Video conferencing allows us to make face-to-face meetings from different geographic locations. It saves time, expenses and other physical hurdles associated with business meetings. Video conferencing can be used for collaborations, online teaching, video interviews, distance education, medical diagnostics, and in business administration. It is a main pillar in digital workforce, as it enables decision making and live collaboration which speeds up the working environment. The audio conferencing, video conferencing, screen sharing and real-time instant messaging are some online collaboration method available.
To perform video conference, some equipment are necessary. A display is needed to view faces of people or presentation. You can use your desktop, laptop, television, tablet or smart phone screen as displays. You need a good microphone and camera. For that you can use the built-in microphone of your mobile phone and webcams. The mobile phone microphone have excellent noise cancellation features to get crisp voices. You can also buy a dedicated USB microphone if you need a crisp and clear voice. The laptops have a builtin front camera just above the display, you can use it for video conferencing. You can also purchase a webcam to attach to your computer. Another thing that you need are speakers and a high speed internet connection. Laptops have in built speakers, you can also use external USB speakers or Bluetooth portable speakers to get clear audios. A fast internet connection is necessary for video conferencing. Your laptop, tablets and smart phone have all of these items are builtin, so you just need a fast internet connection. For your desktop you can add a webcam and a desktop speaker.
To start a video conferencing you need a video conferencing tool. There are a number of video conferencing solutions are available. Here are some tools that you can use it for your next video conferencing or team meeting needs.
Zoom
(https://zoom.us/)
Despite over several security concerns, Zoom is in the top list of video conferencing tool based on the app download and usage. It provides video telephony and online chat services through a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform. You can use it for teleconferencing, distance education, telecommuting and social relations. Zoom offer enterprise video conferencing with real-time messaging and content sharing. You can do high quality video and audio meetings with support up to 1000 video participants and 49 videos on screen.
Cisco Webex
(https://www.webex.com)
Webex offers HD video face-to-face meetings, audio only conference call options, screen sharing. You can join a meeting from your computer, mobile phone, tablet, or a video system. Webex have desktop app for Windows or Mac computer, you can able to connect using computer audio and video, switch layouts between grid and active speaker views, chat, and share content.
Adobe Connect
(https://www.adobe.com/)
Adobe Connect is a suite of software for remote training, web conferencing, presentation, and desktop sharing. You can design your own immersive experiences with custom pods, images and layouts to personalize to brand your virtual room.
Google Hangouts
(https://hangouts.google.com/)
Google Hangouts is a communication tool developed by Google. Hangouts allows you to make video call, phone, or message. You can make a one-on-one conversation or a group chat with the whole teams. You can sync your chats from device to device, so you can keep your conversation wherever you are.
Skype
(https://www.skype.com/)
Skype provides video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices, the Xbox One console, and smartwatches through the Internet. It also supports instant messaging. You can call landlines and mobiles from anywhere in the world at low rates using Skype.
FreeConference
(https://www.freeconference.com/)
FreeConference call is one of the largest providers of conference call services online. It offers on-demand free online meeting room with free video conferencing, free screen sharing and free dial-in integration.
Slack
(https://slack.com/)
In Slack, tools and services work in the same place as your team. You can use G Suite with Slack, with their Google Calendar app and Slack for Gmail add-on, you can keep tabs on your calendar and easily forward emails into Slack. With the Google Drive app, you can get notifications on new comments, shared files and access requests in Slack.
ClcikMeeting
(https://clickmeeting.com/)
It is a webinar software to bring your students, leads, customers and team members together. In the free version you can make online meetings for up to 5 people, webinars for up to 25 attendees, 5 audio feeds, and 4 video feeds.
Livestorm
(https://livestorm.co/)
Livestorm is a browser based online web conferencing software used to share real-time live streams. You can conduct remote live meetings, product demos, sales webinars, online lessons, on boarding sessions using this tool.
The free plan allows: webinars limit 10 registrants, 20 minutes time limit,allows 4 participants per meeting, and one meeting room.
AnyMeeting
(https://www.intermedia.net/)
It is an online meeting solution built for businesses of all sizes. It can use in desktop and mobile devices so you can have free meetings anywhere, anytime. It offers high audio and video quality, interactive collaboration tools and artificial intelligence capabilities offer an engaging and actionable meetings experience.
There are a number of new tools with a lot of features comes day by day. Gotomeeting, Facebook Live, are some methods to conduct video conferencing with your friends. You can use video conferencing to manage remote teams to make global business deals without any travelling.
