Saturday, March 13, 2010

Web Video Conferencing in the New Millennium

Are you in need of something that can boost your business by more than half and still be able to save on the cost of production? Do you want to be able to monitor your factories and met with your staff on a regular basis though you are miles away from corporate? Web videoconferencing allows you to work on these things without having to worry about cost and impact on the business.

All that you need to do is just a website away. The need for expensive equipment has also been taken away since all the equipment you would need is inside the Internet and all of it is waiting for you. So let’s start web videoconferencing.

So how exactly does web videoconferencing works? Well, like the name suggests its videoconferencing through the web or the Internet. A participant needs a computer to start off and Internet access. Basically that’s all you need. Other things that may or may not be necessary are web cams, web conferencing software and a website to conduct the virtual meeting. Usually websites may refer to URL’s that act as the conference room for the meeting.

There are different kinds of web videoconferencing and different kinds of purposes. First one is the web meeting (web videoconferencing), this usual kind of web conference that let’s participants interact in a controlled Internet environment. Usually CEO’s and business executives have web meetings when they are out of town and on business. Not only can they visit their site often they can keep close tabs on people. Usually Web conferencing allow people on the go to keep up with the requirements of the office.

Live video is another kind of conferencing over the Internet or what young people call video chat. live video or video chat is just like text chatting only it’s done through the web cam. Just like web video conferencing live video is more or less like it in purpose and setup. While web videoconferencing uses software to support the video format of the live video this is because of the limited number of formats that can be streamed over the web.

Another kind of web conferencing tool is VoIP or Voice over the Internet Phone. The concept of VoIP is no longer new to us. Some people have started using VoIP software and sites as their primary phone for business, personal and technology use. Because of it’s virtual endless capacity to call inside and outside countries and not to mention computer call functionality.

That means even without a regular or mobile phone people can communicate anytime anywhere. Now if you apply that to whatever your web videoconferencing needs that you have, you are sure to get your money’s worth.

And lastly a dedicated Internet website that would cater to all the web conferencing needs that you have. As the name mentions it is a dedicated server that acts as the conference room of your company and a gateway for all other video conferencing you will have even outside the company.

Since this is a new tool for your company to use in it’s quest to become one of the best in the world, it would be wise to master all the requirements and the processes of web videoconferencing to reap the best results from it.

Mobile Blogging is on the Cutting Edge

Mobile blogging is an exciting phenomenon that is sweeping the blogosphere. One of the reasons why a lot of bloggers are attracted to the medium of blogging in the first place is that they enjoy being able to make frequent updates and posts that keep all of their visitors up to speed with current situations. Mobile blogs, or "moblogs," take this to the extreme by allowing users to post things literally as they happen. This new wave of moblogs and mobloggers keep web surfers up to date with good and bad events of importance as they occur all over the world, helping to make international communication faster and more accurate.

Many people feel that the limitations of blogging have a lot to do with geography. After all, there is only so current that a blog can be when you need to run home and boot up in order to update it. However, mobile blogging marks the beginning of an thrilling new era when web-based communication can happen spontaneously from any location. Moblogging devices mean that there is almost nowhere on the planet that remains off-limits for bloggers.

Mobile blogging is still in its infancy because the technology that makes it possible has only recently hit the global market. The first moblog technology became available over a decade ago, but it is only the past two or three years that mobile web devices have become user-friendly enough to appeal to most consumers. As camera phones and other mobile technology become more popular, more and more bloggers are getting away from their desks and are hitting the streets. Moblogging is becoming much more widespread that it was even a few months ago, and mobloggers are quickly attracting a lot of attention with the blogging community. It is not yet clear whether moblogs will become the dominant kinds of blogs in the years to come, but the current trend seems to imply that moblogs are here to stay.

Mobile devices make it possible to blog from the sites where current events are unfolding, which is one of the reasons why mobile blogging has so much thrilling potential to revolutionize the blogosphere. A moblogger with a camera phone can post blog entries from, say, the foot of the podium at a presidential speech, or from the stands during the final moments of the world series.

This enables bloggers to experience the same real time thrills that live television coverage provides, but in a more democratic medium. The combination of mobility and individual control that moblogging provides certainly places mobloggers on the cutting edge of today's communications technology, and it is hard to imagine that the number and prestige of moblogs will not continue to grow in the coming years.

What Is Video Conferencing

When you call for a conference, everyone is expected to arrive at a designed time and place to discuss an issue and resolve it. But if the people you need to speak with are in different states or countries and those cost of getting them to come is quite expensive, you have to try something else like video conferencing.

But first, what is video conferencing? Basically, this is a system that allows you to conduct meetings or trainings in different places simultaneously. It incorporates audio, video so you are able to talk and send data which takes away the barrier of distance that separates these individuals.

To make video conferencing possible, you need to buy the equipment. You also have to choose the method of transmission because the one you might be using may not be compatible with the other person. These include the Codec unit, the camera, microphone, video display, network connection, stands and equipment charts if these will be mobile or stationary, NT-1 and chicken feet. Most of these are self-explanatory so we will just focus on the Codec, NT-1 and chicken feet.

The Codec is considered to be the “brain and heart” of the video conference system. This is what compresses everything so you can send and receive messages on real time which can be viewed on the display device. The NT-1 on the other hand is an electronic device otherwise called an terminal adapter that converts ISDN to your IP format. There is also the NT-3 version so instead of using one line, you will be able to use three.

The chicken feet also known as acoustic echo cancellers are equipment that is usually hung from the ceiling. Basically, what this does it’s add both clarity and depth to the resonant frequency response of your audio sub system. But the most important which you have to understand is the network connection. There are two protocols namely the H.320 and the H.323. If the one you are talking with is using a different one, it will be impossible for you to talk with one another because while the first uses ISDN lines the latter which is much simpler uses IP lines similar to what you use to browse the web.

The good news is that you can still talk to the person on the other end using the older system by using a bridge that is able to handle these mixed protocols. The advantage of the new system is that you can transmit for multiple uses when the old one can only handle one. The newer version is also cheaper and faster so you get to talk in real time.

How much will you have to spend to get your video conferencing system up and running? Personal users will spend less than $500 while corporations could spend $100,000 or even more. You just have to shop around and see which one is able to fit your needs so you get value for your money.

The video conferencing system of today is one of the highlights of living in the digital age. No longer do we have to send a message and wait for awhile to get a response when you can get a reply right then and there which increases productivity and saves time and resources.