WEB CONFERENCING INTRODUCTION

Web conferencing is an innovative technology that allows a person to establish communication over the Internet. It is also known as online conferencing system. The web conferencing system is regarded as a technological novelty. It is getting popularity at a fast pace among business organizations of all sizes. For these organizations, web conferencing is the most convenient option to communicate with their prospective business clients and employees. In the present age where transportation cost is on the rise, the facility of conferencing is nothing short of a boon for the business organizations

Page | 1

HISTORY
Web conferencing started with Plato, a small standalone system that supports a single class of terminals connected to a central computer. Real-time text chat facilities such as IRC appeared in the late 1980s. Web-based chat and instant messaging software appeared in the mid-1990s. In the late 1990s, the first true web conferencing capability became available and dozens of other web conferencing venues followed thereafter A trademark for the term "webinar" was registered in 1998 by Eric R. Korb

Page | 2

WEB CONFERENCING INDUSTRY

Grew out of web-based chat and IM software .Net Meeting introduced in late 1990s.Initially focused on corporate market many products still serve only corporations. A few vendors are starting to address the needs of the educational market

WHY WEB CONFERENCING

1.

EXTEND YOUR COMPANY'S REACH: In today's challenging business environment, Web conferencing helps organizations work with new customers in global markets to augment sagging local and regional sales.

2.

UNITE GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED WORK SITES: Employees working at satellite sales offices, remote manufacturing facilities and other off-site locations often feel left out the loop when it comes to participating in mission-critical meetings. Web conferencing has the power to put all stakeholders on equal footing without driving up travel costs or upsetting work routines.

Page | 3

3.

SPEED PROJECT COMPLETION: Discussion and planning are vital to all business projects. By eliminating scheduling conflicts and enabling participants to replay past meetings and distribute documents at any time, projects can get planned, approved and set into motion faster.

4.

ENHANCE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: Web conferencing helps keep customers happy by providing personalized sales, training and technical support all at the same quality level regardless of the distances involved.

5.

INCREASE INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS: Departments ranging from HR to marketing to product development can use the technology to interview jobs candidates, hold sales meetings and interactively collaborate on projects in a fraction of the time it would take to organize an in-person meeting..

Page | 4

WEB CONFERENCING FEATURES

Slide presentations Multimedia playback Document/file sharing Application sharing Shared whiteboards with annotation Public and private text chat Polls and surveys Quizzes Breakout rooms

ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Recording and playback Event management User management Content management Reporting and tracking

Page | 5

WEB CONFERENCING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Distance Learning Project-based work Office hours and help sessions Faculty and staff collaboration with colleagues Access to off-campus experts Connecting students with employers Marketing and admissions Student advising Fundraising Interviewing job applicants Helpdesk support

Page | 6

PROS & CONS OF WEB CONFERENCING

Pros Real-time communication Access to remote individuals Dynamic presentations Interactivity Uses relatively simple and common technology

Cons Time zone differences Support issues Audio quality Accessibility issues Administration issues

Page | 7

WEB SERVICES Web services is an effort to build a distributed computing platform for the Web. Yet another one! DESIGNING WEB SERVICES
Goals Enable universal interoperability. Widespread adoption, ubiquity: fast! Compare with the good but still limited adoption of the OMGs OMA. Enable (Internet scale) dynamic binding. Support a service oriented architecture (SOA). Efficiently support both opens (Web) and more constrained environments. Requirements Based on standards. Pervasive support is critical. Minimal amount of required infrastructure is assumed. Only a minimal set of standards must be implemented. Very low level of application integration is expected. But may be increased in a flexible
Page | 8

TOP 10 BEST FREE WEB CONFERENCING SERVICES

Online meetings and web conferences arent just for large corporations anymore. Video conferencing and webinars enable communication between just a few people to literally thousands. If youre an entrepreneur or small business owner, its imperative that you utilize one such service to help expand your business. Feel free to share your own recommendations, as well as likes and dislikes in the comments.
1.

GO TO MEETING: Go to Meeting can be used to meet and collaborate with others all over the world. You can provide presentations, demonstrations, online training, collaboration on documents and more in real-time for one low flat rate. Youll have the option to show your entire screen, an application or just a specific document. With GoToMeeting you can invite others to your meetings via phone, email or IM. Go To Webinar, a step up, allows for unlimited webinars with up to 1000 attendees. Go To Meeting Corporate,
Page | 9

geared toward organizations, allows multiple organizer accounts with unlimited webinars for up to 1000 attendees

2.

DIM DIM : Dim dim lets you display synchronized live presentations, whiteboards and web pages with voice and video. It is browser based, so there is no download required. A single click is all it takes to start a meeting. A free account will let you have up to 20 attendees. Dim dim Pro gives you unlimited meetings and pro features with up to 50 attendees. Plus you can customize your meeting rooms with your own logos. Dim dim Webinar will give you up to 1000 attendees and also gives you the option to make money from your webinars by joining their affiliate program.

3.

MYMEETING123: MyMeeting123offers both live web meetings and conference calling for users. They offer multiple plans to fit your needs, a 14-day money back guarantee, they dont require a contract, and you can cancel at any time and obtain refunds on unused
Page | 10

minutes. Web meeting features include the ability to record meetings, file sharing, whiteboards, annotation tools, scheduling, desktop sharing, privacy control, and the ability to assign roles to participants. Conference call features include call history, multiple concurrent conference call sessions, local and toll-free access, name announcements, invitation handling, and the ability for the host to permit conference calls to begin without his/her presence. .
4.

MEGA MEETING: Mega Meeting is browser based (no download required) and offers online conferencing with true VoIP audio, text chat and no long term contracts. There are four different packages to choose from. Mega Meeting Personal is designed for small businesses that dont require any of the advanced features like desktop and computer sharing. It simply combines video and webcam software for video conferencing and allows up to 10 attendees. Mega Meeting Enterprise Private Branding lets you brand your meetings with your own logos and colours. It includes application and document sharing among participants and video conferencing. Mega Meeting
Page | 11

Enterprise is not hosted and runs on your own dedicated servers. You can provide web and video conferences for an unlimited amount of attendees. Mega Meeting Professional offers web and video conferencing for up to 16 attendees.

5.

WEBEX: WebEx gives you unlimited online meetings for as low as $59.00/month plus, youll even get one month free. It incorporates real-time desktop sharing with instant record and plays video or VoIP conferencing and allows up to 25 attendees. You can deliver presentations, show documents or demonstrate any application. WebEx also lets you transfer control of the meeting from yourself to someone else. For a limited time youre able to get 1 month free with either a monthly or prepaid annual plan so act fast!

6.

FUZE MEETING: Fuze Meeting offers online meetings in HD (High Definition); simply login and upload your content in order to start a meeting. Sharing is 100% browser based (no download
Page | 12

required) and in real-time. With Fuze Meeting you get their patent-pending synchronization no lag time between presenter and viewer. Their advanced business-grade IM lets you access all of your IM contacts on one application; you can sync your contacts from Yahoo, Google Talk, AIM, MSN, Skype and more. You can also add annotations to your presentations. They even offer mobile meetings via the iPhone or BlackBerry.

7.

WEB CON CENTRAL: Web Con Central: offers three options for sharing in real-time: you can share one program and also share other applications as you open them; you can just share one program and keep everything else private; or you can share your entire desktop. You can either share or pass the presenter responsibilities to one of your attendees. You can also customize your webinar sign-up form to suit your preference and then send thank you notes after the webinar is over. When sharing files youre able to save them on the site and then send your attendees a URL instead of an attachment (which can often cause problems).
Page | 13

8.

ADOBE ACROBAT CONNECT PRO :Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro offers numerous features and lets you do things like provide online training, manage events and meetings, and provide on-demand presentations and courses. With a Pro software license you can host meetings with hundreds of participants, brand your meeting rooms, and customize the program to match your organization. You can even ensure privacy by controlling access to your meetings on an advanced level. Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro is browser based (no download required) and uses Adobe Flash Player runtime.

9.

INTER CALL: Inter Call offers one click access for sharing documents and creating customizable online meetings. Inter Call seamlessly integrates with Outlook & Lotus Notes plus provides interactive attendee tools. Theres no plugins or downloads required for attendees to join and meeting rooms do not require reservations. However, presenter will need to download the Inter Call Unified Meeting
Page | 14

application in order to conduct a meeting. Other features include full screen mode, PowerPoint compatibility, application sharing, and document sharing plus chat and IM capabilities. You can also use their surveys, quizzes and polls in order to receive feedback from your attendees. During meetings, participants can provide feedback by using the integrated emoticons.

10.

YUGMA: Yugma can be used for team meetings, webinars, sales demos, training, tutoring, brainstorming and much more. With a free account you can share your desktop with up to 20 attendees. With a pro account you get real-time collaboration with a whiteboard, annotation tools, mouse and keyboard sharing, the ability to instantly change presenters, and more. You can have up to 500 attendees. Theres also Yugma for Skype which allows web conferencing via Skype; there is a download required.

Page | 15

Page | 16