Web based conferencing - Best Web Based Conferencing Services

  The Internet revolutionized the way of accessing information. Today opportunities for communication using the internet have grown enormously due to new and useful communication software and many web based conferencing services companies have started offering competitive services. Web based conferencing has enabled many companies and corporations around the world to communicate and discuss their businesses.

 Web conferencing is nothing but live meetings and presentations between parties over the internet. People can work together on such business things like a document, an engineering drawing, or have a blueprint. People sitting at two ends of the world can collaborate and get their business done using web based conferencing facility.

History of Web Based Conferencing

 In the early days web conferencing provided only textual communication facilities like message boards. Today web based conferencing provides not only textual communication but also live communication facilities. One of the first web conferencing software was the Microsoft NetMeeting and it allowed people to have live meetings and discussions.

 Individuals can participate in web conferences by downloading an application or a web-based application in which they have to enter the address of the website meeting. The web based application use Flash or Java technology. Web based conferencing generally includes a webinar, which is nothing but a web conference.

 Webinars are mainly a one-way communication between the participants and the presenter. In a typical webinar information and discussion is shared according to agenda and it has a starting and ending time. Webinars are important for corporate presentations in which the speaker or the presenter gives information to the participants using a standard telephone line. Participants in a webinar can respond by using speakerphones.

 The many characteristics of web-based conferencing can be summed as follows;

 - Slide Presentation, in which information is shared by using presentations created in PowerPoint

•   - Live Video uses webcams

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•   - VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. In VoIP live communication is carried out by using headphones and speakers.

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•    - Whiteboard is an interactive feature in which the speaker and the participants can have notes for the discussion.sion.

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•    - A Text Chat allows question/answers facilities for the participants.ants.

• Web Based Conferencing also allows recording.

 There are web based conferencing services in which the user has to pay a specified amount to the vendor for the facility. Web conferencing services are hosted on a web server and the payment is based on usage or a cost per seat. Web based conferencing software can be installed on the user’s servers for regular use of the web conferencing services.