Hope Dever asked:




Webinar in this present time happens to be one of the best online conferencing solutions. In this mode of conferencing the audience can directly communicate with the host of the seminar, unlike in webcast.

On a web server it is generally hosted by a vendor who lets either the client or the vendor to host the seminar at their own private server. It is always better to let the vendor host the web based conference as they provide round the clock assistance to the participants of the conference.

Why select webinar?

Unlike phone video conferencing more options for interaction between the presenter and the participants are available.

Easier presentation: Due to the facility of webinar, more options on the modes of presentation are available to the host as well as the participants. It can range from Slide shows, Power point, keynote or usage of Whiteboards. Pointer can be used by the presenter or any one of the attendee to locate a particular point and attract attention of the participants on the same. With whiteboard, anyone present in the conference, can keep notes, annotate or highlight a portion. Live editing can also take place in this conferencing mode.

Usage of Video: Live or streamed video can be used. Here, the video files can be multi-media files, digital camera files and even web cam full motion video files.

Clear audio: VoIp is used for clear audio communication between the people attending the conference.
Screen sharing: In this mode of conferencing anyone can share and view anything, be it screens desktop or any other kinds of application. Even participants can control other attendees’ desktops, though not widely used it enables one to manipulate other person’s screen.

Exchange of data made easier: Attendees as well as the presenter can push among themselves the URLs, cookies, online scripts and forms. All one needs to do is click and logon to the features. Live multiple choice questions can be circulated with immediate response. Another advantage of webinar is that private messages can be shared among a group of people or between couple of them.

One can also refer back to the meeting that took place, as it is recorded by either the client or the vendor or both of them.

Web conferencing tool

The web conferencing vendor offers various kinds of tools and software to conduct the web based seminars. As a client one must know the kind of presentation and the number of people that one would interact with. Based on that and the computer’s compatibility one should select the online conferencing tool.

Abode Acrobat Connect allows at maximum of 15 people to participate. This software can be used at both Windows and Mac.

Dimdim is a tool which has free versions available in the market, most of which are demos. Demos have limited features available, so it is recommended that one purchases that edition in order to avail the multiple features.

Central Desktop is limited to10 participants only. But it has unique features like wiki-style editing, archiving and tracking of the project.

There are many more webinar tools like Microsoft Office Live Meeting, MSN, IBM Lotus Sametime are to name a few.

Harvey

conferencing and remote support asked:




For many companies, the decision to use webinar software is based on enhancing workflow and saving money. It is clear, however, that audio video conferencing has many real world applications as well. The most obvious benefits of utilizing these tools are really just the tip of the iceberg. One recent example of this is an undertaking by the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) in Suffolk exploring elderly care options.

The NFCA in collaboration with Home Instead Senior Care put on a free webinar in November. Its aim was to help families coping with caring for elderly parents to make decisions and understand potential problems. The 45-minute online conference addressed vital issues and featured well known professionals in the field of senior care.

Elderly care is a growing concern in the US. Using a web conference service to enhance care and making decisions is a step in the right direction. The facilities of a good web conference system can also be applied to other areas. These include:

Customer service Staff training Technical support Distance education Sales team mobilization Product promotion

Other areas of the health care sector can likely be improved by the use of a web conference service. Today’s web conference systems are not clunky or as pricey as earlier versions. Providers like RHUB Communications have created products that give any company or organization the ability to be flexible.

The web conference systems today are based on speed, reliability, and enhanced communication. Some of the features of the best web conference services are:

Remote desktop control File transfer and remote printing Multi-tiered tech support Recording of conferences or webinars

A conference like the one put on by the NFCA in Suffolk creates opportunities for other areas facing similar decisions. Not surprisingly, the decision to have the web conference was largely influenced by the current economic climate. This factor has also helped to spur interest in the growing crop of web conference services.

Users have the option of hosted services, downloadable software or web conferencing appliances. RHUB appliance is an example which many companies find to be preferable to hosted solutions. However, even the most basic web conference systems have helped companies streamline their operations and improve productivity.

This will no doubt set a new trend for other cash strapped communities looking to provide care for the elderly. Special needs organizations, private health care facilities and similar groups could also explore the use of webinar software for delivery of information.



Martin

Abdul Halim asked:




Conference call is a very important thing for business organization. Due to the spend down in travel budgets due to the bad economy and the rising costs of gasoline and jet fuel, more and more people are turning to conference calls to suit there business needs.

Affordable conference calling should be considered by any company that is looking to keep costs down while increasing profitability. Conference calls are used by many businesses and corporations. In today’s competitive global market, it is very important for business to stay connected.

Sales managers and executives use conference calls to stay abreast of the latest sales information and any other information they require to keep their businesses running. That’s why it’s very important to search for the most affordable conference calling plan. Conference calls can get expensive and those costs can easily eat up a company’s profits.

Basically there are three kinds of conference call, such as audio conferencing, video conferencing and web conferencing. According to your demand you can choose your category. There are many organizations who are offering the conference call service. You can choose one from online who has good reputation and satisfaction background report.

AT&T conferencing or att call conference is most popular to all. Without conferencing at&t is most popular for att wireless, and att prepaid wireless and att web conference. They have various packages for different users. So you can consider att as your conference service provider for better quality services.

Many private conference call service providers are offering their services for various levels business organizations. One of the top level conference service providers is Conference calls.com. They have three packages small business up to 50 participant, Executive upto 3000 participants, Enterprise up to 10000 participants.

Enterprise conferencing are divided into few parts such as AT&T Web Meeting AT&T Executive Web Meeting, AT&T Live Meeting. An expert AT&T Producer will support and manage your entire meeting.

To know more you can visit the author’s site presented below.: http://cellphonecentre.blogspot.com/2008/10/conference-call.html



Albert

Serena Wilkinson asked:




There are those who would argue that staging a webinar is not much different from conducting a live presentation in person. In many ways this is true, but the web conferencing format expands the audience and enhances the presentation. One example is through the use of videos in meetings.

Video Conferencing Explained

The term video conferencing refers to technology that allows communication via live video streams. It can involve two or more persons, but the basic idea is that all participants can see all others involved in the web conference. While it can be a standalone service, it is usually a component of today’s web conferencing software. While video conferencing is not absolutely vital to the success of a meeting, having a video component does greatly increase the overall presentation’s effectiveness.

The Benefits and Advantages

Few conferences can be considered successful without some sort of video component. Along with standard features as chat, annotation and whiteboard, presentations can be structured in such a way that participants can offer their own input in real time. This is one of the many benefits of conducting a seminar or meeting online and a growing number of organizations are catching on to this fact. These include:

Large and small companies: Regardless of the size of any business, there are great benefits to be had by either hosting or attending a webinar. Some companies may use them to provide training for employees. Smaller companies recognize the value of the web meeting for networking opportunities and self promotion. Many meeting software also have built in screen sharing functions, allowing for an easy way for teams to collaborate and work together regardless of their physical locations.

Schools and universities:

Use of video conferencing does not only apply to online schools. Online learning also schools the flexibility to offer self-paces or distance learning classes for students who are not able to attend classes on campus. Courses taught online can often be recorded for reference by students or professors later.

Vera

Hope Dever asked:




Online conferencing was once associated with high profile businesses, who had to interact with people from various places. It was expensive to set up such an conferencing internet service. However, with time, internet has become more accessible so has the conferencing services. The facility is now no longer limited to multi-national companies but can be utilized by small and medium size businesses too. To convey about one’s business one does not need to hold meetings at various locations and in this way saving the money on travel as well as accommodation. Thus, you can reach out to more people. Thereby, online conferencing has become one of the most impressive tools in boosting small businesses.

The internet market is now full of conference call providers and everyone is competing with the other to grab more market share. This has benefited the clients as the cost of conferencing has come down like never before. So select the facilities that you would require for your business and then select the online conference service provider.

Audio or Video Conferencing:

Depending on your business, you got to decide the mode of conferencing that you would select. Though audio conferencing services are much cheaper than video conferencing ones, it does not possess the multiple features that video conferencing offers. Under the umbrella term “video conferencing”, webinar and various other web-based video conferencing are also there. Presentations with slide, power-points, application of white boards, sharing of desktop and screens among the attendees are possible. Even simultaneous online wiki-style editing is facilitated. Usage of pointer and the visuals makes it easier to explain or put across points to the others in video based conferencing.

Free Conferencing:

There are multiple online conferencing service providers that offer free conferencing. If you have few people to reach out to and do not require a prolific service regularly then it is alright to use free services in conferencing.

Reservation:

Online conferencing vendors offer two kinds of services, reservation and non-reservation. Once again if you want to conduct an online conference without any preparation then you can avail the non-reservation facility. In this case, you are free to select the people that you want in the conference and the service provider is in no way involved, apart from providing you with the conference facility. On the other hand, in case of conferencing reservation, you need to schedule and book the time. Then you have to inform the number of participants to become a part of the conference. In case of reservation conference, people without invitation cannot take part in it.

Time limit:

Decide on the time that you would require to talk on your business matters. Most of the time, a conference call is allowed to run for one hour, but larger audience would mean more duration. So, know the number of participants along with the time required by you. At the time of doing your reservation you can give an estimation of the time that you would require. This would also enable you to make an estimation of the cost required for the conference.

Online conferencing also lets you keep the record of the conference so that you can refer to it later.

Floyd

KAMS asked:




The video conferencing advantage

Most businesses require both employers and employees to do frequent corporate traveling to attend meeting and seminars. Imagine the difficulty in traveling to attend conferences around the world. You have to put up with all the tension and spend valuable time and money traveling to the place and coming back. Think about the money you need to spend on travel expenses like flight tickets, hotel and dining expense. You can avoid these by setting up a multipoint video conference facility which can allow communication from different parts of the world without any hustle or bustle. In this way you can spare more time and money for your employees. Setting up a conference system may be an expensive affair, it depends on the how complex it is. But there is a lot of long term advantages in terms of time, money and stress saved.

Things to check before buying and installing the system

Before getting into the process of installing the system, you need to do a lot of research on the Internet about video conferencing. Based on this you should decide the right system for your business. Then comes the job of selecting a suitable software according to your requirements. You need to consider whether it is a multipoint video conference or point to point conference while deciding the software. Take care to get the the software from a recognized dealer. Most companies will send technicians for installing and giving you the tips on how to use the system. Make sure you clear all your doubts about how to operate and troubleshoot. After installing software and running the system you should check whether your cameras can scan all regions of your conference hall. Also see that there are enough microphones and whether you can hear the audio from all microphones equally well. Pay attention to lighting, all parts of the room should be well lit. You don’t want to see people hidden in darkness during the video conference.

Your video conference hardware

Your video conference kit can range from simple systems where a codec is placed on top of a monitor to more complex systems meant for huge boardrooms and seminar halls. Such complex systems require installation and setup by specialist technicians. The other hardware for your video conferencing kit is the carrier. A carrier does the job of communicating data between any two systems on the conferencing network. You can use ISDN telephone networks or IP networks.

ISDN can be used as carrier if the co



Jacob

Michael Bernholtz asked:




Video Conferencing allows you to converse with customers, suppliers, distributors, fellow employees or stakeholders all across the world without leaving the office. The world just got a whole lot smaller, and you don’t want to get lost in the details!

10 Things you can do to optimize your Video Conferencing experience -and why:

1. Set up the camera in a quiet and calm room without to many distractions going on behind you. – You want the person on the other side to be paying attention to you and not to distracted by the way your office looks.

2. Be confident and sure of yourself. – If you look uncomfortable, then the person on the other side can see that. You need to present an aura of calm and comfort and that will translate over to the person on the other side.

3.  Do not fidgit or fiddle with toys. – This is distracting and it shows that the speaker is not comfortable.

4. Close the door. – You don’t want voices or people from outside walking in on your video conference. They provide additional distractions.

5. Look presentable and comb your hair. – You image is seen before you say your first word. So the best chance to give a first impression is by how you look, not always by what you say.

6. Practice makes perfect. – It sounds cliche, but it is important. To show confidence and control you need to be prepared, and practicing what you are going to say will make you more at ease when you say it over again to the person on the other side of the camera.

7. Focus the camera on you before beginning. – The person on the other side has no interest in watching you adjust your camera, it gives the impression that you were unprepared for the call or meeting. Make sure the camera is focused right on you before starting a call.

8. Don’t pay more then you have to. – Make sure that Hardware or Service you are using for video Conferencing is high quality and you are covered in case of a defect by a warrenty. Also don’t buy packages with many more functions then you will ever be using. Stick to what you need or what you will use, it is not worth it to buy 20 features if you only use 3. Find a plan that matches your needs and your requirements.

9. Video Conferencing reduces your travelling bills but it will not remove them entirely. – Video Conferencing is very useful as it lets you talk to people all over the World without leaving your office, but it does not completely replace the effect of being there in person. There are times that you still have to go and see people.

10.  Be respectful, stay still, and remember that you are on camera. – Video Conferencing has an etiquette protocol. Moving around to much can be distracting. Taking you eyes away from the camera to often can be rude if it seems you are not paying attention, and remember that you are on camera so use hand gestures if you want but only sparingly.

These 10 tips are all for once you already have a Video Conferencing system in place, but another important detail is finding the right Video Conferencing Hardware or Service.  Your video conferencing provider does make a big difference. A customer or client will not be impressed if your image is blurry or your connection is fuzzy. The connection quality is your first impression it is one of the first things that the person you are talking to sees.

When looking for a provider there a few things to look for:

 - A private and protected network

 - High Quality video – maybe even High Def

 - Inexpensive

 - They meet your needs NOT Your needs change to meet thiers

 - Do not just find the cheapest one out there.

 

 

Video Conferencing is a great tool if used wisely. Sometimes buying the Hardware and software is very expensive so it is worth looking into finding video conferencing as a service, so you get all the technology you need, but only for the time that you need it. 

Video Conferencing is on the rise and it is a powerful tool for communication and also slashing travel expenses. Finding high quality video conferencing software or software makes a visibly significant first impression.

 

 



Annie

Cheow Yu Yuan asked:




Video conferencing is taking the market by storm and more businesses are using it to conduct webinars and meetings. The reason why video conferencing is so popular is because it saves travelling cost. With this, business owners do not need to travel to overseas for a face-to-face meeting anymore – they can sit in front of their computer screens and conduct meetings with their associates.

In this article, let me share with you some tips to conduct a successful webinar:

1. Set up your conferencing equipments properly. To hold a successful webinar, you must get the equipments in place. The quality of the equipments is very important as it will directly affect your video. For example, if you use a low pixel camera, the video output will be grainy.

2. Avoid slow Internet connection. The most common reason why webinars fail is because of slow internet connectivity. Your connection speed should be at least 3mbps.

3. Prepare yourself for the webinar. Before you conduct a webinar, you need to prepare. Plan out the agenda and things that you want to share with your participants. Also, familiarize yourself with the video conferencing platform so that you can guide your participants. If you have one bad experience, you should not give up on video conferencing. Practice makes perfect. By holding more webinars, you will improve and become proficient at it.

4. Send out your invitation early. You need to send out invitations to your guests at least 2 weeks before the actual date. If you are holding a commercial webinar, you should consider advertising it. By building buzz around it, you can attract more people to attend it.

5. Try your best to engage your audience. If your webinar is boring, people will leave. Even if you are using it to pitch your product or service to a potential customer, you must make your presentation as engaging as possible. Again, this takes practice. Do not give up just because of a few bad experiences.

6. Set a convenient time for your audience. One main reason why people don’t turn up for your webinar is because it is set at your local timing. You must set a time that is convenient to your target audience, not for yourself.

7. Build rapport with your audience. When you are conducting a webinar, it is not the time to be shy. You must be comfortable with people and bring across your point to them. Be it a sales webinar or shareholders meeting, you need to make a great impression in their minds.

Video conferencing is definitely the way to conduct presentations and meetings. So get yourself comfortable in front of a video camera and start holding webinars now.

Rodney

Jim Brown asked:




For both small and large businesses, video conferencing is becoming one of the leading tools for communication. Video conferencing is a form of telecommunication that utilizes both audio and video for a virtual meeting. This basically involves either two people having a simple conversation referred to as P2P or point to point or it could be multi-point involving several different locations with many people linked together for the virtual meeting.

As technological advances continue to improve in the field of video conferencing, more and more businesses are trying to integrate this communication tool into their communication systems. But some may be hesitant to upgrade their system especially if they are not too familiar with how this type of system works and on whether or not it brings numerous benefits to their specific type of business. Your business’ particular situation though may benefit from the advantages that video conferencing has to offer.

Businesses that have multiple offices at various locations both locally or worldwide can benefit from video conferencing. In such a scenario, it is not uncommon to have regular regional meetings where office or department managers may have to travel to a particular location to take part in such. Apart from the travel expenses, pre-meeting preparations such as the paperwork to be distributed, emailed or post mailed can cost money as well and have to be considered too. Both time and money are saved if meetings are held via video conferencing with all the pertinent information needed to be taken up being displayed on the screen and all parties involved being able to interact even without being physically present in one room.

Video Conferencing can assist as well in your dealings with business partners, investors and those who you potentially think will be interested in doing business with you, most especially if they are located abroad. Important business matters can be easily discussed without having to schedule a meeting that requires some partners or associates to travel. You not only get full access to all of your business materials, you save money on travel and lodging expenses.

Many businesses are beginning to incorporate this technology and so you should consider installing a video conferencing system as well. Video conferencing equipment prices are starting to decrease and as more businesses are using such a technology to conduct regular virtual meetings, sooner or later you may have to upgrade your communication system as well.



Ernest

Peter Mann asked:




Video conferencing is method by which people in different locations communicate in real time with two or more people at different locations via video This ability to see the remote participants as well being able to hear them has many benefits over audio-conferencing.

Video conferencing is now widely used by all industry sectors. Multinational companies use it to communicate with international branch offices, whilst smaller companies use videoconferencing to enable them to work with clients and suppliers in different countries.

The equipment required for video conferencing is simple to operate. On screen menus enable you to enter the number you want to call or select it from an address book. Gone are the days where videoconferencing required specialist technicians – now everyone in your office can be shown how to place calls with a 10 minute training session.

Video conferencing should not be considered in ‘black and white’ terms – there will always be a need to travel to meet clients or partners especially during the important early stages when relationships are being built. Where videoconferencing wins out is being able to maintain those relationships easily and cost effectively.

Modern video conference systems enable users to share documents and computer images with the remote (far end) party. When videoconferencing is used in this manner it becomes part of a collaboration solution.

Video conferencing is not only used internationally, many legal firms and consultants use videoconference systems to avoid billing clients travel time and to be able to carry out more client meetings in any given time period.

Many-to-many communication: this is the most complex form of video conferencing and is mostly associated with room based video conferencing technology. In this case several parties (more than 2) are involved in the conference, and all can be seen and heard.

Why use video conferencing?

A telephone call or e-mail is not always the best way to communicate with another person. Interactive meetings can help to generate ideas, and enable people to read and react to others’ sensitivities

Video conference communication and meetings are often much shorter in total as no travel is involved. A meeting that may take you away from work for four hours (due to travel) may take only one or two hours using a video conference. You can communicate more regularly with people in other districts or countries, which would usually be costly or impossible if you had to travel. Using video conferencing saves money as it can lower your expenses – there is no need for all the costs involved with travelling, such as meals and tickets

You can video conference with many more people than would fit into a single meeting room because each party will be using their own facilities, video conferencing allows for collaboration by document sharing. Many people in different areas can work on the same project and make contributions.

Many institutions can receive the same broadcast simultaneously and thus a much greater level of participation can be gained. For example, a lecture being broadcast to students at many different educational institutions

How do I use videoconferencing?

Videoconferencing can be extremely easy to use.  The most recent developments have been with 4 digit dialling opposed to entering in IP Addresses to connect to the far end.  This process would often be perceived by non technical users of the system as overly technical and would lead to a frustrating and clumsy user experience. 

We are all used to entering phone numbers in to mobile phones or fax machines where there is an on screen display of the number being dialled. Video conferencing is similar but with a TV as the onscreen display and a video image of the participants at the far end. Placing a call is easy, although there are advanced features available on most videoconferencing systems, these do not need to be used if not necessary.

What equipment do I need?

Video conferencing systems & equipment vary from entry-level systems where a videoconferencing unit (codec) is placed on top of a TV monitor, through to advanced ‘installed’ systems in boardrooms and meeting rooms. The latter require careful system design and expert installation.  CCOMM have been designing and building complex but easy to use main board room and meeting room installations since 1996.

Apart from the videoconferencing hardware a carrier is required for the communication between the near-end and far-end systems. This carrier can be ISDN digital telephone lines or IP based computer networks. Generally when organisations use video conferencing to speak to branch or international offices then IP (h.323) is used. When speaking to outside organisations it is most common to use ISDN (h.320).



Shawn