What is E-Conferencing & How is it Applied?

E-conferencing utilizes computers and the Internet for conferencing purposes.

E-conferencing allows people to do nearly everything possible in physical, face-to-face conferences without having everybody in the same place at the same time. E-conferencing could be as simple as e-mailing or instant messaging a couple of people back and forth or as intricate as using a video conferencing solution so multiple people can conference and discuss business in real time.

What is E-Conferencing?

E-conferencing is the utilization of Internet technology to carry out a "conference." While they aren't traditional conferences, e-conferences allow participants to do most, if not all, of the things they'd be able to do in a physical conference. Such activities include exchanging information, documents or data, listening to presentations and participating in group discussions. E-conferences are typically carefully planned out, have clear time frames and focus around specific topics.

How E-Conferencing is Applied

E-conferencing, though always used for communication between conferencing parties, can be carried out in multiple ways. According to InclenTrust.org, there are synchronous and asynchronous conferencing. Synchronous conferencing takes place in "real time" and typically utilizes VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to deliver live streaming audio and video from the multiple participants of the conference. Asynchronous e-conferencing simply means there is a time lag between messages, posts or information. E-mail and message boards are examples of asynchronous e-conferencing methods.

History

The origin of e-conferencing can be traced back to the 1960s with the creation of PLATO by the University of Illinois. This self-contained system used a classroom of computers physically connected to one main computer or mainframe. The computers were then allowed to communicate with each other. The availability of the Internet in the 1990s made such systems obsolete but allowed people to use similar concepts to connect multiple computers wirelessly through the Internet.

Advantages

E-conferencing clearly offers many advantages that make it a viable and valuable means of communication. Participants are no longer tied down to a specific location; during an e-conference, speakers, presenters and guests can be located all over the globe. E-conferencing can also be much cheaper since participants no longer need to book costly flights or hotels and the conference holder no longer has to acquire a conference hall.

Disadvantages

While e-conferencing certainly has its benefits, it also comes with a couple of disadvantages. E-conferencing requires that every important member of the conference have a stable Internet connection. Without a stable connection, key speakers, presenters or guests may get disconnected from the conference, missing or taking with them valuable information. E-conferencing, depending on the methods used, can also be very difficult and time consuming to set up, sometimes requiring technical expertise to set up and utilize the technology.

References

• Inclen Trust: E-Conferencing
• Web Conferencing Zone: History of Web Conferencing