Category Archives: Video Conferencing - Page 2

What is Video Conferencing?

Posted by on April 16, 2011 No comments

Video conferencing is method by which people in different locations communicate in real time with two or more people at different locations via video This ability to see the remote participants as well being able to hear them has many benefits over audio-conferencing.

Video conferencing is now widely used by all industry sectors. Multinational companies use it to communicate with international branch offices, whilst smaller companies use videoconferencing to enable them to work with clients and suppliers in different countries.

The equipment required for video conferencing is simple to operate. On screen menus enable you to enter the number you want to call or select it from an address book. Gone are the days where videoconferencing required specialist technicians – now everyone in your office can be shown how to place calls with a 10 minute training session.

Video conferencing should not be considered in ‘black and white’ terms – there will always be a need to travel to meet clients or partners especially during the important early stages when relationships are being built. Where videoconferencing wins out is being able to maintain those relationships easily and cost effectively.

Modern video conference systems enable users to share documents and computer images with the remote (far end) party. When videoconferencing is used in this manner it becomes part of a collaboration solution.

Video conferencing is not only used internationally, many legal firms and consultants use videoconference systems to avoid billing clients travel time and to be able to carry out more client meetings in any given time period.

Many-to-many communication: this is the most complex form of video conferencing and is mostly associated with room based video conferencing technology. In this case several parties (more than 2) are involved in the conference, and all can be seen and heard.

Why use video conferencing?

A telephone call or e-mail is not always the best way to communicate with another person. Interactive meetings can help to generate ideas, and enable people to read and react to others’ sensitivities

Video conference communication and meetings are often much shorter in total as no travel is involved. A meeting that may take you away from work for four hours (due to travel) may take only one or two hours using a video conference. You can communicate more regularly with people in other districts or countries, which would usually be costly or impossible if you had to travel. Using video conferencing saves money as it can lower your expenses – there is no need for all the costs involved with travelling, such as meals and tickets

You can video conference with many more people than would fit into a single meeting room because each party will be using their own facilities, video conferencing allows for collaboration by document sharing. Many people in different areas can work on the same project and make contributions.

Many institutions can receive the same broadcast simultaneously and thus a much greater level of participation can be gained. For example, a lecture being broadcast to students at many different educational institutions

How do I use videoconferencing?

Videoconferencing can be extremely easy to use.  The most recent developments have been with 4 digit dialling opposed to entering in IP Addresses to connect to the far end.  This process would often be perceived by non technical users of the system as overly technical and would lead to a frustrating and clumsy user experience. 

We are all used to entering phone numbers in to mobile phones or fax machines where there is an on screen display of the number being dialled. Video conferencing is similar but with a TV as the onscreen display and a video image of the participants at the far end. Placing a call is easy, although there are advanced features available on most videoconferencing systems, these do not need to be used if not necessary.

What equipment do I need?

Video conferencing systems & equipment vary from entry-level systems where a videoconferencing unit (codec) is placed on top of a TV monitor, through to advanced ‘installed’ systems in boardrooms and meeting rooms. The latter require careful system design and expert installation.  CCOMM have been designing and building complex but easy to use main board room and meeting room installations since 1996.

Apart from the videoconferencing hardware a carrier is required for the communication between the near-end and far-end systems. This carrier can be ISDN digital telephone lines or IP based computer networks. Generally when organisations use video conferencing to speak to branch or international offices then IP (h.323) is used. When speaking to outside organisations it is most common to use ISDN (h.320).

Video Conferencing Systems ? Making The World A Small Place

Posted by on April 14, 2011 No comments

Video and other forms of conferencing have emerged as highly efficient business communication tools. All that an organization needs to conduct or take part in a video conference are the video conferencing systems, a fast internet connection and conferencing services from a reliable vendor.

Earlier organizations had to pay a lot of money to get all of these. Moreover, anyone interested in attending or holding a webinar or video conference, had to download and install heavy and sophisticated conferencing software and also purchase expensive conferencing systems. As all these required a heavy investment, the small and medium sized organizations could not enjoy the benefits offered by video and others forms of conferencing.

However, now with the affordable business phone systems and the different conferencing equipments, it has become possible for business organizations of all sizes to communicate efficiently with their clients and employees located in different corners of the world.

With the help of the conferencing systems, web conferencing equipments, conferencing cameras etc, an organization can combine video conferencing and teleconferencing, where the participants can communicate efficiently with each other through voice and instant chats, while sharing images and videos.

During a video and web conference, organizations can conduct live seminars, demonstrations of a new product/service, training sessions, allow participants to share applications and documents online etc. In fact, some conferences even have features which allow the participants to share their desktops with each other.

Therefore, the video conferencing systems and other equipments, facilitate the organizations to communicate in so many ways, that the need for traveling every now and then for attending meetings and seminars, has been cut down.

Due to the ever growing popularity and demand for the different business phone systems and other conferencing equipments, many conferencing systems with different brand names have been launched in the market. These are available at affordable prices. Therefore, organizations of all sizes can get them without exceeding the budget.

However, while buying the different conferencing system, one should never go by their low prices alone. One should check all its feature and compare its price with the other available brands with similar features. The market reputation of the brand should also be checked.

Besides the video conferencing systems and other equipments, one should be very careful while choosing the conferencing services as well. One should always go for the service from a reliable and reputed vendor. Compromising on the quality of services can lead to the loss and theft of valuable business data shared during a conference. For more information, you can visit : http://www.telcom-data.com/

Voip for better video conferencing solutions

Posted by on April 12, 2011 No comments

If you thought that the introduction of audio and video conferencing systems was the best thing that could have happened to your organization, then here is something even better. Voip are the new entrants in the domain of business phone systems, which aim to enhance your video and audio conferencing experience and make it even more productive.

Before the introduction of Voip, organizations were using business phone systems like Private Branch Exchange (PBX), Key telephone systems and Key less phone systems (KSU). Although these systems were effective and provided various services like audio conferencing, video conferencing, voice mail systems, etc yet there was something missing from them. They were expensive to install, difficult to maintain and not easily compatible with different systems. So the need was there for a better technology, and Voip came as the answer to those needs. Through Voip, people can stay connected virtually over the internet and take advantage of the integration of internet with video conferencing solutions.

Voip has provided better video conferencing solutions to organizations. Not only has the cost of installing and maintaining this system reduced, due to its minimal infrastructural requirements, but several other eminent benefits are also present.

Portability is one of the major benefits of a Voip business phone system. Employees can travel anywhere they want and they can still remain connected with their organization through video conferencing over a Voip system. All that a person needs is a broadband internet connection and a camera.

Due to the fact that Voip enables video conferencing systems to connect via the internet, members of the conference can also share presentations, files and other forms of data during a conference. This has created a virtual environment which is a close replica of a physical meeting. Moreover presentations can even be made over the internet through a video conference, thus enabling better video conferencing solutions.

A virtual whiteboard can be created on the screen of every member during the video conference and notes and other information can easily be shared and explained. This has been possible only through the use of a Voip to connect video conferencing systems.

The most prominent benefit that businesses perceive in video conferencing over the internet is the fact that it is very cheap, thus a huge burden on their expenditure has been removed.

The introduction of Voip in video conferencing has revolutionized the way people look at video conferences. However you need to consider a few facts before installing this system in your organization. There are a numerous Voip service providers in the market. You should conduct a thorough research of thee the alternatives available and choose the one that enhances your present video conferencing solutions the most.