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

Old Man from Scene 24 asked:


Airport moving walkways
Microbooks
Videophones/video conferencing
Wrist phones/televisions
Self-service kiosks for financial transactions
Home computers
Robotics
Repetitive motion injuries from pushing buttons
Massage chairs

just to name a few….

Phyllis

James Hunter asked:




With videoconferencing people can interact as if they were talking face to face with both images and sound relayed in real time. This article is designed to guide you through the various options to arrive at the system type best suited to your purpose.

There are various types of videoconferencing; which is suitable for your application will depend upon the IT structure available and what it is that you actually want to achieve.
Video conferencing has in the past been relatively expensive, but prices are coming down and it is possible for anyone with a fast enough internet connection to operate a video conference.

Systems are available for hire, lease or sale.

Systems may be installed at all or any of the following: – on the desktop PC a dedicated videoconference suite mobile – for use when and where the need arises.

Each has various advantages and limitations which may be critical to your purpose.

Paradoxically it is far more critical that audio connections are maintained than the video. You may loose a video signal or it may be intermittent but the conference will still proceed – if you lose audio, nothing can be achieved (unless both parties are versed in sign language!)

Video speed for equipment is often shown as frames per second abbreviated as FPS.

In the UK video from most sources runs under the PAL standard which 25 frames per second – e.g. domestic VHS players. In the USA the system is NTSC which runs at 30 frames per second. Videoconference equipment commonly is specified as 15 fps or 30 fps. In layman’s terms – 15 fps will be jerky, it shows every other frame, 30 fps is full motion video.

The higher the frame rate the greater the data load, so the faster the connection required.

A minimum requirement for full motion video and audio between two points is 768 Kbps.

This made up of:- an encoding rate of 384 Kbps (typically used) is selected. This is broken down into two parts – 64Kbps is for the audio 320 Kbps is for the video.
The resulting 384 Kbps stream is compressed and sent (from you – the source) to the remote point (the destination). Similarly a 384 Kbps stream is received from the remote point to you. Thus twice 384 Kbps in bandwidth is required.

If there is a lot of motion in the video, very little compression is achieved. If there is little or no motion in the video, the savings can approach 50%. It would, however, be foolish to design a system which relied on the participants being forced to remain static.

There are two types of video conferencing, each has sub-types. Point to point – a live video / audio communication between any two locations. Multipoint – links between a three or more locations

Point to Point (P2P)

Point to point – a live video and audio communication link between any two locations.

P2P – Application

Where the need is to communicate between two points only at any one time: – Two offices of the same company Yourself and a business partner company, e.g. Yourselves and a major supplier Senior management/ teams from two divisions – e.g. research and manufacture.

P2P – Use

Virtual meetings on a one to one basis Project workgroup co-ordination of effort, live adjustment of data, drawings, documents or prototypes Virtual board meeting between two groups of people in specific locations – say 5 in one and 4 in another

P2P – Limitations

Bandwidth required increases in proportion to the amount of data being exchanged. Audit trail of actions taken by whom with a timeline sequence often required. Extra equipment is necessary to show physical objects, using a visulaiser for say engineering parts

Point-to-Point Videoconferencing

Consider two videoconference terminals (vct) that are connected to the Internet.

The vct and its associated peripherals allow the user to make a call to another client, send the local audio/video stream to the remote client, and hear/view the received audio/video stream on a local speaker/monitor that is connected to the vct.
Assume one user (the local user) uses a vct to call a user at a remote vct by entering the IP address of the remote vct. The clients setup a call between the stations following the specifications of the H.323 protocol. Once the call is setup, the clients exchange audio/video streams over the Internet. The point-to-point videoconference continues until one of the users “hangs up” the call.

IP numbers are difficult to remember; some users have dynamically assigned (DHCP) IP numbers that can change every time they boot their system and problems in using IP addressing when different vendor systems are used.

The Gatekeeper

To alleviate the problem of IP dialing, the H.323 standard defines the use of a gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper is a system that connects to the Internet just like the client terminals. The IP address of the gatekeeper is configured into the client terminals and when the clients “power up”, they communicate with the gatekeeper and transfer certain information to the gatekeeper that describes the vct.

When the clients register with the gatekeeper, they pass their IP numbers, H.323 alias, and H.323 extension to the gatekeeper where it is stored. This allows a local user to dial a remote user by entering the remote users H.323 extension in effect their video telephone number.

The local vct communicates the H.323 extension to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper then checks to see if the remote client is registered with the gatekeeper, then sets up the call between the two clients.

Once the call has been setup, the audio/video streams flow directly between the clients over the Internet.

Multipoint

Live video and audio links between a three or more locations.
To handle this situation, the H.323 standard introduces the concept of a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). The MCU can be thought of as a “video bridge”. The MCU connects to the Internet and registers with the gatekeeper.

A MCU, depending on its design capacity, can handle a certain number of simultaneous videoconferences each with each videoconference being logically separate from the others and with each having a specified number of users.

When users want to join a particular videoconferencing session, they dial the service number/password combination. The gatekeeper checks to see if that service has been registered by a MCU. The gatekeeper completes the call by connecting the client to the specified videoconference on the MCU.

Once the call has been connected, the client’s audio/video stream is then sent over the Internet from the client to the MCU. Similarly, other clients connect to the session and send their audio/video streams to the MCU. The MCU selects one of the audio/video streams on the videoconference and returns that audio/video stream to all of the clients (that is all except the client whose stream was selected).

There are several methods for selecting an audio/video stream. Audio switching and chairman control are two alternatives. Typically, the method that is chosen is audio switching where the MCU selects the stream that currently has active audio (someone is talking or is talking the loudest).

As the user(s) at one site stop talking and the user(s) at another site start to talk, they capture the MCU. The process is repeated with the video from the newly selected site now being sent to all the other sites.

Streaming

To participate in a H.323 videoconference, users must have appropriate videoconferencing client terminals and have Internet connectivity with sufficient bandwidth to support the videoconference.

Some users may not have these capabilities but would still like to be able to participate even if that meant that they could only see and hear conference participants but not be able to interact with them. (Watch and Listen)

Users can receive the stream using a browser on a computer. They enter the URL of the server, and the server starts the encoded audio/video stream over the Internet to the computer.
Plug-Ins for the browser exist that are capable of decoding both RealVideo and Windows media streams. The user can thus see and hear the participants in the streamed videoconference in near real-time.

Alternatively, a user can connect to the server at a latter date and view the archived version of the videoconference.

Fernando

GK asked:


Hi. Im currently using BSNL Dataone Home 250 Plan at 2mbps speeds. Im a frequent user of the video call facility in msn messenger. Video conferencing works gr8 on 2mbps line with no video choppping and the video is real time with no shakes. But since i have a download limit of 1GB, i am planning to switch over to 750UL-the only drawback being the speed reducing to 256kbps. I just wanted to know whether my video calls would work just as well as before or would i suffer on some fronts…Pls Help…..

Jeremy

Misses M asked:


I have Time warner residential cable where I have two vonage VOIP lines. And I run ooVoo for video conferencing.

I am having chopping voice on all 3 lines if I use them at the same time. Or even if I just ooVoo and use 1 VOIP line. Is there a way to solve this?

Can this be addressed by CPU? using better compression of my video before hitting the net? Or Are there video conference software that uses less bandwidth? Or should I just upgrade my internet connection to get more speed?

Reginald

MrSandman asked:


Is it fast enough for video conferencing?

Ray

Magdi Mikhail asked:




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.

Denise

Jon Butt asked:




You forever hear the term but do you really understand it? The definition of video conferencing can be stated as the integration of audio, video and peripherals for the simultaneous communication of two or more persons who are connected by a particular telecommunication line.

In video conferencing, synchronized images and verbal communication are transmitted between two or more locations. Now that we have videoconferencing defined, how does videoconferencing work?

Why Video Conferencing Works For Many

For video conferencing to work, you would need microphones, video cameras, the necessary computer software, hardware and peripherals, along with the transmission lines for sending video conferencing information amongst video conferencing participants.

When holding a video conferencing event, a codec translates the analog information received by the microphones and video cameras into digital information, which is then transmitted to another codec that translates the digital information back to the original sounds and images, which the video conferencing participants can understand.

Video conferencing used to be more expensive than it is today, because T1, ATM and ISDN lines were used for video conferencing, and all of these were very costly. However, the emergence of the Internet has provided a cheaper solution for video conferencing, using web video conferencing. As a result, video conferencing has become more present in small businesses.

The problem with video conferencing is that the conversion of information from analog to digital format can result in the decreased video quality. The compression ratio is the most important factor in video conferencing. The higher the compression ratio, the faster the video conferencing information is transmitted, but the lower the video quality.

Video conferencing can be used for communication among groups of people. Video conferencing is also very useful in education. Video conferencing can make learning more fun, and video conferencing can work for different learning styles. Video conferencing also allows experts from remote places to talk in classes.

Video conferencing is the wave of the future. Make video conferencing work for you, know more about video conferencing, and make a step forward on improving your conferencing services.

Geraldine

MrSandman asked:


Is broadband speed fast enough for video conferencing?

Thomas

Sandra Banks asked:




Businesses all over the world are now taking advantage of cheap converged conferencing services to expedite business operations. Audio conferencing and video conferencing are now vital elements for a huge number of businesses all around the world. A decade ago, simultaneous audio and video conferencing is only possible for multi-million dollar enterprises or academic and government institutions. Today, the advent of online conferencing technology has greatly reduced the costs of converged conferencing services. Converged voice and video solutions are now more accessible to every type of business from private entrepreneurs to medium-sized businesses to multi-national corporate conglomerates.

Businesses of any size from any industry can all benefit from the great advances in modern day conferencing technology. Conferencing solutions greatly expedite essential business communications as well as cutting operational costs and increasing overall company savings. A lot of businesses today are just beginning to explore the myriad uses of conferencing services to help aid them in their ventures not to mention increasing company profits.

Modern day Internet technology has greatly increased the affordability of web conferencing solutions. In addition, the advances in modern day conferencing technology enable businesses to correspond with partners and clients as well as with their workforce in cases of dispersed business locations. Audio and Web conferencing service providers now allow businesses to conduct meetings online, totally dispensing with the need for hefty travel expenses not to mention the costs and effort in setting up meeting venues. With converged web conferencing technology, highly interactive business meetings can be carried out with minimum effort and expense.

Edwin