Video conferencing

Save Money Through Audio and Web Conferencing By:Ajeet Khurana

2008-01-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Audio and web conferencing allows companies to communicate with people across the globe in real time. It is no wonder that these methods are gaining in popularity. It is true that a real face-to-face meeting is sometimes called for, but the sheer expensive of sending a representative to another state or another country is daunting.

There are travel expenses, food reimbursement, and accommodation expenses. The question you should be asking is whether it is worth it.

This is particularly true when you consider the full abilities of an audio conference or a web conference. Let us begin with a study of the mode of audio conferencing. An audio conference lets anyone with the proper phone setup enter a virtual meeting and discuss the veritable plethora of issues that may come up. It effectively pulls them all into your board room without your having to pay anything more than the small cost of setting up the teleconference.

Current technology even allows for teleconferencing across the world without incurring the high cost of long distance minutes. Looking to cut costs? You should take a look at some of the bargains on offer.

That is just an audio conference. The web conferencing method has even more potential. All you need is a standard internet connection with an established chat room or discussion zone. If you are looking to save on costs, this is the way to go. Then, you just have to setup a web cam and a connected visual display screen, and it will really be like the other people are in the room with you.

This gives it the feel of a real meeting and it can even keep up the feeling of professionalism, since board rooms are often the best place to setup for your part of the meeting. Ever since we saw the rise of web conferencing, there has been a drop in the number of regular conferences.

For a quick review, a web conference will let you go a step further and have a virtual meeting with employees and clients from across the world and you can actually see them and talk to them in real time. The move away from the traditional meeting has been partly because this method is far more cost-effective.

Organizations are now recognizing that there is great potential to save on costs by employing the mode to carry out meetings. The technology that connects friends and relatives over the internet can now be used to connect you to all of your important contacts at a price that easily fits into the budget. If a web conference or an audio conference even helps your business acquire one more client, then it should be worth it.

The setup costs are low and there are plenty of providers available that offer a wide range of features, letting you choose a plan that has everything you need and without paying for what you don't. Audio and web conferencing are bound to become the necessities of tomorrow. They stand to eliminate the need for expensive travel except in extreme circumstances.

Perhaps the future might become fully dependent on audio and web conferencing as the traditional meeting falls out of favor.

Point To Point Video Conferencing Using Javas JMF API By:Lakshmichandrakanth Thangavelu

2008-01-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

P2P Video Conference

When a face-to-face meeting with someone far away becomes a necessity or a compelling presentation must be given to a remote person, video conferencing is always your best choice. This means that you will get the exact solution you need for a productive and successful.

Here we are going to design peer to peer conferencing package designed to be a complete solution for all LAN conferencing. Leading Video conferencing Products are very costly and some products are not a Standard based, they are following their own Standards. So the quality and compatibility of the various products may differ.

To design a standard based video conference, we are going to use Java Technology. For the communication related Programming, the JMF 2.11e API is very helpful. The Java Media Framework API (JMF) enables audio, video and other time-based media to be added to applications and applets built on Java technology. This optional package, which can capture, playback, stream, and Trans code multiple media formats, for multimedia developers by providing a powerful toolkit to develop scalable, cross-platform technology.

In the architecture, the JMF Server applet captures the audio/video and stored in buffer then transmits into the JMF client applet as a RTP stream.To implementing the project we use G.711, G.722 audio codec, H.263, H.264 video codec and RTP Protocol.

Real-time streaming of media allows users to play media as they receive it. Users don't have to wait for the whole media file to be downloaded before watching. To enable real-time streaming, dedicated streaming media servers and streaming protocols, such as real time Protocol (RTP), are required. RTP is an Internet standard for transporting real-time data.

Secured Web Conferencing The Cost Effective Way By:Kevin Peck

2008-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

In due course, web conferencing has proved its worth over traditional audio or video conferencing. In those situations, where the basic meeting format is that of back and forth information flows, web conferencing is just second to face to face meeting.

However, security has always been a major concern with web conferencing. Mere SSL or AES encryption protocol cannot guarantee you complete access security though they are well known as industry standards. Corporate houses cannot ignore this viable communication media and at the same time cannot entirely depend on it for this very reason.

There are so many other problems in traditional web conferencing. The attendees who needed to deal with 3D CAD design, flash graphic design, and other similar collaborations of image based applications, had to fight hard to make the meeting effective up to the minimum level.

Another big problem with traditional web conferencing had been that the attendees had to download and install meeting client software. That is not all. The attendees needed to download Java, flash installations and others to support the client software. The whole process was tedious, time consuming and expensive (in some cases you need to pay monthly usage charges for your meeting client software).

Even after ignoring all these problems, you can not be sure that your meeting is held in a 100% secured atmosphere.

What next?

Here comes "on premise web conferencing appliances", a secured and easy to use conferencing tool for corporate communication. Just install the appliance and you are ready to start the conference - round the clock.

With these appliances you do not need to pay any monthly fee or you do not need constant IT support. To add to this there is no way that a firewall, proxy server or anti virus can block it. And thus you get a hustle free and smooth conference.

This appliance is supported by all the platforms like Mac, UNIX, Linux or Windows. To add to this, you can attend the conference using your iPhone too - thus you can stay connected even while you are on the move.

The best thing about "on premise web conferencing appliances" is that you can use your firewall to protect access security of web conferencing attendees. Alongside, with some of these appliances, you get the facility to Remotely Access your computer.

To sum up, "on premise web conferencing appliance for web meeting" provides you a simple, easy to use, cost effective and secured conferencing tool for internal and external meetings.

Kevin Peck is a freelance writer and works for a video conferencing company. For more information on secured on premise web conferencing appliances for web meeting he recommends you to visit http://www.rhubcom.com/ or http://www.gomeetnow.com/

Oops Mind Your Teleconferencing Etiquette By:Nahshon DeMore

2008-01-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

Good manners is always appreciated anywhere and is a matter of common sense and consideration for others, combined. In the workplace, protocol remains basic despite the changing modes of doing business. So, do you know your teleconferencing etiquette?

Starting the conference

There is not much difference from the old-fashioned meeting procedures and the present practice for teleconferencing. As always, everybody should be on time and ready with their reports. It is unprofessional and inconsiderate to arrive late for meetings, and that's exactly the same with teleconferencing.

If you are charged to facilitate a teleconference, do some tasks ahead. Part of your assignment is to prepare the venue and the equipment. For the venue, select a quiet place because background noise can be picked up by the speakerphones. While you are it, check the speakerphones if these are working, so these can be fixed or replaced days before the teleconference.

Proceed to prepare email messages. If it is the usual people meeting, you know who to inform through email the date and time of the teleconference. An omission is a costly mistake, as well as a slip of teleconferencing etiquette.

The information sent should include the agenda of the meeting. This will give the participants the time to arrange their schedules. Before the date, you call each of them reminding them of the meeting, as well as to give them the dial-in number and password.

On the Day of the Conference

There's nothing irritating like a late facilitator. Be an hour ahead of the appointed hour, enough time to give the venue a once over. You can also review your brief. The brief, pre-approved by the chairman, should contain instructions for all participants before the meeting is called to order.

Greet participants that come on line and when everybody is ready, read the instructions or announcements. Request the participants to mute their speakerphones until it is their turn to speak because a speakerphone can pick up the tapping of a pencil and paper shuffling. Such background noise can be distractive and a violation of teleconferencing etiquette.

During the Teleconference

During a conference call, do not interrupt unless the speaker is done talking. There are no visual prompters in a teleconference, so this teleconferencing etiquette must be observed.

Teleconferencing etiquette demands that those taking part in the teleconference should avoid making distracting noises, especially if their speakerphones are not on mute mode, and no calls should be put on hold while a discussion is going on.

Before the meeting ends, the Chairman should ask if there are other businesses to be taken up. This is your cue, as facilitator, that the agenda was already taken up. That's the reason why you should be all ears during the conference.

End of Teleconference

Announce that the meeting is over, so people will not linger waiting for further notice. Extra billing is charged if people still linger on their speaker phones; hence, your announcement that the meeting is closed. As facilitator, you must always be the last person to hang up because this is also part of your teleconferencing etiquette.

Mind your teleconferencing etiquette during audio conferencing. Visit Audio-Conferencing-Guide.com for your conferencing needs and to know what is VoIP.

Conference Call Tips and Tricks By:Ajeet Khurana

2008-01-09T03:28:00.000-08:00

In this day and age, audio conferencing is the need of the day. Business houses are using it to communicate with its people in other parts of the world. If you are attending your first conference you may have a false idea of the real process. It is just a virtual meeting. There is nothing informal about this call. Treat it like a business meeting.

A personal conference from the comfort of your home may grant you some leeway in your appearance and dress, but that is all.

What is the key to a successful conferencing? Read on to find out. You have to understand the differences and similarities that it has with a normal conference or meeting.

Ensure that you have done your homework and are ready for the conference. There is no excuse for unpreparedness. You need to have reviewed all of the related materials and have an established understanding of the issues before you go into the meeting. One of the best ways to ruin a teleconference is to have an uninformed audience barely comprehending the speakers. There are some other processes that you will have to take care of at this point.

You should have your dial-in code in an accessible location to avoid the last minute panic to find your number. Your teleconference equipment should also be checked to ensure that everything is how you want it. The microphone should be set at an audible volume that isn't too loud and any loud noisemakers around your desk or on your person should be turned off or put away.

The ideal audio conference is one that has been carefully planned. Your attendees do not have indefinite time to spare, remember. You should take a few minutes and understand just how the meeting is going to break down so that you can adopt your questions and speeches to meet the agenda.

A conference itself mainly just requires basic etiquette that you would show at any other meeting. Make sure you take it seriously. Don't think that you can multi task or do what you want during the boring parts. You should be attending to the call itself.

Background noise is often very clear during a audio conferences and eating a bag of potato chips during your boss's speech is probably not a good idea. Remember to speak clearly since your audience will rely solely on audio cues for information since your facial expression will not be seen by anyone outside of the room. Be involved in the call and prove to the participants that you are valuable to the organization.

There are certain functions that must be carried out by the person hosting the call. The host should log on early to greet members as they sign in and introduce them to each other. Remember to introduce new speakers and clearly give a little background information on anyone involved so that listeners have a good understanding of all the information.

The host is entrusted with the job of making sure that there are no digressions. The focus should be on discussing a given matter in depth.

If you follow all of these basic tips you should find yourself on the path to a good conference. All the best to you as you have a conference call of your own.

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Making Your Online Webinar A Success By:Tom Cruz

2007-12-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

When it comes to having an online webinar, you are definitely looking to make it a success. You have a specific purpose for your webinar, therefore, to achieve that purpose you must take the necessary steps to ensure that it is interesting, attention grabbing, and smooth running. In this article, we will discuss some of the ways you can make sure your online webinar is a smashing success.

The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what you hope to achieve with your event. What goals do you have for your webinar? Are you looking to educate people, such as prospective clients and current clients? Are you looking to increase your sales? Are you looking to increase potential leads? Are you looking to promote a brand new product for your company?

Identifying and establishing the goals you have for your webinar is the first step in making sure that your online webinar is a success.

Your second step is to choose your topic. You need this to be interesting, compelling, and attention grabbing. It is the first thing that any potential attendee will see; therefore, it has to be compelling enough to make sure that they want to take part in your online webinar.

Now you need to choose how you will present your webinar. Will you use a software program built specifically for webinars or will you use a webinar service? The choice is yours. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both sides, it is important to fully compare and learn the differences before you make your decision. When making your decision, make sure that your chosen product has everything you might need for your webinar, such as recording, question and answer sessions, chatting, and polling.

Now you should choose your speaker or speakers. These should be qualified speakers in the field of your topic. Make sure that they possess skills in speaking to others, have a clear and understandable voice, and you want someone that your audience will recognize. Often times, your speaker will be the one that draws the attendees. Therefore, you want to make sure it is a prominent and credible speaker.

You will now need to choose the time you wish to hold your event. The best times to have your webinar is mid afternoon. This will ensure that most time zones can attend the meeting. Also, the worst times to have your webinar is on a Friday or on a Monday. These are days that people are either just starting or just ending their week. This will be the times when people are less likely to attend.

The most reliable webinar service is called www.gotowebinar.com To read a detailed review visit www.bestforwebinars.com

Make Your Webinar A Success By:Tom Cruz

2007-12-26T05:12:00.000-08:00

If you are intending to have a webinar any time soon, you want to make sure that it is a great success. When your webinar is a success, you have a great chance of generating interested sales leads, which then leads to an increase in your sales. This is what you ultimately want right? An increase in sales? Of course it is, therefore, in this article we will show you some tips to ensure that you have a successful webinar.

Make Your Plan

You want to be sure that you have every aspect of your webinar planned out precisely. From start to finish you want to focus on the large details as well as the little ones. Be sure that you plan out what type of success you hope to have, how you will promote your webinar, what your budget is for the event, how people will register, any speakers you might want to set up, and schedules of the event.

By planning everything and writing it down on paper, you are more apt to follow through and have a seamless webinar process.

Opt-In

You want to make sure that you get the contact information of any person who will or might attend your event. This means you need to grab their email addresses in some creative way, either through an informational source about the webinar or the actual sign up process.

Promotion Is Key

Without promotion who will possibly know about your webinar? If you do not tell anyone, they will not know. Therefore, you need to branch out and do some advertisement. However, you first need to understand your targeted audience. Who are you reaching out to? How will this help them? Will your webinar solve a problem and fill a need? When advertising, use various messages, get creative, and find out what brings the most attention.

Schedules Matter

If you are having your webinar at 2:00 in the morning, who do you expect to come? If you are seeking an international audience, this may be a good time, but for your local or national audience it likely will not be. It is best to schedule your webinar at a time when you can get the largest audience. Generally, mid afternoons are best, as well as Tuesday or Wednesday.

Make It Interesting

An interesting webinar will grab and keep your audience's attention. Remember, you have a lot of things to compete against, when it comes to their attention. These things include work, telephone, the internet, email, pets, children, and family. You have to make sure that you are providing real, solid, and interesting information to keep their attention.

By understanding what makes a successful webinar you are better equipped in ensuring that your webinar is a success.

The most reliable webinar service is called Gotowebinar. To read a detailed review visit www.bestforwebinars.com

Come Ready For Your Conference Call By:Ajeet Khurana

2007-12-20T03:41:00.000-08:00

Conference calls are just like any other meetings that you may have in your office. Whether you are sitting face to face with your employees or your clients or on a conference call with them, the same basic etiquette will apply.

When conducting professional meetings in your office or in your conference hall, sitting face to face with the participants, you prepare meticulously for the discussion. Well, conference call meetings should be dealt with in a similar way. A conference call is usually set up between two or more people, who are seated geographically apart from each other.

With business offices spread across the world, conference calls have facilitated the way in which companies hold meetings with their employees and customers, without requiring their physical presence at the meeting hall. This in turn has resulted in huge savings for enterprises, as there is no travel to the destination of the meeting, and no hotel accommodation charges, amongst others.

Conference calls used in professional meetings are very different from personal telephone calls, or one to one conversations with colleagues. It is to be remembered that conference calls are considered to be meetings that are as formal as the meetings that you have with customers in your office.

It is a business tool that has etiquette of its own, which must be followed at every step of your participation. While you attend conference calls, you need to be as courteous and professional throughout the call as you would be in face to face meetings.

Your attitude in attending conference calls is a direct reflection of your professionalism, and of your ability to make presentations to others. Every time you attend a conference call, you should be well prepared for the discussion, and should be ready with all relevant documents that you will require before walking into the meeting. As you prepare yourself, it is wise to test the conference system, and make sure that your microphone and other equipment are working and that the volume has been set right.

Make sure that you do not multi-task while you attend conference call meetings. You should keep pace with the flow of the discussion without diverting your mind to something else that is not related to the meeting. You can always take notes on paper or on your laptop, ensuring that not too much noise emerges from the keyboard. In conference calls, ideas are shared, and if you do not actively participate in the discussion, you will not be remembered as being a participant at that meeting.

Conference call services may be outsourced and can also be implemented in-house. The technology typically uses conference phones or VOIP systems. If you are hiring these services for your conference calls, you would have to designate the date and time of the meeting that you would want to hold.

You will be assigned with a group dial-in number, and also with a password through which you can access the conference network at the date and time that has been set for you. When you outsource, you do not need any special equipment, systems, or special phones for your conference call.

For conference call planning, compare conference calls, then visit us for conference calls.

Choosing a Good Conference Call Provider By:Ajeet Khurana

2007-12-20T03:38:00.000-08:00

As communication needs become more critical, the conference call becomes a solution. Yet, conferences quickly lose their value if not done properly though. It becomes essential to find providers who will offer good service at low prices. The process can be very confusing though, and anyone should benefit greatly from a few simple tips.

First and foremost, you need to ensure that you will have good support from your conference call provider. Find a provider who is known for good customer service. Many larger businesses sacrifice customer service quality in order to keep prices low, but it isn't worth it in the long run. In the hope of saving a few dollars, you could be messing up major deals due to delays in getting the call in order.

Second, look for a provider who is keen to please. Ask him for the latest developments in the conferencing world. In particular, you should make sure that you are getting a nice VoIP connection. This somewhat advanced technology is the version that actually allows virtual meetings through conference calls, as opposed to the old static-filled speaker conversations.

Third, don't just get any package. See what technology your company is using. If possible, you should try and buy a plan that allows for instant messaging through a secure web conference setting. It is even better if you can get a secured storage center that will allow your employees to share necessary files with each other over a secure line. Clients in general would be happy with your efforts at protecting their info, even if there is nothing worth protecting.

The technology that they offer is also a great gauge for the true quality of the provider. How advanced are they with the equipment that they use? You will preferably seek a company that offers the latest technologies to its customers, since this service will be much more likely to led the way in advances and make sure that you remain on the cutting edge.

Fourth, price shouldn't be the deciding factor, but you also have to make sure that you aren't going to be overcharged for your standard use of the line. When you are choosing a package, try not to go in for one where you pay on the basis of time. A major business doesn't need its employees counting the minutes during a major discussion with a client. A good provider should offer an option to just let you establish a set number of users with effectively unlimited use of the internet and phone connections for a reasonable monthly fee.

Fifth, ensure that your service provider is a genuine one. Just because a provider says that they are global doesn't mean that they really are. Ideally, you should look for a package deal with a provider with a worldwide network. Then they could offer real assistance in the event of any communication issues. It is at least worth a few phone calls or internet searches to see if they really have as wide reaching of a network as they claim.

The next time that you have to go shopping for a conference package, keep these pointers in mind. You should soon be able to make the best choice for your organization.

Audio conferencing can save time and money. Learn about conference calls in general and audio conferencing in specific.

Conference Calls Help Businesses Grow By:Ajeet Khurana

2007-12-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Conference calling systems have provided business organizations with the advantage of bringing together their customers and employees. At the same time, it is saving them costs as well.

Conference calls have long been aiding organizations with their business operations. They have been helping in getting together key persons from faraway places into virtual conferences to discuss matters of mutual interest. There are occasions where meetings are conducted via conference calls, in which different people from distant places can come together on a common platform to discuss and take decisions about business matters.

The advantages of conference calls are many. The conference call brings a group of diverse people together to attend presentations and gain new information, enabling them to put through their questions in real time.

In the present day, the Internet has opened up the conference calling facility for practically anyone who would like to join. Earlier there was only restricted access to this facility. At times it also involved long distance call charges. The Internet has provided the facility to bring down the cost of such calls. As a result, these calls have been made available to a variety of medium and small companies.

With the advent of modern technology, affordable conference calling systems have introduced a change in the way business used to be done before. It has changed the previous ways of communication, and the state-of-the-art technology in audio and video systems has improved our lives to a very great extent.

The broad benefits of conference calls are briefly mentioned below:

* Conference calls help organizations to take faster decisions on matters of business operations. Thus, they help in saving a lot of valuable time.

* Conference calls help an organization to be in touch with their customers and employees all over the world at a click of a button. Hence, they save on the costs that the organization would otherwise have incurred.

* On a non-business level, conference calls help to keep family members in touch, with individuals joining the call to have a chat.

* In the medical field, audio video technology has brought in advantages in patient care, where the patient can consult the doctor from a faraway place without visiting him. There are situations when conference calls bring in specialist doctors from all over the world together to discuss and decide upon critical patient matters.

Conference call services are being offered by many service providers. Small businesses are one of the biggest beneficiaries. It is very affordable for them to set up customized calling systems. To set up an affordable plan, you would need to shop around for the best calling rates that you can get, and also for the types of plan that are being offered by various providers.

You would then be able to select the one that suits your application requirement within the budget that you have to set for the system. Before you go for shopping, you would need to understand your requirement first. You would also need to do research on the kind of prices that are being offered for low cost conference calling systems.

For audio conferencing and enterprise web conferencing, visit us at Premiere conference call. We will get you connected!

Advantages Of Free Web Conference Room By:Ricky Lim

2007-12-20T03:32:00.000-08:00

Free web conference room enables businesses to communicate with clients and customers. Free web conference room are available with multimedia firms that specialize in Internet marketing and enable businesses to gain access to customers and clients around the world. In order to decide upon a convenient web conference room it is necessary that one should have technical feasibilities in terms of the web camera, visual display unit(VDU) and the audience that the web conference room can accommodate.

Web conferencing

Web conferencing enables people to communicate through the Internet about business objectives. It cuts through the barrier of time and space, and proves to be an innovative technology by bringing businesses together in the era of globalisation.

Web conferencing enables people to communicate over the Internet. At a particular broadband speed of at least 256kbps, a business can stroll through high speed streaming videos. The technology need in a free web conference room is a web camera, connection to the Internet and a visual display unit. Since the visual of the individuals that one is communicating to going to be displayed on a screen, a large screening is needed to enable individuals to view the contents on the screen.

Some of the advantages of web conferencing can be stated as follows

- Enhanced business processes: In a globalized world it is necessary to be in touch with associates and clients so as to facilitate business processes. This web conferencing saves businesses considerable amount and money.

- Market accessibility: Instead of sending business associates around the world, one business can update clients and customers through web conferencing.

Free web conference room enable businesses to cut the cost of management and communications. These web conference rooms are available by an agreement among business associates in a particular industry to share the resources. For example organizations specializing in IT can reach an agreement to share web conference rooms that will be available for free.

Discover the best free web conference rooms online. Visit Ricky's web based conferencing site to learn more.