Video Conferencing Technology

Videoconferencing is a method of communicating between two or more locations where
sound, vision and data signals are conveyed electronically to enable simultaneous interactive
communication.

Significance of topic

Videoconferencing is still relatively new for the Internet, but its popularity is growing
quickly. It is a full-motion, two-way, video/audio system that permits two or more
people in different locations to communicate with each other. Two-way
videoconferencing is often used for large groups and by colleges and universities that
offer video courses.


Videoconferencing is often used in distance learning and Web-based courses. Colleges
and universities have been providing live broadcasts of lectures and seminars to some of
their students who are unable to travel to class sites. The justification of using
videoconferencing in education may also come from concepts and principles related to
social learning and social constructivist theory.


In business settings, videoconferencing is used for employee training, group work or to
introduce a new product, service or procedure.
Understanding what are required for videoconferencing and what software programs are
available becomes more and more important to people working in education and business, and also for those who are enthusiastic about personal communication in this
way.

Hardware Requirements for Videoconferencing:

• Computer (PC or Mac) with fast processor speed and large RAM
• Video camcorder (which requires a video capture card for PC or AV card for
Mac)
• Speakers
• Microphone

Internet Connection Requirements for Videoconferencing:

• ISDN or
• ADSL or
• Two-way cable modem or
• Other high speed connections

Software:

The two most popular videoconferencing software being used over the Internet are CUSeeMe
and Microsoft NetMeeting.

A. CU-SeeMe

CU-SeeMe is a videoconferencing program which combines audio, video and text-based
chat capabilities that can be used equally as well with both PCs and Macs. It is an
application initially developed at Cornell University (therefore the "CU") and later further
developed by White Pine Software (the product is called Enhance CU-SeeMe). With
CU-SeeMe, you can videoconference with another site located anywhere in the world.

By using a reflector, which are videoconferencing chat rooms, you can see and communicate

with a number of people from different sites at the same time.

B. Microsoft NetMeeting

Microsoft's NetMeeting is an Internet videoconferencing package. It can be used over the
local LAN, the Internet, ISDN, or over 14.4kbps+ modems. NetMeeting supports the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323 standard for audio and video
conferencing and can thus interoperate with other H.323 compliant software packages.
H.323 itself is a family of standards that define the transmission of audio and video. It
includes H.263 video, G.711 and G.723 audio codecs. NetMeeting also supports the
IETF's RTP/RTCP protocol which provides time stamping and synchronization control
for the audio flow.