Internet / E-Commerce - Videoconferencing I : Hello!

Videoconferencing (or video conference) means to conduct a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data. For example, a point-to-point (two-person) video conferencing system works much like a video telephone. Each participant has a video camera, microphone, and speakers mounted on his or her computer. As the two participants speak to one another, their voices are carried over the network and delivered to the other's speakers, and whatever images appear in front of the video camera appear in a window on the other participant's monitor.

Multi point videoconferencing allows three or more participants to sit in a vitual conference room and communicate as if they were sitting right next to each other. Until the mid 90s, the hardware costs made videoconferencing prohibitively expensive for most organizations, but that situation is changing rapidly. Many analysts believe that videoconferencing will be one of the fastest-growing segments of the computer industry in the latter half of the decade.With air travel and hotel costs on the rise, businesses are taking a fresh look at video conferencing. Do the benefits in travel savings outweigh the benefits of traditional in-person meetings? Can an organization become more efficient by replacing conference calls with video conferences? What about reports about early video conferencing technology unreliability? Can video conferencing enhance collaboration with presentations and document sharing?Video conferencing connects individuals in real time through audio and video communication over broadband networks enabling visual meetings and collaboration on digital documents and shared presentations. In the early days, participants connected between central meeting rooms outfitted with video conference hardware, but new technologies allow participants to connect remotely over a network through multiple devices like laptops, desktops, smartphones and tablets.
See for yourself how video conferencing saves money and enhances office productivity. Business leaders know it’s best to evaluate both the advantages and disadvantages of any technology, and we’ll explore the most important considerations for potential buyers: