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Video conferencing has become so popular these days that even we have video conferencing features in our mobiles. But how this video conferencing is making our business more efficient and more time saving? Well, there are many advantages of using a video conferencing system. One main advantage is that you can see the other people at the other end and that makes your conference livelier and more reliable. Another advantage is that you can save a lot of time of yourself and your company executives by using the video conferencing system. How? Because, now you or your company executives don’t have to take a long journey every time you call a meeting. Now, you just fix a meeting, set up the video conference and you can talk face to face through the video conferencing monitors. That’s what is called Telepresence and you can virtually be present everywhere with the help of present video conferencing technology.

Now, let’s say you have learnt all the benefits of using a video conferencing system and now you have decided to use it in your office or for your company. So, the next question is which video conferencing service or video conferencing solution you should use? There are tons of services out there and many of them are good in their own terms. One video conferencing service that is trusted by many small and big companies is the Experia, the adaptive telepresence solution from TANDBERG. It’s a very popular video conferencing system and you can get optimum “across the table” video conferencing experience with Experia. There may be some other recommended ones out there but I think Experia is one of the best one available in the market today. You may check out its features and adaptabilities before you actually decide on it. I am sure you will love the various advance yet easy features it provide to it’s users.

Cellphones are quickly becoming an integral part of our lives. They increase the convenience factor, help us stay organized, and keep us in touch with the people that we love. They can also help us keep informed! As cellphone technologies increase, cell phone manufacturers are finding new ways to pack great programs into their cellphones. One such program that is being built into cellphones now, and will increase in the future, is the RSS feed capability.

Having this capability will mean that your cellphone can act like an MP3 player, and perhaps you already have a cell phone that has MP3 player capabilities. But in a cellphone with RSS feed capabilities take the MP3 player format one step further. The word “podcasting” was coined in 2004. It is a technology that no one heard about until recently but is gaining popularity at an exponential rate. A podcast is like a radio program that broadcasters create in an MP3 format and attach it to an RSS feed on their web site. Computers and cellphones with RSS feed capabilities can grab the MP3 file and download it automatically. This means that every time the podcaster makes a new show, your computer or your cell phone can automatically pick it up.

(A quick note on terminology: podcasts and punchcasts are virtually the same thing except that podcasts are typically the “radio show” that goes to your computer, while punch casts are considered the ones that end up on your cell phone, even if they are the same show in the same MP3 file.) The value of listening to podcasts on your cell phone is tremendous. While most people have not heard of podcasts, there are literally thousands and thousands of podcasts out there, and each one is designed for a specific niche: the baseball enthusiast, a wine lover, a news junkie, an entrepreneur, and the list can go on and on. If you have a hobby or interest, you’ll probably find a podcasts on it… or 10 podcasts on it!

Internet Phone services such as Skype are specially valuable for people who make a great deal of international telephone calls, as even these are free as long as both caller and receiver use the Skype software. The service works best over a broadband World Wide Web link but it can be used over dial up. Also a microphone headset is required to improve sound quality, nonetheless you can also use the external speakers and microphone that are supplied with most personal computers these days.

Its terribly convenient to make an Internet Phone call, just determine which Skype user or phone number you want to call, press dial and a few seconds later you will hear the phone ring at the other end. Skype claims that the sound quality for an Internet Phone call is at least as good as a normal phone call, particularly if you use a headset. Nevertheless, some users complain about echoes and some delays between speaking and hearing the feedback.

There are also more drawbacks, most Internet phone services don’t permit calls to emergency services, also you may not hear incoming telephone calls whilst you are away from your computer, and if you go offline or switch off your computer you will not be able to receive calls at all. On the plus side you can use the Internet Phone services to make conference calls and if you have a Web Cam you could also set up a videoconference.

Skype is not the only provider of free Internet Phone calls; they are also available with Vontage, BT Google Talk and several others.

Vontage is one of the most popular. The service uses a router and your normal telephone so you just make calls in the usual way, but they are carried over the Internet rather than you telephone company’s landline. Telephone calls to other Vontage users are free, and you get extra services such as voice mail and call waiting included in the monthly charge cost.

Few years back when this technology was just evolving, Video Conferencing was a highly expensive Technology. But just as the prices of computers and mobile phones have reduced, so are the prices of video conferencing system. Video conferencing basically, is the integration of video, audio and peripherals to enable two or more people to communicate simultaneously over some type of telecommunications lines. If we get on to the history of Video Conferencing, it goes back to the 1960’s. Video conferencing was there since around 1968, thought the system was used only as highly confiscated method in space Missions. How the mission control and the astronauts were communicating with each other in real time during the Space Missions? That was through Video Conferencing.

As for the technology behind Video Conferencing is concerned, the system uses a special kind of Digital Compression Technology for both audio and video signals in real time. They use special codec to achieve a compression rate of as high as 1:500. Then these compressed digital signals are transmitted through some form of ISDN line or an Internet Protocol. That is why Video Conferencing got its booming phase in the 80s when digital telephony transmission networks like ISDN became possible. With the development of data transmission technology over Internet Protocol in the 90s, it has become all the more affordable system.

Today, as the technology still advances, we have Multipoint videoconferencing systems. By multipoint we mean, videoconferencing simultaneously among three or more remote points by means of a Multipoint Control Unit. These Multipoint Control Units are purely software based, though they can also be fabricated as stand-alone hardware devices, and they are characterized by the number of calls it can handle simultaneously. The advantage of this Multipoint videoconferencing systems is that, now you can not only talk with more than two people but also the audio and video data that are transmitted through these systems are of much higher quality as these systems uses ‘decentralized multipoint’ to control the transmissions of compressed data.

Now, the Business conference calling is another aspect of Video Conferencing. But to make quality business conference calling, you’d need to choose a reliable service provider to ensure the quality of your calls. Never go for small companies when you are looking for top notch video conferencing systems. Personally I would recommend big companies like IVCi for your business conferencing solution. Because when it comes to business, it is always better to be with the best.

Since its birth, the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has come a long way and there are lots of sites offering VoIP Phone service today. VoIP services are getting more and more popular in this internet era.

Some online companies like the Smart Global Call offers a comprehensive information on VoIP and VoIP services available worldwide. Smart Global Call is a great resource site for those who are new to VOIP services and also for those who just want to avail to better International Calling and similar services.

The company also provide detailed guide on basic knowledge like How to make low cost International Calls from the USA or Canada and covers many products like Tel3Advantage, VoIP Phone and Prepaid Phone Cards. The site also provides information on How to make Cheap International Calls from your PC, Callback Phone Service. They also provide a big database of telephone Directory if you would like to look up for some international numbers. The bottom line is, if you want to take full advantage of the VoIP services, then learn about various VoIP service providers. And the best place to start with, is of course the Smart Global Call.