When NASA started experimenting with video conferencing they did not think that the system they were using to confer with groups of people in different parts of the world at the same time would one day be a household service, much like the electricity and telephone service that was so common back then. Desktop conferencing refers to being able to transmit and receive video and sound signals at the same time from a computer on your desktop. Conferencing means a group of people in different places, with distance between them not withstanding, being able to partake in a discussion simultaneously with all of the participants being able to hear and see any of the other participants at the same time. Desk top conferencing is like being in the same room at the same time. When NASA used the technology for the first time the costs were prohibitive, besides the distance of tele-video conferencing was severely limited as transmission technology was not as developed as it is today.

Companies have pooled their resources together to setup the infrastructure that is needed to vide conferencing all over the world. These technologies have been networked so that all countries can use the system economically. The Internet has enabled desktop conferencing to be used by all people all over the world. The Internet is the cheapest mode of communication. The technology is growing by leaps and bounds and the cost of using it is reducing every day. The problem with desktop conferencing is that one needs a fairly fast Internet broadband connection for effective transmission of video and sound signals. This is because unlike sound signals, video signals form fairly large packets of data and the time taken to transmit this data over a slow connection can take a month of Sundays. Therefore the connection speed must be at least 256 kilo bytes per second to enable proper video desktop conferencing.

In the past video teleconferencing was achieved by closed circuit television technology. This was a very expensive method and required a sound proof studio and a whole lot of paraphernalia. This also required a trained staff at both or all stations of the video conferencing. That made this technology available only to the very large business in the private sector as well as government agencies. The cost implications were prohibitive for small industries and companies who found flying across the globe to meet their business partners a more economical way of communication. The Internet has changed all that. Desktop conferencing has become a reality with the advancement of the Internet. Business executives, government heads and even house wives can turn on a video conferencing at the flick of a button through the computers on their desktops. The technology is easy to use with even fifth graders being able to use it. Through desktop conferencing people can connect to a group of people and discuss subjects ranging from the afternoon lunch recipe to North Koreas nuclear program.