What
is a Webinar?
Webinar
is short for Web-based seminar. Webinar's are just like a conference
room based seminar, however, participants view the presentation
through their Web-browser and listen to the audio through their
telephone. A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements
-- the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Contrast
with "Webcast", in which the data transmission is one
way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the
audience.
Hosting
a Webinar requires the use of specialized software that enables
presenter(s) to deliver an interactive presentation via the Internet
(or Web). Many vendors offer Webinar services. These software applications
vary tremendously in features and price. Examples of differentiating
features include the ability to:
- Use
integrated audio conferencing or audio via the public Internet
(computer speakers)
- Let
the audience see the presenter's computer screen for live product
demos
- Show
animation
- Recording
capabilities for later playback
- Attendee
pre-registration and reporting
- Present
audience polls and questionnaires
- Manage
live question and answer dialogs during a presentation
What
are Webinars used for?
Webinar's
are primarily used to train a large number of people or build brand
and generate sales leads. Additional uses are: corporate announcements,
focus groups, and press conferences.
What
are the benefits?
- Reach
a larger audience
- Reduce
cost
- Digitally
record and allow future playback
What
do I need to attend?
- A
computer
- Internet
access
- A
phone line for listening to the teleconference portion
Webcasting
(web'kast') – Broadcasting over the Internet
Webcasting technologies use streaming media technologies to
broadcast audio and video or audio only with power point slides
(optional) over the Internet to a large audience.
- Video:
The biggest difference between Webcasting and Web conferencing
is the predominance of video vs. sharing desktop applications
and content. That makes Webcasting preferable for high-profile
public events. To make the video TV quality requires onsite
production support, powerful servers, and lots of Internet
bandwidth, which is why the base cost of a Webcast can be
very high.
- Internet-only
delivery: Live or archived video is delivered over the Internet
and the audio is provided via speakers on your PC.
- Large
events: By using high-capacity distributed servers, Webcasting
companies can deliver events to audiences of thousands. The
services digitize the content and then send it to servers
that distribute the content to the audience. The processing
steps introduce a delay between the presenter and the audience
– for example, the audience is seeing what the presenter did
30 seconds ago, although it appears live to the attendee.
Unlike production costs, per-attendee distribution is cheap
– just the cost of bandwidth – so very large events are less
expensive as Webcasts than they are as Web conferences.
- One-way:
Streaming media is a technology developed to compress and
transfer video and/or audio data through the Internet in such
a way that the file can start to play while it is downloading.
The content can either be “live" or “archived”.
The distribution is fine for large events in which there can’t
be much interaction between the audience and the presenter
anyway.
Web
conferencing – Collaborative interacting over the Internet
Web conferencing allows a presenter to show an audience what is
on his/her computer screen and collaborate in a number of ways.
- Data:
Web conferencing is focused on computer-based data (presentations,
documents, software apps, or a desktop), which it can display
and easily manipulate. That makes it easier for the businessperson
to use, and makes it fit most day-to-day business meetings and
events. Some Web conferencing platforms offer Webcam video.
- Web
& phone: Most Web conferences use an audio conference call to
let the group hear the presenter. Phone audio is more reliable
and higher quality than Internet audio. And it allows real-time
interaction among participants in the event. But it does add
the cost and effort of using the phone as well as a browser.
- Small
to mid-sized groups: The data-sharing and two-way interactivity
work well for groups up 500 attendees. Also, costs scale with
the number of users, making very large Web conferences more
expensive than similarly sized Webcasts. Meetings can be hosted
or attended from any PC with an Internet connection. No production
or special equipment is required.
- Two-way:
Web conferences are more interactive, with the ability to share
presentation rights and control of applications among all group
members. For collaboration, in-depth presentations, sales demos
and training it can’t be beat.
View
Web conferencing solutions
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