Using Video Conferencing Software
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

The most important element in running video conferencing software is the connection. The minimum one would use is Internet protocol. Sometimes Internet bandwidth will hamper video quality and cause interruptions in audio transmissions. If the participants in the conference are international, and money is no object, ISDN, more commonly known as T1 or DS1 would be the best way to connect using video conferencing software. Satellite would be the ultimate option, but few can afford this.

Most of us have experienced an online 'teleseminar' or 'webinar' that utilizes video conferencing software. It is truly a wonderful medium and far surpasses telephone conference calls, not only in the absence of long-distance telephone charges, but also in the power of visual presentation.

Most video conferencing software that is state of the art, will provide the ability to not only include visual representation, but recorded audio; and the majority also provide live audio and the capacity to interact with the audience either by text messaging or by voice.

With video conferencing software, the speaker can mute the audience, so as not to be interrupted or to allow disruption with background noise, and then when they are finished with their presentation, can open up the 'room' to questions and comments from the audience. The participants can communicate with the group or speaker by typing (text messaging) or by speaking, if they have an inexpensive microphone on their PC. The speakers are organized by controls to allow only one person to speak at a time. The audience usually needs to press and hold down a button during the time they are speaking.

Video conferencing software which is being telecast from a desktop computer requires specific hardware called CODEC (Coder/Decoder). This is a device that will compress the audio and video signals, and transmit them to the other end of the video conference (to the participant's PC's). These can be internal boards or stand-alone units which are far more expensive.

Video conferencing software also requires a network card, video card, microphone and external speakers. Most PC's come with adequate versions of these elements. Additionally, the conference holder will need a camera, or webcam, which is relatively inexpensive. Audience participants will merely download a small file to enable them to be on the 'receiving end'.

The video conferencing software itself also enables the sharing of documents. So it should meet the criteria to provide excellent remote collaboration on several levels – audio, visual and media. There are many options when looking for video conferencing software and there are a number of free packages widely available; however, the quality is sometimes inferior. Prices range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Another option is to 'rent a room' through one of several service providers and skip the hardware and software all together!

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.