Seminars and Conferences are professional activities. Professionals used to take formal leave from
college and universities to attend the Seminar. There are Registration charges which vary from
institution to institution Any Professional would like to attend the Seminar as they know the topic and
are enthusiastic to learn about it. Professionals gather together and meet each other. They know each
other and discuss different subjects related to their profession. These meetings of intellectuals give rise
to new innovations. Seminars and conferences give participants to present their papers and later on, get
published named conference proceedings. The seminar helps every participant to update their
knowledge on that particular topic. After the seminar, the participation certificate in hard copy was
distributed. But COVID-19 has changed a lot of things as seminars on the web and so it is named
Webinar.
The Webinar is done online. As the name suggests, the platform is on the Web. Professionals are
getting webinar information on WhatsApp and Telegram Groups. Professionals have to click the
registration form and thus the process gets completed within minutes. The message of confirmation
gets on the registered mail. The link to the webinar and timing details are given in that email. The
organizers of the webinar send reminders one hour before through email. We have to click ten minutes
before the time of the webinar otherwise, it may that due to the limited participant number, permission
is rejected for joining. After joining the webinar few minutes is a trial and error game as some others
start presenting and sometimes times main speaker or guest is left out and not able to join due to the
full strength of the participants. Somebody leaves then they join. Sometimes times speaker connection
is disconnected. So these are part of the Webinar Technical problems. The participants are warned to
mute themselves, and even then somebody unmutes it and creates problems for the speaker and
participants. Later participants as the time reaches to finish, start to write for feedback links. Then
organizers put a feedback link and participants fill out this form and submit it. The certificate is mailed
to our Inbox. Some Professionals are very happy to receive these certificates and post them on
Facebook and other social networking sites. But the real issue is that prestigious institutions like ILA
(Indian Library Association) are also issuing these webinar certificates but some professionals claim
their validity. But at the end of the day, knowledge matters for these webinar participants.
Webinars are conducted on different platforms and so their apps are to be downloaded. The following
are the apps mentioned below:
1. Google Meet- Hangouts Meet is now Google Meet. Advanced Google Meet video conferencing has
larger meetings with up to 250 participants. It is free for businesses on G Suite through September 30,
2020. If you have a Google account you can use Google Meet. It keeps you connected with video
conferences built on Google’s robust and secure global infrastructure. Meet is included with G Suite
and g Suite for education. It is trusted by enterprises around the world. Just set up a meeting by sharing
link. Its interface is very lightweight. Meet is fully integrated with G Suite. Gartner names Google
Meetings Solutions a Peer Insights Customer’s Choice for 2018. It's very simple in three steps. Start
Video, Join, and Add people to a meeting.
2. Zoom Meetings- It is an American Communication technology company situated with its
headquarters in California. It provides video telephony and chat services through this software
platform. It is the most popularly used teleconferencing platform for webinars and providing online
education. The Government of India, Ministry of Home warned regarding Zoom App usage as it was
not safe. The Computer Emergency Response Team of India cautioned against the vulnerability of the
app. However, lots of webinars of prestigious institutions were organized on Zoom App. Schools are
still conducting classes on this App. Zoom has made a place in India and people are very comfortable
in using this app. Initially, due to COVID-19, it is free with 100 participants and after that it is
chargeable. It gets disconnected as time restrictions are there in the free edition.
3. GoToMeeting- It is a web hosting service developed by LogMein.It is designed for online meetings
and video conferencing. It is also a very good app enabling users to conduct online meetings, trainings,
and webinars. Its headquarters is in Boston, US.
4. Uber Conference- It is a cloud-based conferencing app from Dialpad. It is built on WebRTC, as it
provides real-time call control. Its other features are basic calls, HD Audio, document sharing, Call
Recording, and detailed profiles on callers from media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and
Linkedin.UberConference has been integrated into file hosting services from Box, dropbox and
EverNote. Brian Peterson Co-Founder of UberConference. Its headquarters is in San Francisco (US).
5. LifeSize- This company provides cloud-based video conferencing services. It offers proprietary
software for 4K video conferencing, audio, and video devices. It is used in education, media, and other
technology industries. Craig Malloy is the CEO of this company. Its headquarters is in Austin, US.
6. Skype- it is the oldest technology company used for video conferencing and is still strong as it
developed an app for instant messaging, real-time video, and voice communication. It provides
software and mobile application that allows professionals to call and chat. Its headquarters is in
Redmond, US.
7. Ready Talk-It provides communications through audio, web, and video conferencing, webinars and
webcasts. It has a long list of product solutions range consisting of web conferencing, audio
conferencing, video collaboration, mobile conferencing webinars, etc. Its headquarter is in Denver,
The US. It was founded in 2000. Dan King Founder and CEO of this company.
8. Star Leaf- It delivers HD video calling and conferencing solutions. It is provider and manufacturer
of messaging and video conferencing services. Mark Richer and Willaim MacDonald are the
cofounders of this company.
9. GoToWebinar-It is a platform that helps to provide online and video conferencing with customers,
colleagues, professionals, etc. The applications of GoToWebinar are very efficient. This application
gives excellent options for professionals and companies that want to reach their audience. This
platform best suitable for webinars and training. Its interface is very simple and user-friendly. It is a
a very good tool to effectively promote your online event. GoToWebinar supports all devices like
Windows, Android, iPhone, Mac. The pricing model is available for monthly payment and Annual
Subscription. Its customers are small businesses, Large enterprises, Medium Businesses and
Freelancers.
10. Cisco Webex – It is the leading conferencing platform having partners like CNN. It is also an
American company develops and sells web conferencing and video applications. It was founded by
WebEx in 1995 and was taken over by Cisco Systems in 2007. Its headquarters is in Milpitas,
California. Its founders were Subrah Iyar and MinZhu.It has lots of products namely Webex Meetings,
Webex Teams, Webex Training Centre, Webex Support Centre, Webex Event Centre, Webex Enterprise
Edition and Webex Connect.
11.AnyMeeting- It provides web conferencing and webinar for small business. It helps users to host
and attend web-based conferences and meetings. This application is also web-based software. In
In August 2017, AnyMeeting had over one million registered users.
12. Ring Central Meetings-This application lets users meet, share, and collaborate with anyone,
anywhere in real-time. It is an HD video conferencing and screen-sharing solution. One can host
unlimited videoconference calls and share content in a meeting with anyone. It can have an online
meetings up to 500 video participants. Its release date is December 2107.
13. Microsoft Teams- It is a Communication and Collaboration platform that combines persistent
workplace chat, video meetings, file store, get, and application integration. This service integrates with
office 365. It is available in 26 languages. Microsoft announced Teams at an event in New York and
launched the service worldwide on March 12, 2107.
14. YouTube –It is also a popular platform for webinars these days. It is an American online video
sharing application. Its headquarters is in San Bruno, California. Three former PayPal employees
Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim developed this service in February 2005. Google bought this site
in November 2006. It is one of Google's subsidiaries.Its CEO Susan Wojcicki.
15. FreeConferenceCall.com- This is a website founded in 2001 in Ling Beach, California, US. The
company is one of the largest providers of conference call services online. David Erickson owner of
this company. It was launched on October 26, 2001.
Thus these above-mentioned tools are very effective in communicating with others living in remote
places. One can see the body language and facial expressions of participants. This platform was made
popular due to COVID-19, which created this sort of environment. Everybody needed these platforms
to discuss and meet. These applications fulfilled everyone's needs and desire to communicate officially
or personally. These applications are a boon for professionals who use these platforms to conduct
webinars. Things were made easier for people due to these web conferencing tools.
0 Comments