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Video Conferencing - Video Conferencing: Commercial Hardware and Free Software The arrival of video conferencing technology together with its necessary software is considered to be a major turning point in distance communication. You do not have to travel thousands of miles just to see your long-lost friend living on the other side pertaining to the Pacific. Furthermore, it benefits not only personal communications but other applications as well. For the business industry, it is now possible to interact with colleagues living on the other side pertaining to the world for important conferences including meetings. For the medical profession, patients might now be treated long distance in real time by a medical specialist without travelling including wasting so much time including effort. To fully understand the capabilities of video conferencing, the article could focus its discussion into 2 parts: first, the overview of video conference with a brief discussion on its history including its nature as well, including second, the hardware including software that could be needed in order to facilitate a successful video conference. The second part could additionally be tackling free software that you might use for your video conferencing. Video Conference—An Overview As mentioned earlier, video conferencing allows 2 individuals in different location to see, hear, including talk with each other in real time. It is composed of a set of interactive telecommunication equipment which is responsible for the two-way audio including video output in real time. The history of video conferencing started way back with the introduction of television. It started using closed-circuit televisions that were connected by means of a cable. However, it did not become popular due to high costs (mainly on wire including maintenance). Furthermore, it is not efficient especially at the time used for long distance purposes such as corporate meetings including distance learning. After the introduction including extensive development pertaining to the Internet during the early 1990s, the cost including convenience of video conferencing was within reach of small including medium business enterprises. With the hardware including software used in video conferencing, long distance communications are now more appealing including convenient for everybody. Free Video Conference Software The basic video conference set-up is composed of a set of hardware including software. On the hardware side, it includes video input for capturing images in real time such as the web camera; video output for displaying captured image on the other end, such as the monitor or television set; audio input such as a PC-compatible microphone; audio output such as speakers; including the data transmission medium such as the Internet, or even Local Area Network or LAN. In order to interpret the data transmitted from 1 location to another, you need to have specific software intended for video conferencing. There are commercial software available in the market you might purchase, although if you love free stuff, you might use the Internet to search for some free software. Although the quality of service is low compared to commercially-available software, it might be used for your video conferencing purposes. Some pertaining to the free software available on the web are the following: • Google talk • Yahoo Messenger • MSN Messenger They all come in downloadable form. All you have to do is to search for them on the Internet including follow the procedures in downloading them straight to your PC. They are free of charge, so you do not have to worry regarding any expenses associated in downloading them.
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