Web Conferencing Service Updated

The Live Meeting 2007 online service has added two-way Internet audio and video, among other improvements, and reduced subscription charges for many types of meetings. The Microsoft-hosted service supports Web conferencing, virtual meetings that typically combine a PowerPoint presentation with audio, video, and application sharing over the Internet. Like its predecessors and competitors such as Cisco WebEx, the Live Meeting 2007 service could draw organizations trying to cut travel and training costs by holding meetings online. However, conventional telephone audio conferences remain a viable competitor to Web conferencing for many kinds of meetings.

Conferencing on the Internet

The Live Meeting online service delivers Web conferencing, a catchall term for real-time meetings or conferences in which participants communicate and share data using a browser or other PC-based applications and an Internet-protocol data network, such as the Internet or an organization’s corporate intranet. In a typical Live Meeting session, one or more presenters show a synchronized PowerPoint to all participants while providing audio commentary. However, presenters can share other types of data with participants, including live views of applications running on the presenter’s computer. Unlike telephone conferences, Web conferencing services can help register users and send them reminders (such as Outlook appointments for meetings), simplify the distribution of presentation materials (such as the PowerPoint presentations), help presenters manage question-and-answer sessions, record and play back meetings (including the presentation or other shared data), and improve interaction between presenter and audience (allowing participants to view and interact with a shared application, for instance).