Teleconferencing

 The word ‘tele’ means distance. The word

‘conference’ means consultations, discussions.
 Through teleconferencing two or more locations
situated at a distance are connected so that they can
hear or both see and hear each other.
 It allows the distant sites to interact with each other
and with the teaching end through phone, fax, and e-
mail. The interactions occur in real time. This means
that the learners/participants and the resource
persons are present at the same time in different
locations and are able to communicate with each
other. In some situations, questions can be faxed/e-
mailed early for response by the resource persons
 Uses of Teleconferencing

 Education
 Training and Development
 Business/Corporate Communication
 Governance
 Medical Courses/Services
 Strengths of Teleconferencing

 Accessible to Geographically Dispersed

Groups
 Communication at
National/Regional/Local Level
 Quality Teaching using multiple Teaching
Resources
 Real Time Interaction from Remote Target
Groups
 Use of Various Teaching Methods enhances
Learning
 Cost Effective
 Types of Teleconferencing
 AUDIO COFERENCING

Audio Conferencing is a two way voice communication among multiple

locations in real time. This generally operates through public telephone
network. Individual microphones for participants and external speakers at
each location are employed in professional systems to carry out
conferences in hands free manner
 The number of people that you can connect to would
depend on your service provider’s capabilities. In
any case it could vary from 3 to 30 beyond which it
becomes an Audio Broadcast.
 Videoconferencing – What Is It?

 Video conferencing in its most basic form is the

transmission of image (video) and speech (audio)
back and forth between two or more physically
separate locations.”
 Videoconferencing Components

 Cameras (to capture and send video from your local

endpoint)
 Video displays (to display video received from
remote endpoints)
 Microphones (to capture and send audio from your
local endpoint)
 Speakers (to play audio received from remote
endpoints)
In Addition, Two Additional Requirements:

 Codec - "compressor/de-compressor“ - makes the

audio/video data "small enough" to be practical for
sending over expensive network connections. A
codec takes analog signals, compresses and digitizes
them, and transmits the signals over digital phone
lines.
 The Supporting System and the Network Connection
TWO WAY VIDEO CONFERENCING
 Point-to-point Conferences

 Point-to-point – A videoconference that connects

two locations.
 Each site sees and hears the other sites at all times
 Multipoint Conferences

 Point-to-multipoint – A videoconference that

connects to more than two sites through the use of
a multi-point control unit, or MCU.
 Participants at all sites can hear one another at all
times and see the site that is currently speaking.
 Voice activated switching
 Benefits of Videoconferencing

 Can improve work quality

 Increase productivity
 Reduce travel costs
 Improves communication
 Groups can meet more frequently
 Critical meetings can be convened in less time
 More faculty and staff can be involved
Benefits of Videoconference-based Learning

 Closely resembles traditional classroom-based

education; permits learners to be active
participants in the process
 Faculty and staff needs can be met more quickly
through just-in-time training
 More faculty and staff can be trained faster without
increasing training resources
 Guest lecturers can be easily integrated into the
course
 Limitations of Videoconferencing

 The absence of QOS (Quality of Service) provides

virtually no guarantee of a satisfying and successful
experience
 Though the technology is improving, a successful
videoconference is dependent upon the
connections and technologies at all of the
participating sites, AND the network infrastructure
 Security issues
A Web teleconferencing system uses Internet as its communication backbone,
web-browser as its client-interface, and web-servers as its server that intercepts
and processes the client requests.
 Web conferencing is used to conduct live
meetings, training, or presentations via the Internet.
In a web conference, each participant sits at his or
her own computer and is connected to other
participants via the internet. This can be either a
downloaded application on each of the attendees'
computers or a web-based application where the
attendees access the meeting by clicking on a link
distributed by e-mail (meeting invitation) to enter
the conference
 Web conferencing is mostly sold as a service by
various vendors. Web conferencing technologies are
not standardized, which has been a major reason in
the lack of interoperability, clearness, platform
dependence, security concerns, service fee and
market segmentation