Audio and Web Conferencing

       By: Nathalie Fiset
Posted: 2008-07-08 09:04:05
Audio and web conferencing are two tools that are tied with the image of the modern business. This is mostly because of the fact that the pace of the industry today necessitates constant communication between people. It is also tied with the fact that people today conduct business on a global scale. If you are planning to get any type of internet services, there are a few things you should know.When you get audio and web meeting services, you might first want to learn how to differentiate between the two. The main difference between audio and web conferencing is the medium used to communicate. With audio conferencing, people make use of a phone line in order to communicate. With web conferencing, people use the internet.As you may realize, the capabilities of both types of long distance conferencing are quite different. With audio conferencing, people are limited to communicating those ideas which they can express through words. Although talking is a pretty effective form of communication, it sometimes is not enough to get people to actually understand the message that you are trying to send.With web conferencing, people are better able to make sue of tools and other enhancements in order to make their point clearer to others. However, because of the stage that the technology is in right now, those enhancements still have limited capabilities.Speaking of capabilities, another main difference between internet meetings and audio-type conferencing is the fact that people are often more capable of using one form than the other. Since audio conferencing has long been in existence, it is only natural that people are more used to using it than web conferencing. When you think about it, although telephone conferencing and internet meeting technology offer different capabilities, the effectiveness of either still depends on the people who use them.Since people have already been using audio conferencing long before web meetings became common, most people are better equipped in communicating via the phone than through the internet. It is also partly because of the fact that people have learned how to communicate maximum thoughts using the minimal capability of audio conferencing technology that they end up at a loss when required to give presentations via web conferencing.Since the technology used in web conferencing is able to support more types of communication, people are naturally expected to put those types of communication to maximum use and some just can't handle that expectation. Another reason why some people prefer audio over web conferencing is the fact that the technology of web conferencing is still at a stage where it is not really much of an improvement over audio conferencing.Sure, being able to see who you are talking to can be an improvement over merely hearing their voice. However, the way technology is right now, video webcasting does not really solve the need for eye contact in communication. When you think of it, the best that video web conferencing can offer today is an illusion of better communication. However, this does not mean that web conferencing is no better than audio conferencing. It actually merely depends on who uses the tools.When you are trying to choose between audio and web conferencing, you should definitely learn to consider your specific needs. This means that you should make sure that whichever media you choose, it should be best suited to whatever type of data you wish to communicate.You should also definitely consider the cost factor. As you may realize, there are times when audio or web conferencing may not be the best option for you, cost-wise. You need to go with whichever piece of technology you can afford and actually learn how to improvise in order to make that piece of technology suit you the best it can.Audio and web conferencing technology also have ways of confusing people who want to use them. It is extremely important that you get technical support when you need it in order to make sure that you are able to use the equipment effectively. Using both audio and web conferencing technology may also require you to take a few lessons and research on some materials which could help you use it to the greatest extent.
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