Comparison of Web Conferencing Providers and Required Skills

This report provides a comprehensive comparison between two web conferencing providers: Microsoft Skype for Business and ezTalks. It details their features, applications, and suitability for various business needs, highlighting differences in user capacity, security, and cost. The analysis emphasizes the strengths of each platform, such as Skype's versatility in handling different communication channels and ezTalks' suitability for smaller group interactions. Furthermore, the report discusses the essential skills required for conducting effective online research, including source evaluation, developing search queries, and maintaining patience. It also addresses the challenges faced by researchers, such as assessing source reliability and overcoming difficulties in formulating effective research questions. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of selecting appropriate web conferencing tools and the significance of developing strong research skills for successful project completion. The report also highlights the significance of selecting appropriate web conferencing tools and the significance of developing strong research skills for successful project completion.

Integrated
Professional Skills in
the Digital Age-2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Comparison Between Web Conferencing providers, their Application and Suitability.............1
Discussion of the Skills Required to Conduct Research Online and the Challenges Faced by
the Researcher.............................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Information and Technology relates to all the technologies which are used to handle
telecommunications, broadcast media, intelligent building management systems, audiovisual
processing and transmission systems and network based control and monitoring functions. In the
modern ear, the importance of Information and Technology has increased to much extent due to
the increased competition and advancement of technology in the companies has made it an
important and integral part of the companies. The following assignment is based on the two
different Web Conferencing providers and the discussion will be made on their comparison,
suitability and their application in the businesses. Lastly, the assignment will discuss about the
skills required in order to conduct research online and the challenges that could be faced by the
researcher while conducting the research.
MAIN BODY
Comparison Between Web Conferencing providers, their Application and Suitability
The two Web Conferencing providers which are used for the completion of this
assignment are Microsoft Skype for Businesses and ezTalks.
Microsoft Skype, which was formerly known as Microsoft Lync Server can be defined
as the unified program with the help of which the integration of different channels of business
communication and online meetings, conferences, including instant messages, voice over IP,
voicemail, file transfers, web conferencing and mail takes place (Andrade and Doolin, 2016).
The following web conferencing service provider has been developed and implemented in the
working of companies in order to make easier the working of the companies.
On the other hand, ezTalks is also another web conferencing service provider that
provides the users with SMB & large enterprises a single platform in order to make proper
communication in the effective way so that the purpose of conferencing could be made
successful.
The comparison in between the features and qualities of these two web conferencing
providers are provided as under:
Skype ezTalks
 The following is the oldest form of  The following is the new and
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cloud based video conferencing
services.
 It accepts both the calls whether they
are of Skype or not such as the video
calls, text messages, video messages
and video call as well (Bell, Bryman
and Harley, 2018).
 The users may take out the benefit from
both the web page as well as by making
use of mobile application also.
Additionally, the number of users who
can join conversation in this tools at a
single time is around 50.
 In the following web conferencing
provider, it is used for the purpose of
conducting online meetings of three or
more users which can said as the multi
party video and audio conferencing
meetings with shared desktops,
application and documents.
 Depending upon the suitability, the
following tool is more safe and secure
than the eztalks because the Microsoft
Office 365 Traffic Protocol is
encrypted using the Transport Layer
Security Protocol. Any individual
intercepting the communication will
only be able to see the encrypted texts.
Skype for business providers making
use of peer to peer instant messages,
multiparty instant messages even more
innovative platform in the cloud based
video conferencing services.
 It does not accept all of these type of
cal, in this web conferencing provider,
the user can either act as a host or can
join the ongoing conversation for
online webinars and meetings.
 But the ezTalks is only compatible with
iOS and Android devices only. So it
restricts the use of this application on
the webpage as it is not compatible in
it.
 However, the use of ezTalks is also
same to some extent as compared to the
Skype but the number of users are
restricted in this web conferencing
provider. It can also be used in case of
roomful of people.
 On the basis of suitability, the
following tool can only provide the
benefit of private conversations to the
users but not the other security related
services such as privacy. For example,
this tools provides the user with the
facility to make private conversation
during the call only through texts.
 Looking upon the location of the user,
the following tool will be helpful as this
provides the user with the facility to
share various important videos, files,
documents, pdf files, power point
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than three at a single time and content
upload activities in meetings. All the
archiving in the Skype is considered as
the user level archiving because it
depends upon the user or group of users
by creating, configuring and applying a
user level archiving policy for those
users.
 The users can make use of this tool at a
very low or free cost. Moreover, the
quality of video and audio is also good
in this type of tool that provides the
user a good experiences of the calls
made.
presentations, HTML slideshow
presentations, spreadsheets, etc. and
these following facilities are provided
by the ezTalks through synchronised
browsing. In addition to this, it also
provides the user with the facility of
sharing online links to the other
individuals who are also involved in the
conversation (Chandler and Shapiro,
2016).
 As compared to Skype, the following
tool is more costly, however, the
quality of video and audio are almost
equal to one another.
On the basis of above explanation provided on both of these two web conferencing
service providers, it is clear that they both have their own uses and situations in which they are
applicable (Silverstone, 2017). Depending upon the use of organisations, such as in case where
the company wants to make a meeting of around 40 to 50 people, in this type of meetings the
preferred tool for web conferencing is Microsoft Skype and in case the conversation is done in
between two or three persons, the preferred tool will be ezTalks.
Discussion of the Skills Required to Conduct Research Online and the Challenges Faced by the
Researcher
Depending upon the tasks, there are some skills which are required in order to complete
the tasks in an efficient and effective way. Whatever will be the tasks, skills and competencies
plays a major roles in deciding about the success and failure of the tasks. It is so because skills
provides an individual with the way which is important to follow in order to complete the given
tasks in an effective and efficient way. In order to carry out an online research, there are some
skills and competencies which are required and provides the researcher with the best way to
complete the research. The description of these skills for carrying out the research are provided
as under:
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Check Your Sources:
Skill: While completing any research, it is required for the individuals to have the skill of
evaluation (Dwyer, 2016). It is important for them to have the skill to evaluate the data and the
sources from which the data is acquired. This will help the individual in knowing about what
kind of data is needed to be used in the research and what is to be avoided.
The Challenge: The following skill is also challenging for the students as it always happen that
most of the population does not go through about all the aspects of the source from they are
writing and sometimes they do not make proper evaluation the data they had chosen for the
completion of their research project. It impacts upon the viability and feasibility of the research.
Ask Good Questions
Skill: Developing and refining search queries to get better research results. The following skill is
also important for the individuals to have as there is a need to develop good questions so that
they could come to know that what is asked in the research, what is the main aim of the research,
in which direction the research is currently going on, and some more questions also (Lee, Son
and Kim, 2016).
Challenge: The main challenge in this skill which is faced by the researcher is about these
questions, it is possible that the researcher may not be able to develop good questions that could
provide the needed answers in order to complete the research.
Be Patient
Skill: Displaying emotional resilience by persisting information searching despite challenges. In
the following skill, the researcher is required to be patient and calm to deal with the problems
prevailing in conducting the research.
Challenge: The major challenge faced by the researcher in this skill is related is to control on the
mind which the individual loses at the time when something wrong happens in conducting the
research. So in this situation it is not possible for some individuals to think calmly and patiently
and it cause more deviations in the research (Luo and Bu, 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been concluded that it is important for the companies to
firstly make choice of the type of web conferencing they are going to do and after that to make
use of. This will help the companies in saving their cost, effort and time. In addition to this, it is
also concluded that the skills are also important for an individual to have at the time of
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conducting the research as with the help of these skills it will be easy for the researcher to
conduct the research in the best way.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andrade, A. D. and Doolin, B., 2016. Information and communication technology and the social
inclusion of refugees. Mis Quarterly. 40(2). pp.405-416.
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Chandler, J. and Shapiro, D., 2016. Conducting clinical research using crowdsourced
convenience samples. Annual review of clinical psychology. 12. pp.53-81.
Dwyer, B., 2016. Engaging all students in internet research and inquiry. The Reading Teacher.
69(4). pp.383-389.
Lee, A. R., Son, S. M. and Kim, K. K., 2016. Information and communication technology
overload and social networking service fatigue: A stress perspective. Computers in
Human Behavior. 55. pp.51-61.
Luo, Y. and Bu, J., 2016. How valuable is information and communication technology? A study
of emerging economy enterprises. Journal of World Business. 51(2). pp.200-211.
Silverstone, R. ed., 2017. Media, technology and everyday life in Europe: From information to
communication. Routledge.
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