Video conferencing software and the services that are associated with them have become widely available. We will look at the different ones that are out there and see what they offer and how it can meet your needs.

The first part of the equation that needs to be considered is, do you have a need for video conferencing in your business?

If you have people that work together but are in multiple locations, video conferencing will benefit you. If you work by yourself but have particular clients that you have long standing relationships with, video conference will also work for you. If you have a client base that is frequently changing or you work by yourself and do not meet frequently with others, videoconferencing will more than likely not work for you.

The next part of the equation is what will you need to be able to use video conferencing for your business. The first thing you will need is a video camera or webcam, microphone, appropriate software, TV or computer monitor to see the other people and a set of speakers to allow you to hear the other people. The specifics of the equipment will depend on the quality you will need and if you are purchasing equipment for more than one person.

If your business deals with graphics and you are going to use video conferencing to show a client the work that is being done, higher video quality will be very important. The quality of the equipment is important and the input side (Camera, microphone) is more important than the output side (monitor/TV, speakers). The reason for this is that the quality of what the other part will see will depend on the quality of what you send them.

The video conferencing software only compresses the video/audio signals it receives and transmits it. It cannot add anything to the quality that was not originally there.

If you use only what comes standard on most computers today you will end up with what you see in an instant messenger window, choppy and poor sound quality. This does not rise to the level that is needed for professional business communications. This is why there are several video conference software packages out there that work with specific video conferencing services.


How to Decide for The Best Video Conferencing Software

Many of these services make their videoconferencing software available for free download so that you can try out their service. The idea being that you will try them out and decide they are the best one out there and subscribe to their service.

Some of these services are GoToMeeting, WebEx, iVISIT and e/pop and each will have it's own level of ability and complexity for the installation and use of their software. Most have gone to great lengths to make their software as easy to install and use as possible.

There are many things to look at when selecting the video conferencing software and service that you want to handle your video conferencing needs.

What is the cost of the base service and what are the costs of the available add-ons?
How many people are able to be in the videoconference and are there limitations on what you can do or how often you can use the system?
When you download their free video conferencing software, is it a trial version of the full software package or is it a Lite version of the full software?

There is a significant difference between the two. The trial software is indeed a fully functioning copy of the full software and has a clock that will stop it from working after the trial period has closed.

The Lite version is different in that it is generally free and you can continue to use it for free. You will not have access to all the benefits of the full version. There will be limits imposed on what you can do or how often you can have video conferences.

If your business is small and you will not be using video conferencing very often, the lite version will work just fine for you. This option will allow you an entry point into video conferencing that is affordable. A benefit to this approach for the small business, besides being inexpensive, is that it allows you to learn the video conferencing software and you can upgrade to the full version at any time you are ready to.