The science of web conferencing has eased out many of the day to day difficulties or pressures faced by businessmen and corporate staff. We wanted to provide some real numbers and metrics in a cost benefit analysis. Proper research has been conducted, which will be represented below:
56% of companies reported that their annual revenue profiles rose at least two-fold when using a web conferencing package.
96% of respond-ants said that their travel costs have been slashed by 50% or more since using the software.
100% of the companies we asked said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their choice to teleconference rather than conduct multiple face-to-face meetings.
The ability to conference through the web with people or groups of people anywhere in the world is amazing and presents a lot of possibilities. This is where the figures of the cost benefit analysis really get intersecting.
A little definition first – a web conference is a technological ability to have a real time face to face conference with an individual anywhere in the world through the use of internet. All one has to do is to allow a certain software in the computer to make a video call and then chat through the computer screens in real time. These software packages can be easily downloaded from the internet or most of the times they come inbuilt into the computer. Although the idea of general web conferencing in government is usually related to video chatting, it can also be about exchange of text messages and voice chat.
Generic web conferencing has allowed skilled entrepreneurs to work from home and hire a staff in some other remote places. Through this provision, they can instruct their employees about the project, hold a conference, host a brain storming session or simply conduct a seminar. Many stay-at-home moms can now dream about having a job without having to leave their home; it is through general web conferencing service that businessmen can now have virtual assistants.
Let’s look at some of the advantages that general web conferencing can present to an individual:
One of the main advantages of general web conferencing is that it has enabled businesses to cut down a lot of infrastructure cost. There are a lot of costs that are involved in conducting a real life physical conference; hotel rooms need to be booked for all those attending the conference, traveling fares and short-duration living expenditures have to be taken into consideration. With the help of web conferencing, all the employees or members of other important groups can be a part of this virtual interactive session through their computer screens in their home or office.
The second advantage is that it helps you save a lot of time. In these days, time has become money and you cannot waste it if you want to accomplish something significant. To attend a physical conference, one would have to keep in mind the travelling time and then the time needed to get out of travel exhaustion. Of course one also needs to review the different points of the conference before delivering a report on it. If the same person were to attend a web conference, then all the above mentioned time lapses would be saved. He could go over the slides or presentations after the conference is over, right on his computer screen.
Because of the profligacy of web conferencing a company can be flexible in its plans accommodating all the urgent orders that are vital for its success.
When companies or employees indulge in web conferencing, then all the data and information remains secure and safe from other unwanted people who can hear into the conference. As such, the cost benefit analysis has been helpful in determining the statistical relevance of the matter at hand.
GoToMeeting now integrates high definition group video calls into its web conferecning suite. The interface was designed first, and is reflected in the innovative controls. The quality of service (QOS) is excellent throughout, though requires a minimum bandwidth at your end.
The idea assumes that everyone should be able to clearly see the people they are talking too, without ridiculously expensive hardware or video systems. You can share up to six high quality videos in each session.
Perhaps the best thing about HD Faces is that it is free for current GoToMeeting customers, with prices starting at $468 a year or $49 a month. There is a free trial and a $10 off special offer.
Web conferencing, online meetings and the Gotomeeting Promo Code have changed the way that the world conducts business. With the huge boom in outsourcing human resources (PDF) to companies located thousands of miles away, daily business communications have been essential.
In a recent survey conducted by Global Market Researchers, Matt Overton, Chief Operating Office stated:
“It’s an increasingly volatile business market. We all know that…but companies in the US that have outsourced resources, companies and products all the way over in Sri Lanka want to know what’s going on everyday with webinars. You can’t afford to be complacent. We’ve discovered that over 90% of the companies have set up web conferencing, teleconference and webinars to keep their employees in the loop. A few companies have even set up tele-markets where researchers can take surveys of the employees to find any common interpersonal issues that might be affecting turnover. Suffice to say, the teleconferencing or webinars are here to stay. “
He isn’t the only one saying so. Over the last few years, international business companies found that daily interactions with their outsourced companies through web conferencing were an essential way of forecasting how the economy would swing. Web conferencing also helps to forecast the exact behavior of the local staff in the case of sudden retrenchments, relocations, company reorganizations and buyout processes.
For example, the latest news from Gotomeeting is not surprising. Citrix GotoMeetingdecided to lay off more than half of is workforce in an outsourced location far away from the US. This was preceded by Google who also reduced staff in the same location by about 50%. The expected backlash from this sudden retrenchment of staff was minimal for the companies form the employees and well as from the local government. Both companies had set up extensive gotomeeting promo codes, online meetings, web conferencing, webinars, international business conferencing online meetings, and several other assets to deal with each employee personally. Each and every employee who was going to lose his job was notified of the same well in advance by individual online web conferencing meetings. His or her severance package was discussed at the international business conferencing meeting and an agreement was signed to the same. This arrangement of online meetings, webinars, and international business conferencing helped in ensuring that each employee could find another job with the help of the international teleconferencing process.
But this is not the only application that web conferencing can be used for. Over the last decade, almost all companies have realized the need for an integral internal communication option or, at the very least, a gotomeeting promotion code. Statistics state that there is a 45% need for an effective web conferencing service that will integrate with your company server and best suit your individual customer and worker communication needs. Although most companies would prefer to use an integral and distinct software source that could use used by all employees, it was also easier to use a browser based online conferencing service that worked just as well.
In the words of Mike Fisher, CEO of NewsCorp3:
“Webinars with an integral alternative or based on the computer browser will shortly become a necessary option for all companies who want better worker efficiency and company integration. “
These are difficult times. The last recession cut heavily into the human resources of companies all over the world. No one is willing to undergo the same hardship all over again. Companies that have started recovering are seriously considering the need for new human resources and the need for rehiring of employees who were retrenched the first time round. But a new option had emerged.
The new web-conferencing and work from home option
During the first recession, companies downsized, and restructured. Workers were allowed to take long unpaid leaves but they could search for other jobs too in the slack job market. Instead of now rehiring workers who might not have the right mindset, companies are seriously considering allowing retrenched workers the option of working from home. Web-conferencing, webinars, and online business meetings options are being researched and implemented to ensure that workers can work from home while still being up to date with the latest in business protocols and work needs.
Companies all over the world have already realized that having the using the best in webinar and web communications. According to Market Research Comp, Nevada, atleast a 90% of the existing web communication companies started off as small companies but the eventual business has boomed to a very high extent. CNet, one of the premier communication websites on the internet, surveyed the top ten web conferencing players in the industry.
This list is tilted towards the top few companies that have substantial resources in the online communication, business meetings, and online support companies. The survey judged the companies based on their support, the exact webinars support that they have, and what makes them the best in the field.
The results were are as follows:
The top fifty companies in the US market traded on the stock market resulting in a very high 13% growth in the last fiscal year
A few companies were hurt by customer defections but the overall growth rate of the companies that supplied individual customers and large businesses boomed with the outsourcing needs of the company.
Most companies started offering work at home options to their highly paid employees and this ensured that web conferencing needs, online business communication, daily training and feedback sessions via the internet increased. As a result, even those web communication companies that had customer defections were able to grown by a much as 19%.
Most customer migrations were because of newer and better services that were offered by more modern web communication companies. Most of the customers both private as well as public companies prefer to have the best services that will last them for as long as possible. Networks based on AL and MPLS services that offer the best internet connectivity were preferred. One very important point that was stated by all customers was that the best communication companies have to provide a service that can integrate with the company server to ensure that emails, online documents, file sharing and even video conferring can be done without having to give away valuable company data.
Companies that can support an increased bandwidth with FiOS fibers can also support an increased amount of voice; video and even internet based webinars for every customer are preferred.
Expansions and acquisitions in the form of additional services, more human customer backup and additional services are now thought to be paramount to attract more customers to the company.
The amount of data that is transmitted by webinars, web communication, and online business meetings has increased by as much as 75% over the last two decades.This is exemplified in the Citrix stock chart index for 2011. How much of this growth can be accounted for by Gotomeeting?
In this era of outsourcing, web communications that have been established for a company with the best software will ensure that the best connectivity can be transmitted to their customers as well as to their employees.
Web Conferencing Opportunities On the Rise in 2011
With the increasing popularity of high-speed connections, 3G and higher mobile communication, and the growth in mass acceptance of using high-tech devices to network for social or business purposes, web conferencing services like Gotomeeting are expected to expand in the decade following 2011. Millions of consumers have already quietly been acclimated to the concept of the Internet-based meeting through television news shows, that frequently show parties separated across the country on the same screen, debating each other on current issues.
The public is more ready than ever before to participate in conferencing via online or other remote formats, and have adjusted to the concept of treating the video or audio format for meeting as equally valid compared to traditional conferences. Software providing web conferencing services has also become more user-friendly and flexible since the launch of such online utilities 10 to 12 years ago. The introduction of larger mobile handheld devices such as the iPad has also made the display of remote images and documents in a virtual meeting more readable with the purposes of smoothly conducting the online conference.
Web conferencing recently has been subject to more innovative uses that will likely continue in 2011 and beyond. Use of the medium as an instruction tool outside of a business context (in many distance learning courses, medical training, or political rallies) hold the potential to explode the use of such services in upcoming years. Many businesses have found the service useful as an additional means of making client or customer service contacts with the customer base, and many doctors hold “virtual house calls” to provide instruction to patients who are physically unable to attend a clinic setting.
How does WebEx Compare to GoToMeeting?
Rivalry has already arisen among competitors in the new web conferencing field, so they quick comparison may be helpful. WebEx and GoToMeeting are classed as “collaboration services” in that they host a virtual meeting where information can be demonstrated or explained in an interactive format. From there, the products diverge in different directions.
In the words of Dan Chambers of InvesCo:
GoToMeeting is designed to be the easiest program to install and understand, which are given a thumbs up among businesses that would prefer a highly intuitive to navigate program. Of the two programs GoToMeeting also has the most affordable interface.
Many do like the screen sharing and remote control interface of GoToMeeting better, though. It’s just a little slicker and more intuitive. But WebEx has it beat in terms of collaborative utility. WebEx can be a little bumpy, and not very user friendly. Yet that learning curve is offset by the flexibility and set of features it offers, which goes beyond that of the competitor. When video is used within a WebEx conference, for example it can be shown from six different web cams. WebEx also supports Linux, Solaris, and UNIX operating systems. GoToMeeting is limited to Windows and Mac.
In overall simplicity and friendliness, GoToMeeting tends to prevail over WebEx among many users. If one is choosing the latter program, one workaround might be to have one “heavy” person handle navigating the features of WebEx while making it as simple as possible for other participants to use the system to meet the web conference. In all, if you have a small to middle sized business, you may become more comfortable with GoToMeeting than with its competitor, but it’s up to you to figure out which of the two has a feature set that is most compatible with what you want to get out of web conferencing.
When was the last meeting that you conducted online? Was it successful? Did you learn something from that meeting? Were you able to accomplish what you set out to do? Did you feel that the meeting was unnecessary?
You might be a person who spends a lot of time with meetings – organizing or conducting them. You may also have experienced or felt that the meeting you just attended/conducted is of no practical use. Perhaps, the meeting was not well planned or didn’t go as planned. Whatever the reason, if you conduct a meeting it should present at least one benefit for the attendees. It all depends on what kind of meeting you organize. This video gives a short example:
Are meetings all that bad? Of course not! They are handy many-a-time. They are the ones where essential knowledge is disseminated. Meetings are the ones that can save your time and money too. It is there that you generate new ideas and get your team working together to achieve more. This is the typical meeting – in room and online.
If you want to get the most out of your online meetings, read on:
1. Outline the goal of the meeting. Determine whether the meeting is a necessity or not. Well, you have to get your goals down. If you don’t jot them down somewhere, you may forget why you called for the meeting. Determine the meeting’s necessity – can you do without it? Think about it: can you send a mail and pass on the same message even quicker? Organizing online meetings is not an easy job.
2. Set an agenda. You need to have a well-organized meeting plan. Online meetings should have a well-written meeting plan. This meeting plan should be in line with the initial goals thought of.
3. Start and end online meetings on time. This point is of utmost importance. If you start your meeting late and end it late, as a result, there will be unnecessary commotion and stress. The unrest you will notice on your web cam will not be a pleasant thing.
4. Don’t get diverted. Diversion is easily created in online meetings. Since you are not facing the crowd eye-to-eye, there are chances that you will get distracted by anything happening in the area. Start with your objective and stay on track – don’t deviate.
5. Follow-up plan. Ensure that you have a list of assignments that you want your attendees to perform. Your online meetings should never be conducted without a game plan.
If you want to conduct successful online meetings, following these five helpful tips will prove to be diamonds in the rough.
Gone are the days when face-to-face meetings were the only way to reach a definite conclusion on a specific business deal. In this age of global communication, everything is available on the information super highway. The best way to save your valuable money and time and reduce the cost of traveling is to get in touch with Gotomeeting.
Gotomeeting, a unique web-hosting service created as well as marketed by Citrix Systems is a one-of-a-kind remote meeting as well as desktop-sharing software that allows users to convene different customers, computer users, colleagues or clients through the World Wide Web in a real-time time sequence.
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The unique service from gotomeeting was originally designed to allow users with uninterrupted desktop sharing facility utilizing the Internet. Gotomeeting in addition provides complete security to users in terms of the encryption and passwords it provides. The technology involved in Citrix’s web-hosting subscription service is exceptional.
Another web hosting service that allows users to connect with other users while staying online and interact with each other using an exceptional new desktop interface sharing facility is Dimdim. A software firm that provides web-based platform to users to utilize a real time and a rich media interface Dimdim poses a challenge to Citrix’s competitor program. However, the unique free web conferencing service from Gotomeeting has a lot of offer to the users unlike Dimdim which has a limited usage spectrum.
Dimdim facilitates free web-conference service to its users where one can share their desktops as well as perform a host of other operations including slide show presentation, online collaboration, online chat facility and unparalleled broadcast option via web cam.
However, Gotomeeting scores over Dimdim in different quarters. The unique facility of the application allows end-to-end encryption as well as system authentication providing users with safety and security through a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Website. Gotomeeting comes with an end-to-end 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption security and provides optional passwords to subscribers which is absent in Dimdim.
The other features of Gotomeeting service are its specific application sharing facility that prohibits other users from viewing all applications and utilizing only the selected programs and their attendees. Moreover, the program provides multi-monitor support to users which is absent with Dimdim. To top it, the system allows the unique facility of recording and saving meetings online as well as playback facility to its subscribers which are hitherto unavailable with Dimdim.
With these amazing features in store, conferencing online using the advanced support of Gotomeeting you can be rest assured that your business can prosper in the days to come.
Online meetings are very effective ways to have business conferences and other kinds of meetings. They make sure that no matter where a person is he or she can be present for the meetings. Sometimes though, these online meetings can seem like they are going on forever in a time stretching effect! The trouble with online meetings sometimes, is that the speaker may not be aware of how much time has already been spent in the meeting. And the subtle gestures which would be easily noticed in a regular meeting, don’t work in online meetings; gestures like edging for the door, looking at the time, etc.
What can you do, in order to keep these meetings going on and on track? If you are organizing the online meetings, here are a few tips that will help your online presentation to go on as planned.
• As already mentioned, one of the key problems in the online meetings is the lack of awareness of the time elapsed. Organize an online meeting space, where the time is also displayed along with the time elapsed in the meeting. This will definitely make sure that everyone is aware of the time that passes in the online meetings.
• If anyone is late for the online meetings, it is still better to start off the meeting on time. Unless this person plays a key role in the organization, or is a key person to make decisions based on the outcome of the meeting. If the meeting is set to start at 3PM, then make sure that the meeting starts at 3PM. Of course, this may require that someone should keep notes and update the late comer.
• When people are informed about the online meeting, they should also be informed of the end time. This will make sure that the online meetings move along just fine. There are times though, when you cannot set an end time for your meeting. For example when the online meeting is critical, or the boss may be coming to the meeting as well.
• Sticking to the agenda of the meeting is a problem in many online meetings. This is because in online meetings, people may want to socialize or bring up new issues that are not meant to be discussed at this meeting. You may be looked at as the ‘bad guy’ if you keep insisting that everyone should stick to the agenda, but it is necessary for someone to do it. This will make sure that the time is used well, and not wasted for unnecessary things.
• Finally, it is important to keep the attendees list as small as possible, for the online meetings. Invite only those people who are important for the meeting. Like those, whose opinions and ideas may be important for the items being discussed at the meeting.
These tips should help you get to grips with software like DimDim and Gotomeeting.
The ways in which we can use the Internet for communications purposes is overwhelming. A number of companies have introduced online meeting software, targeting not only the businesses, but also the casual users. This software enables people to communicate with one and another through the Internet, allowing presentations, and trainings, etc. to be conducted from right in front of your computer.
There are a range of packages for you to choose from, each offering software with different features. Some of these software are designed for business purposes, and include features such as presentation uploading, screen and application sharing, remote control, teleconferencing, annotations, web-chat and recording. Online meeting software packs have become almost like a commodity in most of the businesses and households.
The meeting environment is a large window, with the options cascading one side of the screen. Some software even allows the user to upload content into the meeting room that can be viewed by your audience as well. Other software allows the user to share applications – allowing the presenter essentially project their screen or an application onto the screens of their audience, without the having to upload content through the WebEx system. While the graphics still are not very good, they are within the expectations of a normal online meeting software. The animations are much smoother than some of the effects generated by the uploaded content.
It is important to choose online conferencing software that supports high-end graphical presentations, if you are a corporate user. For example, though WebEx is one of the most used online meeting applications, it is a letdown for the corporate users because it does not support all the graphics and animations used in presentations today. GoToMeeting also has an excellent tool for screen sharing, but it is not designed to support uploading at all. Yet, it provides a good software for online meetings for presenters. On the other hand, Microsoft Live Meeting is an excellent online meeting application that supports the best graphical output, and can deliver any type of presentation. PowerPoint slides with animation are also supported by the software. The only negative side to Microsoft Live Meeting is the time consuming process of downloading and installing the software.
When looking for an online meeting software, look for one that supports every need that you have, in terms of graphics, speed, environment, and the features. It is not difficult to choose the perfect package for you; all you need to do is to enter the websites offering the software, and to compare the features unique to each of the software.
Our planet is an invaluable resource and we must do everything we can to conserve our many natural resources. One important need of the hour is to reduce our carbon footprints. As leaders of tomorrow and as individuals with the responsibility to change the world as we see it for the future generations we need to think of measures by which we can reduce the impact of our wasteful ways and one important step in this regard is reducing our carbon footprints.
One valuable move to this end is by having the business meetings online. Virtual offices and online meetings are growing ever popular in this new age of e commerce and if we can effectively do this then we will have accomplished much. Rather than using up paper each time and recording everything in space consuming files and paper records, we can contribute immensely to reducing our carbon footprint through online meetings. These meetings also add to the advantage by allowing personnel to work from home and not have to travel and carry all around resulting in loss of time and resources. One important way to reduce the carbon footprint and use online meetings effectively is by creating documents on applications that can be accessible to all. Of course, the authorization details need to be taken care of. We can avoid sending multiple emails on and on through shared documents by using a single location accessible to all necessary individuals of a team. Google apps offer just this advantage and help us to reduce our carbon footprint effectively.
Sending online meeting invitations can also be done in a similar way by using the calendar in the mail. An outlook calendar will reach all the pertinent members without sending emails back and forth again helping to reduce the carbon footprint. There is a simple procedure to add the names of people who are members in the meeting, the date as well as the time. Even being away from office is not a problem with all the necessary data on the outlook office calendar. It allows people to attend meetings form wherever they are with internet access and a system. Online meetings can be easily arranged with the right video conferencing tools or even via chat. It is of course not the same as seeing people face to face and gauging reactions but it does a lot in helping reduce the carbon footprint on the environment by making use of these simple tools to promote virtual meetings.
