Web conferencing is a cost-saving alternative to traditional face-to-face business meetings that often require travel and all it entails: crowded airports, tedious security checkpoints, overpriced hotels, and surly cabbies. With Web conferencing software and a broadband Internet connection, you and your associates can conduct online meetings with audio and video, slide-show presentations with animations, text chat, and other essentials.
Per-per-use
For one-time-only meetings, try a pay-per-use service. WebEx, for instance, offers a 33-cents-per-minute, per-user plan, and Citrix has a $49-per-month plan for unlimited meetings. Keep in mind, however, that audio conferencing often costs extra. One WebEx plan, for instance, provides an optional toll-free number for attendees to call, but it costs 20 cents per minute, per participant. For longer meetings with a dozen or so attendees, that can get pricey in a hurry.
Use VoIP Internet Audio
VoIP audio can help keep costs down. Microsoft Live Meeting 2005, for instance, offers a one-way, Internet Audio Broadcast feature that lets you stream audio to other participants. This is useful for conference calls and training sessions with dozens or even hundreds of attendees that don’t require two-way audio. When attendees have a question, they can ask it via text chat.
The information in this tip originally appeared in the Web Conference Basics online class.
