Have you ever wondered if audio conferencing solutions are still relevant in the new age of VoIP? I believe they still are. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and allows you to communicate via a microphone or headset connected to your computer, as opposed to a traditional phone line connection.
VoIP integrates well with web conferencing and participants appreciate the integration of the audio and web through one channel, reduced cost, and ease of instructions, but VoIP has enough issues to warrant a second look at audio conferencing.
Without the right equipment and configuration of microphones, speakers, and headsets, feedback and other issues may occur. Using VoIP will also deplete bandwidth on your conference which can affect the quality of your overall conferencing experience. As you add more elements into your internet pipe, participants, video, webcams, VoIP, your conference quality and speed may suffer. Many users do not have the bandwidth to support all of these features within a conference.
If you are holding a web conference of any great size, and it is important to you that your conference goes off without a hitch, it is still recommended to utilize a separate audio conferencing line for your audio. This allows your bandwidth to be dedicated to your web conference, and helps to guarantee the quality and clarity on the audio that you need.
Here’s a great article from The Webinar Blog:
http://wsuccess.typepad.com/webinarblog/2009/07/voip-gives-me-a-headache.html
