By Fredrick Obura
Making time to meet clients, employees, partners or strategy advisers on face-to-face level has proved elusive to many in today’s busy world.
However, web conferencing now make it easier for participants to have real time communication that is just as good as the traditional face-to-face boardroom meeting.
The solution, which requires high Internet speed, is expected to be a hit in different organisations whose directors are always on transit, thanks to the submarine fiber optic option mid-this year. The computer-based application saves organisers additional costs like room booking, flights and overnight accommodation for motivational speakers or attendees.
Each person involved in web conferencing will be sent an invitation to the conference with the time and date.
The web-solution mostly requires a software download or a plug-in before the meeting starts.
The system can also be hosted on a web-based application. In this case all the attendees are given a website Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to enter at the start of the meeting. The number of participants will entirely depend on the budget.
Through a software enabled conferencing, one can manage the entire meeting. It is possible to see participants when they are online. It has features that enables one to have audio or video conversations with the attendees.
A service provider may offer web casting as a service or the software as a service. This enables events to be accessed from any Internet-enabled computer.
A download application has to be done on each of the conference attendee’s machine. This means that the attendees have to make themselves available some minutes ahead of meeting.
service features
The service allows participants in different locations accesss to presentations in the meeting, using instant messaging to chat and computer microphones to interact with each other.
With a separate audio line, web conferencing can be very interactive with attendees providing input throughout the whole presentation. Individuals communicate via a phone line or live chat. When the conference is ready to begin all participants are sitted at their computers that have to be connected to the Internet.
Participants can either dial in to a telephone conference number or be connected via the internet. Separate audio line ensures interactivity in a web conferencing. The attendees provide input during the presentation. Some of the online meeting services would include the option for audience to participate through the question-and-answer session at the end of the conference or by allowing them to raise comments and question in real time.
Toll Charges
In case the attendees will be dialing in, they will pay the toll charges, or a per-minute charge for a toll-free number. Connecting through the internet is either free or low cost.
With the Internet-based system, one will be able to share a desktop and other applications with meeting participants. This comes in handy when conducting demonstrations, or in a sales and product training sessions.
Add-on features on an online meeting system include an option for proceeding’s caption. This enables people who are deaf a life line to participate instantly.
Unlike web conferencing, another form of online meeting called web casting would cater for unlimited attendees at an extra fee. Web casting is optimised for medium to larger audiences. But both systems would require a fast Internet connection.
If your connection is slow or frequently drops, your online meeting experience will not be good. Internet connectivity of 512 Kbps and above would give real time exchange without disappointment.
Web conferencing options allow video presentations to further boost the conference experience. If you want to enable video, have a web camera that connects to a computer.
