Web Conferencing Services - Types

You may already have recognized the need for web conferencing
within your organization. You have heard all about the many
benefits and have decided it is the way forward for your
company. Now all you have to do is decide which type of web
conferencing would best suit your company's needs.

A quick investigation into the types of web conferencing
available will result in a myriad of information. For the
uninitiated, unraveling what is available can be confusing and
time-consuming.

Below you will find a quick guide to the types of web
conferencing currently out there. Each organization will have
its own individual requirements and it is important to be clear
about what you hope to gain from web conferencing. For example,
is it a fully interactive virtual meeting place that your
organization needs, or do you require a document sharing system
that will allow employees in different geographical locations to
work together on projects? Once you understand how you want web
conferencing to work for you, analyzing the types of web
conferencing and how they could work for your organization will
become much easier.

Web Meeting With growths in international business and a growing
trend towards home working, the need for a virtual meeting place
is increasing. A web meeting is just what it says - a meeting
that takes place over the Internet. This facility has the
capabilities to hold real-time conversations and share
documents. Web meetings can be fully interactive, allowing
participants to converse in real time and for information to be
exchanged between delegates.

Web meeting set-ups vary in terms of sophistication and a very
rudimentary system can be set up using just a digital camera and
a broadband connection.

The Webcast As the name would suggest, a webcast is a type of
broadcast similar in nature to a television broadcast except, of
course, a webcast takes place over the Internet. The
broadcasting nature of this facility means that there is little
opportunity for the presenter and delegates to interact with
each other and therefore its function is primarily as a
presenting tool. The other main feature of a webcast is that it
can be broadcast simultaneously to hundreds of recipients.

If your requirement is for a presenting tool that also offers
the interactive features of a web meeting, then you should
consider a webinar.

The Webinar As the name suggests, the webinar is a facility that
allows you to conduct a seminar over the web. Allowing a greater
level of interaction than the webcast, a webinar enables the
presenter to conduct question and answer-type sessions with
delegates. However, you should remember that a webinar does not
afford the same degree of interaction as a web meeting.

Other Uses For Web Conferencing

Online Presenting Web conferencing can also be used for
conduction online presentations. Online presenting is ideal for
sales pitches, performance reporting or providing training for
other members of your organization. Add on features include
slide shows, web based conversing and audio/video streaming.

Online Collaboration This is by far the most commonly used type
of web conferencing and is the ideal solution for organizations
who have multi-location sites yet require collaboration between
their employees on projects and documents. Online collaboration
has file sharing capabilities that updates changes and
alterations to documents in real-time to avoid errors.

About the author:
Diane Parker is a web content writer who specializes in internet
related topics. Her conferencing articles include: web conferencing software, choosing a web conferencing tool and internet conferencing.