Modern business operations all share the same rapidly depleting commodity: Time. When time is leveraged, productivity and output invariably increases within a business organization. Technology continues to provide workers and businesses with new tools to help leverage time. Video conferencing could prove to be one of the most important time leveraging business tools of the 21st century.

Once a luxury for only the largest companies, video conferencing is beginning to change the landscape of how businesses communicate with both employees and clients. In its simplest form, video conferencing allows two individuals to be thousands of miles apart yet still effectively communicate as if they were in the same room. Systems in use today can now connect multiple parties across multiple continents - in real time with excellent and high quality video and audio.

The Origins of Video Conferencing

Video conferencing capabilities originated in the 1970s. Similar to every other technology in use today, video conferencing has changed dramatically since first being developed. Early proponents of video conferencing technology had no standards or protocols to rely on. This fact made a teleconference via video an expensive proposition - one that only huge companies and government agencies could afford. In a time where cell phones were still a decade away for most consumers and businesses, video teleconferences were few and far between.

Today, affordable networks and systems are widely available across the globe. Interoperability of video teleconferencing systems is virtually guaranteed now that standards and protocols have been clearly established.

Specific Standards and Protocols for Video Conferencing

To make any technology usable for the masses, standards and protocols are required to insure systems, software and hardware are ubiquitous across the board.

To help guarantee video teleconferencing compatibility between manufacturers, the International Telecommunications Union developed and defined a series of video conferencing standards. In place since the mid-1990s, current standards are defined in terms of H.3xx.

H.3xx are "umbrella" recommendations for video conferencing. They include the protocols for coding video/audio, multiplexing, signaling, and control.

The core H.3xx recommendations are as follows:

H.320 - Narrow-band video conferencing over circuit-switched networks (N-ISDN, SW56, dedicated networks) H.321 - Narrow-band video conferencing over ATM and B-ISDN H.323 - Narrow-band video conferencing over non-guaranteed quality-of-service packet networks (LAN, Internet, etc.) H.324 - Very narrow-band video conferencing over the general (dial-up) telephone network H.310 - Wide-band (MPEG-2) video conferencing over ATM and B-ISDN H.323 is a standard for audio, video, and data communication over IP-based (Internet Protocol) networks.

All major video conferencing manufacturers produce ITU compliant equipment. When choosing video conference equipment, be sure that you select a system that does not offer only proprietary methods of operation.

How Video Conferencing Works

The success of a video teleconference depends entirely on the equipment and network capabilities behind that equipment.

Since real-time video contains a tremendous amount of data, it is imperative that the system being used can handle a high amount of bandwidth at any given time. Fortunately, video conferencing systems are designed to "sample" and "compress" a certain portion of data (such as the unchanging "background' of the room) to help conserve bandwidth. This compression is accomplished through what is commonly known as a "codec". A video codec is the device or software that enables video compression and or decompression for digital video.

It is the job of the codec to "sample" data at specific time intervals (fractions of a second) and then compress this data so that it can be delivered across the network. The codec on the receiving end then reassembles audio and video for transmission onto a television or computer screen. To conserve bandwidth, the codec focuses on the most important data - i.e. moving objects such as people, props, etc. Moving objects take a considerable amount of processing power, so the better the codec, the higher quality your video conference will appear.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Choosing a Video Conferencing Solution

A wide variety of video conferencing systems are available in the marketplace. Before purchasing equipment or services from vendors, consider the following as a starting point to narrow down the requirements of a system that fits with your business needs:

How will you be using video conferencing? A simple video conference between employees in the same town, building or area will require a more basic solution than video conferencing multiple parties across the vast distances. Determine the maximum video conference scenario you will be utilizing to narrow down bandwidth and equipment requirements.

How large is the meeting room where you plan to conduct video conferences? Camera capabilities will depend on the size of the room and number of people involved. Conducting a video conference in a small auditorium with dozens of participants will require a quite different solution than 1-2 individuals transmitting from a small office.

On what type of network will your video conference be hosted? The network you choose to host your videoconference will play a key role in overall reliability and performance. Most video conferencing systems sold today include an IP interface with ISDN as an option. Determine the capabilities of your network before deciding on any one specific video conferencing solution.

The Future of Video Conferencing

Increasing productivity while reducing costs will always be an important part of any business. The popularity of video conferencing will undoubtedly increase in the coming years. Virtually all industries will eventually utilize video conferencing in some form to help bring people together - at considerably less cost than physical travel for face-to-face meetings. As more corporations, health care providers and governments experience the value in video conferencing as a time and money-saving tool, the technology will become more necessity than luxury. The age of the video conference has just begun!

Many folks out there have complained about high-technology and have warned that indeed, the computers that were suppose to save us time and make us more efficient are having us spend more and more of our day working on them. Yes, we can communicate faster, but are we communicating better they often ask? These are tough questions, as people now spend on average more time on the computer than in front of the TV.

Well, I guess either way, they are gaining weight, whether they become a couch potato or put on the pounds as a desk behind a computer. There are currently studies being done that show how computers save time and travel and this saves energy, fuel consumption and is helping our environment. Could be, the studies seem to show this, so that is hard to debate, after all if you send and email or communicate via video conferencing that means you are saving fuel right?

Thus, if we get rid of computers and people have to meet face-to-face then traffic will be almost double, can you even imagine that? In all major cities and most suburbs the traffic is getting to be so bad that it is costing us efficiency. When cars are parked in traffic they pollute more as well. If the computers ever go down and people are forced to use their cars for more face-to-face meetings then traffic could double say some at the Online Think Tank.

Maybe the high-tech world and computers are cleaning the air and saving us all from Global Warming, maybe we need more Virtual Reality technologies to cut down on our automobile emissions? Indeed, there are some high-tech start-ups who are really working hard to see all this to fruition. Sincerely, Lance.

When collaborating about work to be done, how would you rate online meetings in your company? ¨

* Less than face-to-face.
* About the same as face-to-face.
* Better than face-to-face.

No online meeting will be as warm and comfortable as meeting face to face, such as to go out to lunch together or meet after work. But when people collaborate about the work, if your virtual meetings aren't at least as collaborative as face to face, or even better, then you could be missing a 36 percent increase in performance of people that do. (Meetings Around the World, 2006)

The sad truth is that most people are still using audio conference only meetings when they can't be face-to-face. Why are we continuing to meet this way, when there are so many other wonderful enhancements available to improve our online meetings: web conference and video conference?

Overwhelmingly, people feel that meeting by audio conference is dramatically less effective, less participative, less interesting, and substantially less interactive than their face-to-face counterparts. In audio-only meetings, everyone is multitasking, instead of participating in the meeting together and interacting vigorously in their live time with each other.

In the age of elegant web conference and video conference technology, the equivalent of meeting by an audio conference is like using a rotary phone instead of a digital phone. It's like watching a video tape instead of a DVD. It's like listening to an audio tape vs. a CD. Better technology is out there. It's affordable for businesses of all sizes. And enhanced conferencing is as essential as email for growing your business.

So, to grow your business and your bottom line, the key is to raise collaboration quality when you meet virtually. That means two things. First, meet in a more interactive meeting environment: web conferencing. Second, learn how to conduct a significantly more interactive and effective online meeting. Clearly, leaders and facilitators need to learn new skills to drive interaction quality that is at least as good as the best collaborative meetings they have ever attended--ever! Yes, they need to be just that great!

Creating highly effective online meetings is a huge cultural change for most companies and most people. The toughest part of change is taking the first step. Here are some essential first steps that leaders and teams can use right away to improve collaboration quality in their online meetings.

* Apply the 80/20 rule to the online meeting. Spend 80 percent of the meeting time on topics that require all-participant interaction, and 20 percent of the meeting time on information-only topics. Virtual teams collaborate 84 percent less frequently than traditional same-site teams. For that reason, it is almost a crime to waste precious and rare online meeting time on anything that can be shared by email or other one-way media. Reserve the majority of the online meeting time for interaction--identifying issues, brainstorming solutions, making decisions, and building alignment.
* Invite the right people. It's so easy to invite people to online meetings, often more people are invited than really need to be in the session. One leader I spoke with the other day invited as many people as she could just hoping that at least a few would show up for her weekly conference calls! She'd be smarter to keep the invitation list short and the content and interaction high.
* Meet about highest priority items first. The first agenda items should be the ones that require everyone's participation. As the meeting time progresses, if some agenda items don't pertain to everyone, give those people permission to leave the meeting if they wish. Don't force them off, because some will want to stay. Just give them the option to leave if their participation will not be needed later in the session.
* Agree not to multitask. Multi-tasking is a huge productivity buster for teams. Although multi-tasking gives people the sense that they are more productive, in reality it lowers personal effectiveness by 20-40 percent. Even more important, teams that multitask in online meetings (vs interacting vigorously with one another in live, interactive time) lower their team's results by about one-third. The solution is three-pronged. First get your virtual team aligned around how to have a more effective online meeting. Get training to accelerate that process. Second, get everyone to promise not to multi-task. Third, review your progress at the end of every online meeting and create action steps to correct it.
* Create solid norms to enhance your onLINE meetings. People need rules to have successful onLINE meetings. When is it OK to mute? What time shall we meet that the same site doesn't always have to meet over their lunch hour? How will we use the web conference features (like raised hand) to help us interact faster and better when we can't see each other's faces? Agree on norms that make your online meetings better, and commit to them.
* Use headsets, not a speakerphone. When people talk from speakerphones, their voices sound less clear at the other end. It is very fatiguing to try to decipher words that sound like they were spoken from an empty auditorium. Even if your speakerphone has noise-canceling or echo-canceling capability, you will always sound closer and clearer if you use a headset. Clear voices sound close and more communicative, vs. unclear voices that sound like shouting as they blast out of the speakerphone.
* Join the online meeting from the desktop, not a conference room. Nothing breaks trust and teamwork faster than when any person feels disadvantaged by location from being a full and equal participant in the meeting. When people are in the same room together--no matter how much they try to include remote people--they will always fail. When everyone meets from the desktop, however, they are forced to use the interactive features of the web conference technology to interact better together. The more vigorously that people interact from the desktop, the more inclusive and participative everyone will feel.
* Create an action item register during or at the end of the meeting. Insure that everyone knows what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. In your web conference platform, show your live action register at the beginning and the end of every meeting, to insure that every item is completed. Between meetings, post the action register in an electronic place where everyone can see it and update it.

What is the #1 improvement you would like to make in your online meeting--that is, your audio conference, web conference, or video conference meeting? We ask this question of tens of thousands of people, and they always come back with one primary answer: Interaction.

Have you noticed that interaction has nearly disappeared from the majority of online meetings? You know its symptoms:

* Everyone is multi-tasking, rather than interacting with each other. Processing email is producing higher value than the team meeting, and that’s the most important indicator that something very wrong is destroying your team performance.
* People dial into the same audio bridge, but only one or two people dominate the session. The rest are dead silent. Who even knows if they are even there at their desk?
* The leader asks a question, and no one answers. The silence is deafening as we wonder if anyone is really listening.
* The leader directs a question to a specific person, only to hear that person reply, "I am sorry, but could you repeat that question again?" Well, I'm sure fooled. Are you?
* Someone tells a really funny joke, but the mute button hides any laughter. A moment that could have bonded the team ends up being sterile and uncomfortable.

Sound familiar?

Virtual teams don't have time by the water cooler like same-site teams. The only time they have to interact together is when they link up for their weekly web or audio conference call. In fact, research shows that they interact 84% less frequently than same-site teams. That makes their live, interactive moments together in the weekly meeting really precious and rare.

So, if people on your team are multi-tasking during your team's online meeting, it's no wonder why 7 out of 10 people feel so disconnected at work in global companies. No team was ever built by watching slide shows or listening to someone talk. The ONLY path to high performance comes from raising the quality of their interaction together in every online meeting. The impact of NOT interacting is catastrophic on building motivated, committed teamwork. When virtual teams fail to interact richly enough.

* They fail to build essential levels of trust.
* They fail to establish rapport.
* They fail to create solutions together.
* They fail to leverage the diversity of its long-distance participants.
* They fail to collaborate on issues that matter to them and the company.
* They fail to participate in the result.
* They fail to feel energized by the team's work, and don't give their best.
* They fail to have fun.

When they fail to interact in an online meeting, they also hold back results--big time!

* They produce 1/3 less than those that interact effectively.
* They produce lower total returns for shareholders.
* They fail to produce a premium on the stock value.
* They experience higher turnover rates.

Are any of the items listed previously stated as goals in your performance review? Of course not. They all are signs there is a very big problem that NO LEADER CAN AFFORD TO IGNORE. So, the next time your team meets, pay attention to the silence. Then ACT to change it to interaction as fast as you possibly can. Here are some best practices to make your online meeting effective.

* Create a plan to change your company's meeting culture--starting today. Let's face it. We've acquired some very bad meeting habits over the last few years, and habits don't change overnight. Change requires commitment, time, and a specific plan to make online meetings BETTER than face to face--better for people, for interaction, and your bottom line.

* Stop meeting by audio conference alone. Always supplement it with web conference technology. If your virtual team meets by audio conference, only one person can talk at a time. When teams also meet by web conference, they can also have the choice to interact through chat, polling, raised hand, participant response panels, and annotations, among many others.

* Plan your online meeting for interaction. Apply the 80/20 rule--80 percent interaction and 20 percent information. Use 80 percent of the time to brainstorm, raise issues, solve problems, make decisions, and build alignment. Use the remaining 20 percent to cover "headlines" of critical information everyone on the team needs to know.

* Make interaction overt.

Never ask, "Does anyone have any questions?" You already know the response you'll get: Full and absolute silence! Instead, use the web conference feedback tools to have people respond with a tangible yes, no, or I will go along with it. Then communicate verbally around those differences.

* Get trained in how to conduct engaging, interactive online meetings. The toughest job in the world is to engage a virtual team linked from the desktop, with all of its temptations (email, paper mail, and a very high stack of work to do). Leaders and facilitators of online meetings need new techniques and practices to replace missing non-verbal cues, to accelerate team interaction, and create trust when people can't see each other.

The modern world requires modern solutions. And modern business needs to keep up with the changes that are constantly taking place. Technological advances have made it necessary for offices everywhere to deliver quickly and efficiently. There is immense competition in every imaginable field. A slight hiccup here and a faltering step there might result in the slipping away of a lucrative contract. Businesses today do not have the luxury of dilly-dallying with their decisions. Everything has to be instant. A minute more could lead to considerable losses. That is the way of the world today, and every business organization has to adapt itself to the needs of the new world.

Conference calling has been one of the solutions that more and more businesses have been resorting to. Now, conference calls have been around for a while. They are not exactly brand new. However, conference calling has become much faster. It has become far more convenient. And it is widely regarded as a great way to get in touch with people across the globe. With globalization becoming the order of the day, one cannot help but recognize the power of a conference call to facilitate business decisions. People who are stationed on various continents can be brought together via the power of technological progress.

Moreover, the look of the age-old conference call has also changed. One no longer has to book a call several hours in advance. Conference call booking can be done mere minutes earlier. Also, a conference call no longer has to be restricted to the audio mode. These days, with the rise of the Internet, and the popularity of web conferencing, most conference calling services provide video conferencing facilities as well. So, conducting a conference call has become a lot like having a meeting. The personal touch that may have been missing in the audio conference calling facility can be gained via audio-video conferencing.

Conference calling is an economical way of dealing with the problem of having clients and colleagues who are situated abroad. Their travel and accommodation expenses would have proved to be significantly higher than that of conducting a conference call. Most conference calling services that you might look up will provide a variety of rates and bargains that customers can choose from. Whether one decides to go with web conferencing or audio conferencing would depend almost entirely on the budget that is at hand and the requirements of the meeting. Customized conferencing services seem to be the need of the day.

Conference calls are becoming the preferred mode of business meetings. More and more companies are coming to realize the value of conducting meetings via conference calls. Conference calls allow organizations to save on a good deal of time and money that can be used more productively. The organization ends up saving on the travel expenses that will be incurred in transporting delegates to the conference room. It also saves on the air fare and hotel bills that would be inevitable in the case of outstation delegates. This is a good thing, because most business organizations seek to minimize their costs in order to maximize their profits.

Moreover, one can never underestimate the value of time that is saved. Commutes to and from a place can really wear one out. But conference calls eliminate the need to even step outside the door. Whether one is working from office, or from home, or from a hotel room in a far-away country, conference calling is a great way to discuss and debate on matters of urgency. One does not lose out on time. Delays are minimized. And the energy that is saved can be put to better use at the end of the day.

However, in addition to the savings that are the result of taking recourse to conference calls, one can also save a lot by merely looking out for good bargains. As in the case of most of the services available in the markets, conference call services also provide a wide variety of discounts and very competitive prices. With increasing numbers of business organizations going the "con call" way, conference call service providers are ready to provide lower prices, great discounts, and even free trials. The ultimate aim is to win over a greater clientele. And freebies and incentives are among the ways of achieving that goal.

Thus, if one is new to the conference call business, it makes sense to try out a few before making a decision. Several providers offer a free conference call trial to get the users better acquainted with all the aspects of conference calling. After trying out and comparing a few different providers, one could pick out the one that is the most suitable. Talking about freebies, many conference call service providers offer toll-free conference calling. This also helps one save a considerable amount of money. Moreover, these days, web conference calls are all the rage. Make sure that the conference call service that you are subscribing to offers this facility.

Globalization has wrought many changes in our daily lives. It has changed our ways of living. It has allowed us to avail of products and services that might otherwise have been unavailable. It has opened our minds to what the rest of the world can offer. At the same time, it has also changed the way in which we do business. Gone are the days when file cabinets and piles of paper dominated our offices. These days, a single computer holds all the information we need. Any data that we may want to find will only be a few mouse clicks away.

In a way, that defines the need of business today. Convenience and speed have become necessities. Could that be a reason why many organizations are gradually choosing conference calls over the traditional business meetings? To begin with, business meetings usually do involve a degree of delay. Even if the meeting starts on time, some amount of time will inevitably be wasted in traveling to the conference. That time could have been utilized more productively. Moreover, a good deal of time goes into preparing the conference room, inviting and assisting the delegates, and generally making sure that the meeting goes off smoothly.

In addition to the waste of time, there are a number of costs associated with the traditional business meeting. Often enough, delegates have to be flown in from different places. This is more so these days, when the workforce is scattered across the world. Air fares and accommodation costs can put a major dent into the company's budget.

Thus, more and more business organizations are turning the conference call way to carry out important discussions. This is especially important when the matter to be discussed is one of crucial importance and which cannot wait till a regular meeting can be held. The "con call" as it is popularly referred to, provides a convenient and speedy way to carry out discussions on a given matter. Moreover, the organization concerned ends up paying only for the conference call service, thus saving on larger costs like travel and hotel bills.

Also, conference calls need not be limited to the domestic arena. International conference call services are easily available. Thus, one can simultaneously talk to someone from the same office building and someone who is in some far-off country. These days, we have access to a variety of conference call service providers. Their sheer numbers ensure that clients can avail of competitive rates.

Meetings used to be a way of discussing important issues. Meetings took place in our personal lives, as well as during our day of work. Seminars, conventions, conferences, or simply, gatherings and discussions -- various kinds of meetings offered people a chance to have their say. In the days gone past, people would necessarily have to assemble at a specified place. But then, that was back in the days when people with similar needs and topics of discussion lived in close proximity to each other. Those who lived far away would most likely have different attitudes and varying needs to take care of.

Now, jet across to the present day. Times sure have changed. We are constantly in touch with people who live not just in different towns and cities but in different time zones, and on different continents. We can no longer claim that people who live miles apart have nothing in common. The various social networking websites that dominate our lives suggest the contrary. We share many interests with people of varied backgrounds who live across the oceans.

On the business front also, there are many shared goals. Two employees of the same organization, who are stationed miles away from each other, will still have a common interest in seeing their organization prosper. Business people, the world over, have one common goal -- that of maximizing their profits and minimizing their expenses. In order to do this, objectives and targets have to be communicated to the workforce. Sales pitches and presentations have to be made to clients. Given the way in which workforces and clients are scattered across the globe, getting everybody to gather at the same place may be problematic. As a result, business organizations have to turn to modern business solutions.

One of the most popular solutions to the problem of conducting meetings in the world of today is the conference call. Conference calling allows people on one side of the globe to get in touch with those on the other side. The problem of transporting people from one place to another is eliminated as everyone can log on to the meeting from their own workstations. Moreover, conference calling has itself undergone a lot of changes. There was a time when only audio conferencing was a possibility. However, these days, more and more companies are availing of the video conferencing facility. The need to work fast overpowers all others. Hence, every company wants to make the most of every second of their working hours. Conference calling helps them do just that.