Web conference

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A web conference or an online meeting is understood to mean "virtual" meetings between participants that are organized and carried out over the Internet and that can actually be located at very different locations. In the case of a web conference, the desktop of the session moderator replaces the real conference table.

All participants can follow what is happening on the moderator's desktop in a window on their screen (" desktop sharing ") - for example, giving a presentation, introducing software or editing a text document. In the course of the web conference, the role of the moderator can be flexibly switched between the participants (and their desktops). So they follow the essential feature of fixed meetings, in which - in contrast to z. B. to lectures - there is a dialogue among many (“many-to-many” principle).

To increase interactivity or to conduct online workshops, web conferences can be supplemented with electronic meeting systems (EMS). EMS extend the functionality of a web conference with tools such as brainstorming, voting and discussions, which can usually also be carried out anonymously, as well as full-text documentation. They also enable the asynchronous preparation and follow-up of the online meeting.

In contrast to web conferences, in which several participants conduct a dialogue together, webinars focus on the role of the presenter ("one-to-many" principle). Webinars are primarily used for online training courses or other situations in which a speaker presents information to many participants without the possibility of constant consultation.

In video conferences , the focus is on the transmission of live video streams from the participants or the distributed conference rooms.

Basic principle of web conferencing

Web conferences basically work according to the following principle: the organizer sends an invitation with a hyperlink . At the time of the meeting, all participants join the conference using the previously exchanged link. Optionally, it is often possible to moderate the participation; this is often done using an access code that the participants have to provide. As an alternative to this, there is often the option of a waiting room, which is connected upstream of the actual virtual conference room. The organizer then has to move the individual participants from the waiting room to the conference room. The participants then see the organizer's screen and can view documents and applications together on his device. During the meeting, you can switch to another participant's desktop at any time. With most web conference solutions, mouse and keyboard control for the device, whose desktop all participants see, can be switched between the participants in a controlled manner.

Provision

There are two basic models for the provision of software, Software as a Service (SaaS), i.e. the provision of the software by the manufacturer on its infrastructure or the operation of the application on its own hardware. Due to the high bandwidth requirements of web conferences, most offers are designed as SaaS solutions. For companies with high demands on information security and data protection, there is often only a solution that is operated on their own hardware.

Functions

Today's web conferencing systems offer a number of functions that are intended to make collaboration and holding meetings more effective.

  • Platform independence: Web meetings for Windows, OS X, Linux, Solaris, BSD-Unix operating systems. Mobile device support
  • Share applications
  • File sharing
  • Transfer of mouse and keyboard control to individual or all participants
  • Change of the role of the presenter (change to display of another PC desktop)
  • Marking and drawing tools
  • Whiteboard
  • Annotation of documents with PDF export
  • PDF download of documents that will be shown on the presentation stage.
  • Chat: moderated and unmoderated chat
  • Video and VoIP audio
  • Telephone conference function integrated or via other providers (calling participants by phone)
  • Log functions
  • Recording of web meetings, especially the “playback” function, which enables training sessions to be recorded and played back as often as required in a “live” seminar.
  • Web meeting-to-podcast function that saves and plays recorded web meetings on iPod and AppleTV
  • Functions for simultaneous translators
  • Scan-to-Present: Scan documents and present them immediately in the web meeting
  • Presentation of Office documents, especially PowerPoint and PDF documents without screen sharing (this only works if the presenter has uploaded the documents to the service provider's server).
  • Zoom function for documents, drawings, pictures and video. Documents are shown vectorized. This means that documents can be enlarged and reduced in size for all participants without any significant delay. In particular, vectorization enables medical recordings (X-ray recordings, CT) and CAD drawings to be displayed immediately, regardless of size.
  • Time-synchronous presentations of videos in formats such as podcasts, Quicktime, MPEG-2/4 or AVI
  • Customizable e-mail invitations, integration with various e-mail clients for sending invitation e-mails
  • Split screen video for many-to-many meetings with many participants
  • Dial-out conference call. "Call out", d. H. Telephony functions for calling participants from a web meeting
  • Dial-In Conference Call: Calling a phone number to dial-in to join a conference call. This feature is supported by a large number of providers.

safety

With most software solutions and services for web conferencing, the data exchange is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS). This encryption is almost always only used between the individual participant and the server via which the conference is provided. SaaS providers can therefore theoretically access the video & audio track. The provider Zoom Video Communications , for example, claims to use so-called end-to-end encryption . The Intercept magazine revealed that Zoom only encrypts the connection between participants and company servers. With all SaaS applications there is therefore the theoretical possibility for the provider to gain access. From the point of view of data protection, the locations of data storage and the ownership structure ( in particular data protection under the USA Patriot Act ) of the SaaS provider should be considered.

License models

Various license models are common for web conferences.

  • free web conferences
  • Billing depending on usage: per user, per conference, per 10 participants ...
  • Billing according to the basic fee with practically no restrictions
  • Open source software

See also

literature

  • Rüdiger Keller: Live e-learning in the virtual classroom . A qualitative study. 2009, ISBN 3-8300-4149-7 .
  • Josef W. Seifert / Bettina Kerschbaumer: Online moderation . 2011, ISBN 978-3-86936-196-3 .
  • Tomas Bohinc: Successful conference calls . 1st edition, Linde Verlag, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-7093-0478-5 .
  • Jörg Fischer, Christian Sailer: VoIP Practical Guide. 2nd revised and expanded edition, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-44491-1 .
  • Anita Hermann-Ruess, Max Ott: The good webinar. All the know-how for better online presentations, a practical guide, 2nd edition, Springer Vieweg, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-03858-8 .
  • Wolfgang Bach: Unified Communications. Increasing the efficiency of information and communication systems, Igel Verlag, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-95485-238-3 .
  • Sigrid Hess: Perfect in the office. Office organization for professionals, 6th edition, Redline Verlag, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-86881-635-8 .
  • Tanja Röchert-Voigt, Denise Berg: Web 2.0 in public administration. Gito Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-942183-16-1 .
  • Sebastian Grimm: Marketing for high-tech companies. 1st edition, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-322-90894-0 .
  • Lucius Bobikiewicz: Virtual Meeting - [Vting] . A practical book for distributed teams, 1st edition, Loop-2.net GmbH, Halle (Saale) 2014, ISBN 978-1-497-33565-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lana Chin: Planning Network Requirements for Skype for Business - Skype for Business Server 2015. In: Microsoft Docs. Accessed March 31, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ Jitsi Videobridge Performance Evaluation. Retrieved March 31, 2020 (American English).
  3. ↑ Unternehmer.de: Data protection: Microsoft saves Skype calls without any security measures. In: Unternehmer.de | Tips for SMEs & Startups. January 16, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ Microsoft Teams: Wouldn't companies better opt for the full version? - cloud services. November 2, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Administration - TLS 1.2 Required in Cisco Webex Meetings. Accessed March 31, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Micah Lee, Yael Grauer: Zoom Meetings Aren't End-to-End Encrypted, Despite Misleading Marketing. In: The Intercept. March 31, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 (American English).

Web links

Wiktionary: Webinar  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations