Web-based conferencing

An introduction to the benefits and costs of web-based conferencing.

Reviewing documents by telephone can be an awkward, time-consuming experience where you fritter away much of the phone call describing what everyone should be viewing. A web conference gives you an easy way to stop wasting your time.

Web conferencing allows you to deliver presentations online. This can involve showing a simple set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides, navigating through a web site, or demonstrating how a software programs works. From a presenter's perspective, one of the tool's primary advantages is that you can control what your meeting participants see and when they see it. And to help emphasize points you are trying to make, you have the ability to mark up what is being displayed like a football commentator.

In addition to being able to share a common view, web conferences offer a number of other features that take advantage of the Internet. This includes real-time user polls, online chat, live video transmission, and online whiteboard capabilities. Presenters do not need to be the only ones to lead the meeting, by the way. The host can also pass control of the meeting to attendees who can then choose to share their own documents.

For those who seek even more interactivity, web conferences can get considerably more sophisticated. For example, it is possible to give people access to your actual computer. This can be helpful during technical troubleshooting sessions when software settings need to be changed. Web conferences can also support interactive collaboration where multiple people can work on the same document without being physically present in the same room.

A web conferencing service offers the easiest way to get started. Attending a web conference is very much like joining a teleconference. Using your web browser, you go to the web conferencing provider's site and log in using the meeting code provided by the conference host. Once you are logged in, you can view who else is logged on and see what is being shown to the group.

While you can transmit sound via the Internet, the quality is not ideal. As a result, many web conferences use a regular teleconference to transmit sound. Similarly, web cams provide an interesting, but not quite ready for primetime, view of your meeting counterparts.

There are a number of web conferencing service providers that provide these services. Differences among them primarily relate to the range of services offered and the quality of their customer support.

Pricing for web conferences is similar to those for teleconferences. Expect to pay up to 45 cents per minute for each conference participant. This does not include teleconferencing costs, which is usually also provided by the service. Pricing is negotiable, however, with discounted rates available for regular web conference users.

With a web conference, you no longer have to worry about whether people are literally on the same page. Now, you can just focus on getting them to agree about that page.

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