There are some who would argue that staging a webinar is not much different from conducting a live seminar in person. In many ways this is true, but the web meeting format expands the audience and enhances the presentation. One example is through the use of videos in the webinar. The benefits of a webinar are many and well known, but there are some entities that are slow to adopt this approach.

What is Video Conferencing?

The term video conferencing refers to technology that allows communication via live video streams. It can involve two or more persons, but the basic idea is that all participants can see the other persons involved in the web conference. While it can be a standalone service, it is usually a component of today’s web conferencing software. While video conferencing is not absolutely vital to the success of a webinar or web conference, having a video component does greatly increase the overall presentation’s effectiveness.

Who Can Benefit

Few webinars can be considered successful without some sort of video component. Along with standard conferencing features as chat, annotation and whiteboard, presentations can be structured in such a way that participants can offer their own input in real time. This is one of the many benefits of conducting a seminar or meeting online and a growing number of organizations are catching on to this fact. These include:

– Schools and universities: Use of web meeting software does not only apply to online schools. Many learning institutions have used the web meeting format to widen its audience and boost revenue by providing online programs. Online learning also provides schools the flexibility to offer self-paces or distance learning classes for students who are not able to attend classes on campus. Courses taught online can often be recorded for reference by students or professors later.

– Large and small businesses: Regardless of the size of any business, there are great benefits to be had by either hosting or attending a webinar. Some companies may use them to provide training for employees. Smaller companies recognize the value of the web meeting for networking opportunities and self promotion. Many meeting software also have built in screen sharing functions, allowing for an easy way for teams to collaborate and work together regardless of their physical locations. Given all those benefits, the biggest would still be the cost savings companies can stand to gain from utilization of these tools.

As with many types of communication solutions, quality is not the same across the board. There are many reviews posted online as well as user testimonials that can be helpful. Companies like Wainhouse Research also offer valuable insight into the industry, especially with its coveted ‘Influencer and Contender’ title. A simple search online using terms like ‘web conferencing comparison’ will return an array of guides on picking a web conferencing solution. There are also many independent web conference service testers who offer an objective view and analysis of many of the major service provider available today. A quick read on these sites will give anyone a good start in their search for the right meeting software.

Author Bio: RHUB Communications is a provider of on-premise, self-hosted web conference and meeting software. Our 4-in-1 web conferencing appliance offers http://www.rhubcom.com/v4/web_conferencing/partner.html video conferencing, webinar, http://www.rhubcom.com/v4/web_conferencing/about_us.html remote desktop and support capabilities together in one product.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: webinar, video conferencing, web meeting, meeting software, web conference