Media Business Uegauree 2

Living in a remote part of the world can be both tough and inconvenient. Not only must a resident of such secluded areas travel miles for simple things like groceries and entertainment but are almost always limited in the types of internet connections available to them. Furthermore the connections made available in isolated parts of the world are often inadequate for even casual users. for more detail go to:www.website-conversion-mastery.com.Most residents will find that dial-up is the only way they can access the web and while a lucky few will be given access to DSL, Cable is a mere fantasy to those who reside in less populated communities.

There are of course alternatives to dial-up internet connections which consist of mainly no connection at all or one may opt to look into satellite internet services. Internet connections through a satellite provider have been around far longer than one would expect. In fact satellite internet first became available before the turn of the millennium and the late 90’s saw many of today’s satellite companies plant a firm foot in the ground. In these days however satellite connections were a last resort as they were often plagued by extremely limited bandwidth restrictions, horrid ping rates, and in many cases users would find themselves repeatedly being disconnected.

Living in rural areas and utilizing satellite internet services no longer means that you’ll be beleaguered with the myriad of problems that were once prevalent in the world of remote connections. The majority of satellite internet providers these days have worked hard to eliminate such issues and have done so with great success. In testing satellite connections side by side with Cable and DSL connections satellite has fared well and regularly measures up to its two successful cousins. As satellites have become far more powerful than they once where more and more people are choosing satellite internet services over dial-up and rightfully so.

Aside from making its mark in the private community, satellite connections are becoming commonplace for businesses that set up shop in these same remote areas. In many cases it is because of the improvements in satellite services that those who once stayed out of desolate areas, are now beginning to do business within them. for more detail go to:www.mrx-interview.com.Without satellite internet services many areas would be unable to grow economically and would continue to remain “off the map”. Things are changing rapidly however as business can also be taken on the road should a user utilize a satellite connection. There’s no doubt that the improvements in satellite internet services have allowed us not only more opportunities but allow us to be productive, even when on the move.

One of the most compelling cases for video conferencing technology has to be the reduction in travel costs.

Many businesses increasingly view travel as a drain on time and budgets. You can understand why when most business travellers admit that only half of the time spent on a business trip can be classed as productive working time. Not only could you reduce your business travel bills by up to 30%, but you could also improve employee productivity by cutting back on idle hours.

 

Allied to the reduction in travel time and costs is the environmental argument. Video conferencing uses little energy – no petrol, diesel or aviation fuel, only a few units of electricity. The technology can help the business reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact. To demonstrate the point, a UK environment minister gave a keynote speech at the Climate Change Conference in Sydney via video conferencing. This saved 60 hours of travel time and 6.2 tons of CO2 emissions.

 

Your business could benefit in other ways too. Video conferencing gives you the flexibility to hold ad-hoc meetings; you don’t have to plan weeks in advance. This flexibility could speed up decision-making and response times, which will also benefit your customers.

 

 

Why invest in video conferencing now?

In the past, video conferencing has had a bad reputation. It’s been seen as expensive, complex to implement and delivering low quality, jerky images. However, these arguments are losing ground as the technology rapidly evolves and affordable fast connections make high definition video conferencing a reality.

 

Traditionally, you would have needed an ISDN network for video conferencing, but today’s IP-based networks are fuelling an interest in converged voice, video and data communications. IP lends itself to cost-effective voice and video conferencing and has the added benefit of allowing users to collaborate on documents simultaneously. Cisco estimates that global IP traffic will increase fivefold over the next four years. The company also estimates that all forms of video traffic will make up 90% of global consumer IP traffic by 2013.

 

Video conferencing shopping list

There is a video conferencing system for every budget, ranging from personal desktop systems using low cost webcams, through to specialist video conferencing equipment designed for use in meeting rooms and other shared environments. However, the essential components of any video conferencing solution are camera, microphone, monitor, speaker and codec.

 

For most organisations, high definition video conferencing is the most readily available option and offers good quality on a limited budget (usually between £1,500 and £5,000).

 

Your next consideration should be the number of point to point video-enabling terminals or ‘endpoints’ needed. If you specify too few endpoints users could get frustrated that they do not have access to the technology. You need to balance the cost of the video conferencing equipment and services against convenient access to the network of endpoints.

 

Video infrastructure – a high definition video conferencing service may require an investment in additional network infrastructure, such as a dedicated line or circuit for each endpoint. Each session will demand connectivity of around 1Mbps for clear video and audio. Deploying high definition video on the enterprise network can cause problems; the network may not be able to handle real-time video, while video activity may compromise other enterprise tasks. The right media-ready network is vital to the delivery of business video applications.

 

Extra peripherals – you might also want to invest in additional peripheral devices to enhance the video conferencing experience; this could include high definition and wide-angle cameras, upgraded speakers and microphones. You may also want to connect your systems to DVDs, VCRs and document and multimedia applications via a PC.

 

Test the water with web conferencing

If there’s some resistance to investing in video conferencing solutions, one way of proving the benefit to the business may be to experiment with lower cost web conferencing solutions. These could not only demonstrate cost savings but also lead the way to more sophisticated technology.

 

Web conferencing allows your staff to share what’s on their desktop with people in other locations. Typically, this happens in conjunction with a phone call or audio conferencing session. Additional features include the ability to share documents and to work collaboratively on projects.

 

Why telepresence could be the next step for video conferencing

John Chambers, Cisco chief executive, has compared telepresence  to “Star Trek teleporting”. Telepresence offers ultra high resolution, which makes video conferencing an even more immersive experience. Spatial audio allows the transmission of every nuance of a conversation, while huge screens and high quality cameras capture every detail of an expression.

 

Fabulous as this sounds, telepresence remains an expensive technology to implement at present. It requires a high-bandwidth connection and a specifically designed room at each location.

Everyday people flock to hotels by the thousands for family vacations, weekend getaways, or business trips. There are certainly many different reasons to travel, but with the modern tech-era upon us one of the most frequently asked questions when booking a hotel is: "Do you have Internet?" That answer is most likely a, "yes." As they settle in and get comfortable, hotel guests all over the world use the hotel’s Internet connection for various reasons. What most people fail to notice is that Internet privacy and security in the hotel industry is well below par. A guest expects their hotel to be a home away from home and Internet access allows guests to be more productive during their trip and stay in touch with the rest of the world. In reality, just how safe is that Internet connection?

According to researchers many of the Internet connections are not safe at all. Most of the Internet connections a guest comes across are not properly secured and leave them at risk for a number of privacy risks. Researchers gathered written information from various hotels and personally visited other properties and the findings were quite astounding. Roughly 20% of all hotels used simple network hubs to connect guests to the Internet. This means 20% of the hotels you have ever stayed at are allowing you to connect to an unsecured network where all the packets of data being sent over the network can be seen. Anyone else on that network can access your personal data via the network connection. Ideally, hotels should have security features implemented so only the packets associated with your session should be seen. No other users should have access to the data. This would stop an "interloper" from using a program that saves all packets being sent over the network.

Of the hotels that do offer Internet access, 90% of them allow guests to connect wirelessly. This adds an extra layer of protection since they have to use a router to get the signal out. While this is an advanced security measure, it still does not mean the user’s personal information is being protected. Man-in-the-middle attacks are still possible, and almost 21% of hotels have reported attacks and malicious activity on their systems. Man-in-the-middle attacks allow an attacker’s computer to act as an Internet gateway and intercept all network traffic. Very few hotels using wireless Internet use encryption methods on their network. Researchers found only six properties, out of 39, thought of going above and beyond their Linksys router and securing their network! Anyone using a hotel’s Internet connection should assume the worst and hope for the best.

Alternatively, a hotel guest should secure their own network connection. This will take away the mystery of wondering whether the hotel has a secured connection. An anonymous private proxy server is arguably the best way to maintain Internet privacy and online safety. A proxy will secure the Internet connection by encrypting the data being transmitted over the network. The encrypted information remains that way until it reaches its destination, which holds the code to decrypt the message. Aside from packet sniffing, it is possible for someone to track web surfing habits and gain personal information, even on a secured connection. A proxy will prevent this by masking the IP address allowing the user to safely surf from any connection and maintain complete anonymity. A hotel guest has the ability to stay connected with friends, family, and coworkers, even from thousands of miles away, but many fail to see that Internet security should be dealt with preemptively. It is not a matter of being protected by some other entity, but going above and beyond the bare minimum on your own accord to stay safe.