Shareware Web ConferencingThe first web conferencing software to emerge in the market was a prototype with more or less primitive features. It was considered as freeware and only very few people took to it. Today however, there are well over 60 commercial and share web conferencing products available and many of them are quite sophisticated that can support conferencing on the web in one form or another. But what is web conferencing? Most of all, what is shareware web conferencing? Let’s start with the former. Web conferencing is actually a term used to define a system where participants can attend a meeting online via their computer. The software comes with the basic screen sharing feature, which allows meeting participants to view and control the computer screen of others. Web conferencing is often sold as a service, either in-house (through the customer’s intranet) or external (through a hosted server). Either way, you will have to pay for the service according to the pricing plans and pricing options offered by the vendor. What is shareware web conferencing? With shareware web conferencing, on the other hand, the pricing is quite different. Shareware web conferencing are essentially free but there are certain limitations. It could be that the vendor is offering their shareware web conferencing application for free use for a set period of time. In this way, you can use the shareware web conferencing system as much as you want without paying any fee. This type of shareware web conferencing is called the trial version. Sometimes, vendors may offer their shareware web conferencing application for free but the version is limited. Your shareware web conferencing software does not have the same full-set of features as the one which can be purchased. But usually, the features that are present are enough to get you started. Shareware Web Conferencing: Basic Features As mentioned earlier, the most basic feature of any web conferencing tool, whether it’s paid or shareware web conferencing, is screen sharing. But there are also other features found in shareware web conferencing applications. Most shareware web conferencing software have slide presentation capabilities, using PowerPoint or some such program. Application sharing is also another feature which you can find in shareware web conferencing. This allows you to manipulate an application program in the presenter’s screen, say, a spreadsheet perhaps. A text-based chat facility may also be included but some shareware web conferencing software products forego that option. Voice communication is the standard now so you can expect your shareware web conferencing tool to be voice-enabled, either through a regular, telephone network or VoIP.
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