What are Web Meetings?

Web meetings are a helpful new idea in the business world, allowing people in various parts of the world to virtually come together for conferences over the Internet. Web meetings are also known as e-meetings and Net meetings. There are various types of web meetings and different programs available.

These virtual Internet meetings are rapidly increasing in popularity. One popular type of web meeting uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), in which you use the computer's cable Internet connection as a telephone line, allowing virtually free communication with anyone in the world. VoIP is gaining popularity not just in web meetings but in households all over the world.

VoIP is also quite versatile, and can be used with a traditional telephone or using your computer's microphone and speakers. Even if you are using another type of web conference program, VoIP can be used on top of that to enhance communication. Another type of Net meeting program will conference-call your home phone directly, even if you do not have VoIP. Using VoIP is usually a good way for homes and businesses to save money on long-distance phone bills.

Another type of web meeting takes place completely online. Often, the moderator of the meeting will be able to share their desktop with anyone else logged on to the meeting. The moderator can then offer demonstrations, share new ideas and data, explain new procedures, or virtually anything they want. Some of these programs also allow the participants of the meeting to make changes and contribute to the meeting that way.

True collaborative web meetings allow all the participants to log on to the same document, for example, and all make changes at once. This can be especially helpful for creative teams, such as writers or web designers. This type of web meeting also prevents the same document from being e-mailed repeatedly from person to person. This type of work is invaluable in the current global business world.

Conferencing over the Internet allows collaboration from people in different parts of the world that would never nave been possible. As the number of people who work from home continues to increase, web meetings become much more commonplace and more valuable. Web meetings allow more freedom in the workplace which generally means less stress for employees. E-meeting programs, once purchased by the business, are most often free for employees -- meaning it costs you nothing to log on and join a meeting.