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Conferencing solutions in their most primitive forms date back to the 1970s with teletext relay, when scientists at major research universities would type text at one another in relay chat, or IRC, to go over proposals, grants and discuss research data.
These very quickly got used for personal entertainment and eventually evolved into the ubiquitous Instant Messenger programs in use today.
At its heart, a conferencing solution is meant to allow people, in different geographical locations, access to an easy way to type, talk or video conference with each other and, usually, but not always, includes file transfer capabilities.
With the explosion of the Internet and the development of the World Wide Web, many of these programs now permit HTML text, sharing of images and embedded video clips.
Placing a meeting on through a conferencing solution is called “placing a call”, like doing a conference call on your cell phone or your office’s PBX phone system.
Like any conference call, you need to be aware of the courtesies of not cross-talking with someone else. Failing to observe this rule makes the conference harder for everyone to understand.
There are several methods for conferencing, ranging from Instant Messenger programs, which are generally free (or ad supported) but limited in what they can do, to the more robust solutions like Microsoft’s Net Meeting software, which is bundled with Windows, to dedicated conferencing solutions provided by third party vendors, which offer higher bandwidth or better security.
In general, you get what you’re willing to pay for. Instant Messenger conversations are not encrypted and should be considered about as secure and private as shouting in a football stadium. Microsoft NetMeeting has encryption that has to be turned on to use; using the full security services of Net Meeting for your conference means you have to give up voice and video capabilities.
Dedicated conferencing solution providers, such as InterCall http://www.intercall.com, provide their own networking architecture and custom software. This is an option to use if you’re a business – even a relatively small one – and need the software customized to your uses.
InterCall’s conferencing ranges the gamut from web conferencing
 (allowing someone running the conference to run a slide show as part of a chat session), all the way up to high-speed IP-based video conferencing (where everyone participating is on live video) over a dedicated fiber optic network.
InterCall can even recommend vendors to wire your business for fiber to facilitate video conferencing. InterCall touts its products and services as being ideal for small to medium sized businesses, and for one-to-many presentations, like sales meetings and financial reports. In particular, InterCall is a boon if you want to minimize business travel expenses. Its one-time setup fees are comparable to one or two round trip business-class air fares at current market prices.
If you’re not up to having dedicated services set up, InterCall also offers an Event Solutions package, where one of their specialists will help set everything up and go through a dress rehearsal of the technology to make this work for your needs and your business.
This level of support is one of InterCall’s primary differentiators from free and competing services. A lot of businesses lack the expertise or the manpower to do this themselves beyond the bare bones functionality of NetMeeting or Instant Messenger programs.
One of InterCall’s competitors in the conferencing solutions field is ACTTel (www.acttel.com), which offers reserved operator assisted web, audio and video conferencing solutions over the internet, including pass code security.
While their prices are a bit lower, they don’t offer dedicated support for one time usage, though they appear to have more technical offerings in Voice over IP telephony and telephone integration, allowing clients to use their phones to call a toll-free number to access an audio conference. One minor limitation on ACTTel’s offering is that conferences are limited to 50 participants, plus one host.
For users in Canada and Australia, conferencing solutions are more or less run by the telephone companies, such as Bell Canada and servicepoint.com. No doubt, as the market matures, there will be competing private options for conferencing as well.
As broadband gets more widespread, and more homes are built with direct fiber optic connections by utilities, expect conferencing to move from the corporate sphere into the private home, following the path set by Instant Messenger programs in the ‘90s.
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