Webinars: A Basic Introduction

Simply put, web conferencing is conducting meetings using the internet. And a webinar is using web conferencing to conduct a seminar.

With webinars, attendees can see presentations and other contents of the speakers desktop right on their computer. This type of collaboration can be extremely effective for demonstrations to large, scattered groups, saving travel time and related expenses. Web conferencing usually includes interactive chat, Powerpoint presentations, streaming audio and video, and other implements.

Let's say we both want to meet to talk about a very important topic. I live in New Zealand while you in Canada. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on travel cost alone, we can have a cheap and highly productive meeting right here, right now. How?

Go to your computer. Connect to the internet. Join a meeting. And that's it! We're already conferencing. It's that easy. Anytime two persons or more hold a meeting over the internet, that's what we call web conferencing.

It all starts with software that the webinar host downloads and installs on his computer. For a powerful piece of communication software, web conferencing programs nowadays are amazingly small and unnoticeable. They will continue to get smaller as the months go by.

Then the host begins inviting participants to attend the webinar. Most, if not all, web conferencing services I've seen have a built-in system of announcing to attendees in advance thru email.

To participate in a webinar, each attendee should first download and install a little program of their own, at times even smaller than what the host is using. Alternatively, some setups don't even require attendees including the host to download and install any kind of software on their computers. These programs are web browser-based.

Generally, once all the partakers have done their part in setting up their computers for the webinar, what's left is for each partaker to type in a few keystrokes, click the mouse button and begin conferencing. Typically, the entire process of setting up the technical aspects of a webinar from ground zero will take around 15 minutes for the host and about 10 minutes for each member. After the one-time setup, subsequent meetings will commence in less than 5 minutes for everyone.

Basic webinars allow you to "text chat" with any or all of the attendees. If that's not enough, you can use toll-free lines to add voice communication for that all-important clarity of thought. Yes, you read it right. There are companies offering toll-free lines just for conferencing.

But even voice connection can be web-based too. It's possible thru VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. This technology uses the internet, not regular phone lines, as it delivers your voice to one or all participants.

Although webinars may never totally replace face-to-face seminars, you should at least explore its practical uses for you and your organization. Give it a test run and see for yourself the benefits and cost savings that webinars have to offer.

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