
			Characteristics			Types

Web Conferencing Systems

On the other hand, the new, alternative and independent SOHO Web conferencing market offers tools that are generally less sophisticated, but that also have genuine ideas and effective facilities along with technology yet not available even on the "pricey" Web conferencing systems.

For professionals and small companies needing to meet and exchange live online, a growing number of interesting technologies has recently become available. The providers of these new online conferencing tools are mostly small and independent companies that can in many cases provide unique service and support to their pool of customers.

Many of these new SOHO (Small office - Home office) Web Conferencing tools allow for basic voice conferencing over the Internet, with varying degree of quality, while providing text chat, and, depending on the sophistication of the tool, also integrating one or more of the following typical Web conferencing facilities:

a) Web touring (co-browsing Web pages),

b) Application sharing,

c) PowerPoint presentation facilities,

d) Live markup and annotation tools,

e) Polling,

f) Video conferencing and more.

With one exception or two, SOHO Web conferencing tools are mostly sold as hosted solutions. This allows for the simplest and easiest setup, and for a more accessible cost to end-users.

SOHO Web conferencing providers normally DO NOT charge according to a per minute/per seat business model, but intelligently provide unlimited access at a monthly flat-fee. Furthermore, a good number of these tools require only the presenter/moderator to purchase an access license while the attendees that will be invited to the meeting will not be required to have any specific software application installed on their PCs. (Whatever is needed to attend the meeting is "transparently" downloaded at the moment of accessing the virtual meeting room.)

SOHO tools are home of unique technology breakthroughs which have not yet rippled up to the expensive enterprise systems. Among these, impressive Voice-over-IP technology with crystal-clear audio is the most important along with advanced application sharing and many other ingenious ideas that have sprung-up in different forms and styles across these multitude of new SOHO conferencing tools.

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