Whether you use videoconferencing as a way to meet with and train your employees or run your own business offering video conferencing services to others, seek continuing education to keep you up to date on video teleconferencing equipment and techniques. Classes and seminars can teach you ways to keep your systems efficient and economical and methods to troubleshoot and integrate new equipment.

Use educational opportunities to learn about new video conferencing equipment manufacturers as sources for video conferencing supplies and tools. By staying current with developments and technology, you’ll ensure your conferencing systems are compatible with your clients’ video teleconference equipment. Seek to:

1. Enroll in classes that teach basic video conferencing equipment uses, as well as ways to make video conferencing events more successful.
2. Sign up for seminars on videoconference equipment to fine tune your conferencing system and discover new tools to add to your virtual communications arsenal.
3. Find online education opportunities and downloadable literature to help you learn more about video conference equipment at your convenience.
   

Action Steps
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Take classes on videoconferencing equipment to make the most of these remote meeting opportunities

Seek courses on videoconferencing equipment that will help you build a new system, implement new components or ensure each virtual meeting you hold runs smoothly. Many videoconferencing equipment manufacturers also offer training once they've installed your system to help you use and troubleshoot it effectively.

I recommend: TKO Video Communications offers training courses on videoconference topics such as buying equipment and conferencing basics, technology and troubleshooting. Get video conferencing services such as system installation and training from IVCi. IVCi classes teach you how to make the most of the conference technology. Intercall offers training programs that teach methods to design and use video conferencing systems effectively.

Sit in on seminars by video conferencing suppliers and experts to keep up with industry developments

Seek continuing education for your videoconference equipment and operations to ensure you can use cutting edge tools and techniques to prepare and run a video conference. Find focused seminars to address specific issues or simply take a refresher course to keep your knowledge on videoconferencing current.

I recommend: Attend a video conferencing seminar from 1 PC Network that covers ways video conferencing will give your company a competitive advantage. Find videoconferencing equipment education and training opportunities near you through Trainers Link.

Learn more about teleconferencing equipment video tools with self-paced educational materials

Finding online educational opportunities, DVDs, literature and other self-led training materials on video conferencing will allow you to discover new features and tools when you have free time. The materials can also become a handy reference library should you need to troubleshoot a system and don't have technical assistance available.

I recommend: Think of It offers a wealth of literature and training information on videoconferencing equipment from product reviews to troubleshooting manuals to successful strategies for virtual meetings. Tandberg offers a free, downloadable video conferencing guide, along with information on conferencing developments and techniques.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When attending industry seminars, network with other professionals who use videoconferencing or run videoconferencing businesses to find video conferencing equipment for sale or discover new video conferencing equipment suppliers. The first-hand recommendations may help you get great deals from reputable video conferencing manufacturers.

In a world where working off-site has become more common but the need to meet and stay in contact remains the same, video conferencing offers businesses the ability to meet with their employees regardless of where they are located.

Videoconferencing (also called video conferencing) allows your business to:

1. Keep in contact with employees through video teleconference equipment regardless of where they’re located.
2. Cut down on travel expenses since meetings can take place wherever the equipment is available.
3. Allow face time with employees that can’t be achieved via a conference call.
4. Schedule an emergency meeting with ease at any time of the day or night.

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Determine the best video teleconference equipment solutions for the size of your business

All video teleconferencing equipment is not created equal. How big is your business, and how many offices do you have around the country? Knowing the answers to those questions can help you choose the best video conferencing equipment for your company.

I recommend: MegaMeeting allows you to have up to 16 participants at one time and an unlimited number of observers. Skype works well one on one but requires a third party product to integrate with it if you have more than two participants.

Find a conferencing provider that fits your budget

Cost is always a concern when adding new technology to your business. Luckily the cost of videoconference equipment (also called video conference equipment) has come down in the last few years, and there is a conferencing solution for every company's budget.

I recommend: SightSpeed, which includes its free services, video conferencing and PC to PC voice calling and adds multiparty videoconferencing (also called video conferencing), three-click file sharing for both Windows and Mac, and video mail recording is a low cost conferencing provider that works for small businesses. For a very powerful but much more expensive solution that takes care of all aspects of video conferencing for from tech support to security, Adobe’s Acrobat Connect Professional is the solution for you. It allows you to conference with up to 2,500 people.

Find videoconferencing equipment and supplies

Find videoconferencing equipment and supplies, including used equipment, cables, monitors and power supplies.

I recommend: TKO Video Communications, AllConferenceServices.com and Clary Business Machines are all good sources of video conferencing equipment.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Have the technicians available to keep your video teleconferencing equipment running if your provider doesn't offer tech support.
• •  Send an e-mail reminder to the participants 24 hours before the schedules meeting time that includes the agenda as well as any information they need to know before the conference begins.
• •  Perform a quick check of all the video teleconference equipment prior to the meeting to make sure everything is running smoothly and there aren't any delays.

Use videoconferencing equipment key terms to determine how videoconferencing works. When you figure out the mechanics of videoconferencing, you know how to adjust equipment so it works properly and keeps images and sound clear. The current trends in videoconferencing often go beyond a face-to-face meeting to meetings where hundreds of videoconferences share a single screen or application from remote locations.

As technology advances and businesses use videoconferencing more and more for meetings and trainings, there is a great need for equipment that provides sharp communication. Use and understand videoconferencing equipment key terms to provide these services.

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Application sharing

When one user shares an application with another user that does not have the application, they are application sharing. Both users transfer files to each other and use their own mouse and keyboard to work the applications. The main user must give permission for the other person to use the application, or the second user will see the application without being able to use it.

I recommend: Nefsis explains how users work with application sharing. It shows pictures of videoconferencing applications already running to demonstrate the way the sharing works.

Bridge

The bridge, also called a multi-conferencing unit (MCU), is the connection between three or more sites of conferencing. It works as a data holder, sending out the data among all the conferencing participants.

I recommend: Bow Communications offers tips on getting the most out of your videoconferencing experience when you use a video bridge. It offers tips on what to do before a meeting, during a meeting and after a meeting for the clearest communications.

Compression

To get information through lines with the greatest speed, the information needs reduction. Compression, usually done with a codec, could include the reduction of video or sound quality, or it may get rid of redundancy.

I recommend: Wave Report offers a tutorial explaining how compression works and how to use a codec. It covers standards and explanations of bit rate for transferring data.

Data

In videoconferencing, data is the information sent between program users. The information runs through cables in digital form.

I recommend: JDL Technologies offers high-quality videoconferencing services. It covers how its services help transfer data.

Echo cancellation

Sometimes the main signal in a transmission puts out unwanted noise that interferes with a conference. Echo cancellation isolates the signals in the transmissions and filters them out.

I recommend: MOREnet discusses the importance of checking equipment, including echo cancellation equipment to make communications sharp for videoconferencing.

Full-motion video

This term refers to any images that are not still-frame shots. Although called full-motion, in videoconferencing, images run approximately 10-15 frames per second as 112 kilobytes per second.

I recommend: Visicu assesses video equipment with full-motion imaging for videoconferencing.