Video conferencing is a type of virtual communication between two people or groups of people (the latter is more common or just logical) or between a person and a group of people (as it is usually a case with applying video conferencing for education purposes), when you actually can see, listen and talk to the people, who are situated in a different location, probably in a different city or even a different country as if you were in the same room.

Video conferencing services come in handy in a number of situations with annual meetings, board meetings, E-learning, training sessions, press conferences, product rollouts being chief among them. Cost effective and reliable video conference communication is beneficial in every way.

Apart from saving travel time and expenses, it allows improving business efficiency, contributes to security and to fast and integrated decision-making. It can give individuals who are not able to attend the conference due to their physical condition a chance to participate and make their voice heard.

Video conferencing requires such equipment as video cameras, microphones, speakers, a high-specification computer, video-conferencing software, peripherals as well as Internet connection of decent speed (ADSL). Transmission lines are used to exchange video and audio information among the participants. The speed of the Internet connection is of crucial importance: the higher the speed the better the quality of the image transmitted.

As well, in a video conference the sound is more important that the video. If the picture gets blurred – it's one thing, but if the sound gets muffled or disappears – it's another one and very bad: you will not know what the people are saying. Therefore, it is advisable to make sure that your speakers are in working order.

There are two types of video conferencing in terms of the number of locations involved in the communication: point-to-point and multi-point conferences. Most video-conferencing systems offer a point-to-point communication able to connect two parties or locations. When more parties are engaged in a meeting or they apply different protocols (e.g. IP vs ISDN), then it is appropriate to install a MultiPoint Control Unit that would enable a multi-point video conferencing.

As for the video images present on screens of participants, they come in various arrangements, the principle ones including a voice activated video, quad split and picture in a picture.

• Quad split is divided into 4 quadrants and offers a continuous presence of all parties provided their number does not exceed 4. If there are more participants, the 4th quadrant works in a voice activated video mode.

• Picture in a picture shows your own site inside the other picture during the conference.

For a video conference to be successful, it is wise to appoint a moderator, who will control who speaks and who uses the screen and the whiteboard. The parties should compile a list of questions and points beforehand to use the time they pay for the conference in the most productive way.

Though video conference equipment used to be heavily priced and companies had to turn a pocket to rent a chat room, now there is a plethora of cost effective choices that allow customers to make an extensive use of this most space-age and integrated kind of distance interaction of the day.