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Video-Conferencing
Software
The most important element in running video
conferencing software is the connection. The minimum one would use
is Internet protocol. Sometimes Internet bandwidth will hamper video
quality and cause interruptions in audio transmissions. If the
participants in the conference are international, and money is no
object, ISDN, more commonly known as T1 or DS1 would be the best way
to connect using video conferencing software. Satellite would be the
ultimate option, but few can afford this.
Most of us have experienced an online 'teleseminar' or 'webinar'
that utilizes video conferencing software. It is truly a wonderful
medium and far surpasses telephone conference calls, not only in the
absence of long-distance telephone charges, but also in the power of
visual presentation.
Most video conferencing software that is state of the art, will
provide the ability to not only include visual representation, but
recorded audio; and the majority also provide live audio and the
capacity to interact with the audience either by text messaging or
by voice.
With video conferencing software, the speaker can mute the audience,
so as not to be interrupted or to allow disruption with background
noise, and then when they are finished with their presentation, can
open up the 'room' to questions and comments from the audience. The
participants can communicate with the group or speaker by typing
(text messaging) or by speaking, if they have an inexpensive
microphone on their PC. The speakers are organized by controls to
allow only one person to speak at a time. The audience usually needs
to press and hold down a button during the time they are speaking.
Video conferencing software which is being telecast from a desktop
computer requires specific hardware called CODEC (Coder/Decoder).
This is a device that will compress the audio and video signals, and
transmit them to the other end of the video conference (to the
participant's PC's). These can be internal boards or stand-alone
units which are far more expensive.
Video conferencing software also requires a network card, video
card, microphone and external speakers. Most PC's come with adequate
versions of these elements. Additionally, the conference holder will
need a camera, or webcam, which is relatively inexpensive. Audience
participants will merely download a small file to enable them to be
on the 'receiving end'.
The video conferencing software itself also enables the sharing of
documents. So it should meet the criteria to provide excellent
remote collaboration on several levels – audio, visual and media.
There are many options when looking for video conferencing software
and there are a number of free packages widely available; however,
the quality is sometimes inferior. Prices range from a few hundred
to several thousand dollars. Another option is to 'rent a room'
through one of several service providers and skip the hardware and
software all together!
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