Teleconferences

In the past, the term "teleconference" used to be synonymous to "telephone call". This is because of the fact that the term "teleconference" used to refer to any business talks or conferences held over the phone line. As a lot of people know, communication is a very vital factor in business. Without constant communication, a business could easily fall into demise. However, any respectable entrepreneur also knows that travel is essential to keeping your enterprise intact. The marriage of these two factors resulted in the development and constant use of the teleconference.

The definition of "teleconference" today is drastically different from before. The main factor for this drastic change is the development of the internet. Because of the internet, a teleconference today involves so much more than a bunch of people sitting around a speaker phone and talking about how business went for the day.

The teleconference today is one of the most powerful business tools in existence. A teleconference today allows people to connect even from a distance in ways that were not possible before. Actually, the teleconference of today need not be for business purposes only, although this still remains to be the most common use for it.

What distinguishes the teleconference of today is the type of communication that occurs. Through a video teleconference today, people are able to talk face to face, even if they aren't actually in the same place. With the technology today, a teleconference can support so much more than voice.

In fact, a typical teleconference today actually empowers people to be in a meeting without physically being there. This means that through a typical teleconference a person will be able to make reports, present concepts, pitch ideas and so much more. How is this possible? The internet, as you may know, allows people to actually share different types of information. By using the internet to share various documents and paperwork, people can make the actual appearance of a person unnecessary.

One resource that the teleconference saves is time. In the past, people had to rush for a morning meeting. They needed to take the appropriate amount of time to prepare their presentation materials and their reports. In a teleconference, people are able to share the needed information directly from their computers. This means that people need not waste time on print-outs and on switching on other machines needed for presentation.

This brings us to the other resource that a teleconference saves: money. Although a teleconference does require a connection to work, it actually saves a lot of cash. Think about it: instead of consuming gas in order to drive to the office for a meeting, a person can just turn on the computer. Instead of spending a lot of money on print-outs which will be discarded right after the meeting, a person can just send the information directly to those who will need it. After the information is used, people can just delete it. No resources are wasted.

There are, of course, certain disadvantages to holding a teleconference. One of the biggest disadvantages is the fact that there are certain types of meetings which requires a person's presence. One such meeting is a sales pitch. A lot of entrepreneurs know that despite all the facts and information one can present about a particular product, people buy the seller in the end.

In a teleconference, people are unable to fully project their personalities to the people they are talking to. Even a video teleconference lacks something significant that makes effective communication. For one thing, a video teleconference does not really allow for eye contact. Another is that a video teleconference hinders people from actually observing every gesture. As you may know, knowing every minute detail about a person is important if you are making a decision that could leave your company's fate at his hands.

Another issue regarding teleconferencing is the fact that you can't actually do it anywhere. Although some laptops and cellular phones today can actually support the transfer of files and images through the internet, mobile teleconference technology is still much too young to be called stable. Because of this, the best teleconference technology has to offer today is a nearer place for you to hold your meetings.