absolute must where participation by guests is involved.

Your web conferencing solution must make clear economic sense. Online meeting software is available that will give you the above functionality for a flat fee of around $50 or $40 per month, depending on whether you take a monthly or yearly subscription.

Video conferencing actually encompasses a range of technologies used in a wide range of situations, often it is not just video and audio that is transmitted, but also data, allowing collaborative working though shared applications. All of this means having sufficient bandwidth supporting your network is the critical performance factor.

Video conferencing may be……

* One-to-one meetings, also known as point to point communications, usually involving full two-way audio and video.

* One-to-many involving full audio and video broadcast from the main site, where other sites may be able to send audio. For example in a lecture situation, students could ask questions.

* Many-to-many, known as multi-point communication, provides audio and video between more than two sites. With most multi-point systems only one site in a conference can be seen at time, with switching between sites either controlled manually or voice activated (i.e., the loudest site is on screen).

Physically, the most common scenarios of video conferencing are:

* desktop video conferencing – usually a small camera is located on top of the PC or workstation monitor. The actual video is usually displayed in a small window, and shared applications, such as a shared whiteboard are often used.

* studio-based systems – a studio is specially equipped for video conferencing. This will normally include one or more cameras, microphones, one or more large monitors, and possibly other equipment such as an overhead camera for document viewing. Usually used for more formal meetings

In practice a ‘studio’ may not be a dedicated room, but a standard seminar room with portable equipment that can be set up when required.

Bandwidth and Compression……

The bandwidth, or baud rate, is the amount of information which can be transmitted every second. The higher the bandwidth, the better quality the signal that can be transmitted. For a video conference audio and video signals must be transmitted in real time, i.e., a lot of information has to be sent every second, requiring a very high bandwidth. For example a ‘true colour’ image will need 24 bits (3 bytes) per pixel. A full screen image might be 640×480 pixels, over 7 million bits. For full motion video, the image is refreshed 25 times per second. This adds to over 184 million bits per second. It is not realistically possible to transmit this amount of information, and your PC certainly could not receive it at this rate. Therefore for digital video some form of compression is required. The type and degree of compression used varies from system to system. It is interesting to note that for most uses, we are more tolerant of poor video than poor audio, and so some systems concentrate on providing consistently good audio.

How To Get The Right Bandwidth To Meet Your Needs…….

Don’t take a chance at guessing what bandwidth you’ll need…..or in selecting the provider for that bandwidth. You may need a fractional, full, integrated, or bonded T1, DS3, or OC3 network depending on many factors. Solutions offered by providers will vary by cost, Quality of Service (QoS), and Service Level Agreement (SLA). I strongly recommend you use the services of an independant Telecommunications Consultant to help you assess your needs and find the provider who best meets your requirements. For unbiased free advice….as well as real time rate quotes from multiple providers, indepth research, and negotiations with providers on your behalf….I recommend you use FreedomFire Communications.

Every once in a while a new communications technology comes along that changes everything. I was able to see and experience this technology. So excited about its unlimited potential was I that I decided to place it on my blog and write about it as well.

Hearing someone’s voice over the phone shortens the distance between callers. Video chatting closes the gap because now you can see each other as well! This new wave of communications technology brings people into each other’s offices, living rooms, and their lives. Remember the old slogan, “Reach out and touch someone?” Now video chatting has taken it to the next level making it as close to reaching out and touching someone as you can get without actually being in the same room!

Catch the wave: Almost everyone has 3-way calling on their home telephone. Now the technology is available to have a video 3-way call! Today’s technology features a multiparty robust live streaming audio and video web chatting platform that does not require any downloads. This breakthrough communications technology permits member-to-member communication via multiple, resizable video windows.

Users can make video windows as large as desired while sustaining exceptional audio and video quality. Incorporating easy-to-use features for a multi-party video web chat session, this technology includes multi-room and multi-user text, audio and/or video chatting.

Put yourself in the picture with streaming video email whether at work or at play.

Streaming video email: Record, save, and send is all it takes to “put yourself” in the home or office of the people in distant locations with whom you want to communicate. Now you can do so on a regular basis. Fully customizable video screens allow for branding and personalization.

Streaming video on demand: IT has been proven that visitors stay at a website 50% longer when it contains video, yet only 1% of the 50 million websites online are utilizing video! With today’s technology you can create your own videos or use commercially produced videos on your website for pennies on the dollar. Enhance your website and ensure that visitors see and hear what you have to say! See and be seen in real time.

“Video email will replace text messages as the online communications mechanism. Text-based email will seem as archaic as black and white TV.” – Forrester Research

Today’s communications technology has such versatility that offers the latest and most extensive high-end features for the corporate-user, but is so user-friendly that the personal-user may send greetings to friends and family members with ease. Whether you are a small business owner exploring a cost-effective form of advertising or a corporate executive looking to streamline training and company communications, it time to move up to today’s latest in communications technology: video chatting.

Here are some features to keep in mind:

* Add video to your website with ease. There’s no need to wait on a webmaster or content upload service to update your website. Within minutes you can add video to any website. Streaming video on demand is a simple, cost effective approach to a more effective website.

* Not only see your prospect’s phone number, but actually introduce yourself live and in person. When a visitor to your site has questions, they may click the connect button and you will be notified. You may then start a live video feed to them so that they may see and hear you while they ask questions over their microphone or text. What a POWERFUL way to answer questions, share your story and above all, build that relationship. This technology extends the customer relationship marketing that is essential in business.

* If you’re juggling schedules, travel, and other commitments that are making it harder for you to coordinate an upcoming meeting? Take advantage of group collaboration without the expense and hassle of travel. Conduct face-to-face interaction with a web conferencing system. Invite an unlimited number of participants to join. All participants have text chat capabilities while six participants may be visualized on the screen for audio and video participation. From all corners of the globe you may join together in one central meeting location. Share presentations, documents, desktops and other applications as if you are sitting around the same table.

* Today’s communications technology is more than just one-way broadcast communication. It is true interactive communication. The web-based system eliminates the need for messy downloads or software installations. No additional hardware is required. Its meeting-quality and reasonable pricing make it a feasible solution for anyone needing to assemble a group for an interactive meeting.

* With an exclusive web meeting room available to members 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year, you have a special room set up as a place where your representatives may check in, share stories, exchange strategies, bounce ideas off each other while in the comfortable atmosphere of your> home or office. Talk about taking tele-commuting to the max! Enjoy the advantage of having a training room full of friends available whenever you need them!

* Today’s communications technology: The Ultimate marketing tool! This is the first ever internet marketing system that integrates streaming video into every page. This tool is essential in enhancing customer and employee relationships that are so important in keeping a business or organization afloat. Using a combination of recorded and live video, you have the ability to get personal with your prospect. The lead capture system notifies you when you have an interested prospect.

Communicating face to face without being in the same location has become easy with the arrival of video conferencing technology and its related software. For business, it is the best way to interact with colleagues worldwide for meetings and conferences. For medical professionals, it provides an invaluable service in that patients can be treated long distance in real time by specialists without the time and hassle of travel. And now for the everyday person, video conferencing software has given opportunities for education and communication like never before.

A video conference is achieved with a set of interactive telecommunications tools that give 2 or more parties in different locations the opportunity to work together using 2-way video and audio at the same time. The history of video conferencing can be traced back to the beginning of television. Video conferencing pretty much began with the advent of the television, by using closed circuit televisions that were connected by means of cable. This tended to be expensive to carry out, and was not the most efficient over long distances for such functions as business meetings or distance learning.

In the 1980′s, digital telephony technology opened the doors to more efficient and effective transmission of audio and video over longer distances, with a guaranteed minimum bandwidth (approximately 128 Kbps). The technology remained expensive and therefore not highly sought after, especially for smaller businesses, until the 1990′s. The fast progress of the technology and its capabilities along with the burgeoning prevalence of the Internet helped to make video conferencing software and hardware more reasonably priced. In addition, these factors contributed to making the technology a more appealing and convenient way to communicate long distance.

For a basic video conferencing setup, there are certain pieces of hardware and software that are required. These include a video input for recording video, such as a webcam. There also needs to be a video output for displaying video images, such as a monitor or television set. An audio output device, such as a microphone, is required for recording sound. Audio output devices such as speakers are needed to playing the audio. And finally, there needs to be a method of data transmission from one location to the other. This can be accomplished via the Internet, or even a LAN (Local Area Network). The more bandwidth, the better.

For the general population, there are ways to take advantage of video conferencing. There are lower quality services available in the form of downloadable programs like Googletalk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, among others. The downloadable software is usually free of charge, and if you have a webcam, a microphone, and broadband Internet access, you can be connected with friends and family sans the long distance phone bills. It is an ideal way for grandparents to witness the development of far away grandchildren, and for long distance friends to keep in touch.

Another use to video conferencing software is for educational purposes. Students can use the technology to participate in distance learning programs worldwide, without having to leave home to do it. This technology offers no limits to the possibilities of expanding your educational and cultural horizons, no matter where you are in the world. And yet another positive use for video conferencing software is in the field of medicine. The technology allows doctors and nurses to consult with patients and colleagues in real time and send and receive x-rays and other pertinent images quickly. In addition, health problems can be diagnosed by specialists from anywhere in the world, without the need to travel to do it.

Video conferencing software is not only for business meetings anymore. The Internet has provided a means of allowing the average citizen a way of taking advantage of this technology. In addition, the uses for video conferencing continue to develop all the time. In business, medicine, education, and personal computing, video conferencing software is a highly convenient and easy means of face-to-face communication.

Web and video conferencing technology is becoming more sophisticated with each passing day. A few years ago it was a novelty just to talk with someone online, and view his or her image at the same time. Today web conferences bring together entire companies in complex interaction that rivals live face-to-face meetings. How you might benefit from the latest developments in web conferencing depends on your particular needs. Here are a few points that you should consider.

1. Do you need to make a Powerpoint or other presentation during your conference?

If you answered “yes” to this question, then you will be glad to know that current web and video conferencing services allow the host of a conference to present a slide show or power point demonstration that will be visible on the screens of all the participants of a conference. Similarly, hosts can also open and show other document formats to their attendees. If you need this kind of capability, make sure that your conference provider can give this to you.

2. Do you require telephone conferencing integrated with your web/video conference?

Many organizations have found telephone conferencing to be an effective way to get work done. If you are already connecting with your members and staff via telephone conferences you can expand on this by choosing a web conferencing system that integrates telephone conferencing along with the online conference. The combined service will give you the ease of phone conferencing along with the enhanced visual and presentation features of online conferencing.

Some services allow the host to pay the long distance bill of all the participants (toll free conferencing), while others require each participant to cover their long distance fees.

3. Do all of your conference participants use the same type of computer?

If your participants are going to be using a variety of computers (PC, Mac, Linux) then you will benefit most by choosing a web conferencing system that works on any platform. While earlier conferencing systems required the downloading of complex software that would work only on specified operating systems, newer conferencing formats are delivered online and are browser based. They work on any operating system and if yours in an eclectic audience, then you will get best results with this type of conferencing.

4. Will it be necessary for one of your technicians to “take-over” and operate the computers of any of your participants?

If you wish to use conferencing as a service tool and want to avoid having to send out your service team on physical visits to clients, you can save a lot of travel time and cost by selecting a web and video conferencing system that allows the host of the conference to go online and actually take control of the computer of the client or conference participant. If you are looking at web conferencing as an after-sales service tool, then this particular feature will probably give you one of the most important benefits that you could wish for.

5. Do you want to conduct an online poll or survey during the conference?

If you have a large organization and want to make a quick and accurate poll of opinion or vote on a particular issue then the new polling capabilities of the most advanced web conferencing services will be an important feature for you.

Similarly, if you need to gather demographic information about your meeting participants, obtain valuable input, or quiz and test your participants, then the new online survey capabilities of current web conferencing systems will be an important feature to look for when choosing your conference format. Data from these types of online “surveys” can typically be saved and used for future use.

6. Do you want to brainstorm online, using a “whiteboard”?

Brainstorming is a great way to tap the ideas of a group and to come up with and select new ideas. If this is what you like to do when holding physical meetings, then you will probably want to be able to do the same thing in your virtual meetings as well. This is now possible in some of the more advanced web conferencing systems by using a “group notepad” that enables meeting participants to utilize a shared workspace. The results of these brainstorming sessions can typically be saved in a storage area.

Which of these features will benefit you the most? It all depends on your particular needs. However, one thing is sure: once you experience the convenience of online meetings, you will not want to go back to the era when every meeting required you to pack up your bags and get on an airplane.

Why should you have video conferencing? Is it worth the investment? There are many reasons why you should utilize video conferencing software. The simple fact is that it is quite reliable and quite handy. But, that is not usually enough to have you open your wallet. Yet, there are other reasons why this may be the next investment that you make for your business. Video conferencing is an excellent means of communication.

Besides being a very high quality way of communicating, it also opens the door to live, clear understandings of what is being said. There is little doubt that in a video conferencing situation that you will not know and understand just what the other person is saying. Your message is delivered with a full awareness of your means simply because seeing is believing. Yet, this too is only one reason to consider it.

Video conferencing is also very capable of connecting you with other establishments. If you can not manage your company in one place because you are managing it someplace else, video conferencing can keep you connected. By doing this, you can effectively be in two places at once.

There are excellent quality video conferencing systems out there. Many of them are well worth the dollars that they cost. And, because technology continues to grow, you’ll find that prices for video conferencing will become more competitive. It is the way of the future. Is your company in the future? Using video conferencing can help to insure that it is there.

We highly recommend bringing your company up to date and to use this pioneering technology. It doesn’t need to be expensive, or difficult to set up if you contact specialists in this area. There are many information portals now devoted to the subject and we reading about it at one of these. Try googling for “video conferencing info” and you will be surprised by the abundance of information on the subject.