Web Conferencing Key Terms

Learn the technical terms for web conferencing

Web conferencing takes the place of face-to-face real meetings. With video conferencing and sharing documents and other files, these conferences can be just as productive as real meetings and have many benefits. People from all over the country or the world can meet to discuss work issues. Web conferencing language contains many technical terms so make sure you brush up on the language before embarking on your first web conference. Once you know what the jargon means, you will be ready to host web conferences for your company.

Video conferencing

Video conferencing takes web conference calls to a new level by adding pictures to the mix. You may now not only hear the other people at your conference but see them as well. You may also use this feature to share files and presentations with all participants in the conference.

Webinar

Webinar refers to a web seminar. Similar to a meeting held in the real world, this is an online web conference meeting between people in different locations connected by computers and a software program. Once connected, the participants can talk to each other and share files and presentations.

Document sharing

Document sharing refers to the ability to show documents to all participants in a web conference. The host typically shares his or her desktop but can give control to any participant who needs to share files or presentations with the group.

Codec, or coder-decoder

Codec, or coder-decoder, is the hardware that codes an outgoing signal and deciphers the code on the other end. A signal is created at one computer and then transformed into a digital signal that travels to the other participants of the web conference. The hardware on the other end reads the digital signal and changes it back to the original transmission.

Broadband

Broadband refers to a high-speed Internet connection by cable or DSL (digital line subscriber). In web conferencing, it is necessary for participants to use this kind of connection instead of dial up due to the large data files.
Federal Communications Commission provides a detailed explanation of broadband and some of its uses.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the amount of data transmitted on an information channel. Think of it in relation to a highway. Bandwidth is the width of the highway, or how many lanes the highway contains. In web conferencing, it is important to have a large bandwidth due to the exchange of large amounts of data.
CNET offers an online test to see what your bandwidth is for upload and download speeds.

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