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Webcam Conferencing: the New Wave in Inexpensive Online Meetings

Is it time for you to give webcam conferencing a try? If you have meetings not quite important enough to justify flying, but still needing that personal touch, try webcam conferencing.

Webcams are cheap, easy to use, and have much better clarity these days than a few years ago. Prices range from $28 to $200+ depending on the features you want. If you just want to talk with your friends or family you can get by with a lower-priced model. Planning to use this for business meetings? I personally like the Logitechs.

Whatever you decide on, it should be a USB webcam. You'll plug it into your PC, run a quick installation, and you're ready to go! (See link in this article's resource box for webcam brands/prices.)

Using for Family:

Now that you have your webcam, how do you start with webcam conferencing? Easy. Try it out with your instant messaging software. AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger all work with webcams. Ask one of your friends to chat with you so you can sit down and practice.

Business Use:

Using your webcam for business? Chances are you don't plan to go down the "video-enabled instant message" route. You're more likely to integrat with your web conference software's video streaming features.

You'll definitely want to practice the integration with your web conference software. Figure out how to turn the video streaming on and off, how to adjust the resolution and speed, just for starters. By the way, if you don't already have a web conference vendor there's a great 14-day free trial available to let you practice. See this article's resource box for a link.

Points to Remember:

You'll want to speak a tinch more slowly than normal. This is actually a recommendation for all presenters, but is even more relevent in webcam conferencing.

Be comfortable with your webcam features. If yours includes lighting adjustments or image enhancement you'll want to invest fifteen minutes to learn how it works. Use that free web conference trial to practice the various adjustments and decide what you like.

That's it! You're ready to join the webcam conferencing world.