Computer Software

Video conferencing, web conferencing and online meetings are fast becoming important tools for organizations that must communicate with staff, clients or students in different geographical locations. If you have been thinking about using this technology for your enterprise, it is important to first outline your needs and then match them with the various online conferencing systems that are being offered in the marketplace. Here are a few things to consider when you shop around for the system that is best for you:

1. Do you need to communicate with one static location or with a variety of possibly changing locations? Some conferencing systems are designed to connect two or more specific locations. If you have a head office and a fixed branch office that you want to communicate with, then a fixed connection system could work for you.

However, if you want to connect with a variety of locations or allow people anywhere to join your conferences or meetings then you should choose a system that allows you to add users no matter where they log in from.

2. Do you want a browser based system or can you work with proprietary software? A few of the original web and video conferencing applications had their own software and even specific hardware to install. Now it is possible to use conferencing systems that run on all browsers and all operating systems without the need for special hardware. Take a look at the various systems being offered and choose the one that would fit in with your organization’s technical capabilities.

3. Are some of your participants behind firewalls? These days many, if not most offices, and even individual computers connected to the Internet are protected by firewalls. The firewalls keep hackers out, but they may also pose a problem for some conferencing systems. Check to see if the conferencing system of your choice can deal with this problem.

4. How important is video to you? If you would like to see your colleagues and staff as they participate in your meetings, then you will need a system that allows some locations to hook up to the meeting with a web camera. Check to see how many individual video windows are allowed by the various applications that you consider, and choose the one that best meets your needs.

5. What features do you need? Do you want to poll attendees and get immediate results while you are online? Some systems allow the host to present a question and then all the participants can vote or give an answer with the click of their mouse.

Do you want to share applications online? If your conferencing system allows application sharing then it is possible for the host to present PowerPoint presentations, for example, that will be visible to all the attendees.

Make a list of the communications features that you need and match them to the capabilities of each system that you consider.

6. What is your budget? Of course you want the most features that are possible but you also have to weigh-in the costs. When you make your decision, keep in mind the benefits that you will get by communicating online, think about the cost of doing this offline and then look at the fees charged by the conference technology providers. Choose a communications package that will give you a good return on your investment.

Now, armed with this checklist, go online and do a search for web or video conferencing and pick out a system that will allow you to conduct your meetings online at a price that you can afford.

For most people in business, meetings are a necessary evil. Stop for a moment and consider how much hosting or attending meetings cost your business and you may be in for a surprise; precious time spent traveling to and from the meeting location, travel expenses, and in some cases the hire of the meeting facility. Now imagine you could attend that meeting without having to leave your office or home. How much time and money would save over a week, a month or a year? It soon adds up.

The cost savings associated with web conferencing are well documented. Less time and money are spent on traveling, there is no need to hire meeting facilities and staff can focus on doing their jobs well instead of scheduling meetings.

Save On Traveling Expenses

Travel does not come cheap. Whether it’s national or international or by air, land or sea there will always be a cost implication for your business; air tickets, parking tolls, hotel accommodation – all these costs will affect your bottom line.

Web conferencing reduces the need for travel. Face to face meetings can be conducted via the web, from multiple geographic locations. Airport delays, flight cancellations, traffic jams on the freeway – all these irritations are not only affecting your blood pressure but are costing your company money, too. All that time wasted while you wait for your flight to be called or the jam to clear is money down the drain. Web conferencing cuts out not just the frustrations but also the financial price of wasting time.

Saving Time Equals Saving Money

It’s not just travel delays that waste time and costs money. Time is spent organizing meetings and getting busy colleagues together in the same place on the same day can be a complicated task. Someone within your organization is having to spend time pulling it all together. This is time that could be better spent generating sales and income for your business.

Web conferencing allows your workforce to work smarter. With web conferencing, a meeting that before may have taken a member of staff out the office for several days, can be concluded in a matter of hour, freeing up extra time. A few extra hours in the week to get the job done is something most employees would appreciate.

Work Smarter And Reduce Costs

Document sharing is one of the many facilities available through web conferencing. Documents can be viewed simultaneously by individuals, regardless of where they are located. Projects can be completed more quickly and more accurately. Documents can be updated in real time and colleagues can edit them together. In the absence of web conferencing, this form of collaboration would require an element of travel, costing the business time and money.

There is a personal upside for employees who have their business travel reduced, too. Less time spent traveling for work means they have more time at home with their families and staff who are happier in their home lives are likely to be more productive during their working hours.

If you are thinking about getting into web and video conferencing, then it is important to know what is required to operate any proposed conferencing system. Some systems run on proprietary software and need special equipment, while browser based systems usually do not require the installation of special software or equipment. Many organizations and individuals will find browser based solutions easier to use. Here are a few reasons why this is so:

1. They work on all operating systems. Do you have some users on Mac and some on PCs? Do you have some users who have Linux? If you want to connect all of these people together in one conference it may be impossible if you have to install special software to run your conference. In this case a browser based system that can run on all operating systems and all browsers allows you to connect with all of your staff or clientele without any worries about what kind of computer they are operating.

2. You don’t have to download and install software. Sure, people are becoming more computer-literate as time goes on, but downloading and installing software and getting the software to run properly can be an obstacle to some people. The good news is that with many browser based systems there is no software to download, because the installation is done on the technology provider’s host computer. Participating in a conference is as easy as going on line to view a website.

3. People anywhere in the world can go online and join the conference. With no equipment installation and no software installation to take care of, the door is open to widespread participation in your conferences. The only thing that you have to do is to notify your people and provide them with a url and a password and they can join in.

4. There is no problem with firewalls. Most offices and many individuals protect their computers and networks from hackers by using a firewall. This is good for security but can become a problem if you are trying to join people together in a conference. Many web and browser based systems are not affected by firewalls and no special instructions have to be given to conference participants whose computers may be protected by firewalls.

All of these factors add up to one very strong advantage of using browser based conferencing systems: they allow you to get maximum participation in your online events. With little or no technical obstacles, such systems make it easy for large numbers of people, using diverse equipment and with varying degrees of computer skills, to take part in online meetings. So, take a look at the various conferencing packages on the market at the present time and pick out one that is both easy to use and powerful enough to meet your communications needs.

The time is right for video and web conferencing to take off. While online conferencing is still seen as a technological novelty by some people, more and more businesses of all sizes are finding it be the solution to doing business and communicating with prospects, clients, employees and branch offices in an era of rising transport costs. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that are bringing web and video conferencing to a very wide audience.

1. Bandwidth speeds are increasing while prices for broadband web access are falling.

Video and web conferencing are more effective when users have broadband access to the Internet. Prices for various broadband connections to the Internet (DSL, Cable, T1s) are falling and more and more homes and businesses are now connected by broadband rather than dial-up connections. Broadband penetration in the US among home users has reached 60% and, especially crucial for online conferencing, in the workplace broadband usage has passed 85%.

2. Web cameras are more powerful and less costly.

Video conferencing is aided by good images. Just as high speed connections to the Internet are needed to view the videos, improved cameras providing clear images are also important. The least expensive web cameras today cost as little as $10 and even sophisticated tripod-mounted cameras are reasonably priced, placing video conferencing within the reach of millions of users.

3. The price of oil and transportation is rising, and business travel is more costly.

Rising energy prices means that businesses have to scrutinize their travel plans more closely. Video and web conferencing make it possible to hold meetings with staff in other cities without making expensive car or airplane journeys. In addition, some companies are also using web and video conferencing to meet new clients and provide service to existing clients. Improved video conferencing capabilities, combined with rising travel costs is a sure formula for online conferencing growth in the years ahead.

4. Businesses are improving productivity with online conferencing.

The gains provided by online conferencing are more than just the money saved by not buying gasoline for a car or spending it on airfares. When you sit in your own office and hold an online conference with associates in distant cities, you can get back to your other work within seconds of the close of the online conference. The lost time out of office, associated with business trips, is an important “opportunity cost” that can be reduced by the creative use of web and video conferences.

5. The cost of web and video conferencing has come down greatly in the past year.

Web and video conference services are now less costly than they were a few years ago and it is possible for a business to get a much higher return on their investment in online conferences. Monthly costs for some conferencing services are so low that even families and individuals can connect in informal web conferences. At the same time, for a reasonable price, businesses can even purchase their own internal video/web conferencing system and not depend on web conference services provided by an outside provider.

6. Schools and universities are holding online classes, exposing a whole new generation to the world of online conferencing.

The surest way of spreading any new technology is to get young people “hooked” on it. And that is exactly what schools and universities are doing with web and video conferencing. By holding more online classes and conferences, young people are becoming comfortable with this way of communicating. As today’s students enter the business and professional world, they are certain to bring with them a taste for the convenience of online conferencing.

Add up all these factors and it is easy to see why web and video conferencing are approaching the level of mass acceptance. If you are not taking advantage of online conferencing today, there is a good chance that you will be tomorrow.

Are you really using the power of modern technology to make your business more profitable? Sure, you are using e-mail, you have a web page and you may be reaching your clients and customers with an electronic mailing list, but are you using web and video conferencing to hold virtual meetings with your employees, customers and clients in different geographical locations? Here are six ways how web and video conferencing can help you to increase the efficiency of your enterprise.

First however, it is important to know what web and video conferencing are. Web conferencing is when two or more people “meet” over the Internet to share information and ideas. Web conferencing systems typically provide tools that allow participants to perform “Online Collaboration” by working together over the Internet, sharing applications and documents.

Some web conferencing tools include the ability to share one’s desktop, allowing participants to “present” information, be it a PowerPoint Presentation, an Excel Spreadsheet or a Word Document with other attendees of their web conference. It is even possible for participants to remotely control other participants’ computers. Video conferencing allows participants to see and hear each other using head sets and web cams, and is usually included in good web conferencing system.

Now take a look at how some companies are already getting the benefits of this cutting- edge technology:

1. They are holding “web meetings” with prospects, customers, clients and fellow workers without having to incur any travel expenses. These face-to-face meetings are conducted using the click of a keyboard and the movement of a mouse.

2. They are demonstrating and supporting products and services without having to send people to far-flung destinations. Web conferencing can enable your staff to get behind the desk of your client and do the trouble shooting or give the training that you may be currently doing, without having to send your support staff out on expensive personal visits.

3. They are holding virtual training and classrooms for students, employees and clients . Schools and Universities in particular are using web and video conferencing to create “virtual classrooms,” while companies are training their employees at several locations using combined web and video conferences.

4. They are giving online web and video support to clients . Live chat boxes are great, I use them all the time, but the support you can offer when your technician can take over a client’s computer and really fix the problem is much more powerful. And, when your client can see who is helping him or her, it really adds a special “warm and fuzzy” touch.

5. They are saving thousands of dollars in travel costs by cutting down on commuting and travel and time spent out of the office . “As a result of this technology, our need to travel between offices has been greatly reduced, which has already saved us thousands of dollars,” says Saul Rothschild, Information Systems Manager at Steel Encounters, Inc.”

In times of rising fuel costs, web and video conferencing can really make a huge difference to a company’s bottom line. Companies using web conferencing are not only able to cut down on their travel expenses, but their sales representatives, trainers and support staff also get to spend more productive time in the office and do not lose valuable hours sitting in a car or on a plane.

6. They are thinking “outside the box” and devising new ways to work now that they are free of geographical limitations . The companies and organizations that have adopted web and video conferencing technology are marketing products and services, conducting training and giving support as if all their employees, prospects and clients were working together under one roof. Company meetings, sales meetings, employee training, and product launches are now being conducted with a new 21 st Century flair.

So, consider your own business or activity and think of how web and video conferencing could help you to work more effectively with all your constituents without having to leave your office.