For organizations that operate on a national or international level, it is
often necessary to conduct business meetings with offices that are far away
from each other. This can be accomplished by traveling to different
locations to meet in person, but if something needs to be handled spur of
the moment, this isn't necessarily the best solution. Web conferencing has
become a standard in interoffice communications for businesses worldwide,
allowing organizations to communicate in real time, without having to leave
their offices. Web conferencing software offers a variety of ways in which
meetings and presentations can be given and attended.

Web conferencing software is used to conduct meetings and presentations over
the Internet. In the early days of the World Wide Web, web conferencing
referred to using message boards in order to conduct group discussions.
These discussion boards were not live, and often discussions took a lot of
time to carry out. Now, web conferencing refers to live or "synchronous"
gatherings via chat rooms, or using different types of software and hardware
such as web cams. And more often, VOIP is being used in the place of chat
rooms, which really gives a personal feeling to meetings. Web conferencing
allows issues to be handled with immediacy.

In addition to chat rooms and VOIP, web conferencing software provides the
capability to perform a multitude of functions, including slide
presentations, sharing (and amending live) spreadsheets, annotations (the
ability to highlight points displayed on a screen), text messaging, and file
sharing. Some web conferencing software even records meetings and
presentations for documentation and easy playback for reference. The trend
in web conferencing today seems to be heading toward VOIP and web cam usage.

For organizations that want to use web conferencing software and technology
in their business dealings, there are a few options. Often, web conferencing
is sold as a service that is regulated by a vendor on a web server. The
vendor can charge by the minute or for a fixed fee, depending on the
situation. However, more and more vendors are beginning to license their web
conferencing software, making it available for organizations to purchase and
use on their own web servers.

Web conferencing has its roots in the early days of the Internet. Text chat
capabilities have been around almost as long as the Internet itself. Instant
messaging, or web-based chat capabilities, made the scene in the early
1990's. Later in the 1990's, peer-to-peer communication (relying on the
bandwidth of the participants) allowed actual web conferencing to take
place. There are many services and web conferencing software applications
currently vying for business. This is due in part to a lack of
standardization of web conferencing software and technology. Work is
currently being done to establish a standard for web conferencing, which
might include membership and authorization management, a means to maneuver
media mixing, and a means for notice of conference related changes. These
standards will help to guarantee the best possible service to users, and
help to keep prices reasonable.

The use of web conferencing software seems to have become commonplace in the
world of business today. It enables organizations to not only speak to one
another in real time, but allows them to share and modify pertinent
information in the form of graphics, spreadsheets, and slide presentations
that use to require a plane ride or waiting for the mail to ship packets of
materials and information. The synchronous (real-time) capabilities of web
conferencing software make it easier for organizations to operate on a
national or global scale, and help to facilitate the success of a business.

About The Author

Mark Woodcock is a director of 3 Internet Companies, is a published author
and has written many articles on a widespread number of topics. All his
articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to
http://www.audiovideo-web-conferencing.com.