Tom Cruz asked:




When you are ready to use video conferencing in your business, you need to find a reliable video conferencing company. It is much simpler and easier for everyone if you choose a company to host the software for you and provide web login to your employees. That way, the conference can be accessed from any computer, anywhere in the world as long as the proper log in information is supplied.

When you search for a video conferencing company, you will come across a wide range of options and prices. Remember that cheaper is not always better. You want a company that has a strong track record for uptime and that will present your company in the best light. You do not want to use a free option that will shove ads in the faces of your attendees.

On the other hand, there is no need to overpay by going with a video conferencing company that provides features and services that you will not ever use. You must carefully balance the company’s reliability against the price and services offered.

Many of these conferencing companies offer free trials which is a great way to take the system for a test drive to determine if it is a good fit for you. In fact, it is a good idea to test out a few choices to get a feel for what the various options are.

Some of the best video conferencing companies for businesses are Cisco, WebEx, and Adobe. All three of these are well respected brands that offer a variety of features that would be suitable for businesses of any size.

Cisco offers a high-end service for corporations, media, and educational uses. With the proper equipment, participants appear life-size and life-like. Although high tech, it is simple enough to use that no tech department is needed. Their video conferencing solution can be integrated with collaboration software making this one of the top picks among high level corporations.

Adobe offers conferencing along with collaboration. Their service won an Editor’s Choice award from PC Magazine because of all of the useful features it provides in one package. You are able to provide live video conferencing along with real time collaboration that allows you to easily set up meetings and virtual classrooms. Adobe offers a thirty day free trial so you can test the system to see if it is right for your company.

WebEx is a conferencing company suitable for small businesses and individuals. It is priced under $50 per month yet gives you many features. It does limit you to 25 participants at a time, but the meetings can be recorded and viewed by others later. It allows for up to six-way live video conferencing as well as document sharing and collaboration. Their service can be accessed from any computer or 3-G mobile device.

As you can see there is a video conferencing company suitable for all levels of business owners from million dollar corporations to mom and pop operations. The three above are popular choices but there are many others available to choose from. Video conferencing is a boon to all businesses today no matter if it is used to make sales, train employees, or allow for collaboration. Thankfully it is affordable and easy to use as well.

Melinda

Carlos Montenegro asked:




Video conferencing equipment that is used in one location is different from another. If you plan to get one for the office, you should decide whether to buy a PC based system, a portable, a rollabout or an installed system.

Just to give you an idea, a PC based system can accommodate one or two people, the portable is good for two to eight, the rollabout is for three to fifteen while the installed system can be used by 20 or more participants.

You should also get the right sized monitor so everyone will have a good view of whatever is projected on the screen. Most video conferences use a 20 or 35 inch monitor but since this is still small when there are many people, the solution is to get an LCD projector.

When you have decided which one to get, the next thing you have to be concerned about is the bandwidth because the faster it is the better so you are able to compress audio and video signals and connect in real time.

Most video conferences today use two ISDN lines at the same so if you don’t want to see any blurred movement, it is best that these transmissions move at 768k to 1.5 megabytes per second.

The codec is considered to be the most important of all the equipment in video conferencing. When you are looking for one, you should make sure that it is compatible with the other versions in the market. You should also check if the system you get supports full duplex audio and digital echo cancellation so you get to see and hear the other party clearly.

In order for the presentation to be a success, you need to have multiple monitors and projectors. This will let you see the other party and a preview of what you are showing next. This will prevent any mistakes and make sure that everyone is listening to what you have to say.

But some people can use just one monitor instead of two. They just have to make sure that the monitor they have has a picture in picture feature so get to see a preview of what will be shared next. In the event that you will be talking to more than one party, you must also have a bridging system in place.

As for the camera, there are different types to choose from. You can get multiple cameras to show different sides of the presentation if you have to move or better yet get the robotic version that will automatically follow you.

The document camera is considered to be the a must in video conferences so that aside from seeing your face on the screen, people will be able to see the visual aids that you have prepared.

Lastly, you may want to have a phone line so if you have to take a call, you can do so during the presentation. But if you will be talking to a lot of people as well, this can also be done through the bridging.

The price of video conferencing equipment varies but the prices these days are more affordable than they were 10 years ago. People have noticed a huge growth in 2006 versus 2005 and this is expected to continue as more people are willing to use such a system.

Leslie

Allenby asked:


Searching for a global, multi-party video conferencing service provider, one of the companies I’ve come across have told me that they provide connections to an IP network, not the internet, which is supposed to enable high quality video transmissions between a number of participants located in different places around the world. They give you an IP address to which you connect directly, “avoiding the whims of internet traffic”.
My question is the following: am I not sending data through the internet anyway in order to connect to their IP address? Is it possible to deploy an international private IP network in order to provide local IP addresses in each country participating in the video conference, bypassing local ISPs and particular bandwith configurations?
I’ll really appreciate anyone shedding light on this one!

Eric