Webconferencing is a cost-effective, and productive way to meet and collaborate online at a fraction of the cost of conventional travel. On the market for more than 10 years now, webconferencing has proven itself a worthwhile tool for many companies, however it still only has a 35 percent market penetration. This is likely due to a few factors, including user
frustrations with difficulties in joining meetings, download times of files and other general failures of the webconferencing service.
InstantPresenter, a web-based webonferencing tool, prevents these problems and frustrations with a robust, full-featured service that allows users to easily connect to meetings from anywhere on the world via any computer that has a Flash-enabled
web browser and a reliable internet connection. Online PowerPoint presentations are converted into the Flash format by the presenter, so slides play as quickly as browsing any website. There are no sofware downloads to wait for and connectivity is instant.
The full-featured web conferencing service provides video conferencing, screen sharing, online PowerPoint slides, whiteboards, chat and a host of other collaboration features. The service allows you to be online with the people you need to collaborate with or present to in a matter of seconds, all with the reliability of a proven service that will make the process simple for both the presenter and the audience.
Preezo is an online presentation tool that lets you quickly put together a presentation, email it or share it online. Preezo is powered by Ajax and is entirely web-based. The system is very fast and I noticed almost no lag in clicking through the menus, unlike Google Docs, which can slow down a bit at times. The application is free to use after registration and the interface is very similar to PowerPoint, however there are only 6 templates that you can start with, although for this application that seemed sufficient.
Preezo offers six templates for designing your presentation and 20 different font types. Like PowerPoint, you can choose from hundreds of background colors or even use a background image. The system allows you to upload images into the presentation directly from your hardrive (and not from a URL like some similar applications do). Slide transitions and other effects from PowerPoint are also available.
Preezo allows you to view your presentation in normal mode, slide sorter mode and slideshow mode for presentations. While all of these features are very similar to PowerPoint, the main drawback of the application is that it can not edit real PowerPoint files that you’ve already created. So while this is great for creating a quick presentation to share online, it’s not a complete online PowerPoint presentation solution for users that need to move back and forth between the web and their local computer.
As the economy continues to sour, more and more businesses are forgoing the travel and expense accounts and are setting up video conferencing and other electronic collaboration alternatives.
In a recent study conducted by Regus, an organization that supplies working spaces in 75 countries, the worldwide demand for special rooms to accomodate video conferencing and telepresence technology increased 40% (30% in Italy). Regus has supplied thousands of offices and business centers around the world to support video conferencing and business is on the rise. A video conference that replaces a conventional meeting, particularly when parties would have to travel to other countries, easily saves 75% of the cost. Not only is the cost savings great, but video conferencing offers greater productivity, less wear and tear on employees who travel and is also enviromentally friendly.
Regus Executive:
A videoconference not only cancels travel expenses but mainly allows to chose better times, avoiding losses of time due to movements and the limits imposed by fixed departure times
The affect on air and rail travel has also been affected by the economy and travelers who have defected to electronic means of communication. The Rome to Milan route in Italy for both air and rail are trying desperately to win back travelers who have found started using video conferencing as an alternative.
Vaddio Products, a leader in high end video conferencing and web conferencing cameras and control units has teamed up with Total Webcasting to support their new mobile conferencing system called TW Media Cart. Total Webcasting is a full service webcasting company and selected a host of Vaddio products to create their latest offering. Total Webcasting has been been providing webcasting services since 2000 and has hosted a range of events from government, coporate and sporting events.
The Total Webcasting media cart is comprised of a the ProductionVIEW FX console, three smaller LCD monitors rack-mounted monitors, two Vadio Model 70 Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera systems, an audio mixer with dual microphones, a media encoder that supports various formats, and all the other functionality to support a live webcast.
Total Webcasting President, Robert Feldman:
The TW Media cart allows my guys to pack up on the fly, set up quickly, do the webcast and be on our way with only one person. Having a small, portable system in New York City is a necessity. We can now transport all of our equipment in a car - not a van, unload it several blocks away and roll it to our destination - easily and efficiently. Because of the popularity of the TW Media Carts, we are now manufacturing them as a TW product to help other AV companies in similar live-event situations.”
The heart of the TW Media cart is the Vaddio ProductionView FX console. The system handles video switching, camera control with joystick movement and controls the Model 70 camera systems over Cat 5 cable supplying power and video up to 200 feet. The single cable-to-camera solution reduces the number of cords and power outlets required, making it easier to setup and transport the system.
Today, Vidyo, a leader in personal telepresence and video conferencing solutions announced another $15 million of capital raised for its flagship service from Menlo Ventures. The company has now raised a total of $38 million since it begain in 2005. Vidyo’s personal telepresence allows people to participate in high definition video conferences over IP networks. The additional capital will allow them to increase their marketing and product development strategies, and support their growing customer base.
Vidyo CEO, Ofer Shapiro:
We are excited that Menlo Ventures is leading our third financing round. Last year they made a small initial investment that provided them the ability to evaluate Vidyo’s potential and performance and they liked what they saw. The fact that we are able to raise a substantial amount of funding from such top tier investors during this global economic downturn, speaks volumes about the strength of our technology and products in the video conferencing market.
Today Vidyo also announced that it has licensed its H.264/SVC technology to telepresence provider Teliris, a leader in risk management solutions.
Menlo Ventures Director, Doug Carlisle:
We see Vidyo’s potential to disrupt the video conferencing market. In monitoring the company’s development over the past six months, we have observed their formation of important partnerships and rapid market acceptance. We are convinced that Vidyo will see significant growth in 2009.
SlideServe is an easy way for you to share your PowerPoint presentations with an online audience, either to a privately selected group of people, or publicly, with anyone who’s interested in viewing it. The site is set up as a social network, allowing you to view other people’s presentations, comment and share with others.
SlideServe is a powerful free service that lets users share discover and view online PowerPoint presentations. Unlike similar online PowerPoint services, Slideserve provides a free PowerPoint plug-in that allows you to seamlessly convert your online PowerPoint presentations into the Adobe Flash format, making them easily viewable on the web.
While some services simply convert your slides into images, Slideserve allows you to retain audio and visual effects including narration, video, animations, transitions and hyperlinks.
Slidserve is a service from DigitalofficePro, a Microsoft partner and a leader in online conferencing, training and other multimedia solutions. Their flagship product, PowerFlashPoint is regarded as the most accurate product for converting Microsoft PowerPoint file into Flash.
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Citrix is relaunching the high definition audio conference service that it acquired from Vapps last November. The service is billed at a flat, monthly rate and can support up to 500 participants. Larger companies are provided integrated management functions and can customize billing options to a per-minute basis.
Standard audio conferencing on a PSTN phone call is about 8kHz, while high definition audio conferencing, provided by Citirix is twice that in the 16 kHz range, making for a much richer sounding conversation and experience. The service also provides recording and integration services into Microsoft Outlook and Skype, as well as the company’s popular GoToMeeting web conferencing service. Audio conferences can be started by logging directly into the service, or through Microsoft Outlook.
The flat-rate plan for the audio conferencing starts at $40 per month and supports conferencing of up to 10 people and includes 600 minutes with scheduling controls on the web and unlimited recording. The service includes a toll-free number for attendees to dial in on, or they can connect via a computer client or use a local number.
Web and video conferencing have become commonplace, robust tools in the today’s workplace. Virtual meetings are replacing conventional in-person meetings to save time, money and help promote a “green” environment. Here are a few ways to get the most out of your online meeting experience.
1. Two Way Video Conferencing
Video conferencing has been a revolutionary technology in bringing people together and at a mere fraction of the cost of travel. While presenter video is obviously important to keep the remote audience interested and engaged, it’s just as important to have video of the audience. If the speaker can see the body language and reactions of his audience, he can better gauge and adjust his presentation style and tempo. If the presenter is only looking at a camera with no feedback, it will be difficult to fully engage the audience.
2. Web Camera Position and Lighting
Make sure that your camera is pointed directly at you to give the appearance that you are speaking directly to it. On top of the monitor is usually the best solution, and as often as possible try to speak directly to the camera, not the monitor. Lighting is also key in good video. Make sure your light source is in front of you and that it is darker behind you.
3. Client-side Interface
Choose a web conferencing service that has a simple and straight forward interface for your audience. An interface with too many controls can be confusing, and often you will be using this technology to present to people who are new to video and web conferencing, so you want to make sure it is as straight forward as possible.
4. Multiple Communication Methods
Video conferencing used to only have video and audio for communicating between presenter and audience. Chatting features allowed people to send messages, however everyone else in the meeting could see others comments. Use a web conferencing service that allows private messages to be sent between the audience and the presenter. Often audience members are afraid to ask a “stupid” question, so they won’t at all. However, if they can privately ask the question, the presenter has the option to not answer it if it is indeed stupid, or address it.
A new web 2.0 app promises to make editing and sharing online PowerPoint presentations more convenient than ever. 280 slides is a new service (still in beta and currently free) that allows you to upload, edit, save and do most things that you can do with PowerPoint, all online. The system is Flash-based, so it’s cross-platform and cross-browser compatible, allowing you to edit your online presentations almost anywhere.
You can upload your current working presentation or start a new one, and when you’re finished, you can download it back to your local computer, or save it on their secure server to work on, or access at a later time. Like PowerPoint, 280 Slides has an auto recovery feature, should you lose your internet connection or your computer crashes. The service also has built in themes and templates to get your presentation together quickly and professionally.
Personally, I really like that so many services are becoming web-based. I really imagine that in a few years time, most of the applications that we use are going to go the same way. It’s just so much more convenient, being able to go inbetween multiple computers with different operating systems and having the system work the exact same way each time. I’ve completely stopped using Outlook on my local machines now and just use Gmail which I can access on multiple computer (and my phone), and everything is always in sync.
Online presentations allow you to present to a large audience, anywhere in the world at a mere fraction of the cost to travel and present in person. Online PowerPoint presentations enhance productivity, reduce costs and help reduce emissions from travel, protecting the environment.
In a recent study, commissioned by Cisco systems, developer of the web conferencing service, WebEx, researchers looked into the psychology of online presentations and their implications. The study revealed some interesting facts about the differences between video and voice or text-only communications. Video can help reduce the culture and personality differences among presenters and the audience, however at the same time it can increase anxiety of the presenter.
Pearn Kandola Researcher, Stuard Duff:
Over the past decade a lot of acquisitions have occurred and a lot of organizations have globalized, meaning that they have offices that cross many cultural and geographic boundaries. Video is a key enabler to enhance collaboration between team members who are geographically separated, as well as customers around the globe.
The study revealed that trust is one of the biggest factors in being able to efficiently lead and conduct research with a remote workforce. Video and web conferencing helps keep that team in constant contact, helping to foster a greater sense of teamwork and trust.