Using web conferencing tools, you can text chat, video conference, teleconference, VoIP, and share desktops to enhance your meeting experience. These conversations can even be recorded for later playback. Let’s look at some tools and compare web conferencing that’s widely available now and can give you the communication edge you require to stay ahead of the game.

Application Sharing in Web Conferencing Tools

These web conferencing tools benefit meeting attendees who don’t have the software that you have on your computer. Sometimes applications being used in a web conference aren’t compatible with other computers in the conference. Because others in the conference are simply viewing and controlling the host’s desktop, not running the software on their own computers, this is no longer an issue.

Desktop Sharing in Web Conferencing Tools

Web conferences rely more on desktop sharing than ever because it is an effective way to interact with your conference group. Your business can use desktop or screen sharing web conferencing tools to give improved customer support through demonstrations and training, which saves money and provides excellent customer service.

Most vendors include a desktop sharing icon in the interface that allows you to share your desktop with conference participants. Desktop sharing eliminates the need for your participants to download files and data to view during conferences. Some of the best web conferencing tools allow you to adjust the size of the screen in the user’s window, and the software should be able to detect the screen size and adjust accordingly.

Recording/Streaming Web Conferencing Tools

The ability to record a web conference has become a valuable tool for many reasons, the first of which is that the meeting can be replayed for people who weren’t available at the time. Hosts are also finding that when participants know they’re being recorded, they become more active in the conference and put their best professional self forward.

Recording tools are especially helpful in training sessions because employees can watch them whenever it fits their schedule and as many times as it takes to nail down the processes being taught. This is one of the web conferencing tools that users say trumps the face-to-face meetings that typically aren’t recorded. Some vendors allow recordings to be stored on their servers, while others require the recordings to be housed on your network’s hard drives. With that in mind, drive space must be considered if you have lengthy video files.

File Sharing Web Conferencing Tools

File sharing is similar to desktop and application sharing, but unlike other web conferencing tools, this one allows you to upload spreadsheets, videos, contacts, and documents. This allows your participants to have and augment, revise, write over, or print in real time between participants, which eliminates the multi-step process of e-mailing files back and forth. Web conferencing tools also offer file sharing of larger files that might be too large to send over your e-mail.

Communication between you and your workers, regional offices, customers and potential customers can’t always happen face-to-face. The next best thing is web conferencing, and these web conferencing tools make it easier than ever to have an effective and efficient online meeting. With the boom in web conferencing features that we’re seeing recently, web conferencing will quickly become the preferred way to communicate.