Several years ago I was in a computer store and a salesman was trying to sell me something, in fact, he was trying to sell me anything that he could. I said that I had the latest computer and really didn’t need anything more. Then he showed me a web camera and I thought for a few seconds, but I really couldn’t figure out why I would need that gadget.

Now things have changed and that salesman could get the sale from me, because the time is right to start conducting online web and video conferences. Here are a few reasons why the age of web conferencing has truly arrived:

1. Transportation costs are rising and web conferencing is one way to conduct meetings without getting into a car or plane.

Imagine how much money you could save if you were able to hold a staff meeting with your distant branches without paying for fuel, hotels and all the other costs associated with outside meetings?

2. The cost of conducting a meeting outside a main office is much higher than you can calculate by only adding up the material costs.

When you leave your office or home, you have to put everything aside and subject yourself to delays in traffic, airports, trains and taxis. Sure, you can take your laptop with you, but are you really as productive using a laptop in a busy airport as you are while you are in your own office? Web conferencing allows you to get back to your other work as soon as the online conference ends.

3. Web conferencing allows you to meet face-to-face with your colleagues no matter where they are.

Globalization is not just a slogan. Business, educational and social organizations are now working in increasingly wider networks which are spread throughout the world. If you have clients, employees, representatives or students in another country or in a distant location, think how convenient it would be to be able to turn on your computer and hold a meeting with them. Well, this is not a distant dream, it is possible right now using existing web and video conferencing technology

4. Online conferencing allows you to give support and help to clients without sending out a technician or a representative.

If you are selling a product or service that must be supported, then think of the improvement in customer relations and reduction in costs that you could achieve if you could effectively meet online with your client. Today’s conferencing technology even allows your staff to “take over” the computer of a client and demonstrate how an application works.

5. Video and web conferencing is now extremely affordable, easy to use and very functional.

Gone are the days of proprietary systems and cameras. Today you can use standard PCs and inexpensive web cameras to conduct your meetings. The online meetings do not require equipment or software that is not already found in most offices. In addition, several companies now offer conferencing services at a price that even individuals and small organizations can afford.

If you need to hold meetings, or meet with staff and colleagues who work in far-flung locations then you should consider online conferencing. The spread of online meetings could change the way we all work, just as the widespread adoption of email did fifteen years ago.

In recent years, there has been increasing speculation that technologies like videoconferencing will eliminate or at least greatly reduce the need for business trips. While business trips are unlikely to go away, cost, changing technology and other factors are likely to start reducing business travel in the near future and may eventually replace much of it.

Considering all the costs and time they incur, there certainly are reasons why the business trip has remained such a big part of business even though many of the functions of these trips can technically be carried out in other ways.

One reason is simply that people have the urge to travel and go places. The business trip has the added advantage for individuals of being something that can be carried out at company expense and at least partially on company time.

There is also the practical aspect. People are evolved for face-to-face meetings and much our communication is non-verbal. Many feel they need the feelings of trust that only meeting someone directly can provide to build a business relationship, or that the only way they can really make sure something is done properly is to go there personally.

There are disadvantages to business trips though and compelling reasons why videoconferencing might start to replace more of them soon.

One is security. Be it real or imagined concerns about terrorism, diseases or just accidents, people feel safer closer to home and cyberspace is still very safe!

The time and resources business trips consume are their biggest drawbacks for most companies. With planning, travel time, jet lag, airfares, hotels and other costs, traveling is a major investment and has a negative environmental impact.

The cost and time required for these trips is not declining either. In fact, with increasingly crowded infrastructure, onerous security and rising fuel costs, the time and money most business trips require is actually increasing. In an integrated and competitive worldwide marketplace, these costs cannot be ignored.

On the other hand, the costs of videoconferencing and other communication costs continue to drop. As bandwidth grows and the technology improves, with everything from cheap web cams to systems that cost hundreds of thousand of dollars, videoconferencing is now within reach of an increasing number of businesses and even individuals.

With these facts in mind, videoconferencing is set to make more serious inroads into business culture. Videoconferencing is easiest to implement within companies and will replace trips taken for internal meetings first. However, as its use becomes more common and accepted and as the technology improves, it is likely to reach a kind of critical mass. When people get used to using it at least some of the time, they will be much more likely to accept its use in situations where only face-to-face meetings are considered appropriate now. Furthermore, with the costs savings of videoconferencing increasing factored into pricing, many companies may be forced to accept it to compete.

With the technology increasingly in place and cost and time savings to be realized, attitudes and acceptance are the final barriers to an explosion of video conferencing and fewer business trips.

Online video conferencing is much more than simple video chatting. Not only does it allow you to talk with others by video and give video presentations, a good conferencing software package gives you the capability to collaborate and share files.

For example, if you want to run a project by your boss, rather than emailing him the file and waiting for him to email you back with requested revisions, you can work together in real time through an online conference. Online video conferencing software lets the two of you work on a document together and both of you will see the updates instantly on your monitors even if you are a world apart.

This online collaboration can take place between two computers, or many. When two people simultaneously work on a document it is called point-to-point document sharing and if more than two share a document, it is called multi-point collaboration. When shopping for online video conferencing software, make sure it has multi-point capability if you have several employees and may need to share files with multiple people.

File transfer is another feature of online video conferencing software. This allows files to be sent from one computer to all other members of the conference. This is useful for distributing digital handouts for a meeting, or sending a group collaboration file to all participants when the document is complete.

Whiteboard is another useful tool that the best online video conferencing software packages include. It is a digital version of the wall whiteboard and lets you make diagrams and notes during your presentation that are transmitted to everyone on the conference. The whiteboard can also take snapshots and save them as graphics files for later reference.

These features of online video conferencing are what make it such a valuable tool for businesses, much more so that just plain video chat would be. However, video chatting does play an important role in distance communication, and all good software packages include the ability for video chat too.

The option can be set for all conference members to see only the speaker, or the screen can be split among several participants at once. Be sure your online video conferencing software has multi-user video if you need the split screen features for multi-participant video chat.

There are many online video conferencing software packages to choose from due to the high demand. The prices vary so it pays to shop around and compare features offered against the price.

You may be able to save money and time by using online video conferencing software through a web-based provider. When you do this, you do not need to install any software at all since it is remotely hosted. Using web-based software has its advantages. You can call into your conference using any computer that is available, even from a cell phone that has internet capabilities.

As long as you have access to a browser, you can participate in online video conferencing. Of course, if you want to communicate by video, you will need access to a webcam as well. Many web-based software providers offer a free trial of their services so you can get a taste of online conferencing and decide which software features are for you. Once you know what you need, you can purchase a package tailored for you so you don't pay for features you won't use.

The drawback to using web-based online video conferencing software is that you must pay a monthly fee that can surpass the cost of buying the software after a few months of use. Whether you choose to install your own software or utilize a web-based service is a matter of convenience versus cost since the features offered remain the same.

Internet video conferencing is a useful tool for business owners and corporations. At its most basic, it allows users to have real time video conversations. However, it can be much more complex and involve multi-user videos, document sharing, and digital whiteboards.

Internet video conferencing works just like a regular business conference in that people gather for a meeting or presentation. The difference is that these people gather on the internet and can be physically located any place in the world. However, they can still immediately exchange ideas, see each other, and share reports and files.

One way to hold internet video conferencing is to go through a third party provider and there a number of reputable ones around. This makes it easy enough for anyone to do. This option is a good choice for small businesses as it offers all of the basics needed to conduct business with clients and a few employees.

A more advanced way to hold internet video conferencing is to purchase your own conferencing equipment. This choice is best for large businesses and corporations that have an IT department to handle all of the details. This allows for a greater range of features that may be needed to train large groups of people or to hold frequent conferences.

Both methods are beneficial and choosing which one to use depends upon the type of activities you want to do during your conference. For most businesses, choosing an online service is a a more convenient and easier option.

You can find basic internet video conferencing services for free. As you require more functionality, you may need to upgrade to a paid service, but even when you do, the cost is affordable. There are many companies online who offer video conferencing so the best thing to do is compare prices against the details of their terms. Usually the more options and more users you want for your conference, the higher the price will be.

Internet video conferencing has really taken off in the past five years and as a result, prices for conferencing options have come down and webcams have gotten cheaper too. Due to popularity, the marketplace has become flooded with service providers, equipment suppliers, and software choices. Now is a great time to get your business into video conferencing.

You will need a webcam to transmit a video conference and you will need a microphone and speakers. A headset will usually suffice for basic use. If you plan to stand and walk around while you are speaking, you should invest in a quality microphone so attendees will be able to hear you on their computers.

Many companies today have integrated internet video conferencing into their standard business practices. It can keep you in touch with your clients and employees in a more personal way than merely talking on the phone, plus it allows for the transmission of documents and drawings.

Internet video conferencing is also a lot of fun for personal use and because you wouldn't require options and upgrades like a business would, you can use it for free. The catch with using a free service is that it is limited to connecting with other users of the same service. If you want to talk to someone on a different service, then you must pay a small fee, but since it is VOIP, it is only a few cents per minute.

Internet video conferencing can keep you in touch with family members that live far away and visit with friends even if they live half way around the globe. If you are all on the same service, like Skype, you can talk long distance for free and see each other at the same time. With benefits like these, it is easy to see why this is so popular for business and personal use alike.

If you have not used a web conferencing service yet, you probably will. Conferencing has become very popular as a way for co-workers to work together. Web conferencing is also a very popular way to impart information in a mini online seminar. These seminars could be on health topics, internet marketing, DIY topics, or anything you have an interest in. Many people today are taking advantage of these services in order to promote their business whatever it may be.

A web conferencing service makes it very easy to set up a meeting. It really is as simple as clicking a button. You can open a meeting on the spot if you are talking to someone on the phone and want to show them a file. You can also schedule your meeting in advance and give out the link to your meeting along with the time and password. To attend your conference, the attendee clicks your link and is taken to your meeting.

A good service will give you options for communicating with your attendees. You should be able to communicate by voice and text. Some services let you communicate through video as well. A very important aspect of a web conferencing service is the quality of its audio. Your attendees should be able to hear you clearly.

A nice option that your web conferencing service may provide is the ability to record your conference so that people who missed your live meeting can come back at any time and watch the recording. This is helpful for those times when you have more attendees than you have seats available.

A web conferencing service not only gives you the ability to deliver presentations, it also allows you to collaborate with your co-workers using an important feature called desktop viewing. This makes your desktop visible to everyone in your web conference. In this way, you can share your projects as you work on them.

You usually have to pay a monthly fee for this service. The number of attendees you are allowed per call determines the price. Some services do not charge by the month but have a flat fee for each time their service is used. The cost varies anywhere from $20 per month to several hundred dollars per month. Be aware of any additional charges you and your attendees may have to pay like per minute phone charges. Shop around to make sure you get the best price on the features you need.

Web conferencing has many benefits for a business. Today many businesses have employees overseas or they hire freelance workers. There is no better way to keep in contact with your employees or train them remotely than through web conferencing.

It is easy and affordable to set up and more importantly, it is easy for your attendees to use. Try to find a web conferencing service that is free for your attendees too. The easier you make it for them to attend your meeting, the better response you will have.

Fabricated with the elements of teleconferencing, video conferencing and web conferencing, webinar is the latest face of communication. Basically, it is an incredible way of holding virtual meetings and conferences through the World Wide Web, the Internet, where people get a chance to participate dynamically and in real-time. It lets you set up things up so that other people who are geographically half the globe away can physically move or access folders or other objects on your computer desktop all in real-time. Also, you enjoy the convenience of moving things on their desktop and accessing their folders. However, the best of all is the web conference technology, where participants can also see each other.

Hugely, the idea of remote conferencing has given business world the power of reaching every nook and corner of the world in the most cost effective way. Especially, in this time of global economic downturn and economies scuffed either in recession or teetering on the edge of it, the existence f remote conferencing and possibility of having fruitful communication irrespective of tightened purse strings has supported the industry exceedingly. In today's scenario when businesses are looking forward to adopting green policies even as trying to survive the global economic crisis, the remote conferencing technology seems an amazing alternative of achieving both these goals to a certain extent.

In fact, by now, the concept of webinars has developed to an amazing extent, where every small, medium and large business organization is making efficient use of it. If viewed statistically, today, the industry of communication advancement has become over 5 billion a year industry. The benefits one can reap through the benefits of this latest concept are far above than the conventional face-to-face meetings and conferences. Moreover, the savings you get to make on travel expenses, from fuel to vehicle maintenance to tickets to hotels to eating on the road is just mind-boggling.

Specifically for budding entrepreneurs who are starting up a new business or considering options to cut costs, webinars is one absolute solution to refrain themselves from forking out huge chunks of bucks. Hence, cost savings, convenience and real time facility are a few most indispensable offerings of webinars. In addition, it greatly supports synergy among companies at a much faster pace than ever before. Moreover, learning the basics know-how and how-to-operate functionality of conducting webinars is also quite an easy job. Providentially, a good number of websites are available to educate the user and list the technology's advantages, along with some useful tips on finding the right the appropriate web conferencing vendor for each particular business.

Interactive web conferencing uses the speed and the outreach of the Internet to connect all people who have a high-speed Internet connect anywhere around the world. These days, traveling is increasingly cost-prohibitive and the efficient use of time is more important than ever. And rising up to the challenge of needing to meet business demands for solutions to this quandry, online interactive web conferencing programs are interactive because they allow you to see each other's desktops (and sometimes faces), hear each other in real-time, draw or move objects around together, chat, or upload documents with meeting attendees.

What features and what level of interactivity you desire in your conferencing program is completely for you to decide based upon your business' needs. Generally speaking, the more a program costs, the more features you can draw upon and the more user-friendly it is. You get what you pay for. Some web conferencing services are even free to use; for instance, theSkype VoIP program or a chat client. It's after you begin adding features like increasing the number of users or the ability to have desktops viewed and interacted with that you begin having costs and increasing costs involved.

What you can find in interactive web conferencing providers includes:

* File transfer.
* No need for the meeting's participants to download any software.
* Sharing of documents.
* Common white board: all participants can draw upon a virtual white board that is seen by all others in real-time.
* Desktop or screen sharing.
* Video chat.
* Instant messaging.

Now, you may say, why can't we simply e-mail documents and use free instant messenger services in order to meet these needs? The answer is, we are intuitive beings who need interaction and interconnection. The more important and complex a particular matter is, the more important it is to meet about it. Live meetings provide a clarity and intuitively-grasped communication that builds much more trust than the (by comparison) primitive e-mailing and IMing. And, online web conferencing is much more impressive to your clients!

When you are selecting your web conferencing provider and program, you'll also want to think about technical matters like how many people the program supports at one time, how secure it is, and whether or not the program is supported by all participants' platforms (such as Linux AND Mac AND Windows, for instance).

Again, don't underestimate the vital importance of interactive web conferencing. In today's business climate, this wondrous technology is just going to keep getting less expensive and better, for it is going to become more and more the norm for conducting business with those who live or work at a distance.

Internet conference call is one of the ways the internet has revolutionized the way that we do about our business. Gone are the days of analog phones and in comes the digital revolution. Using the internet to power up your conference calls gives you many advantages. You can call a business contact wherever he maybe as long as he has an internet connection. More than that, you can even go in a video conference with him if you both have web cameras. Communication has never been as easy and as far reaching as it is today.

Because of this, many businesses are encouraged to use the internet to power up their conference calls. However, many since this is still a relatively new technology, many companies are still having their reservations on how internet conferences work. If you are one of those people, this article will help you understand how internet conferences work as well as learn a two step guide on how to find the right service provider for you.

Step one: Find a genuine service provider
Many service providers will do anything for a quick buck. They can promise you global connection in your conference calls knowing fully well that their computer servers can not handle such services. More than that, other providers even charge hidden fees just to get even with the big discount that they are offering.

Just a reminder, before you go out and hire a service provider, you must first find out if this services provider can be trusted in handling the communication system of your company. You can do this by running a background check on the company of your choice. You can do this either in the internet or in the telephone. Find previous customers and clients of that service provider and ask them about what they liked and disliked about the service of that company. If you hear mostly thankful smiles then there is a big chance that the company that you chose is dependable and consistent.

Step two: Choose a package
The second easy step that you need to make is to choose the service package that you think will be the best fit for your business. Every service provider has their own different rates and they also have different service packages that you can choose from.

These service packages that are being offered vary from one store to another and the prices of these services also differ. Because of this, there is a wide competition among all the conference service providers. This type of competition among service providers will most likely benefit yourself and your colleagues. This is because the stronger competition from one dealer, the lower the prices can drop.

In reading this article, I hope that I guided you through the intricacies of conference call. Remember that while you take them for granted in your office or house, internet conference calls are a very powerful tool that any business must have.

The entertainment industry is now undergoing a transaction period and speed of the transformation is faster than what we have thought. In reality, this transaction is triggered by the rise of Internet as another viable alternative of Television media, which has long been touted as the best entertainment platform. Internet is offering a wide range of options to get entertained and among them live streaming video is gaining enormous popularity, thanks to its numerous advantages. As the popularity of live video streaming is spiraling up consistently, the concept of innovative advertisement has undergone a massive changed in the past few years.

Just few days ago, television commercials were considered to be the best medium to promote and to advertise but this concept has been turned inside out recently. No longer you have to advertise your products or services in the television media for seizing the attention of potential consumers, here is the smart way to do it. Just broadcast it live in the Internet and you will be able to make the most of it. But this is not as simple as it might appear; you need to toil hard to make your video attractive by using the power of latest technology.

Arousing curiosity of the viewers should be your main goal. For achieving this goal, you have to ensure a perfect coordination and synchronization in the entire production process. You need to comprehend this simple fact that people are no longer interested in watching just moving picture, they are looking for something more, some innovative, something out of the box. Earning the trust of the viewers should be your sole objective because if you can manage to succeed in winning the trust of the viewers, you will always stay a step ahead of your competitors.

Now, it is not possible for a non-technical person to complete this task without getting technical assistance from a leading streaming video company. Choosing the right streaming video company should be done with care because the future of your endeavor is by and large dependent on it. A streaming video company should have vast knowledge in this field otherwise; you might have to face a number of complexities that mar your chance of making an indelible impact on the minds of the viewers. Do not trust Internet all the time. Try to interact with industry experts to get valuable information in this regard.

If you are in a thought that the telephone and the e-mail are quite enough for the communication of your business then you need to think again. All the humans have an inbuilt habit of making out the meaning of what we speak by observing our facial expressions and studying our body language. In brief if the person is able to see you then what you say will make more sense.

In this fast growing technology, you have the luxury of interacting with the person by seeing him, with the help of the video conferencing technology. You do not need to spend large amount of money or book tickets and travel for this. Using video conferencing you can talk to your clients actually wherever they are across the globe, from your desktop only.

Latest technologies such as the ISDN and IP conferencing methods provide us with high-class audio/video outputs, so that you feel as if sitting in the same room. For this you need to have high speed internet connection, high-definition televisions, connection routers, etc. you can opt for a reliable service provider to take help for your communication system if you do not like invest more for the equipment. This web based video conferencing services provide us cost effective solutions and also progress your business communication.

With video conferencing, we can plan training programs which guides our workforce around the world. It helps in improving the productivity in the long run and also shortens the cycles of product development. Conferencing enhances communication within the employees of the business and also with the clients.

Fundamentally, it is one-on-one communication using technology. It is technology that makes business communication a whole lot simpler.

It makes use of telecommunications of both audio and video to get people at different places together for a gathering. This can be as easy as a discussion between two persons in private offices called as point-to-point or engage several sites known as multi-point with more than single person in big rooms at different places. Not just only video and audio transmission it can also be used for sharing documents, white boards and computer display information.

Videoconferencingnow.com is one of the popular sites that provide you the software of this technology.

There has been a proliferation of conference call companies over the last several years. Many of these companies are simply glorified websites with no personnel or technology behind them. If you should need assistance on your conference calls, no one will be there to help you. Here are five tips for selecting a great conference call company that will produce excellent results for you at fair prices.

1. Make sure that the conference call company is more than a website. You should check out the company's website first, but then you should call them and ask them some questions about their company. You should inquire about how many people they have on staff and if they have customer service that is accessible when you have a problem with a call. Another good question is, Do they have their own conference bridges? Also try and find out how old the company is and how much experience the founders of the company have in the conferencing industry.

2. Check references. While you have the company's representative on the phone, you should next ask for references. You should get at least three and no more than five references, hopefully in the same industry that you represent. Once you have obtained these references, call each one of them and inquire about their experiences with this company. Be sure and ask them about the clarity of the calls, the quality of customer service and the accuracy of the billing. When you have checked all of your references, you should then decide if this vendor ranks high on your list. If you have some concern that this vendor may not be the one for you, then call another vendor and repeat the process.

3. Be careful of free sites. There are a number of free conference calling sites on the Internet. In most cases, these services are limited in that they have no customer service and all of your parties have to pay for their own long distance service, which is sometimes more than you would pay for the conferencing service with a paid vendor. Some of these free services also require you to change dial in numbers and pin codes periodically, which becomes a hassle for you and your conferees, trying to remember which code is good today.

4. Make sure that you get a free trial. This is the most important tip since "the proof of the pudding" is in you actually making conference calls and judging the quality for yourself. While you are making trial calls, be sure and try the operator recall feature to see if an operator actually comes into your call to assist you. If the operator arrives late or never arrives, then the company probably has limited resources to help you in the future. Another important point to judge is the clarity of the call. The call should be very clear and all parties should be heard clearly. If the volume is low or parties sould fuzzy or there is clipping on the call, then this is a problem. Try someone else.

5. Once you have selected a conference call service and start using the service, check your bill out to make sure that the charges are correct. Multiple the number of total number of minutes on your statement times the quoted rate that you were given and check to see that this total is equal to the total on your bill before taxes. If you have been overcharged, get back to your contact immediately to correct the error and request a credit.

If you follow these five simple tips in selecting a conference call service, you should be able to avoid the problem companies and select a company that will provide you with an outstanding conferencing experience.

Mike Burns has been in the conferencing industry since 1971, having originally worked for Southwestern Bell and AT&T. In 1989, Mr. Burns founded Conference Pros International and in 2000, Mr Burns founded A+ Conferencing, a conferencing provider that sells exclusively through master agents and resellers. Mr Burns speaks and writes about the conferencing industry frequently.

Video conferencing services have changed the way businesses are done. They have supported offshore outsourcing in a big way. Easy and cost effective communication through such services has facilitated distance meetings. Meetings within company employees across different geographical boundaries as well as client meetings have been made easy and convenient. Global companies have also been using this service in training fresh employees.  By using this service, resourceful trainers from the other part of the world are can train trainees living miles away.  

A Video conference can be done either by using desktop PC, through a dedicated video conference suite or even through mobile phones. However doing it by using the web has become increasingly popular.

The primary advantage of this service is that it is very cost effective. Also, the web is connecting the world and everyone has access to internet. It is likely that those you want to communicate to also have access to internet. This is especially advantageous in dealing with a client through web video conference. 

Video conferencing using internet is different from web conferencing.   In web conferencing, all the sources for communication including hearing aids, video devices are accesses from the internet. No external device is used in conducting a conference. But in internet video conferencing, the web is used as a connection mode.  We can compare this to a telephone conversation.  Just as we use a telephone connection but use a telephone device to converse, in video conference through internet, external aids are used for conversation and internet is only an aid to connect.

Video Conferencing Etiquette

By: Vikas S

The use of video conferencing services in business is increasing. There has been a large upsurge especially after the trend of outsourcing business processes started. They have been used avidly to conduct long distance meetings, long distance training programs and to communicate with offshore clients. With passing time, the cost of video conferencing services has been decreasing and at the same time the technology used in video conference has been improving.  As a result,  the practice of conferencing using video aids is increasing. Though the usage of video conference is simple and generally casual, there is a certain level decorum that has to be maintained in video conferencing especially in a business scenario. Here are some tips for video conference call etiquette-

• Choose a suitable place to hold the conference and make sure all the participants are present at the location on time. Do not begin the conference tell all participants assemble. 
• Check the devices a day prior to the conference. If the devices are not in working conditions, you can either replace them with good ones or reschedule the meeting.
• It is a good idea to appoint a person to preside over the conference so that he/she makes sure it goes on smoothly. This way, you can avoid instances where two or more people are talking at a time and the like. 
• Do not dress very casually for a video conference meeting. Dress as you would for a face-to face meeting. 
• When you start participating in the meeting and it is your turn to speak up, don't forget to introduce yourself.
• Use mute button on the remote control when another person is talking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vikas_S