What is web based conferencing? Well, sure, you probably heard of it before - it’s some sort of software that lets you hold online meetings. But really, what is web based conferencing? Because saying that it is “an online meeting software” barely even describes the true power and potential of web based conferencing. Why, you can call any typical instant messaging service with meeting capabilities an online meeting software and people will readily believe you. And yet, is it the same? What is web based conferencing? And why is it so important to businesses worldwide?
The world of business is constantly changing. Every day, new problems emerge and new solutions are introduced to combat such problems. But for every business organization, there’s only one solution to satisfy most meeting needs. And that is real time collaboration made possible by the introduction of web video conferencing services.
In its basest sense, web conferencing refers to a discussion occurring between groups of individuals done in a wholly web-based environment. Based on this definition, web conferencing is actually different from voice or phone conferencing in that the latter uses an offline system in order to facilitate communication between parties. But the world of web conferencing is evolving at a constant rate and hybrids are continuously being produced by dozens of vendors. As a result, web phone conferencing emerged in the market.
Between web conferencing and video streaming conferencing, there is a difference. While web conferencing is primarily based on the sharing of application via the Internet, video streaming focuses more on the video piece mostly.
From the Internet’s early days, companies have started tapping into the different potentials of web conferencing services. Now, decades after they were first practiced, web conferencing services have come a long way from merely sitting and watching virtual PowerPoint presentations to something that is more collaborative between members of teams that are dispersed across the country or around the world.
It was during the summer of 1999 that universities and various institutions began to explore the benefits of advanced information technology in the field of geology research and education. In these experiments, a variety of hardware, including laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), early pen-based computers, cell phones, and portable GPS receivers, and various kinds of software, including Microsoft compass-based location applications, ESRI’s ArcGIS, ArcView, and ArcPad, were examined and employed.
Regardless of your line of work, meetings are inevitable. But you know that the number of meetings you attend in a year can actually be cut in half, if not for real, then at least in principle. This is one of the business issues that web conferencing is set to solve.