Digital Solutions Report: Online Meeting Software & Skype

This report examines Skype as a digital solution for online meetings, addressing the needs of a company with geographically dispersed senior management. It provides an overview of Skype, including its features like voice and video calls, screen sharing, and file transfer capabilities. The report details ...Read More

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Work Progress

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Online meeting software report.......................................................................................................1
Preparing Online meeting................................................................................................................4
Power Point Presentation (attached with the file)............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
As the company has expanded over various countries such as Sydney, Melbourne and
Brisbane and various senior authorities and managers are situated at different offices across these
countries, the senior managers have to travel across for accompanying in the meeting, so the
company is looking for various online solutions as they are planning to make half of their
meetings online so that the senior managers and authorities does not have to waste their time in
travelling (Llobregat- Gómez and et.al, 2015). They also focus on the fact that along with video
conferencing, various files may also have to be transferred from one side to another, so it is
essential for the company to choose that online software that will help the company in enabling
the online meetings and the transfer of data as well. The report is about the involvement of an
online software that it can help the company in scheduling the meetings without any issue or
interruption.
Online meeting software report
There can be various potential solutions for making the meetings online, that the
company can use but three examples of it are discussed as below :
Skype
Skype is known as a software that makes it possible to make free calls to anyone across
anyone in the whole world but the next party must have an internet access. It can be used for
personal as well as business objectives.
Hangouts
Hangouts is also an online software for video calling which can involve the participation
of 10 or fewer members and is often considered better than a web chat.
Vyew
Vyew is a software that has lower costs as well as it is free. Although it has a paid
version as well but the free version is considered better as it is rich enough for web conferencing.
Although it is not a simple task to use it like the other online software are but it takes a little time
to be familiar with the features etc. Another advantage of this is its compatibility on every
operating system. It does face any issue with different operating systems.
Skype can be considered the best solution for the company as it is free to use and along with this,
it also enables the sharing of data and information as well. So, it is completing the requirement of
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the company. So, Skype can be most relevant solution for the company. Further, details are
discussed as under :
Name of the software : Skype
Key features including the system and equipment requirements : There can be various
factors of using Skype which acts as the key features of the software and these can be the voice
calls, video calls, online meetings, instant messaging (IM). These are discussed as under :
 Calling from Skype to Skype contacts is absolutely free. The senior managers can also
install the online software because to make calls on Skype, it is important for both the
bodies to have the software. Only then, it can be possible to make calls. For calling to any
other mobile network or any land line number, it can be made possible either by the
Skype wallet or by taking any subscription (Vitaliev and Sangani, 2010).
 Although the software does not support any emergency calls as well but this services is
available for a few countries in which Australia is one of them.
 Skype supports group calls as well. The online software can accommodate up to 25
people at a time. 25 or less than that people can talk on a group video call without any
interruption.
 Skype also allows a very essential and interesting feature of sharing screen. The other
body can be able to see the screen of the first body, thus if they want, they can also
manage the operations after sharing the screen. Also, files and documents can also be
shared to each other with the help of Skype. So, data sharing cannot be termed as an issue
in the process of video conferencing meeting (Llobregat- Gómez and et.al, 2015).
Plans/Pricing : There are different plans for different packs and these are discussed as under :
Skype to Skype calls
The users of Skype can make calls to any other person who is also using Skype. The
video as well as the voice calls are free of cost. At a time, 25 or less people can be involved in
the voice or video calling. It is totally free to contact Skype members, whether it is about the
messaging or making the calls.
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Outgoing calls
As Skype users can call every other Skype member but along with it, they can also
contact or call on other ongoing numbers. As the Skype to Skype calls are free but these
outgoing calls not free of cost. Instead, they can be charged from the Skype wallet or through
buying any subscription. Various schemes have been made and changed as well from the years.
In 2007, Skype Pro was developed as an initiation by Skype which was considered as a pre paid
plan subscription for unlimited calls but it was limited to a few countries only. It was not meant
for Australia.
Toll free numbers
Although Skype does not support any emergency and the toll free numbers but the
service has been made available to a few countries such as Australia, Austria etc. In some other
countries as well, it has been provided but then removed because of some personal security
reasons. So, the people in Australia can make any toll free call as well from the Skype. Although
they can call on any toll free number but calls on emergency number can also be done in a few
countries as well.
Key benefits : There are various benefits of using Skype as an application of making the video
calls possible across the work along with the sharing of data and information as well. Some key
benefits are discussed as under :
 The biggest advantage is that Skype is free of cost and one can also test it by making no
investment and trying calling to any other Skype contact.
 Although the calling within the Skype members is free of cost and the outgoing calls are
chargeable, still the cost of those calls are low as compared with the other online
software's. The subscription plans are better according to the plans and pricing strategy of
other video calling software's.
 Like in the company, one party can check that if the other party is available or not. It is
easy to check the status of the person whether they are active or away. When someone
does not want any interference, they can also set the DND (Do not disturb)mode for the
other to see that the person is engaged in some work and needs no interference.
 The transfer of files and data is easy on the online application as it supports the files till
300 MB whereas other software's and applications have a limited capacity of 25 MB or
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less. Still, if one wants to share any file larger than 300 MB, then they can make use of
the One drive for transferring such big data.
 There are high privacy features in Skype that while the video calling between two bodies,
any third party cannot be able to track it or get the recording. Various security measures
have been added in Skype to maintain the privacy and security features for the Skype
contacts.
Preparing Online meeting
Skype is considered as one of the best Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system. It
makes use of its own protocol that is based on peer to peer networking (P2P). It makes an ad hoc
connection between the two computers on the internet (Vitaliev and Sangani, 2010). While
preparing the online meeting between the two bodies, there are some steps that need to be
followed properly so that there could not be any interruption or interference while the meeting is
going on. The first three steps are discussed as following :
Scheduling the meeting
For scheduling the meeting, it is important to have a user ID and password from the
organisation that is to be used for calling the other body (Llobregat- Gómez and et.al, 2015). The
User ID and password is the first step for making the own account for calling any other contact
of Skype or on any outgoing number. One can also send a pre calling message to the body to be
on time and does not miss any documentation that can be required at the time of calling.
Preparing the meeting
While preparing for the meeting, it is important to test the audio and video output and
quality so that neither the first or the second party will have to face any sort of difficulty while in
the middle of the meeting. If the output of audio or video is not better before the meeting, it can
be repaired but if testing is not done, then it can create a huge amount of problems in the middle
of the meeting. Presentations made can be pre loaded as when the screen will be shared, there
will be no issue of the buffering or streaming as it can be irritating for the members and also a
time waste process.
Starting the meeting
When the person is done with the checking of the outputs and everything, they can check
the status of person as well. If the other person is not available, they can make an outgoing call
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or wait for a little time to come the person online. Following steps will be followed by the
company then to start the call :
 Holding the Ctrl key present on the keyboard and then in the search box, enter the name
or company of the person with whom the calling has to be done.
 Right clicking on them, click on start the conference call (Zhou, Whyte and Sacks, 2012).
 Then, call will be made to the other party free if the other person or organisation is on
Skype as well, instead charges will be drawn out of the Skype wallet or the subscriptions.
There are some protocols that are being used in the whole process of video calling and
conferencing between the two bodies and these are described as under :
Transmission control protocol (TCP) : Transmission control protocol is considered as a
transport protocol that makes the transportation of data into smaller packets. Usually, it
transforms the alpha numeric data. And stops itself whenever the data is being lost. It guarantees
the error free transmission. But there is an issue with it that it produces minimized throughput
which can be irritating and annoying for the member's sitting in the meeting.
User datagram protocol (UDP) : UDP is within the stack of the internet protocol (IP). In this, a
small issue happens as in maintaining the flow of the stack, sometimes data is being lost.
Real time protocol (RTP) : RTP is used for maintaining the streaming of the audio and video or
presentations that are being discussed on the video calls. This protocol is also considered as a
part of the User datagram protocol but the difference between the both is the sequence number
and time stamp that has been added to the header of the packet (Bechhofer and et.al, 2010).
Real time control protocol (RTCP) : RTCP is another protocol that has the responsibility of
controlling the real time protocol and its specific operations as well.
Some short tips that should be considered for a better and efficient Skype meeting are as under :
 Adding the contacts that are important member's of the company. Any emergency can
occur or any urgent meeting can be fixed, for that it will help as the people are already
been added and it will not take any more time in that.
 Being there before the other party, is essential. It is because before the meeting, the
connections and outputs of audio and video can be checked so that if there may eb any
issue, it can be sorted before the meeting only. If they are not fixed at that time and issues
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will occur at the time of video calling or conference, it may act troublesome and irritating
as well for the team members. Coming online at the exact time can be troublesome as it
will be a difficult procedure for fixing the issues at that time. So, it needs to be fixed
before, so it is better to come online before the actual time.
 Turning off the other applications can prove beneficial. It is obvious enough that while
the video conferencing will be going on and there will be pop ups of the e-mails or any
other messages, it acts as a form of distraction from the main topic. So, it can be a better
idea to turn off all the notifications of other applications during the conference. After that,
it can be turned on as general.
 Maintaining the accuracy of the internet connection is necessary as well and acts as an
important key factor. It is because if the meeting has been planned and the other party is
ready for the set up and the first party has to face some network issues, it can leave a very
bad impression on the other team. So, maintaining it properly is very important. Checking
of the wires and connections by the technicians on a regular basis is important so that the
company may not have to face any sort of trouble in the middle of the meeting (Blank,
2012). If these issues have been considered before only, then it can be easy and simple
for the company to resolve the issue. These small factors lead a very negative impression
on the other team.
 Setting the duration of the conference is also important. It is because when the duration of
the meeting has been planned already, then the members know very well how to manage
and cover all the topics within that specific time only. Otherwise, when the team
members get engaged in the meeting, they forget to focus on the time which further leads
to a huge amount of time consumption of both the parties. So, it is better to decide the
time duration before the meeting so that both the teams can discuss their ideas and views
and finish within that time only (Tips for better Skype meetings, 2017).
 Practising before can never be a bad idea and about the information the person is going to
speak. Both of these are essential features. It is better to do the research before and revise
it in a way that the person may not be interrupted or feel blank in between. It increases
the confidence level of the person, thus making the whole presentation more better and
effective. One can also invite the other members of the team as well in practising so that
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it would have been decided already that what is to speak and in which way so that it
seems presentable enough to the other party and they feel impressed.
 Setting the time zone is also an essential factor and it can be easily done with the help of
a world clock. This can help in getting the idea of the time of that zone where the meeting
has been planned and it will not lack in accuracy then (Bechhofer and et.al, 2010). It is
also important to maintain a time which will be suitable for both the parties as it has not
to be done that the time set is the day time for one party and mid night for the other., so
these factors should be keep in mind in order to face any issue. The members of the team
also will have to face issues while conferencing in the mid night. So it cannot turn into an
effective one and there would be many chances as well of losing the grip of the meeting
and excluding some major important points as well.
Ways of using audio and share documents
Before the starting of the meeting, it is essential to test the audio and the video outputs.
The audio can be heard by either the speaker or by the mic. Any other audio device can also be
added in order to take the output. While in the chat box while messaging on the Skype, there is
an icon present at the side of that message box. From there different files can be selected which
are to be send to the user on the other side. The files can be any data such as it can be pictures,
videos, files etc. Skype supports size of the file to be shared as 300 MB (Vitaliev and Sangani,
2010). It does not support files larger than this. So, for sending larger files, the company can
make use of cloud as it has the speciality of storing and sending even files of bigger data as well.
Sharing of any other information may involve sharing of confidential information or data as well.
So, for maintaining the privacy and security of the information, the user can logout of the system
on a continuous basis. It means when the meeting has been planned, accessing the user ID for
only that time can help in protecting the leaking of any information regarding it. By this way,
files can be shared through Skype.
Power Point Presentation (attached with the file)
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the report that as the company has been expanded in three parts
of the world and senior managers live across these locations. So the company faces some issues
in arranging the meetings. The company has decided to make their 50% meetings online. So,
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Skype has been considered as the most essential online application that can help the company in
effective video calling and the efficient transfer of files as well. Various online protocols have
also been used which controls the audio and video output along with the streaming of it etc. It
also includes the structure of preparing any online meeting or conference. Also, various ways by
which the files and data can be shared among the two parties has been included.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Brynjolfsson, E. and McAfee, A., 2014. The second machine age: Work, progress, and
prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. WW Norton & Company.
Blank, S., 2012. The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great
company. BookBaby.
Zhou, W., Whyte, J. and Sacks, R., 2012. Construction safety and digital design: A
review. Automation in Construction. 22. pp.102-111.
da Silva, F.Q. and et.al., 2010, August. Challenges and solutions in distributed software
development project management: A systematic literature review. In Global Software
Engineering (ICGSE), 2010 5th IEEE International Conference on (pp. 87-96). IEEE.
Llobregat-Gómez, N. and et.al., 2015, September. Work in progress: Blended learning activities
development. In Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL), 2015 International
Conference on (pp. 79-81). IEEE.
Bechhofer, S. and et.al., 2010. Research objects: Towards exchange and reuse of digital
knowledge.
Marston, S. and et.al., 2011. Cloud computing—The business perspective. Decision support
systems. 51(1). pp.176-189.
Vitaliev, V. and Sangani, K., 2010. Inside skype. Engineering & Technology. 5(6). pp.28-29.
Online
Tips for better Skype meetings. 2017. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.chrisg.com/tips-
for-better-skype-meetings/>.
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