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Web Conferencing
Make
Web Conferencing a Business Standard
The previous years have been unkind to the
global economy in general; even economic superpowers such as
the United States and Japan have been experiencing recession.
The September 11 attacks have shown the world that terrorist
organizations have attained a level of financial and technical
independence akin to multinational companies; they can be found
in all parts of the world; and they do not need the support
of any country to successfully accomplish their goals. SARS,
Hurricane Katrina, and the December tsunami have proven that
hell hath no fury like Mother Nature’s. With the onslaught
of man-made disasters and natural calamities, more and more
companies found themselves taking advantage of the technological
Swiss knife known as web conferencing to cut down costs without
compromising their competitive edge.
Web
conferencing brings down or eliminates travel time and
cost; the time and money which have been previously devoted
to airfare and hotel fees can now be allocated for more productive
tasks, resulting in an increase in productivity. Travel safety,
which has been greatly compromised by the likes of SARS and
terrorism, becomes a non-issue. Web conferencing makes it possible
to address issues within and outside the company in real time;
information in various formats such as video, audio or text
can be shared instantaneously or archived for storage.
Currently, there
are no set standards for web conferencing; what businesses have are a myriad of vendors that offer web
conferencing solutions. Company needs and goals vary; and most
of these vendors offer plans or services that are flexible
enough to be tweaked to meet these varying needs and goals.
But there are general considerations that apply to companies
who are looking for the perfect web conferencing solution.
The first consideration is the nature
and extent of the use; will web conferencing be integrated into the general communications
infrastructure of the company, with every desktop capable of
being a participant in future web conferences; or will the
participants be limited to certain departments or certain individuals;
and how often will these web conferences be held. The main
activities for web conferencing must also be clarified; will
web conferencing be used mostly for sales and other kinds of
presentations; will it be used for training or higher education;
or will its use be limited to typical meetings between department
heads and management.
The second consideration is the technology
infrastructure of the company; does the company have its own server; does
it have its own tech department and a resource of highly skilled
technical personnel; do all the computers have internet access;
what is the internet speed of the company; do the existing
computers have enough processing power to take advantage of
a high speed internet connection and the features of a web
conferencing software.
The third consideration is the target
participants; how tech
savvy the potential participants are, and the extent of support
they need; do the participants have to be trained or can they
immediately use the system. The number or volume of the participants
must also be clarified; and if these participants will be constant
or new participants will be introduced on a regular basis.
The degree
of participation is also important; will most participants
be sharing the screen, while only a handful can access the
information of the presenters and give feedback; or do all
participants have access to all the available information,
and the information they is also available to the other participants.
The volume
and format of information must also be taken into
consideration; multimedia information will require greater
computing power over documents.
The last, but definitely not the least, consideration is security;
security pertains to firewalls, antivirus software, antispyware,
encryption software, password maker, and security suites that
offer a combination of two or more of these softwares. A hack-proof
security system ensures that the proceedings of the meeting;
and the information that are shared remain among the intended
recipients; it also means that the information will not be
corrupted; and that the other data the company wishes to remain
outside public knowledge will remain private.
Given today’s highly competitive markets, unpredictable weather
disturbances, and the presence of several imminent and grave
threats to global, every business needs to seek ways to improve
its profit margins, cut down its costs and be more responsive
to the demands of the times. Web conferencing, a tool that
is readily available and inexpensive, can help any business
achieve these goals. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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