By Arthur Orchid

In 1999 I was working for a company having offices and subsidiaries in several coutries (Seattle (USA), Dublin (UK), Paris (France), Sydney (Australia), etc.) It would have been too expensive to pay flights tickets for all this staff to attend the weekly meetings. Web based conferencing became evident at this time.

I was a little bit apprehensive about first installing web based conferencing. It wasn't that it was prohibitively expensive or that I didn't think that we could use it, but I was worried about becoming too dependent on the new gadget. You see, we have gotten by without ever having a web based conference for years. As a matter of fact, we had few conference calls at all. I had seen businesses become completely dependent on web based conferencing systems, systems that were complex and sometimes failed. Many of these companies did perfectly well without the technology for a while, but once they got it, they couldn't do without it. I was afraid that if our Web conferencing software went off-line, we would be paralyzed.

Fortunately, we have a top-notch guy in IT working in Seattle. He assured me that the web based video conferencing program that we were using was extremely reliable, and that he would personally take responsibility for ensuring that it worked all the time. That's why I hired him: that willingness to step up to the plate and go the extra mile to make sure that things get done. Although it took a while to set up the web based conferencing software, once he did we were all eager to try it. We set up an experimental meeting with all of the various regional offices. We had a new sales policy and, rather than sending out an e-mail about it, we allowed our sales expert to give a lecture on it.


I was surprised by how much more effective it was. It's no secret that half of the people in the company never read the sales e-mails at all. They figure that they know how to do their jobs well enough without the new jargon and techniques. Once they were actually forced to sit and listen to it, however, I could tell that they were tuning in and picking up some useful tips. They asked intelligent questions that proved that they were listening, and helped illuminate the lesson further.

Since then, we have continued using the web based conferencing on a weekly basis. Most of our most important communication still take place over e-mail or in person, but slowly web-based video conferencing becamea bigger and bigger part of our company. It allowed us to check in on each other more thoroughly and communicate more efficiently, things that can only strengthen the company.

Have you ever used Web Based Conferencing? Do you prefer the solutions such as launching your webcam and a software like Skype?



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By Arthur Orchid

When you start building your own business saving some money in all possible ways can be critical. This is obviously where downloading and burning your softwares from the editors' websites can help you limiting your expenses. Let's see in this article how to do that...

By chance, there're more than one way to get good software, and the safest is probably going to a store and buying it straight off the shelf. However, because we live in a fast world, there're new and faster ways to get what you want most of the time. You can in most cases buy software online, even if you will not get all you can find in the store. As usual, there're a few cons to this, even when you are getting a good deal. When you're in a hurry, and need something right now or something hard to find, buying software online is probably the very best way to go as long as you know exactly what you're doing.

In this context of buying software online, you only have to download it after you have paid for it. You can usually pay with your credit card or your Paypal account, and that's usually instant. Depending on your Internet connection speed, in most cases this is just a matter of minutes. When you've got a slower speed it might take a while, but it'll still be faster than going to the store. Remember that phone calls can interrupt a dial up connection, so be sure you have it set to stay on when the phone rings so you don't have to start all over again when you buy software online.

As you need to use your credit card when buying software over the Internet, you should make sure you know who you are dealing with when you purchase. With websites such as Adobe, you're safe. If you find something for free, do some research to be sure you are dealing with a good site. Some will give you free software, but they have hidden some goodies inside. Sometimes these programs will come with spyware, and some will even come with viruses that will completely wipe out your computer. Never forget to analyze the software you've just downloaded running your antivirus software. If you wish software for free start looking for open source softwares. Most open source projects are hosted at Sourceforge, IMO this is a good place to start your researches. Another website I recommend you is Open source windows. It will introduce you the open source softwares I use legally for free every day.

The main reason for downloading a software is getting a better price. If you're not comfortable with downloading and burning the software, feel free to buy it online from Amazon or even eBay. It's often possible to make also a good shopping from those popular websites. And you've got a huge advantage with those companies you can feel very confident without any risk!

Last but not least when you buy software online from a site you know, you can be sure you're getting a clean copy of whatever it is that you need.If you want to buy software online, but you aren't sure if the site is secure or trustworthy, type the name of the site into a search engine and go through at least three pages of results to see if anyone has had a problem with them. If you don't find anything negative, and the site is not new, you can be reasonably sure it's safe to buy from them. Just remember that once you buy software online and download it, you will not have a back up CD as you would if you bought it in the store. That means you should burn it in a blank CD to make your own copy so you have it safe if something were to happen to the one you bought. Don't wait to do it, just burn it after you're sure it doesn't contain any virus or spyware. I hope this article provided you with the knowledge and understanding you were looking for.

To Your Success!