Technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. People from opposite corners of the globe can now send and receive letters and documents in a matter of seconds. There are now a number of ways to carry out a conversation from thousands of miles away without paying thousands of dollars. And yes, face-to-face conversation across continents are now possible with video conferencing equipment.

Video conferencing equipment has made next-door neighbors of Europe and Asia. They allow people to interact as if they're in the same room through images, text, and sounds relayed real time. This technology is extremely beneficial for multinational businesses and companies with locations all over the globe, as well as for personal use.

Video conferencing can be either one of two types. Point to point, or P2P, allows live video and audio communication between two locations. Multi-point, on the other hand, allows links between three or more locations.

P2P and You In the past, video conferencing equipment was relatively expensive and was only utilized by businesses. However, with the evolution of technology, it is now possible for anyone with a decently running Internet connection to operate a video conference.

Video conferencing equipment includes the common and easy-to-use webcam. With this video conferencing equipment, you can stay in touch with family and friends wherever they may be in the world. And because you can actually see each other, conversations or chat sessions can be more personal, bridging the distance and bringing you and your loved ones closer. This is a good example of a P2P video conference.

Multi-point and Your Business Multi-point video conference lets you hold business meetings among several offices in different locations. This requires slightly more complex utilization of video conferencing equipment.

The H.323 standard demands the use of a video conferencing equipment called Multi-point Control Unit. This Multi-point Control Unit is the video bridge, and it functions by connecting to the Internet. Depending on its design capacity, a Multi-point Control Unit can handle a certain number of video conferences simultaneously. Each video conference handled by the Multi-point Control Unit is separate from the others, and has a specified number of users.

Other Multi-Point System Requirements Another video conferencing equipment required by the H.323 standard is the Gatekeeper. This video conferencing equipment acts like a client terminal that connects to the Internet. IP addresses are stored in the Gatekeeper.

By simply dialing a service number and password combination, users can already join a video conference. The Gatekeeper checks to see if the service number and the password provided are registered by the Multi-point Control Unit. Once identity is established, the Gatekeeper then completes the call by connecting to the specified video conference.

It's all very easy and painless. Like all new technologies, however, video conferencing equipment has specific requirements in order for users to take full advantage of their functionality. Users are required to have the appropriate video conferencing client terminals and an Internet connection with sufficient bandwidth. As long as your system has these capabilities, you're well on your way to carrying on those face-to-face conversations to your heart's content.

As communication becomes easier and easier, we continue to search for the things that make life even more convenient for us. The television first, and the Internet later, have taken over our lives and are slowly but surely turning the entire world population into a species of couch potatoes. How many people today would actually dare to leave home without their mobile phones? At least that way, even if you have forgotten your house keys, you could call the neighborhood key-maker to break the locks and make you a new set of keys. Does that sound at all familiar?

And, as if the fact that communication conveniences are pervading our personal lives was not enough, technology seems to be in a conspiracy against the human species. The aim? To try and make us as idle as possible! And one of the manifestations of this conspiracy is the emergence of the conference call in the world of business.

Jokes aside, a conference call is integral to the smooth running of a business organization today.

Quite a few of my colleagues insist that a conference call is all floss and no candy. These colleagues are of the opinion that too much technology does little more than inspire awe in onlookers. To be fair, they are not against technology; only against an excess of it.

Would you agree with that?

I certainly would not. The way I see it -- and it doesn't take rocket science to reach this conclusion -- technology is meant to simplify our lives, and it is doing a darn good job of it.

I know quite a number of people who are of the view that using technological developments such as the conference call in places of business is just another way to throw away investors good money. But holding on to such a point of view merely suggests that you have been focusing on one extreme end of the coin.

Let us take a look at the flip side. To begin with, technological developments such as the conference call are utilized to make the most of any business. How so?

Well, you certainly cannot deny that a conference call is a super money saver. So the next time there is a client at Switzerland -- assuming that is not where you stay -- you could arrange for a conference call instead of sending an employee all the way there. Not only will such a move help your company reduce its expenditure, but it will also make business proceedings significantly quicker.

The world of business is changing by leaps and bounds thanks to the growth of the use of technology in everyday life. The emphasis today is on speed, speed, and even more speed. The reason for this great stress on speed? It is the fear that some other competitor might walk off with a lucrative business deal.

As competition continues to heat up in the world of business, as rival companies are born, merged or divided, and as newer and newer innovations lead to the rise of unique business opportunities, the need for better technology keeps on increasing. Sustained growth in business today depends on catching each opportunity at the right time. Technology is one way of doing that.

Remember those long-drawn business meetings that went on for hours and ended with no good conclusion? Remember the hours that were spent in waiting for all the delegates to enter the conference room? And what about all that stress over whether you will be able to reach the conference on time because you have gone and got yourself stuck in the mother of all traffic jams?

Well, web conferencing is the answer to all your conference problems. Okay, so it still is no guarantee that you will hit upon a great idea at the conference, but web conferencing will take away some of your other woes. At least you do not have to wait unnecessarily for people who have been stuck in traffic. Traffic -- the grandfather of all excuses for unpunctuality -- will no longer be a valid excuse.

Web conferencing -- as is made evident by the name -- refers to the conducting of a meeting over the Internet. Thus, people can sit at their own computers and be connected to others by a host site. In its initial years, web conferencing involved discussions posted on a message board. However, in those early years, this was not what one might call "live". However, soon enough, it became possible to have a "virtual" meeting via the Internet.

Web conferencing today is not only much easier, but it also provides a number of different services. For instance, one could talk over live video -- not tough at all in this era of the webcam. One could also have a slide presentation, where the presenter could highlight important points of interest on the slides. A poll could be taken and there could also be a session for questions and answers. Moreover, these are only a few of the basic features of web conferencing. Try it out some time, and the ease of it all will certainly have you hooked on to the idea.