International Business

Business travel will always be a part of a professional's life, no doubt about it. But nowadays, modern technology provides solutions that provide alternatives to traveling for business in many instances. And that is great news, since business travel can be very time-consuming and inconvenient, and not always cost effective. It is good if a business trip can lead to drumming up more profit for your company, but wouldn't it be even better if you could do away with the trip altogether and still get that big client sale? That is where the technology of web conferencing comes in.

If you are not familiar with web conferencing, basically it is a technology that allows you to have meetings between two or more people who are in different locations, by conducting the conference over the Internet. A web conference happens in real time, so that its attendees will be able to view a single presentation simultaneously, getting the information just as well as if they were all viewing it together in one room--when they are actually sitting at separate computers that may be many miles apart from each other.

The great thing about web conferencing is that it gives you a lot of communication options, though what these are may depend on the specific web service or software client that you use. The most basic web conferencing setup will allow live shared presentations and text-only instant messaging. A more advanced option would be to use VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, which allows participants to have voice call conferences on the web--at very low rates when compared to long-distance call costs. Web conferencing platforms may also allow the option of video conferencing, so that the participants can see not only the information presented, but the faces of their co-attendees. Video conferencing is very helpful in imparting a more human feel to such online communications.

Web conferencing usually offers the ability for people to share applications. Application sharing allows the participants to perform edits on files or input new information on someone else's computer during the web conference. Participants also have the ability to share their files with one another.

Web conferencing is especially useful for those who have to communicate with clients and colleagues from miles away on a regular basis. It is especially time-consuming and expensive to have to take a lot of international business trips. Web conferencing will allow you to reduce your business travel expenses. Basically, you will only be paying for a broadband Internet connection in addition to the price of the software or web service.