Comparing Web Conferencing Providers and Online Research Skills

This report delves into the realm of web conferencing, analyzing two prominent providers, Microsoft Skype for Business and EZ Talks, comparing their features, applications, and suitability for various business scenarios. It highlights the importance of web conferencing in modern business communication, emphasizing its role in facilitating meetings and collaboration across geographical boundaries. Furthermore, the report examines the essential skills required for conducting effective online research, including the use of search engines and online resources, while also addressing the challenges researchers face, such as authentication issues, internet reliability, and privacy concerns. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the benefits of online research, including increased accuracy and expanded sample sizes, while also acknowledging the need for robust IT skills and awareness of online threats. The conclusion reinforces the significance of information technology in contemporary business operations and the importance of developing skills in data collection to achieve favorable outcomes.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Select any two different Web Conferencing providers to compare and contrast their features
and discussing their applications and suitability for business in general....................................3
Discuss skills required to conduct research online and challenges being faced.........................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Web conferencing in present time could be considered as one of a crucial tool that could
help a business organisation in communicating. Both employer and employees could directly
stays connected with each other using web conferencing. On the other hand, there are some skills
are needed within an individual which may aid in collecting relevant data in specified time frame
regarding an investigation. This report is going to cover both the subjects which will aid in better
understanding and gaining knowledge in regards to the same.
MAIN BODY
Select any two different Web Conferencing providers to compare and contrast their features and
discussing their applications and suitability for business in general.
The web conferencing providers are used by business and the use of these has increased
in recent years. It is a way of conversing with people by sharing screen, application or even
mobile. It is an easy way by which entities connect with each other. Business web conferencing
saves time and money as when meetings occur at real time despite the location of members, this
way of communicating is very helpful. It is connected through TCP/IP. There are different kind
of web conferencing companies around the world. Some of them are described below-
Microsoft Skype for business- This web conferencing provider allows maximum of 250
individuals at the same time to attend meeting. This is most appropriate for large companies
where the number of employees are more. This connects to tablet, PC/Mac or phone with quality
audio and video calls. This web conferencing provider provides up to 50 GB of Email and
around 1 TB space for users for file storage. It is a cost effective solution which is efficient two
synchronised all the applications which are being used by a business (Cornelius, 2014). Skype
helps in conducting online meeting of companies where 250 members can connect and discuss
the agenda and for votes. It can be sent with other application for choosing a topic for discussing.
Also, adjustments can easily be made in already planned meeting. The level of complexity is low
which helps an individual to use it easily and hassle-free. One more addition to the features is
that PowerPoint presentation can be given in a defined resolution so that no difficulty is faced in
understanding the content. Different tools are available with the help of which methods of
business can be notified to about 10000 people.
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EZ talks- This web conferencing provider has different number of video collaborative
tools that makes it best web conferencing industry. This can host unlimited meetings of
unlimited length. The range is upto 100 people per meeting. The advantages of using this web
conferencing provider is high quality video, HD conferencing video, instant screen and file
sharing, a white board, recording and playback. This is available for Mac, windows, and Android
and thus, there is no limit of location of employee, individual can attend meeting from any part
of the world. The main features on which EZ Talks focuses are sharing presentation online and
also through sharing of screens. It is realised that menu of the other web conferencing faces the
problem of audibility (Wigham, 2017). Therefore, EZ Talks enhanced equality to enable the
users to receive content with the real voice and speech. This was possible with increasing the
quality of network sharing so as to avoid any sort of disruption. Whiteboards are also one of the
features which helps in exchanging ideas for a better conduct of business activities. Private and
group chat can be done at the same time which is white one of its kind service of EZ Talks. The
whole activity can be recorded and playback later whenever the need arises. It helps in in getting
all the information without missing any.
Apart from the differences in features of MS Skype and EZ Talks, there are some
similarities which should be taken into account before paying for one web conferencing service.
The main common fact is that both of these have been made according to the need of the
businesses. MS Skype for business conferencing is very popular as compared to EZ Talks.
Former offers more features than any other web conferencing services. It is secured and reliable
for exchanging information and data buy large and aggressive growth management company. On
the other hand, EZ Talks is the best choice that an organisation will considered because of the
limited features provided by it. Can be e suitable for small or medium companies who wish to
adopt technologies which can help bringing people living in diverse places together (Guo, 2014).
Both of the above are some of the most preferred web conferencing services by
businesses. It is a very fresh concept through which an organisation can have huge number of
members living in different states or countries to connect together for discussing important
matters of a business. For example, there is a public company who is planning to conduct an
annual general meeting which is held between the company and the shareholders. However, due
to personal reasons some of the key shoulders cannot come in person to attend the meeting. Then
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in such case, web conferencing service can be used to mark their present and have votes on the
agenda as discussed.
It gives a huge relief to those who cannot make it to the business issues physically. Also,
it is very cost effective and can be customised as per the needs of a particular entity. However,
the smoothness of videoconferencing greatly depends upon the strong network which limits the
number of difficulties in using these services. Along with this, some of the other web
conferencing services are as follows:
Imeet- This allows the connection to Android, Mac and Windows by using the app. The
meeting can be attended on smart phone or tablet. Imeet provides audio and HD video
conferencing, quick sharing of files and presentations. This allows private peer to peer voice and
video calls and this can support up to 125 people in every meeting (Hewson and Stewart, 2014).
Electromeet- This is a free windows based software which can be used on mobile phone
or desktop. This web conferencing application helps in doing online meetings for webcasts,
webinars, conferencing and eLearning.
There are others too which give the company an opportunity to choose from a variety of
alternative in web conferencing services by evaluating on the criteria set up by the concerned
entity.
Discuss skills required to conduct research online and challenges being faced.
It refers to collection of number of data and information from various sources for
increasing the knowledge about a particular topic. Earlier, physical research was conducted by
individuals which was very expensive and time consuming. Also, it was not possible for people
to cover all the available sources effects because of the physical work that was being put into. As
the time passed, importance of information technology infrastructure came into the picture by
many businesses. Due to this gathering information became easier and smooth. This was possible
through the use of online sources which are a great way to extract information that can be used in
a better way.
Online research means exploring information and collecting them through internet or
other web based applications. There are search engines which contains ocean of information
from which selected data can be arranged and used in business report for making better
decisions. There are various types of methods within the internet which can be accessed for this
purpose. Online research helps in bringing mode particular information which can be done
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within less time as compared to two physical research. Data from people across the world can be
collected by asking questions to them on the concerned matter. There is increased accuracy and
reliability and the sample size gets expanded (Metzger, A and et. al., 2012). It is a matter of
precision therefore, it requires skills which can be used in a best way. A researcher should have
good knowledge of information Technology such as internet, web based applications, software,
hardware and other aspects of it. Apart from this, specific search domain must be found which
can fulfil the requirements. A list of questions must be prepared which can be given to people for
answering them. A clear distinction should be made in which sites to be accessed and which are
not to be accessed. Also, researcher must be well aware about various viruses and other online
threats which can be a serious issue to the privacy. All these should be applied at once while
carrying out a research online.
It is not easy to gather information online because of number of hurdles that a researcher
might face during the activity. The difficulties can reduce the efforts and quality of work of a
researcher. Some of the challenges online research have been discussed below:
 Authentication: research needs to be conducted from authenticated sources so that the
information can be relied upon. This is a big challenge in online research as many of the
information do not belong to authentic source.
 Internet: the medium through which information are collected is internet. It has to be
free from fluctuations so that required information can be gathered. Also, there should be
24 *7 availability so that information or data can be accessed whenever research wants.
 Viruses: there are some malicious threads that can transfer from an online site to the
computer and delete all the files and data from the system. It can be a huge problem.
 Knowledge of IT: if a person does not have adequate knowledge of infrastructure of
information Technology and their usage and then single data can be collected.
 Privacy: there are some websites which needs personal information for the accessibility.
The security and privacy of can confidential data is at risk. There is a chance of misuse of
such information.
CONCLUSION
With the help of above mentioned report, it is being concluded that information
technologies are helping individuals in all over the world in commencing the business. On the
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other hand, having a range of skills related to secondary collection of the data might aid an
individual in pulling out favourable results in specified time frame.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Cornelius, S., 2014. Facilitating in a demanding environment: Experiences of teaching in virtual
classrooms using web conferencing. British Journal of Educational Technology. 52(2).
pp.260-271.
Wigham, C. R., 2017. A multimodal analysis of lexical explanation sequences in
webconferencing-supported language teaching. Language Learning in Higher
Education. 7(1). pp.81-108.
Guo, S., 2014. Evaluation of a web conferencing tool and collaborative tasks in an online
Chinese course. CALL Design: Principles and Practice, pp.119-126.
Hewson, C. and Stewart, D. W., 2014. Internet research methods. Wiley StatsRef: Statistics
Reference Online, pp.1-6.
Metzger, A. and et. al., 2012, June. Research challenges on online service quality prediction for
proactive adaptation. In Proceedings of the First International Workshop on European
Software Services and Systems Research: Results and Challenges (pp. 51-57). IEEE
Press.
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