Meetings, presentations and collaborations are all
different types of web conferences in popular use today.
Web conferences are flexible and answer different needs
within the business and other communities. The power of a
communication tool lies in the ability of it to partner,
disseminate and share information.
The first, a meeting, is most closely associated with web
conferences. The meeting format allows information to flow
back and forth. Presenters are able to deliver their
information and the recipients respond or ask questions.
The web meeting in this case allows for interactive
possibilities depending upon what has been preset.
These possibilities include but are not limited to document
sharing, real audio, whiteboards and much more. There is
another type of meeting that uses only the presenter side
of the equation without the Q and A or response.
This type of presentation is much like a video viewed on a
television, the audience is there to read the presenters
information and there is no opportunity for reciprocal
communication.
Another popular form of web conference is the presentation.
This is the format most often used when celebrities,
instructors or others 'visit' with their audience. The
communication is controlled because content can be
presented via slide shows, chat, streaming audio or video.
The audience is usually logged in, assigned a 'row' or a
'channel' - the equivalent of assigned seating in a theater
- and must communicate with a moderator to ask any
questions of the presenter.
This format is popular because there can be interaction
without degenerating into chaos. The moderator's job is to
do exactly that - moderate the information linking the
audience to the presenter. The presenter can choose to
answer some questions and in most cases will directly
address the user who asked the question though all present
will be able to read it.
It's also worth mentioning that in these types of
conferences, the audience can usually only communicate with
the moderator and others in their 'row.' Because
conferences of this type can have ten thousand people
potentially, there is no violent scrolling of hundreds of
conversations, but rather a 'murmur' of the people assigned
closest to you.
Collaboration is a format that offers real-time viewing and
modification of shared documents and files through the
Internet. No special software is required for any number of
users to view a shared document. Collaboration answers the
need for teams in different locations to be able to work
together simultaneously on a shared document.
Other practical applications include training, teaching and
researching. This format may be used in conjunction with
conferences, but less likely to be used in the presentation
unless it was a class on how to write a business letter,
for example. In that case, a presenter could discuss things
in the conference while showing the actual 'work' on the
shared document.
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Find out why web conferencing can slash your companies
travel and communication costs. Discover all you need to
know about voip, and how to use this breakthro technology.
http://www.web-conferencing-101.com/
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About the Author
John Simpson works in software development. Some time ago
he was asked to research voip and web conferencing. Now
his company has slashed their comms bill and travel costs,
using web conferencing technologies. |
