Web conferencing is an incredibly useful resource for anyone who trades within a global market place. It literally allows you to be in two places at once - sitting at home or in your office whilst conducting a meeting with someone one the other side of the world.

In its simplest form web conferencing can take the form of free downloads such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Yahoo Messenger. Subscribers can participate in text-based ‘chats’, inviting others into their conversations and being able to communication in real-time. Add a simple digital camera to this equation and you have the beginnings of an elementary web conferencing application.

At the other end of the scale, the most sophisticated applications allow seminars and presentations to be made to hundreds of delegates at the same time. Meetings can be fully interactive, allowing question and answer sessions, the sharing of files and documents and slide show presentations to be broadcast.

What Can I Do With Web Conferencing?

How you choose to use web conferencing will very much depend upon your line of work. A webinar (an online seminar) is less interactive than a web meeting, but is a very effective means of presenting sales pitches, performance reviews and delivering staff training.

A web meeting on the other hand, can be fully interactive not only in terms of audio and video but also by allowing the sharing of documents and files and viewing them online.

What is Online Collaboration?

Online collaboration is an excellent resource for project management, especially when team members are located in different geographical locations. Online collaboration provides an advanced level of document management and file sharing. Documents and files can be viewed, modified and updated online and in real time.

What Are The Benefits Of Web Conferencing?

The main benefits of web conferencing are to be found in terms of time and money savings. The need for travel is greatly reduced, and therefore so are the associated costs of travel - tickets, accommodation, subsistence, to name but a few. Employees spend less time waiting for flights, travel or just generally being away from their desk and therefore have more time to spend productively.

Enhanced communication is another benefit of web conferencing. Where colleagues could perhaps only meet face to face a few times a year, for example, web conferencing allows them to meet on a daily basis, if required. With people talking more, work gets done more efficiently and more accurately.

How Much Does It Cost?

One site that has proved to rise at a highest pace in the web world in a shortest span of time is unarguably the google. It’s been a hot favorite amongst the search engines on web and the one that is most preferred by web users. It’s simple design targeting only the specific service that it intends to provide and a very efficient scripting language behind the scene has won a top position among the most popular sites in the web world. Google the name actually does not require any introduction it’s already headed on top of the list for advertisers and regular or casual visitors on net.

Some time back the Google team started the service of e-mail even that caught the fancy of online visitors in a very short time. It offers its users with lots of free space on Internet around more than 2000 MB and still amount of space is increasing each day. One more aspect that makes it different from its counterparts is membership-acquiring process, which is possible only through invitation by anyone already using Google.

Next, good news is that the Google team is shortly coming up with its new venture for offering instant messaging services for its users. Just as the earlier performances by Google this too promises to be a messaging service with a difference. It definitely would offer newer facilities and opportunities for its visitors something quite better than what the existing chatting services offer. The facility would be readily available for existing users of gmail account and others can also avail this opportunity to create a gmail account and register themselves at the Google site.

But as the kids have grown, so has Yahoo Messenger. It’s a lot more than a mere teen toy now. Yahoo, in an effort to attract and retain loyalty to it’s brand, offers email, a personalized My Yahoo Portal, an address book, calendar, maps, bookmarks, a toolbar, and other services, many of them integrated to work together. But they seem to have paid special attention to Yahoo Messenger, especially recently. As more surfers have moved to high-speed internet connections, Yahoo has upgraded Yahoo Messenger to include Launchcast Radio, Yahoo Games, and of course, a considerable selection of customization options.

Perhaps the biggest change, and one many adult surfers will most appreciate, is the addition of Webcam, photo, and voice chat capabilities. Voice chat, in particular, will probably appeal to a broad audience. With it, a pair of speakers, and a microphone, you can talk live with contacts, over the Internet, even internationally, for free, using voice over IP technology. Most of the time, depending on network traffic between you and the other party, the conversation is loud & clear, and there is very little delay.

2. People will revisit your web site to participate on your discussion board or chat room. They will meet other people with similar interests and your web site will become a hang out were they can chat.

3. You can learn important information about your visitors by reading the conversations they have. They may chat about your web site or products. With this information you could learn to market your products more effectively.

4. You could answer the questions your visitors ask in your online communities. You’ll become known as an expert by giving the answers to their questions. This will give you and your business more credibility.

5. You could teach a free online class using your chat room. This will give you an expert status and increase traffic to your web site by offering the free class.

6. When your discussion board or chat room becomes popular, you could sell advertising space on them. This will give you an extra income stream for your web site.

7. You can network with other businesses by having a chat room or discussion board. You could exchange business ideas, leads, advertising, etc.

8. You could allow other web sites who don’t have a discussion board or chat room to use yours. You will get free advertising by allowing them to link to your online community.

9. When you have a discussion board or chat room you can get free advertising by listing them in online community directories. You can also join web rings with similar discussion topics.

1.) When on the internet personal information should be kept private. Just because someone asks doesn’t mean you need to tell them. When someone asks for personal information, consider how they might use that information and whether it is necessary for them to have it.

2.) If you are conversing with someone online, don’t assume that they are being honest with you. Just because they say they’re 16 doesn’t mean they are.

3.) Do not release your password to anyone, even if they say they are from your online provider.

4.) Overall it is best not to respond to unsolicited e-mail (SPAM), if there is something flagrant or inappropriate in the e-mail, consider reporting the sender to their Internet Service Provider (ISP).

5.) Do not give out or post identifying information, including address or telephone numbers.

6.) You may want to create a nickname for a screen name in chat rooms.

7.) Keep in mind when posting in chat rooms or newsgroups, that there may be lurkers (people who read but do not post). Your information can be read and seen by all.

8.) Keep an open dialogue with children surfing the Internet, remember if they come to you with a problem, your first reaction should not be to take away the Internet. Applaud child’s confidence in confiding in you and work together to find a solution.

9.) Overall it is not a good idea to post or exchange pictures over the Internet

10.) Try to keep in mind the Internet is global and is *not* governed by any entity. This means that there are no limitations or checks on the information posted and accessible to Internet users.

Additional Resources:

The following resources will assist in staying safe online.

Collection of Internet Access and Filtering Software - http://www.monitoring-software.net/access-monitoring.htm

First of all, just getting to a blog can be a pain in the arse. For example, you type in the words ‘Philosophy blogs’ and a whole bunch of sites come up. Some are conglomerate sites with thousands of journals, but the area you’re searching for may have only one blog in it! This is because they separate the blogs into a million different categories, like ‘love’, ‘lovers’, ‘lovable’ etc. Why not have just a few main categories to choose from?

The next problem is the content. People with ‘philosophical’ blogs are having personal chats with their mates about the local dance competition on Tuesday! Why not go to a chat room if you just want to talk to your friends? Blogs are supposed to be a personal viewpoint expressed to the whole Web community. Wouldn’t you actually like to meet more people like yourself? How is this going to happen if you talk in strange uncommon slang and acronyms that you and your friends can only understand? Please stick to the subject at hand, and take it at least half seriously.

Another major problem is the fact that you can find a really cool blog that sparks an interest, but then find that the writer hasn’t added an entry in over a year! What’s it doing on the Net? Have these people passed away? I seriously doubt it, as there are so many blogs in this ‘lost’ state. Having a blog is a responsibility; it’s a shared diary for the whole community. How can someone form a relationship if you only write in your blog once a millennium?

Back to the subject of content: These on-line journals are a real chance to communicate regularly with others with similar views to yourself. We can learn a lot from each other, as each human is an individual with special traits and skills that only they have. So why do we see so many blogs just talking about trivial nonsense like ‘Who the coolest movie actor is.’ Humanity is an intelligent species evolving everyday towards a higher consciousness. So where are all the thinkers out there, the people who have taken us to the next levels of spirituality and scientific exploration? I’d really like to hear what you’ve got to say, but all I can find are philosophical beliefs on why died pink jeans express one’s true inner self.

Unscrupulous marketers bait you with free software that unleashes
spyware, trojans, or worms, on your system.

While other marketers bombard you with popups at every turn. And
others send unsolicited spy emails asking you to click links to unsafe websites that install threating software on your computer, or try to download your private information.

These are only a few of the security issues involved while online.

Read through the following list to arm your computer and protect yourself against these vicious and often malicious online attacks.

1. Install a good anti-virus software.
Here’s a good free anti-virus software…
Fr** AVG Anti-Virus……
New - AVG Fr** Edition is now available for all single home users
worldwide! More detailed information can be found in the AVG Free
Edition License Agreement.
Click Here To Download:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

2. Install a personal firewall.
This personal firewall is one of the best online….
http://www.zonealarm.com

3. Install a good pop up blocker.
Google has a free pop up blocker so does Yahoo. The only drawback
is you will have to download and install their toolbar.

4. Know Privacy Policy.
Read the websites privacy policy before releasing personal information.
Note do they share or sell your information with third parties. If they do you might reconsider releasing your personal information.

5. Passwords.
Never use easy to guess passwords like your favorite color, your social security number, your birthdate, words less than six characters. Mix up passwords with combinations of numbers and symbols.

6.Virus Warnings.
Don’t forward virus warnings you receive in emails. It’s not your
job to warn others. And you might be circulating a fake warning
designed to scare receivers into downloading trojans or removing
important files on their computer.

7. Keep It Secret.
Don’t give your password to anyone. Be wary of emails asking you to give out your personal passwords for accounts online. Or emails asking you to click a link and enter your password on the site. This site might be a fake sent by hackers “phishing” for victims.

8. Primary Email Address.
Don’t divulge your primary email address on unfamiliar sites. You
might be bombarded with unsolicited emails by marketers who
sell your address to third parties online.

9. Free Accounts
Set up several free email accounts with a psuedo name to handle
spam, when you register with unfamiliar sites, or to use on chat and message boards.