The arrival of video conferencing technology together with its necessary software is considered to be a major turning point in distance communication. You do not have to travel thousands of miles just to see your long-lost friend living on the other side of the Pacific. Furthermore, it benefits not only personal communications but other applications as well. For the business industry, it is now possible to interact with colleagues living on the other side of the world for important conferences and meetings. For the medical profession, patients can now be treated long distance in real time by a medical specialist without travelling and wasting so much time and effort.
To fully understand the capabilities of video conferencing, this article will focus its discussion into two parts: first, the overview of video conference with a brief discussion on its history and its nature as well, and second, the hardware and software that will be needed in order to facilitate a successful video conference. The second part will also be tackling free software that you can use for your video conferencing.
Video Conference–An Overview
As mentioned earlier, video conferencing allows two individuals in different location to see, hear, and talk with each other in real time. It is composed of a set of interactive telecommunication equipment which is responsible for the two-way audio and video output in real time.
The history of video conferencing started way back with the introduction of television. It started using closed-circuit televisions that were connected by means of a cable. However, it did not become popular due to high costs (mainly on wire and maintenance). Furthermore, it is not efficient especially when used for long distance purposes such as corporate meetings and distance learning.
After the introduction and extensive development of the Internet during the early 1990s, the cost and convenience of video conferencing was within reach of small and medium business enterprises. With the hardware and software used in video conferencing, long distance communications are now more appealing and convenient for everybody.
Free Video Conference Software
The basic video conference set-up is composed of a set of hardware and software. On the hardware side, it includes video input for capturing images in real time such as the web camera; video output for displaying captured image on the other end, such as the monitor or television set; audio input such as a PC-compatible microphone; audio output such as speakers; and the data transmission medium such as the Internet, or even Local Area Network or LAN.
In order to interpret the data transmitted from one location to another, you need to have specific software intended for video conferencing. There are commercial software available in the market you can purchase, although if you love free stuff, you can use the Internet to search for some free software. Although the quality of service is low compared to commercially-available software, it can be used for your video conferencing purposes. Some of the free software available on the web are the following:
o Google talk
o Yahoo Messenger
o MSN Messenger
They all come in downloadable form. All you have to do is to search for them on the Internet and follow the procedures in downloading them straight to your PC. They are free of charge, so you do not have to worry about any expenses associated in downloading them.
Luke Garfield
Respected computer scientist and author.
Visit http://conferencing.netfirms.com for more articles like this.
Author: Luke Garfield
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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