VoIP conferencing software

Using voice over ip for business conferencing can save much money because this technology is free. Here’s an overview and a look at the benefits for conferencing.

A revolution in telecommunications is taking place thanks to the Internet.  Millions of us now regularly keep in touch with our friends and family using  VOIP technology, such as Skype. The costs of long distance communication has plunged, often to zero!

This technology can now be used by businesses of any size to hold ‘virtual meetings’ with their employees and clients, no matter where they are located in the world, and at a much lower cost that that incurred using the traditional telephone networks. VoIP conferencing is also called web conferencing.

What is VOIP?

VoIP is an acronym for ” Voice Over Internet Protocol”. This refers to a method of using the Internet  to carry voice and video data, replacing the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) service.

The voice data itself can be delivered to computers and use “soft phones” (i.e. software which simulates a telephone on your laptop or office computer) or to various hardware devices such as USB or IP telephones.

The advantages of VoIP conferencing

Cost savings: Long distance charges are completely avoided using the VoIP method to replace the traditional phone network. The only cost comes from maintaining a high speed Internet service, which most companies already have for their email, web and other data services. Cross-country or even global meetings can be carried out without the time and expense of  travelling.

Service Integration: VoIP conferencing integrates telephone services into the existing network, which is cheaper to install and maintain.

New Services: Integrating  telephone services into the IP network makes many new and useful services possible. Advanced conferencing  is available with VOIP integrated with features such as chat, whiteboard, audio and video-conferencing. Email contacts can be linked to voice services. Simply clicking on a link in your email address book can initiate a voice call. VoIP conferencing can provide the nearest experience to a face-to-face meeting. Meetings can easily be recorded for future reference. Computer desktops can be shared for demonstration and training purposes and for the remote troubleshooting of computers and IT systems.

The disadvantages of VoIP conferencing

Quality issues: Despite huge advances in VoIP technology  over recent years there can still be problems with latency, or delays, when the VoIP data packets are delayed and scattered, resulting in dropped connections of “stuttering” in the voice data. The quality of the call will depend on the speed  of the Internet connection both parties are using, and this may cause problems especially if video connections are required.

Network Interconnectivity: Many people still rely on the traditional PSTN telephone network for their voice calls and VoIP needs to be able to connect to these services. VoIP must be considered an “emerging technology” and, although possible, services that connect VoIP and traditional telephone networks tend to be less reliable and are not free. Credit must be maintained for calls from VoIP networks to standard telephones and cell phones. Companies will, therefore, find themselves having to maintain a PSTN network for the foreseeable future, alongside their VoIP Internet service.

Internet Reliability: Of course, VoIP will not work if your Internet connection goes down so having a reliable Internet service becomes crucial. Internet networks still experience more downtime and interruption of services than the old telephone network and people are reluctant to trust all their telecommunications to the Internet for this reason, feeling more secure with the tried and tested PSTN network.

VOIP conferencing software available

There is an abundance of VoIP or Web Conferencing software available due to the raid expansion of the market and the demand from small and medium businesses for these advanced services. Most have the same basic functions but the difference will be in the number of consecutive connections they will support, the multi-media  functions available and the management tools provided.

Most advanced packages are hosted services which means there is no software to install on your computer and all data handling is done through the hosting companies servers. All you need to access the services is an Internet browser like Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox.

Three of the top packages are GoToWebinar, supporting up to 1,000 simultaneous users at $49 a  month, MegaMeeting  supporting an unlimited number of attendees, also at $49 a month and Yugma with a maximum of 20 users at $19.99 a month.

---

What do you think ? let us know below...

Enter your thoughts about VoIP conferencing software

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.

Copyright: This article is original and copyright protected and you may not reproduce this content in any manner without our express permission.