A videoconference is a kind interaction through devices, which allow two or more people in different places to remotely communicate simultaneously. It is also called video meeting or audio-video remote meeting. It’s different from a videophone because the technology is focused on the conference not the individual.

The most primitive type of video conferencing equipment is the television. Though the transmission of information was one way there is feedback after transmission. The cycle of information and the process of feedback is fulfilled by the television that qualifies it as a video conferencing equipment.

Since the development of digital telephony and internet based services like software, such as NetMeeting, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and other instant messaging web plug ins that allow transmission of messages real time through the internet. The Internet has become the most important tool for video conferencing and other instant messaging services.

Because of the sheer speed that the Internet has within it self and the ability to transfer information real time most of the web based videoconference centers puts most of its resources online.

Because of the advancement of Internet technology it has been possible over the years to have simultaneous videoconferencing among three or more remote points. These remote points can be anywhere in the world and the remote locations need not have a special set of equipment or software.

There is a bridge though that connects all of these remote peripherals on to the network and that is called the MCU or the Multi Channel Unit, it allows different computers to run the same format code to et communicate in one network.

There are MCU bridges for IP and ISDN-based videoconferencing. The MCUs used as bridges on IP and ISDN connections are most of the time pure software, and others that can be found in other forms of connections are a combination of hardware and software.

An MCU’s type is determined according to the number of simultaneous calls and conference participants it can handle, its ability to carry out information exchanges, shared programs, shared documents, shared application and other different kinds of sharing peripherals available on the conference. One god thing about MCU’s is that it can be a complete stand alone software for conferencing since it does not need hardware acceleration because it is purely software accelerated.

Because of the needs and the technology available to meet those needs, video conferencing has been more than a necessity for education, medicine, law making, and business.

For education the impact of video conferencing to it and the system can be seen easily. Because high speed Internet connection is becoming a much-needed part of modern curriculum, video conferencing has also been part of the next step towards modernization of the school system. Because of video conferencing special lecturers can now remotely conduct lectures, teachers can be on location and still deliver the lesson and correspondence between schools can be easily done through video conferencing.

Videoconferencing classes also adds to the possibility of a conversation in the scenarios such as a live conversation is needed between people in different countries. A visual information is an important component of the telephone conversation, the parties of the conversation can't physically come to the same location.

The expense or time of travel is a consideration because these situations calls for something drastically fast and efficient.

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HD Conferencing – Under the Spot Light!

What does HD mean for business users video conferencing? They will see people clearly, in full-size, with no fuzzy image. They will be able to see facial expressions and body language clearly, hear everything and share multimedia presentations with ease. In essence, they will love it and the usage and return on investment will increase dramatically.

The video conferencing industry is undergoing an exciting transformation. High definition (HD) video codecs and flat panel display screens have made traditional videoconferencing virtually obsolete. Every form of video is moving to high definition, so arguably no longer should any video communication investment be made without the capability to use higher definition at low bandwidths.

The good news is that you can maintain existing SD investments and move to the next generation of HD video conferencing. With HD video conferencing you will see nearly 10 times the quality for the same cost as legacy videoconferencing systems. And, new generation HD video systems will work with SD capable systems because they are both standards-compatible.

Questions to better understand the need for HD Video Conferencing

1. How will we use video communications? What do our users want the most out of this experience?

The applications for video conferencing are endless. A growing number of people no longer work at a corporate headquarters and are highly distributed. And, over 60% of communication is non-verbal; therefore meeting face to face over distance enhances understanding and meeting outcomes.

Users want the experience to be as close to a real, in-person meeting as possible. They also want it to be reliable and simple to use.

2. What type of information and content will be shared during the meetings? Will there be several people in the room?

People want to walk into rooms and easily connect a PC that everyone can see clearly and interact with naturally. At times there may be one or two people in the room and other times 15-20, consider size to help in selecting the right solution.

3. How much bandwidth will I need to run higher definition video communication? Is it too much, do I have it?

The new generation of videoconferencing products provide dramatically better resolution and motion handling at all bandwidths from 384K to over 1Mbps. Typically you will need between 1 and 2Mbps to run HD video conferencing. Most businesses and even home users have plenty of bandwidth for exceptional video.

5. How will my new high definition video conferencing system interoperate with my current installed base of systems?

Invest in only standards-compatible systems. HD systems are interoperable with SD systems and work well for users. This transition to HD will not happen overnight but it is happening.

6. Can you really run higher definition video over the public Internet?

Yes, do not let anyone tell you that you this is not possible. Organisations should work with a qualified network service provider to plan the right network and opt for certain service levels as the application permits – but it is hard to argue with the cost of the public Internet.

7. Is high definition video communication cost effective?

That depends on the vendor you partner with. New generation HD systems are available at a £6 – 10K price range with all options included. It does not have to cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds per system or room.

8. Where does Telepresence fit relative to high definition video communication?

High definition is the most important enabler to a Telepresence experience, enabling people to be the full size onscreen and scalable on a 16:9 display(s) without losing resolution. Some boardrooms and applications will require a fully integrated Telepresence room and others will use high definition video systems and large displays to meet the need at a lower price point.

10. What should I do next?

If you feel that video conferencing will benefit your business then you we would advise that you see a demonstration. Compare market offerings and invest in a future-proof solution for the next 5-10 years.

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Video conferencing has been tipped for the top for some time now, and finally its day has arrived. Here, Mike Entwistle, Managing Director for CCOMM Ltd, who started in the conferencing consulting space explains how the combination of the burgeoning ‘green’ movement, improved technologies, lower prices and a new generation that is ready and able to embrace video means that video conferencing will be the ubiquitous tool for communication in the 21st Century.

40 years ago the first video call took place, when AT&T introduced the Picturephone at the 1964 World’s Fair in America. Viewed as a fascinating curiosity at the time, it never actually became popular and was too expensive to be practical for most consumers. At its peak, the Picturephone service had only 500 subscribers, and the service faded away by the mid 1970’s.

Now, nearly four decades later, videoconferencing has come of age, with manufacturers such as Polycom, Tandberg and Life Size routinely selling tens of thousands of units a year worldwide. It's a growing market. In 2005 video conferencing was worth about $1.15 billion globally, according to Frost & Sullivan. Now the market is expected to reach $3.1 billion by 2010, growing at a compound annual rate of 22.1 per cent. Another research firm Gartner is even more bullish, projecting the video conferencing industry to be worth $12.8 billion by 2011.

The success of YouTube and the rise of social media networking driven by sites such as Facebook and MySpace has made video today’s tool for smart, modern trendy users. Video overcomes the distance barriers and has ‘stickiness’ for today’s Y generation. Hundreds of millions of YouTube videos are watched each day, and even organisations are routinely posting their corporate videos on the site as a means of tracking comment and generating greater user familiarity. For example, companies such as Cadbury’s are fully embracing the new technology as demonstrated by the recent advert featuring a drum-playing gorilla, which gained more than 1 million views on YouTube.

All this activity, not to mention the environmental pressures, has made video conferencing an accepted method of communication as organisations of all sizes try to save time, and reduce their emissions and carbon footprint. Environmental issues have turned the spotlight on the excesses of corporate travel – not just airlines, but simply say, from one side of the county to another. For example, CCOMM works with North West police forces including; Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, who use video conferencing for weekly staff meetings. Lancashire Police Constabulary covers quite a wide geographically dispersed area in the North West of England and found it was wasting an enormous amount of time, resource and money, while officers drove for hours just to reach these meetings. Video conferencing has saved each Constabulary time, travel budget, enhanced general communication and addressed some of their ‘green’ concerns.

Time spent traveling is time wasted, so organisations are looking for an alternative. It’s not so much air miles that are in demand these days, but carbon credits and video miles as a necessary measure of ‘greenness’. With carbon footprint reduction an increasingly important consideration for today's businesses, video conferencing is one solution which can help meet corporate environmental goals by reining back on travel, especially once finance directors start seeing details of their likely ‘carbon allocations’.

According to one recent Gartner research note, "Gartner recommends carbon footprint reduction as a more sustainable long-term objective than carbon offsetting (such as planting trees to compensate for carbon dioxide output), and video will be a key component of that reduction strategy for many enterprises."

However, it is not just green issues that have driven take-up of video conferencing. Technical developments too have made video conferencing a more user friendly and practical solution, less expensive than before to implement, and now offering better quality, on the desktop. These developments mean video conferencing is no longer solely the domain of the multinational. SME users too, hard pressed in running their own businesses, with no time to waste on travel are also prospective users. That’s why analysts believe video conferencing will continue to grow during the next few years, spurred on by instant messaging (IM), desktop collaboration, and the casual and more-frequent use of video conferencing as a mere click from the desktop.

As an integrator of videoconferencing solutions, we are also really starting to see the industry fly and we are gaining more enquiries year on year about our services and the end-users knowledge and understanding of the technology is certainly improving dramatically. There is no longer any mystique about video conferencing. Organisations want to be able to use it: not in video suites where they have to rely on a technician to use smoke and mirrors to get it to work, but on the desktop, where using it is ‘as easy as making a phone call’, integrated with key desktop and networking software.

In fact, video conferencing should no longer be seen in isolation but as an element of real-time collaborative communications which also include video, data and the Web, delivered through partnerships with Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel which help create efficient, high quality, more scalable solutions for business users.

Many IT executives already consider their organisations to be a ‘virtual workplace’ with, in some cases, over 60 percent of employees working remotely from their supervisors. The rise of IP video conferencing, whether from desktop or room-to-room, now provides a more cost-effective way to communicate with remote employees than ISDN-based video conferencing, with estimated paybacks ranging from 12-18 months for companies that replace ISDN video conferencing with IP systems.

Unlike the old perception of video conferencing as expensive to implement and jerky to watch, today’s desktop-based, IP friendly solutions are even flexible enough for someone to be patched into a conference while still in their car. You can even start with a phone call, and then ‘add the video’. That’s a long way from booking a video conference

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When it comes to having an online webinar, you are definitely looking to make it a success. You have a specific purpose for your webinar, therefore, to achieve that purpose you must take the necessary steps to ensure that it is interesting, attention grabbing, and smooth running. In this article, we will discuss some of the ways you can make sure your online webinar is a smashing success.

The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what you hope to achieve with your event. What goals do you have for your webinar? Are you looking to educate people, such as prospective clients and current clients? Are you looking to increase your sales? Are you looking to increase potential leads? Are you looking to promote a brand new product for your company?

Identifying and establishing the goals you have for your webinar is the first step in making sure that your online webinar is a success.

Your second step is to choose your topic. You need this to be interesting, compelling, and attention grabbing. It is the first thing that any potential attendee will see; therefore, it has to be compelling enough to make sure that they want to take part in your online webinar.

Now you need to choose how you will present your webinar. Will you use a software program built specifically for webinars or will you use a webinar service? The choice is yours. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both sides, it is important to fully compare and learn the differences before you make your decision. When making your decision, make sure that your chosen product has everything you might need for your webinar, such as recording, question and answer sessions, chatting, and polling.

Now you should choose your speaker or speakers. These should be qualified speakers in the field of your topic. Make sure that they possess skills in speaking to others, have a clear and understandable voice, and you want someone that your audience will recognize. Often times, your speaker will be the one that draws the attendees. Therefore, you want to make sure it is a prominent and credible speaker.

You will now need to choose the time you wish to hold your event. The best times to have your webinar is mid afternoon. This will ensure that most time zones can attend the meeting. Also, the worst times to have your webinar is on a Friday or on a Monday. These are days that people are either just starting or just ending their week. This will be the times when people are less likely to attend.

Videoconferencing is a great way for small businesses to save money or expand their business. It used to be true that only big companies with deep pockets could afford to have out of town meetings. Big businesses can generally afford to send their people away on travel, but the benefits of staying in-house can be great as well. With videoconferencing, you can keep your employees close at hand, cut down on costs, as well as make virtual face to face contact with people all around the world.

Meetings planned on short notice are no problem with a videoconferencing system. If one of your key players is away from the office, then you can include them in the meeting from a remote location. All they need is a webcam, microphone, speakers, monitor and a means of transmission. You could be out of the country and participate in a meeting back at the office. Multiple transmissions are possible, so you can have collaborations with many different companies or individuals at once, seamlessly, face to face.

When videoconferencing first came about, many people thought it to be slow and choppy. Sometimes the transmission didn't work well or words couldn't be clearly understood. Not the case today. High definition transmission is readily available and can be used with very little or no interference. It's like you're actually there. This is a revolutionary evolvement for small businesses. A small bakery could launch a world wide operation in very little time, with very little expense.

Global industry was once reserved for the already rich big companies. Now anyone can be a major player. With use of the web and videoconferencing, small business owners are doing what used to cost thousands if not millions of dollars, for very little money. Even an at-home business could use a local videoconference center to conduct business. They can look very professional and concentrate on their products and services, not the appearance of their office.

Businesses aren't the only ones benefiting from this technology. Videoconferencing is and effective educational and instructional tool. Not only is it being used to train employees, but it's being used a lot in schools. Students can be taught from any specialist, professor or teacher from anywhere in the world. This truly helps students today become more well-rounded in their education. No more boring teacher lectures. Now we're offering virtual field trips to anywhere in the world. Imagine learning about multitudes of career choices from professionals around the world, in their work environment. Students can experience surgery, up close with instructional dialogue, in an operating room where students would normally not be allowed.

Gone are the days where seminars have to be held in conference rooms of a hotel. Gone are the days when only certain people within a local vicinity can attend. Now, with webinar software, you can reach millions at once, all across the world. If you live in Washington state and you have potential attendees in New York, you have no problems in displaying your message throughout the country thanks to webinar software.

This type of software is taking its place or even replacing traditional conferences and meetings. Any person wishing to reach their targeted audience in the best possible manner makes use of webinars and its software programs. The great thing about this software is that it is not hard to learn and use, nor does it have to cost a fortune, which makes it really easy on your initial budget.

There are many software programs out there that are easy to use and affordable. Many of these programs offer everything you need for a successful webinar. For example, the software program might include:

• Registration Plans

• Delivery of the Webinar

• Recording of The Webinar

• Email Templates

• Toll-Free options for conference calls

• Practice Sessions

• Branding

These are just some of the features that you can enjoy with software for webinars. All of these are essential elements to a successful webinar. With this software, you can enjoy an all in one interface that takes you from registration and down the road towards delivery. All of this with one, easy to use, easy to understand software program.

The great thing about webinar programs is that it saves your business a great deal of money, time, and hassles. Let's look at some of the hassles of having to organize a traditional seminar:

• Handouts

• Travel

• Accommodations For Organizers and Employees that Attend

• Booking The Conference Room

• Accommodations For Speakers

• Manual Registration

Now all of this is just the hassles, it does not include the time and money spent:

• Time it takes to Travel

• Costs of Travel

• Costs of Rentals

• Time it takes to set up the conference room

• Cost of multiple Employees Time

With a web conferencing software , these are almost obsolete hassles, time consumption, and costs. Webinars can be held right from your office, no travel is necessary for anyone, and all for so much less money than traditional methods.