VoIP : What You Need to Know

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) may seem like a frightening topic beyond your grasp, but it is really not that complicated. Here are some small things that you need to know about VoIP if you’re considering it for your home or office.

VoIP does just what the name suggests. It transmits voice data via IP packets over the Internet. This is done either through the computer alone (with special software and a microphone and earphones), or with a computer and extra hardware or web conferencing software.

The extra VoIP hardware usually consists of a network adapter (that allows you to plug any phone into it to use over the VoIP network) or an entire phone built to make the most of VoIP technology. Price depends on the hardware, and web conferencing system that comes with the complete phones typically costing more than the simple adapters.

The whole process is rather simple when broken down. Your voice (through software on your computer or in the phone or network adapter) is translated into small digital packets. These packets containing small bits of your conversation and they traverse the Internet to their destination. There, they are decoded and turned back into your voice.

And all of this happens in real time, just like a normal dedicated voice line. Granted, Quality of Service (QoS) is still a worry with some providers, but as the technology matures and more and more people make the switch, these problems are becoming few and far between.

This is a simple web conferencing technology, but it’s caused changes to a lot of businesses, saving them money by consolidating their voice and data networks into one system. It’s also brought down the price (considerably) of long distance calls for home consumers.

Old Vs. New

To better understand VoIP, you have to know a little bit about PSTN (the Public Switched Telephone Network.) With this method of phone communication (that has been around since the telephone was invented on a large scale), when someone calls another person, one continuous route is made between the two phones. Traditionally, the longer the route, the more expensive the cost of the call.

VoIP and web video conference is different in that it sends out small packets of information rather than one long continuous string of information. Because of this, the Internet (also a packet based network) can be used to transmit phone calls. It doesn’t sound like a big thing when you break it down like that, but it’s actually quite a breakthrough in the 100 or so year history of the telephone. Internet telephony is still a relatively new thing. As such, we can expect a lot more innovation in the VoIP space over the next ten to twenty years. Hopefully this small peek at VoIP has whet your appetite for more information.

The New Face of Meetings- Web Video Conferencing

One of the most inevitable part for all types of businesses is Meeting. Despite the increased efficiency of email, instant messaging and mobile phones, a meeting of the minds and resources is often essential to get to the next step. Before the days of the Internet and web conference software, meetings were much more difficult to coordinate.To schedule personal meetings involved making countless telephone calls, sending confirmation letters and coordinating travel arrangements for all parties. One meeting could cost clerical staff and executives hours of valuable time. Even if businesses had an advanced telephone system to conduct conference calls, often it was confusing to use. Connecting parties was a challenge and often someone was disconnected along the way. Only three decades ago, the only options businesses had were physical meetings or telephone conference calls. Physical meetings were the norm since most offices did not have the advanced telephone technology to initiate or support conference calls.

Instant text messaging and web conference calls are quite effective, many people prefer to handle business face-to-face. Sharing physical documents, creating drawings and having a face to go with a voice are all possible web video conferencing and nobody has to leave their offices. When parties from around the globe meet through web video conferencing, it makes the interaction more personal. Everyone is face-to-face and interactive by simply using the web video conferencing software.

Putting together a web conference call is much simpler than using traditional telephone lines. With a few keystrokes, everyone is ready talk. Instead of reading manuals, pressing hold buttons and remembering secret formulas, parties can effortlessly coordinate web conference calls from anywhere in the world. Impromptu meetings are a cinch because everyone has ready access to web conferencing software from any browser.

Without major hardware changes or spending hours to learn new systems, SaaS users are able to make web conference calls and conduct web video conferences in moments. The convenience of SaaS solutions is unsurpassed. For a set fee per month, businesses have access to hosted solutions to boost efficiency. Because of its scalability, multiple users can take advantage of SaaS solutions. Upgrades are instantly made over the Internet so everyone has access to the latest services. Users can participate in conferences from any Web browser, anywhere in the world to achieve their goals instantly.

Sophisticated applications are desirable but many businesses are unable to bear the cost. Taking time away from daily operations, updating hardware and making other necessary updates is not always feasible. For this reason, many small, mid-size and large businesses are taking advantage of software as a service (SaaS). With SaaS applications and services, businesses gain instance access to the latest advances without losing time and money to remain competitive in the modern business environment.

Web Conferencing Program

Web conferencing program made it possible to communicate with different people in different parts of the world. You can share your ideas, information and other resources with the help of this program. Some use this for recreational purposes and others use this for business purposes. There are lots of web conferencing programs available in the market. You can choose any program according to your requirements. For recreational purposes free web conferencing programs are used. For business purpose, you can purchase a good one from any of the service providers. Before buying a program you must make sure that it contains the necessary features. Also, the cost of the web conferencing program must be within your budget.

For certain web conferencing program, you will have to install additional hardware in order to run the program. Nowadays, most of the programs do not require any extra hardware. Only software component will be present. The program selected should be compatible with your browser and operating system. With the advancement in technology, it is possible to add more new features into the existing models of web conferencing programs. Some of the features included in a web conference program include instant text messaging, audio conferencing, video conferencing, file sharing, slide shows and application sharing. In certain programs you can also find some extra features. You can also record your sessions. For video conferencing you require a web camera.

Some of the popular web conferencing programs are yahoo messenger, Google talk, MSN messenger, Adobe Acrobat Connect, Ready talk, Dimdim, Microsoft Live Meeting and Glance. Some programs are free. For others you will have to pay. Free programs are generally utilised for recreational purpose. Shareware programs are used by the business people. Some companies offer certain days of trial period. Companies can download such software to check their performance and can purchase it if you are satisfied with its performance. Certain companies offers trial packs which contain only the basic services and the extra features will be disabled.

Web conference programs are also used in many other fields. It is used for online teaching. Now, the person can attend classes by sitting in his home itself. The teacher will be sitting in front of a computer at a distant place and teaches the students with the help of a web conferencing program. Exams are also conducted using these software programs. Along with the program you will require some equipment like microphone, headset and pen to interact during online teaching. MSN messenger, Google talk and Yahoo messenger are some of the well known freeware that can be used for web conferencing. Individuals can use these programs to share their ideas and to make new friends.