Online meetings use the internet for real-time communication, allowing participants to join from anywhere. They can be held through private chat rooms or web conferencing services, with benefits including convenience, cost savings, and global accessibility.
Online meetings are meetings that take place using the Internet as a real-time means of communication. Instead of gathering meeting participants in one physical location, the World Wide Web is used to create a virtual meeting place that can be accessed with the appropriate login credentials. Depending on the software platform used for the online meeting, attendees may be able to communicate with the facilitator or chair in different ways.
One of the most common and inexpensive ways to hold online meetings is to take advantage of the ability to create a private chat room with an audio overlay. In this application, each participant creates an account with the chat room provider. The chairperson creates the private chat room and invites participants to join the room. Once everyone is gathered, the meeting can take place by typing messages in the common chat or using the audio function in combination with speakers and microphones connected to each participant’s desktop or laptop computer. While the interaction is limited, there is usually no cost associated with this option, and if verbal communication is sufficient to conduct the meeting properly, using a chat room will work very well.
For more robust online meetings, using a web conferencing service provider can be an option. With a web conference, you can usually communicate verbally over an audio conference connection that works independently of the visual portion of the conference. Facilitators can share slideshows, spreadsheets, and other documents with the group by posting them in the viewing window.
With most online meetings of this type, the facilitator can put the other participants into what is known as a listen-only mode; that is, they can hear what the facilitator is saying but cannot respond verbally. Most web conferencing services allow participants to submit questions and comments to the facilitator through an interface that only the facilitator can see. This approach often works well when you need to give a formal presentation. When the facilitator is ready for verbal interaction, there is normally an option to make all conference connections fully interactive, or to allow participants to be recognized and able to ask a question or otherwise respond verbally to the facilitator.
Online meetings have several benefits. First, a meeting can be held on very short notice. People don’t have to make travel arrangements for a physical meeting or block travel time to and from the meeting. Second, distance doesn’t become an issue. Participants can join online meetings no matter where they are in the world. Third, online meetings take the convenience of audio conferencing to new levels by allowing for visual interaction as well. Many online meeting services let you take advantage of features like collaboration, multiple chairpersons, and password-protected meeting sites.
There is no doubt that online meetings in free and paid formats can save businesses a lot of time and money. At the same time, non-profit and religious organizations can also use online meetings to great advantage, both for internal purposes and to communicate effectively with supporters or adherents of the organization.
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