What is a computer based system that allows people to communicate simultaneously from different locations via telephone email or video?

What Is Video Conferencing?

Video conferencing is an online technology that allows users in different locations to hold face-to-face meetings without having to move to a single location together. This technology is particularly convenient for business users in different cities or even different countries because it saves time, expenses, and hassles associated with business travel. Uses for video conferencing include holding routine meetings, negotiating business deals, and interviewing job candidates.

When a video conference is held for informal purposes, it is called a video call or video chat.

Key Takeaways

• Video conferencing is a technology that allows users in different locations to hold real-time face-to-face meetings, often at little to no cost.
• There are many ways to utilize video conferencing technology, such as company meetings, job training sessions, or addressing board members.
• Video conferencing saw a huge boost amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
• The stability and quality of the video conference may fluctuate with the speed and reliability of the data connection.
• There are a variety of ways video conferencing can be conducted—such as using smartphones, tablets, or via desktop computers.

How Video Conferencing Works

Video conferencing's main advantage over telephone conference calls is that users can see each other, which allows them to develop stronger relationships.

There are a variety of ways video conferencing can be conducted. Individuals may use web cameras connected to or built into laptops, tablets, or desktop computers. Smartphones and other connected mobile devices equipped with cameras may also be used to connect for video conferences. In such instances, a software-based platform typically is used to transmit the communication over internet protocols.

Some businesses use dedicated video conferencing rooms that have been equipped with high-grade cameras and screens to ensure the conversation is clear and with limited technical faults. Third-party providers often install and assemble the hardware needed to conduct the video conference.

The stability and quality of the video conference may fluctuate with the speed and reliability of one's internet data connection.

Uses of Video Conferencing

Companies with multiple offices might establish direct video communications between their locations in order to allow their teams to work more collaboratively.

Video conferencing can also be used as a medium for conducting training, with the instructor teaching a remote class from almost anywhere. This can be done in a corporate context, especially for getting workers the knowledge they need to better perform their jobs. The academic world can also make use of video conferencing to connect a traditional classroom setting with students who are located a considerable distance from the school.

A video conference may also be used to conduct regular meetings with company staff or to confer with shareholders about the latest activities at the business. It may be used to announce significant changes at a company, such as introducing a new CEO, or to present information in an interactive way that allows all participants to engage in discussion about what they see on screen.

Hotels and conference centers sometimes make video conferencing services available to guests who require such services. This may be offered in suites or conference rooms that have been equipped for this purpose.

Video Conferencing During the 2020-21 COVID-19 Pandemic

Video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams saw a surge of interest and use during the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns forced many individuals around the world to work from home and attend online classes.

Video conferencing allowed for professionals to meet with their clients and conduct one-on-one consultations, including financial advisors, therapists, tutors, and lawyers. In fact, some legal proceedings and court cases moved entirely to video conferencing during parts of the pandemic. Doctors and other medical professionals have also adopted telehealth to a much larger degree than before the pandemic.

As the speed of Internet connections has increased, the network has moved from a primarily text-based medium to one capable of delivering pictures, audio, and video as well. Today, a number of different technologies known as “voice over Internet Protocol” allow users to speak to each other, emulating telephone service and facilitating communication. Depending on your business’s needs, a number of options may be available to supplement, if not replace, your organization's standard phone service.

VOIP

1. Voice over IP technology digitizes sound using an audio codec, much like audio is captured from a CD. The digitized conversation is then transmitted across the Internet just like other binary data. A broadband Internet connection has sufficient bandwidth to transmit and receive streams of audio data simultaneously, mimicking the two-way communication available through an analog phone line. The actual mechanism of recording sounds, as well as the method of making and receiving calls, depends on the particular VOIP technology involved.

Chat Programs

1. One of the simplest ways to send voice across the Internet is by using one of the many instant messaging (IM) or chat programs that allow it. Most IM apps, such as Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk, have both a voice and video component to allow two people to communicate by sound and image. Similarly, voice-chat programs such as Ventrilo or Mumble allow multiple users to chat in a party-line format by connecting to third-party servers. With all these options, however, each user must connect through the same service. Chat services generally do not interoperate with other communication programs. If your company already uses an IM program for business purposes, however, chat is an easy way to implement VOIP.

Skype

1. Skype is a VOIP program that allows you to communicate with other users via voice or video using a peer-to-peer networking system. While communicating with other users via computer is free, you can also use Skype to connect to traditional telephone users for a fee. The SkypeIn service lets you select a local phone number and tie it to your Skype account, allowing others to dial a number and reach you at your computer. In addition to computers, Skype is available on a number of personal-electronic devices, such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and some VOIP-enabled cell phones.

Vonage

1. Vonage is a VOIP service that takes Internet telephony one step further, allowing you to use an actual touch-tone phone. Vonage provides an adapter that connects to your PC or network and contains a standard phone jack. After you select a local phone number, you can dial out and receive calls just as you would with an analog phone. Vonage offers such business services as multiple lines and Internet-routed fax service. Unlike many other VOIP services, Vonage supports 911 emergency access once you register your phone’s location with the service.

What is a computer based system that allows people to communicate simultaneously?

Which Internet communication service can you use to speak to other users over the Internet?

What network links computers and workstations usually within one building?

When we talk about computers who generally has access to intranets?