An eMeeting is a meeting that takes place over an electronic medium using a specific software package. Using eMeeting is a cheap alternative to traveling physically to a location to meet with a client or other part of the company. The term eMeeting can also apply to a brand of dating software. However, the dating application is not the focus of this article.
As business continue to struggle with the rising costs of business travel, there are a number of alternatives being marketed. One of those is eMeeting software. This software will help facilitate a meeting in a number of different ways, only one of which is providing video conferencing capabilities. The eMeeting platform has the potential to save businesses millions in travel and communications expenses, according to one software manufacturer.
The key to any eMeeting is VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol. This allows for natural voice transmission over the Internet and has replaced telephone applications in some situations. Without this capability, eMeeting capabilities would be substantially reduced, though not totally eliminated.
For those who are participating in an eMeeting, the features some software packages offer may not be much different than what they could expect if they were at the physical meeting location. Some even offer real-time drawing applications, such as what one may expect to see from a lecturer using a white board. In one section of the monitor, a person may be explaining a concept as he is drawing a chart or an writing an outline that appears on another section of the monitor.
For those who are unable to attend the live eMeeting, there is another option. Some software applications offer the advantage to save the video portions, or the entire meeting, for later playback. This is, obviously, something that could never be done in a traditional meeting. It ensures that an executive, no matter how busy he or she may be, always has access to an important meeting.
The best eMeeting software will also include a number of other features, such as integration with different operating systems and other software. This allows for the information taken from the meeting and used in multiple ways. Further, because not everyone operates on the same software platform, even within a business, the multi-platform feature may be critical.
In addition to some of these newer features, eMeeting software may also include a number of well-known features such as instant messaging and file sharing. These features are very useful to nearly every user, many of whom already have a basic familiarity with their operations. While an eMeeting option may not be the best choice in every situation, it may substantially change the way a company does business.