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Q: What is web conferencing?

A: Web conferencingservice enables individuals and organizations to easily, securely and cost effectively collaborate, present information and demonstrate products online

Q: What makes web conferencing so special?

A: Web conferencing helps organizations and businesses increase productivity, decrease costs, expand reach and generate revenue opportunities.

Q: Will Web Conferencing work over slower internet connections such as dialup?

A: Yes, but it can vary based on which web conferencing product you use. Some web conferencing products disable the voice comonent, and or other features. The best product at low bandwidth speeds is the Voxwire.com Web Conference Meeting Rooms which fully operates at speeds as low as 28.8 Kbps over a dialup connection.

Q. Why Use Web Conferencing?

A: The benefits to using Web conferencing in all these cases are savings in time and travel costs and the ability to meet quickly, or "on-demand. It has also been shown that when people hear and see new information, they remember more than if they had just seen or just heard it.

Q. What Do I Need to Conduct a Web Conference?

A: Practically anyone can conduct a basic web conference with a computer, current Web browser, a phone, and an Internet connection of 56kbps or better. Voice over IP (VoIP) can be used instead of a regular phone connection. You will also need to use Web conferencing software, which is available on monthly and annual subscriptions, or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Q. What's the difference between document sharing and application sharing?

A: Document sharing uses a printer driver (the WebEx Document Loader) to create an image of your document, which is then presented for review and markup in the Meeting Manager content viewer. This image is much like a printed document or fax—that is , you cannot edit it. This image requires relatively little bandwidth and thus works well at slower connection speeds.

On the other hand, application sharing sends images of the application in real-time, allowing you to edit documents as well as show all of an application's features, such as menus and tools. This type of sharing is much more powerful and requires more bandwidth.

Q. What types of files or applications can I share?

A: You can share virtually any document or application. However, applications with streaming content may not work well, because such content is not streaming directly from the source to attendees. However, if you want to share a Web page with streaming content, you can use Web content sharing, which opens a browser window on each attendee's computer and streams the content directly from its source.

Q. What can I do to speed things up?

A: First, get the fastest connection that you can. ISPs are rapidly deploying DSL, cable modem, and T1 connections. Dial-up modems can do the job, but anything less than 56K is probably too slow. Even with a 56K modem, your actual connection speed may vary.

Next, try using document and presentation sharing instead of application or desktop sharing. Document and presentation sharing uses less bandwidth. Also, sharing documents or presentations that contain fewer graphics can improve performance.

Also make sure the presenter has a fast connection. It doesn't help if the attendees are all on T1 connections and the presenter is on a slow modem connection.

Finally, you can test your connection to determine what is causing the problem.

Q. How Much Does Web Conferencing Cost?

Costs vary quite a bit across the industry. Before comparing costs, it's important to understand what they are based on. First, with hosted solutions, you can pay as you go, or subscribe to a monthly or annual plan. Costs are determined by usage, which is made up of the number of minutes online and the number of users, or "seats." Some plans can costs as little as $.15 per user/per minute. For additional fees you can add-on features such as recording, archiving, registration, event planning, and operator assistance. Software solutions that are licensed and installed on your own servers can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Q. How Do I Choose a Vendor?

First identify what features you need. Will you be presenting to large groups, or to just a few people at a time? Do you need to share applications, or just present PowerPoint slides? This will help you narrow down the list of vendors that meet your criteria. A list of vendors are available in our reviews section. Most services offer a free trial, which you should take advantage of.

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