Web 2.0 audio conferencing is your anchor; web conference your color

The term “web conferencing” is confusing. Most tech people know what it means, but the average user doesn’t. Users generally understand “conferences,” but the adjective “web” is confusing because the “web” is a complex and ever-changing subject. It has become even more confusing with the advent of the telephone over the Internet, also called “Voice over Internet Protocol” or “VoIP.” Adding to this confusion are today’s good luck “free conference calling” offers, which may lead one to believe that the technology is so simple it can be given away. This couldn’t be further from the truth, now and for the foreseeable future.

Conferencing through routers vs. wires

Historically, all of our communication tools worked independently and were linked in dedicated networks. Very slowly, this autonomy began to change. We started sending fax messages over voice phone lines and then we started interconnecting websites. Those technologies used the traditional telephone networks that connected the telephones with wires. Eventually, a different way of switching these signals arose, one that used “data packets” and “routers”. In theory, this network technology allowed any type of data (fax, voice, files) to be transmitted over the same network. Several communication technologies are slowly migrating to this packet approach, opening up many new possibilities for devices connecting to the network.

Convergence is the coming together of previously unconnected technologies

Phones can now take over web functions and vice versa. Data files can include voice, fax, video, and images in the same transmission. This is sometimes called “convergence.”

Web 2.0 audio conferencing brings together the best of phone and data

Web 2.0 conference calling describes a new generation of these converged technologies associated specifically with audio conferencing. In this brave new technology world, audio conferencing presents unique technical challenges that only a few companies have addressed to date. Whereas a phone call is predictable because two devices connect and two people talk, a conference call can have 3 people or 300 people on the same call. The technical challenges between 3 and 300 are formidable; it is exponentially easier to connect 3 people than 300. For example, 300 people have 300 different endpoint devices, 300 different network connections, and 300 different participants. These 300 people expect to dial a number and for the system to work just as if they were calling their neighbors: the same clarity, the same quality and the same reliability.

Web 2.0 audio conferencing differs from traditional audio conferencing by enabling numerous “crossover” capabilities such as web call monitoring and control, real-time call history and web billing, managing multiple PINs and multiple accounts from mobile phones, and starting group calls instantly, to name just a few.

Compare the technologies for an audio conference and a web conference

Now let’s compare Web 2.0 conference calls to a 300-person “web conference.” An audio conference keeps 300 phone devices in sync, and a “web conference” keeps 300 web pages looking at the same thing, but the differences between a phone conference and a web conference are striking. A conference call needs to be “in sync” or, in other words, everyone needs to hear the same thing at the same time. A web conference, by contrast, works to keep 300 views of the host’s presentation in fairly close synchronization. Full synchronization in a web conference is impossible when you consider that one participant may be on a slow dial-up connection and another may be sitting on a high-speed broadband connection.

Audio conferences need real-time voice synchronization; Web conferencing powers synchronized computer screens

Most web conferencing providers try voice connections over the Internet to stream voice and video simultaneously, but timing issues associated with those 300 web connections cause the voice portion to not work. The fact is that web conferencing providers use separate audio conferencing providers, even if that is not obvious to the customer. The demands for real-time synchronization of voice vs. The less critical need for such real-time synchronization when driving web page views of a presentation makes web conferencing and Web 2.0 audio conferencing very different, but related challenges.

Both technologies support “conferencing,” but the underlying technology needs and expertise are apples and oranges. When users pick up the phone, they expect a dial tone. When users go to the web, reliability is unpredictable. You never know when your local IT department or Internet Service Provider might decide to take the network offline for an update! When a user joins a conference call, they expect real-time synchronization as if they were all in the same room. When a user joins a web conference, the time it takes to get to a particular presentation slide is not as critical as hearing what the presenter is saying and being able to respond in real time.

Web 2.0 conference calling unites voice and data without forcing participants to face a computer for each conference

We are visual creatures, so web conferencing is here to stay. That being said, many, perhaps even most phone conversations don’t need to include what is sometimes called a “death by PowerPoint” presentation. Web 2.0 audio conferencing bridges the gap between traditional audio conferencing and web conferencing for most applications. Bring the best of the web to audio conferences without burdening each conference with the need to view something online, or forcing a participant to sit in front of a video camera without moving for fear that other participants will think they’re not there. paying close attention. the presenter buzzes (!)

Web 2.0 freedom vs. Mandatory operator support and “free conference calls” for good luck.

Audio conferencing, done right, should work as easily as picking up the phone. That’s where the differences end! Connecting a 300-person audio conference and making sure everyone hears the same thing in high quality requires specialized technologies run by people who know what they’re doing. Web 2.0 audio conferencing frees the user from the need to call an operator on every call. It also improves the user experience far beyond the limited feature set of the past. It takes much of the technical knowledge, automates it, and puts it in the hands of the user. Web designers do not have this knowledge. Software developers who build good web pages don’t have this knowledge either; neither do web conferencing providers and “free conference call” providers. Web 2.0 audio conferencing providers, by contrast, have programmed this phone knowledge into their offerings.

anchor vs color commentator

Think of the two technologies in this way. Web 2.0 audio conferencing is your sportscaster and web conferencing is your color commentator. Users will need both as convergence continues to bring the worlds of telephony and data closer together, but of the two, Web 2.0 audio conferencing will be their number one “must have” communications tool.

For more information, google “Web 2.0 Audio Conferencing.”

Copyright 2011. Leader Phone and Michael McKibben. All rights reserved.

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