Web Conferencing: Easy, Online Meetings With Anyone

Remember last spring when you met that savvy entrepreneur at the big industry convention, and he seemed to know anything and everything about successfully running a small business? Remember when he said, "Yeah, let's talk. Call my assistant. Let's 'e-conf' about it." And then he spun around in his $400 shoes and faded off into the convention crowd? Well, that's probably when you stood there for several minutes scratching your head wondering what an "e-conf" is exactly. In fact, you never called his assistant because you didn't want to seem silly for not knowing precisely what you were requesting with an "e-conf."

Well, in case you're still wondering, here are the basics to "e-conf," better known as e-conferencing, web conferencing, or web meeting for us regular small business folks.

What Is Web Conferencing?

Web conferencing is a technology that allows you to conduct meetings with anyone, anywhere via the web. In most cases, you'll be web conferencing with audio, video (webcam required) and screen sharing, and you'll be able to share anything on your desktop with your attendees. This way, you can collaborate and handle your business affairs with a set number of people (usually up to 10 people on basic packages) in other locations in real time, just like you're all right in the same conference room.

What Are Some of the Features of Web Conferencing?

Here are some of the exciting ways that you can use web conferencing to meet your small business needs:

Collaborate with Tom in Alaska, Dick in New York and Harry in Texas all in a single web meeting.
Brainstorm with your team or with other professionals without leaving your home or office.
Hold staff or team meetings even when one or all of you are on the road.
Give a product, service, or sales demonstration to a live web audience that you assemble.
Conduct interviews, focus groups, briefings and discussions with professionals or press contacts across the globe.
Train colleagues who are located or traveling in other areas.
Review documents with other colleagues, associates, vendors or clients.
Share a slideshow or anything on your desktop with anyone in your web meeting.

Who Offers Web Conferencing and How Much Does It Cost?

There are several affordable, easy-to-use web conferencing tools out there. They're very simple to use since they're web based and usually require no extra equipment or software. Here is an overview of some of the popular ones, including pricing:*

WebEx^TM: No software to download. Individual and small business plans start at $39/month (with a 1-year commitment) or 33 cents a minute on the pay-per-use plan, both of which allow you to share web meetings with up to 10 attendees. FREE 14-day trial.
GoToMeeting^®: No software to download. Flat fee starts at $39/month (with a 1-year commitment), which allows you to share web meetings with up to 10 attendees. FREE 30-day trial.
eBLVD^®: No software to download. Flat fee starts at about $24.99/month (with a 1-year commitment), which allows 1 presenter to share web meetings with up to 5 attendees. FREE 14-day trial.

Are There FREE Alternatives to Full-Service Web Conferencing?

Video Chat: If you need "face to face" meeting or training capabilities but not necessarily screen-sharing technology, consider using a FREE video chat service like ICQ^® Video, Windows Live^TM Messenger or AIM^® Pro.
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP): If audio-only suits your meeting or training needs, choose from FREE PC-to-PC VoIP services like Skype^TM, AIM^® Phoneline, Yahoo!®Voice or Google^TMTalk.

So there you have it, and now you are up to speed on the basics of web conferencing. Now you can get on board the savvy web-conferencing bandwagon and "e-conf" to your heart's content. This technology tool really is great must-have for every small or telecommute-friendly business with meeting, training, or conferencing needs.

*Price comparisons conducted via company websites and accurate as of 6/2006.

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