For organizations that operate on a national or international level, it is often necessary to conduct business meetings with offices that are far away from each other. This can be accomplished by traveling to different locations to meet in person, but if something needs to be handled spur of the moment, this isn't necessarily the best solution. Web conferencing has become a standard in interoffice communications for businesses worldwide, allowing organizations to communicate in real time, without having to leave their offices. Web conferencing software offers a variety of ways in which meetings and presentations can be given and attended.



Web conferencing software is used to conduct meetings and presentations over the Internet. In the early days of the World Wide Web, web conferencing referred to using message boards in order to conduct group discussions. These discussion boards were not live, and often discussions took a lot of time to carry out. Now, web conferencing refers to live or "synchronous" gatherings via chat rooms, or using different types of software and hardware such as web cams. And more often, VOIP is being used in the place of chat rooms, which really gives a personal feeling to meetings. Web conferencing allows issues to be handled with immediacy.

In addition to chat rooms and VOIP, web conferencing software provides the capability to perform a multitude of functions, including slide presentations, sharing (and amending live) spreadsheets, annotations (the ability to highlight points displayed on a screen), text messaging, and file sharing. Some web conferencing software even records meetings and presentations for documentation and easy playback for reference. The trend in web conferencing today seems to be heading toward VOIP and web cam usage.

For organizations that want to use web conferencing software and technology in their business dealings, there are a few options. Often, web conferencing is sold as a service that is regulated by a vendor on a web server. The vendor can charge by the minute or for a fixed fee, depending on the situation. However, more and more vendors are beginning to license their web conferencing software, making it available for organizations to purchase and use on their own web servers.

Web conferencing has its roots in the early days of the Internet. Text chat capabilities have been around almost as long as the Internet itself. Instant messaging, or web-based chat capabilities, made the scene in the early 1990's. Later in the 1990's, peer-to-peer communication (relying on the bandwidth of the participants) allowed actual web conferencing to take place. There are many services and web conferencing software applications currently vying for business. This is due in part to a lack of standardization of web conferencing software and technology. Work is currently being done to establish a standard for web conferencing, which might include membership and authorization management, a means to maneuver media mixing, and a means for notice of conference related changes. These standards will help to guarantee the best possible service to users, and help to keep prices reasonable.

The use of web conferencing software seems to have become commonplace in the world of business today. It enables organizations to not only speak to one another in real time, but allows them to share and modify pertinent information in the form of graphics, spreadsheets, and slide presentations that use to require a plane ride or waiting for the mail to ship packets of materials and information. The synchronous (real-time) capabilities of web conferencing software make it easier for organizations to operate on a national or global scale, and help to facilitate the success of a business.