Save Money Through Audio and Web Conferencing By:Ajeet Khurana

Audio and web conferencing allows companies to communicate with people across the globe in real time. It is no wonder that these methods are gaining in popularity. It is true that a real face-to-face meeting is sometimes called for, but the sheer expensive of sending a representative to another state or another country is daunting.

There are travel expenses, food reimbursement, and accommodation expenses. The question you should be asking is whether it is worth it.

This is particularly true when you consider the full abilities of an audio conference or a web conference. Let us begin with a study of the mode of audio conferencing. An audio conference lets anyone with the proper phone setup enter a virtual meeting and discuss the veritable plethora of issues that may come up. It effectively pulls them all into your board room without your having to pay anything more than the small cost of setting up the teleconference.

Current technology even allows for teleconferencing across the world without incurring the high cost of long distance minutes. Looking to cut costs? You should take a look at some of the bargains on offer.

That is just an audio conference. The web conferencing method has even more potential. All you need is a standard internet connection with an established chat room or discussion zone. If you are looking to save on costs, this is the way to go. Then, you just have to setup a web cam and a connected visual display screen, and it will really be like the other people are in the room with you.

This gives it the feel of a real meeting and it can even keep up the feeling of professionalism, since board rooms are often the best place to setup for your part of the meeting. Ever since we saw the rise of web conferencing, there has been a drop in the number of regular conferences.

For a quick review, a web conference will let you go a step further and have a virtual meeting with employees and clients from across the world and you can actually see them and talk to them in real time. The move away from the traditional meeting has been partly because this method is far more cost-effective.

Organizations are now recognizing that there is great potential to save on costs by employing the mode to carry out meetings. The technology that connects friends and relatives over the internet can now be used to connect you to all of your important contacts at a price that easily fits into the budget. If a web conference or an audio conference even helps your business acquire one more client, then it should be worth it.

The setup costs are low and there are plenty of providers available that offer a wide range of features, letting you choose a plan that has everything you need and without paying for what you don't. Audio and web conferencing are bound to become the necessities of tomorrow. They stand to eliminate the need for expensive travel except in extreme circumstances.

Perhaps the future might become fully dependent on audio and web conferencing as the traditional meeting falls out of favor.

Point To Point Video Conferencing Using Javas JMF API By:Lakshmichandrakanth Thangavelu

P2P Video Conference

When a face-to-face meeting with someone far away becomes a necessity or a compelling presentation must be given to a remote person, video conferencing is always your best choice. This means that you will get the exact solution you need for a productive and successful.

Here we are going to design peer to peer conferencing package designed to be a complete solution for all LAN conferencing. Leading Video conferencing Products are very costly and some products are not a Standard based, they are following their own Standards. So the quality and compatibility of the various products may differ.

To design a standard based video conference, we are going to use Java Technology. For the communication related Programming, the JMF 2.11e API is very helpful. The Java Media Framework API (JMF) enables audio, video and other time-based media to be added to applications and applets built on Java technology. This optional package, which can capture, playback, stream, and Trans code multiple media formats, for multimedia developers by providing a powerful toolkit to develop scalable, cross-platform technology.

In the architecture, the JMF Server applet captures the audio/video and stored in buffer then transmits into the JMF client applet as a RTP stream.To implementing the project we use G.711, G.722 audio codec, H.263, H.264 video codec and RTP Protocol.

Real-time streaming of media allows users to play media as they receive it. Users don't have to wait for the whole media file to be downloaded before watching. To enable real-time streaming, dedicated streaming media servers and streaming protocols, such as real time Protocol (RTP), are required. RTP is an Internet standard for transporting real-time data.

Secured Web Conferencing The Cost Effective Way By:Kevin Peck

In due course, web conferencing has proved its worth over traditional audio or video conferencing. In those situations, where the basic meeting format is that of back and forth information flows, web conferencing is just second to face to face meeting.

However, security has always been a major concern with web conferencing. Mere SSL or AES encryption protocol cannot guarantee you complete access security though they are well known as industry standards. Corporate houses cannot ignore this viable communication media and at the same time cannot entirely depend on it for this very reason.

There are so many other problems in traditional web conferencing. The attendees who needed to deal with 3D CAD design, flash graphic design, and other similar collaborations of image based applications, had to fight hard to make the meeting effective up to the minimum level.

Another big problem with traditional web conferencing had been that the attendees had to download and install meeting client software. That is not all. The attendees needed to download Java, flash installations and others to support the client software. The whole process was tedious, time consuming and expensive (in some cases you need to pay monthly usage charges for your meeting client software).

Even after ignoring all these problems, you can not be sure that your meeting is held in a 100% secured atmosphere.

What next?

Here comes "on premise web conferencing appliances", a secured and easy to use conferencing tool for corporate communication. Just install the appliance and you are ready to start the conference - round the clock.

With these appliances you do not need to pay any monthly fee or you do not need constant IT support. To add to this there is no way that a firewall, proxy server or anti virus can block it. And thus you get a hustle free and smooth conference.

This appliance is supported by all the platforms like Mac, UNIX, Linux or Windows. To add to this, you can attend the conference using your iPhone too - thus you can stay connected even while you are on the move.

The best thing about "on premise web conferencing appliances" is that you can use your firewall to protect access security of web conferencing attendees. Alongside, with some of these appliances, you get the facility to Remotely Access your computer.

To sum up, "on premise web conferencing appliance for web meeting" provides you a simple, easy to use, cost effective and secured conferencing tool for internal and external meetings.

Kevin Peck is a freelance writer and works for a video conferencing company. For more information on secured on premise web conferencing appliances for web meeting he recommends you to visit http://www.rhubcom.com/ or http://www.gomeetnow.com/

Oops Mind Your Teleconferencing Etiquette By:Nahshon DeMore

Good manners is always appreciated anywhere and is a matter of common sense and consideration for others, combined. In the workplace, protocol remains basic despite the changing modes of doing business. So, do you know your teleconferencing etiquette?

Starting the conference

There is not much difference from the old-fashioned meeting procedures and the present practice for teleconferencing. As always, everybody should be on time and ready with their reports. It is unprofessional and inconsiderate to arrive late for meetings, and that's exactly the same with teleconferencing.

If you are charged to facilitate a teleconference, do some tasks ahead. Part of your assignment is to prepare the venue and the equipment. For the venue, select a quiet place because background noise can be picked up by the speakerphones. While you are it, check the speakerphones if these are working, so these can be fixed or replaced days before the teleconference.

Proceed to prepare email messages. If it is the usual people meeting, you know who to inform through email the date and time of the teleconference. An omission is a costly mistake, as well as a slip of teleconferencing etiquette.

The information sent should include the agenda of the meeting. This will give the participants the time to arrange their schedules. Before the date, you call each of them reminding them of the meeting, as well as to give them the dial-in number and password.

On the Day of the Conference

There's nothing irritating like a late facilitator. Be an hour ahead of the appointed hour, enough time to give the venue a once over. You can also review your brief. The brief, pre-approved by the chairman, should contain instructions for all participants before the meeting is called to order.

Greet participants that come on line and when everybody is ready, read the instructions or announcements. Request the participants to mute their speakerphones until it is their turn to speak because a speakerphone can pick up the tapping of a pencil and paper shuffling. Such background noise can be distractive and a violation of teleconferencing etiquette.

During the Teleconference

During a conference call, do not interrupt unless the speaker is done talking. There are no visual prompters in a teleconference, so this teleconferencing etiquette must be observed.

Teleconferencing etiquette demands that those taking part in the teleconference should avoid making distracting noises, especially if their speakerphones are not on mute mode, and no calls should be put on hold while a discussion is going on.

Before the meeting ends, the Chairman should ask if there are other businesses to be taken up. This is your cue, as facilitator, that the agenda was already taken up. That's the reason why you should be all ears during the conference.

End of Teleconference

Announce that the meeting is over, so people will not linger waiting for further notice. Extra billing is charged if people still linger on their speaker phones; hence, your announcement that the meeting is closed. As facilitator, you must always be the last person to hang up because this is also part of your teleconferencing etiquette.

Mind your teleconferencing etiquette during audio conferencing. Visit Audio-Conferencing-Guide.com for your conferencing needs and to know what is VoIP.

Conference Call Tips and Tricks By:Ajeet Khurana

In this day and age, audio conferencing is the need of the day. Business houses are using it to communicate with its people in other parts of the world. If you are attending your first conference you may have a false idea of the real process. It is just a virtual meeting. There is nothing informal about this call. Treat it like a business meeting.

A personal conference from the comfort of your home may grant you some leeway in your appearance and dress, but that is all.

What is the key to a successful conferencing? Read on to find out. You have to understand the differences and similarities that it has with a normal conference or meeting.

Ensure that you have done your homework and are ready for the conference. There is no excuse for unpreparedness. You need to have reviewed all of the related materials and have an established understanding of the issues before you go into the meeting. One of the best ways to ruin a teleconference is to have an uninformed audience barely comprehending the speakers. There are some other processes that you will have to take care of at this point.

You should have your dial-in code in an accessible location to avoid the last minute panic to find your number. Your teleconference equipment should also be checked to ensure that everything is how you want it. The microphone should be set at an audible volume that isn't too loud and any loud noisemakers around your desk or on your person should be turned off or put away.

The ideal audio conference is one that has been carefully planned. Your attendees do not have indefinite time to spare, remember. You should take a few minutes and understand just how the meeting is going to break down so that you can adopt your questions and speeches to meet the agenda.

A conference itself mainly just requires basic etiquette that you would show at any other meeting. Make sure you take it seriously. Don't think that you can multi task or do what you want during the boring parts. You should be attending to the call itself.

Background noise is often very clear during a audio conferences and eating a bag of potato chips during your boss's speech is probably not a good idea. Remember to speak clearly since your audience will rely solely on audio cues for information since your facial expression will not be seen by anyone outside of the room. Be involved in the call and prove to the participants that you are valuable to the organization.

There are certain functions that must be carried out by the person hosting the call. The host should log on early to greet members as they sign in and introduce them to each other. Remember to introduce new speakers and clearly give a little background information on anyone involved so that listeners have a good understanding of all the information.

The host is entrusted with the job of making sure that there are no digressions. The focus should be on discussing a given matter in depth.

If you follow all of these basic tips you should find yourself on the path to a good conference. All the best to you as you have a conference call of your own.

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