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This technology has revolutionised many fields of work and especially since it has been extensively used in the field of education, this form of communication has shaped the way students receive their lessons and of course the ease with which lectures are given. The possibility to reach and educate students cross campus or cross-university sites has been made extremely easy with VoIP video conferencing technology. And, with the ability to broadcast to one or many sites locally or globally, has dramatically reduced costs in learning materials such as books and notes. Video conferencing software has been able to bring many specialist teachers together at the same time in different locations to address a group of students as a collaborative effort and share ideas with them in real time. Traveling costs and long distance appearances by teachers are really becoming a thing of the past.

Desktop video conferencing gives the opportunity for individuals and many users to work together with much the same capabilities as a room based video conference session. Desktop video conferencing equipment is becoming progressively smaller, cheaper, easier to install and run, and software is simpler and more user friendly. There are a few basic things that will have to be in place to setup desktop video conferencing. You will need hardware, software and transmission channel. Today the most cost effective means of communication is the VoIP (voice over internet protocol) platform.

Your hardware must comprise, either a personal computer (PC) or Apple Macintosh (MAC), a monitor or TV screen, a video capture camera, a microphone, loudspeakers or headphones, and video and audio codec. Great conferencing software like Hot Conference can be used as the software platform. With awesome audio, video and whiteboard capabilities and the fact that you dont have to worry about running out of seat room, Hot Conference is definitely a leader in the field of Desktop Conferencing Software.

Over the last 5 years there have been many reports written about the feasibility of video conferencing as a major player in the world of communications, both technically and financially. Issues ranging from technical, pedagogic, social and administrative have been raised. But the number one issue that seems to re-occur in all examinations is the setting up and conducting of a video conference session. Many have touched on the subjects but concerns are still raised about the fact that two parties cannot speak simultaneously. Only the party that initiated the conversation or the one who has the loudest audio transmission will be able to communicate, leaving the second party to wait his turn. Another major concern on this topic is the distinct delay in transmission, sometimes up to 2 seconds between the speakers audio transmission and video output seen on the other side.

The only answer for the near future is to make sure only one person speaks at a time, and in multi point video conferencing those who are not speaking should turn down their audio volumes, so that background noises are not transmitted. Background noise is constantly broadcasted making the audio transmissions continuous, in turn slowing the transmission. In a point-to-point video conference with multiple users, those that are not participating should keep quiet during transmission.

These technical issues certainly do not put a damper on the use of video conferencing as a viable way of communicating whether in the field of education, or business and even for personal use for that matter. In recent years the costs involved in setting up a video conference arena has certainly dropped, both hardware and software prices have levelled out to a point where even the average family can setup their own video conferencing network. However, a probing concern is still the major cost of ISDN line installations, telephone calls and telephone rentals for the majority of video conferencing setups. Those that have made the transition to VoIP have cut their conferencing costs dramatically. Desktop video conferencing is certainly moving in the right direction and even though there are still flaws in the technology it has rapidly gained momentum and will still continue to do so into the future.

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Author: Govindji Patel
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