Creative Uses Of Video & Web Conferencing, Part
2
Author: Dan Richmond

What you can do with web and video conferencing is limited only
by the extent of your imagination. Businesses are using web
conferencing to conduct staff meetings, and families have
employed this new technology to "attend" family functions in
far away locales. Pushing the envelope even farther are various
professionals, companies, media people, and entrepreneurs who
are beginning to communicate with their clients in ways that
were undreamt of ten years ago.

Radio stations have long been enhancing their programs by
interacting with their listeners. First, there were call-in
shows where listeners used the telephone to request songs to be
played or even to be interviewed on air. Interactivity was
stepped up when stations were able to receive e-mails from
their listeners and to offer websites with text, photos and
audio files. Now a station in Houston, Texas has become one of
the first to integrate video conferencing with live radio
programming.

Listeners to Mike Garfield's High-Tech Texan Show® simply click
on a special link at www.HighTechTexan.com , enter their name,
click 'accept' and they are part of a video conference.
Listeners with cameras can be seen by Garfield and other
listeners. Those without cameras can watch as the show unfolds.


"I was blown away from the start and now that I see what I can
do with promotions and interactivity on my radio show, I am
even more excited," enthused Garfield who explained that,
"Instead of just talking about new gadgets, I can show them
live to listeners while they watch via the web. And since this
technology can also be used as a two-way videoconference, I can
open up the show to new concepts. I have held radio interviews
where my listeners can see my guests."

The key to Garfield's ability to connect with his audience via
video conferencing are new web based conferencing applications
that do not require any software downloads and can be accessed
regardless of which operating system is installed on the user's
computer.

This new ease-of-use has also been a boon to professionals who
are using video conferencing to do things that they couldn't
previously do. Realtors are now able to show a house to a
prospective buyer and even the buyer's relatives who may live
in another city, state or country using web-based video
conference software. Lawyers have even begun to make
depositions to courts over the Internet, rather than traveling
to another city to deliver their statements.

Other uses of video conferencing include the lucrative auction
business. Large auction houses have already opened up some of
their auctions to bidders around the world who view the objects
for sale via a video conference, and make their bids through the
same Internet link. Where large auction houses tread today,
small auctioneers are sure to follow, and it is now possible
for Ebay sellers to display their wares online and show more
features of the product using a web-based video conference
format.

As more companies and individuals begin to get used to online
web and video conferencing the list of uses of this interactive
technology will only get longer and more interesting.


About The Author: Dan Richmond is CEO & Co-founder of
http://MegaMeeting.com. MegaMeeting provides Web Conferencing &
Video Conferencing services for individuals, businesses and
educational institutions. For more information, or for a free
live demonstration, please visit http://www.MegaMeeting.com/ or
call (818) 783-4311.