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Web Conference
Web conference
is a newly emerging medium through which individuals or groups can meet
face-to-face in real time to interact. It is an interactive, live, full
color, two-way audio and video communication. When this communication can
take place between two points it is called point-to-point communication and
when more than two points are involved it is known as multi-point
communication. The data flows back and forth through the use of high-level
bandwidth and the quality of sound and image is the highest importance.
Today, web conferencing is readily available throughout the world. For Video
web conference all you need is a computer with a browser, a web camera,
microphone with speakers and an Internet connection. Depending on the type
of communication lines available video web conferencing can be held using:
1.Compressed digital video over ISDN lines (Integrated Services Digital
Network) and broad bands.
2.
POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
3.
IP (Internet Protocol) and /or LAN (Local Area Network)
There are different types of camera systems that can be used for video
conferencing depending on the number of participants and the nature of
conference – These include:
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Single person camera system
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Voice switched system
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Split screen system
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Continuous presence system
Various applications are associated with web
conferencing. Commonest use of ‘Video Web Conferencing’ is for conducting
inter-office or international meetings. Video Conference is perhaps the best
alternative to face to face physical meeting since by adding tone, voice and
visual cues to the mix, it helps us truly understand what the other person
is saying. . Video web conference provides a tremendous boost to the
business environment. Today’s businesses are becoming more and more
globalized. Video conferencing helps in reducing the cost of travel, cost of
accommodation and the time taken to travel. It could prove to be a very
convenient way for organizing interviews, especially for candidates living
in far off places and many organizations have started using video
conferencing for interviewing their candidates.
Telemedicine/Teledentistry is an application
where the doctors/dentists of one place are able to view the patient’s ECG,
x-rays CT and MRI scans from a hospital at the other part of the country or
in another country. This technology is also used to beam back live pictures
of road accidents, which enables the accident and emergency department to
examine the injured person at the roadside. In field of education potential
of video- and data-conferencing technologies are being used for training
programs, which are constrained by the limited availability of teachers and
also for distance education programs. Teachers
can provide online demonstrations of applications in real time to a large
number of students.
Concept of web-conferencing was new to India but its adoption is rapidly
growing. Indian corporate are realizing the importance and benefits from
web-conferencing. Many corporate including Johnson & Johnson, Infosys
Technologies, MindTree and Polaris are adopting web conferencing, which is
turning out to be the cheapest mode of communication. According to Business
Communications Review magazine, 11 million individuals representing 13,000
customer organizations either regularly or occasionally used
web-conferencing service globally in 2001. The magazine predicted that by
2005 these numbers would jump to 79 million individuals and 94,000
organizations.
Recently in December 2003,
Sify Limited has
launched its video conferencing service, branded 'iMeet', at its ‘iWay’
chain of cyber cafes across India. Commenting on the launch of this new
service, Union Minister for Information Technology, Communications and
Disinvestment Shri Arun Shourie, said, "An affordable video-conferencing
service is a major initiative for a country like India. I believe it will
revolutionize the way consumers and business people communicate with each
other according to the occasion or need. This is something India can be
proud of, as very few countries in the world have such a service available
for the masses". At Rs 5 a minute for both participants, this service is
available at over 100 iWays across 24 cities and will be scaled up to 350
‘iWays’ in 40 cities in the near future. As the concept finds acceptance, it
will be made available across the chain of over 1200 iWays in the country.
Full potential of
'web conference' would be realized when not just the corporate houses use
it, but also the educational institutions, hospitals (telemedicine) and
common people use it to their benefit.
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