Web Conferencing Solution

A vast number of web conferencing solutions are on the market and many of these have free video Web conference solution quotes. The simplest of these conferencing tools incorporate chatting and instant messaging to host group discussions that are text based. A more sophisticated Web conferencing solution would allow for audio as well as video exchange of information and ideas through the use of Web cams and streaming video. These Web conferencing solutions let people share their documents with each other online.

There are also Web conferencing solutions that are based completely on computers and Internet, while some use the telephone for the distribution of the audio content of the Web conference.

A standard Web conferencing solution combines common tools with Web pages and the Internet. They use various sophisticated tools to make the Web meeting interactive. The choices for these tools are HTML or XML with ASP markups, Java scripting, flash animation, instant messages, or streaming video and audio.

Animation and animated figures are abundant on the Internet. Web conferencing solutions that incorporate animation use either GIFs, dynamic HTML, Java or Shockwave and Flash.

Incorporating photos with text was a first big improvement in the Internet. This was done by bitmap files, which described each pixel’s color. Compression of these images to make them part of a Web conferencing solution requires JPEG or GIF files. Since animation is simply a bunch of still images that are shown in quick sequence the simplest method of adding animation to your Web conferencing solution would be to post a succession of bitmap images that your browser would display sequentially.

If you’re new to Web conferencing but you want a lively presentation this might be your choice. While less sophisticated than several other alternatives it is very simple to use and is recognized automatically by most Internet browsers. There are many free video Web conferencing solution products that can help with this.

Using a shareware program, for example, all a firm has to do to add animation to its Web conference is to provide each individual bitmap image that will be part of the animation. The file is then posted and the image tag code just the same as you would if you were using a standard static GIF.

The disadvantage with this process, however, is that it will be very rudimentary. With even as many as 20 frames you’ll have a very big file that may or may not transmit well to all participants.

Dynamic HTML would provide a better quality animation for your Web conferencing production. Like GIF dynamic HTML creates animation that most Web browsers recognize. No participant would need to download any new program to run the Web conferencing solution.

It’s tricky to code this animation but you can find Web conferencing solution software, sometimes free, that will create the scripting code for you. However, dynamic HTML, while a step up from a GIF file is still not that advanced a presentation as it just lets your still images move around on the screen.

A more advanced form of animating your Web conferencing solution is with the use of Java. It is a universal programming language and very oriented to networks. Java allows programmers to create Web conferencing applications that the users and participants can then download from the Internet. Browsers that are enabled with Java use what is called a virtual machine. This virtual machine is software that will recognize Java’s language and translate it for the system in use by the particular computer, whether it is Windows, UNIX, Linux or Macintosh. This virtual machine is much like a plug in and has to be installed with the computer’s browser.

To incorporate animation in a Web conference presentation a firm can buy its own Web conferencing solution software and host its own meeting or it can use a service that can host the meeting. Hosting firms provide the Web conferencing solution software and the space on the service to conduct the meeting. Whichever method a company uses, Web conferencing software must have adequate space on the server and bandwidth to accommodate the Web conference and all its participants.

There are some Web conferencing solutions that are able to merge with a company’s current e-mail provider, its calendar, its electronic messaging and office applications. Some of these solutions let participants view the Web conference in their own standard browser without installation of any paid or free video Web conferencing solutions.

Depending on which Web conferencing solution is chosen participants may be able to view PowerPoint and other slide presentations, write or draw on a whiteboard common to all participants by using their keyboard or mouse, transmit video or still photos to other participants with the use of their Web cam, view by screen share information from the computer desktop of the moderator, and take part in a question and answer session either through audio chat or by telephone.

These Web conference solution products all have security and encryption options. Most of them require a moderator and the participants to login with name and pass code and some use SSL or TLS to encrypt and protect data.

Prior to making a decision on a Web conferencing solution hosting vendor you’ll want to do some comparison shopping. There are a number of Web sites that will let you request a free Web conferencing solution quote, or even a side by side comparison so that you’ll have several free Web conferencing solution quotes to compare while you’re comparing the services and features as well.