What is Videoconferencing?
A videoconference or video conference (also known as a videoteleconference and telepresence) is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a type of groupware.
Videoconferencing differs from videophone calls in that it's designed to serve a conference rather than individuals. It is an intermediate form of videotelephony, first deployed commercially during the early 1970s.
Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. This can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards.
There are different types of videoconference systems.
At first there is Immersive Telepresence. This set of technologies allow people to feel as if they are present at another location.
Then you have the smaller Telepresence Systems that are dedicated for videoconferencing in a meeting room. These come in different types and sizes.
And another type of videoconferencing are the Personal Telepresence Systems. These can be dedicated systems but can also be software clients to be installed on a personal computer.
