What is Web Conference Calling?

Web conferencing is a technology tool utilized for conducting live meetings over the Internet. This can include audio, video, or both. Whoever is hosting the web conference needs to set up all the proper equipment, set the date and time for the meeting, prepare the content to be discussed during the web conference, invite the attendees and provide them with a URL (website address) for the participant to enter the conference electronically. This is only necessary if it is a web-based application that is being used. Otherwise, each participant needs to download an application to their computer to view the web conference, but this is less common.

It can save businesses a lot of money by sending employees to web conferences rather than in-person conferences. First, if the conference is in another state or country, hotel, travel, and food expenses are not necessary. Plus, the only work time that is lost is the time attending the conference which may only be a few hours. When attending an in-person conference, the employee may be gone for up to a week or more, preventing them from getting other work done. Web conferences are great for those who may have travel restrictions such as those who have health problems that prevent them from easily getting around, or even someone who is simply snowed in at their location. Web conferencing is great for marketing as well. Many bloggers and other small businesses pick a topic that would be useful to their audience, conduct a web conference about it, and all the while, they are pushing their blog or whatever product they sell to their captivate audience.

Web conferencing allows the host to do a variety of things to conduct their live meeting. A few popular features include: audio and visual communication from one location to many other locations; presenting slide show presentations using PowerPoint or Keynote with voiceovers projected onto participant's computers; web tours which allows the host of the web conference to push a website address to participants, who can then participate hands-on by click through the site; text chat which allows only participants of the conference to talk to each other through the typed word; and screen sharing, a way for the presenter and the audience to view the same thing on all computers. Please note that not all web conferences utilize all of these features. They are just some of the options to take advantage of.

Web conferences are hosted on a web server owned by a vendor. If a company wants to host web conferences, they can contact that vendor to set up the web conference for them and pay a cost per user per minute, a monthly fee, or a cost-per-seat model. This is usually considered if an organization hosts web conferences infrequently. If this is something that the company plans on doing on a regular basis, they can purchase their own equipment including their own web server and not have to pay to host a web conference after the upfront costs of the equipment. From a participants perspective, some web conferences charge a fee to attend, while other shorter web conferences do not.

To run a web conference you need the following basic equipment: a microphone, a computer and a monitor or large screen, a video camera, speakers or headsets, video conferencing software (not necessary if you are doing an audio only web conference)and the internet. If you plan on hosting a web conference through another vendor they'll have all equipment necessary so you don't have to worry about it. If you plan on hosting the web conference yourself than you'll need to get some rather pricey equipment which includes a server, and a sound system that will allow all participants in the room to talk if they would like. The best way to go is to purchase a kit that provides everything necessary expect the computer and internet access. If purchasing equipment on your own, you'll need to consider the size of the room and how many participants there will be.