Netbriefings, a webcasting and video conferencing service provider that specializes in helping businesses communicate through video, has been selected to webcast the US - China Virtual Symposium November 11-14.The event, presented by Wainhouse Research in conjunction with Drexel University and the World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network focuses on the theme “Building Virtual Global Communities.” The symposium incorporates live webcasts, short video, blogs, live presentations and a host of other forms of communication.

Wainhouse Research Analyst, Stacy Austin-Li:

We are very excited about both the quality and accessibility of the program. The broad range of technologies — from traditional videoconferencing to the open source e-learning platform Moodle and video blogging and streaming tools provided by Netbriefings – speaks more about the variety of tools available than the pursuit of any ‘wow factor.’ Each collaborative technology was selected on the basis of its ability to help create community and involve participants without presenting new barriers to access, and we welcome interested parties to drop-in any time by visiting www.global-symposium.com.

Netbriefings video messaging services will be used by presenters to provide video enabled presentations for the on-demand and online portions of the conference. In addition, participants will be invited to use Proclaim as a social networking community building tool in which they will be able to share video snippets about their experiences at the symposium.

iLinc, a leading provider of web conferencing software and online collaboration services announced that iLinc has partnered with 24×7 Learning, a Talent Lifecycle Management Company. 24×7 will provide iLincs web and video conferencing software as part of their “Learning’s Enterprise Talent Enhancement solutions” offering to customers.24×7 Learning provides technology-based solutions to corporations across vertical industries, government institutions and universities. 24×7’s continuing education initiative AVAGMAH offers recognized degree and post-graduate programs for working students. Through new iLinc partnership, 24×7 Learning will integrate web conferencing products with its enterprise learning solutions.

iLinc VP of sales, Jason Walker:

Recent studies predict enormous growth for conferencing in India. We look forward to a very successful relationship and the opportunity to have 24×7 Learning’s clients benefit from our online meeting software solutions.

Recent and significant improvements in the broadband infrastructure, an increase in travel costs, green initiatives and globalization are influencing demand for web conferencing software solutions and driving expansion collaboration technologies in India. A supporting advocate for green initiatives, iLinc’s patent-pending Green Meter tracks carbon emissions along with fuel and travel costs saved per meeting. Adopting conferencing on the web with video, and implementing eLearning initiatives will increase an organization’s Green Meter score.

IBM’s new web conferencing product, called OpusUna was discussed at the AJAXWorld RIA Conference and Expo in San Jose, California last week. The collaboration product allows all participants the ability to collaborate using the same Web pages and features audio and video.IBM Emerging Internet Technology CTO, David Boloker:

Really, what we’re looking at is how I extend the whole concept of AJAX to allow multiple-user interactions. It’s all about a next-generation collaboration capability where you’re really looking at how people interact with one another in a very different way.

OpusUna allows online meeting participants to work and communicate from within the same browser space, combining widgets, audio, and video cameras to display themselves on the screen. The difference between OpusUna and other collaboration platforms is with OpusUna, all participants can contribute content as opposed to having one person serving as a sole presenter. This enables true collaboration, and not just the typical presentation format where all other participants direct their input to the presenter.

IBM hopes to show OpusUna to customers in early 2009 before deciding on how to proceed with the technology. OpusUna is a Latin expression for “work as one.”

Mikogo, a free online meeting and screen sharing application has seen an increase of over fifty percent in less than four months, indicating a shift towards free online meeting and collaboration tools. Having reached a user base of more than 40,000 users, the success of Mikogo’s free online meeting solution could indicate that free Web collaboration is rapidly on the rise. This of course raises questions for the future of alternative high priced video conferencing solutions.

Web conferences, online meetings and other online collaboration tools are valuable assets to many individuals and small businesses. However the cost of these applications and services often prevent usage by many who would truly benefit from the technology. With Mikogo’s free online meeting solution, with all included features at no cost and with no time limitations, the web collaboration community has taken notice. Mikogo has users spread across more than 100 countries and serves up to 2,000 free online meetings a day.

Mikogo Co-founder, Mark Zondler:

We are happy to provide Mikogo free of charge and allow everyone to benefit from an easy-to-use screen sharing tool. Our users are able to employ Mikogo for teaching, IT support, picture sharing, university projects, club meetings, and more. Everyday people across the world are finding more and more reasons to use Mikogo free online meetings.

It seems clear that Mikogo has made it’s mark and found it’s place in the free online collaboration community. With a rapidly growing userbase of over 40,000 users under the belt, Mikogo expects that the current fee-based web conferencing services are going to have to pick up their game to stay competitive.

A recent survey of 1400 Chief Information Officers by the staffing firm, Robert Hall Technology indicates that while CIOs appreciate and frequently use video conferencing, online training and collaboration software, they aren’t familiar with or very interested in web 2.0 apps such as blogs and wikis.

CIOs on Video Conferencing, Online Training, and Collaboration Tools

Of the 1400 CIOs who responded to the survey, 47% reported that they currently use online training, with another 13% planning to use it in the next five years. Among the same respondents, 34% said they use video conferencing software today with another 18% planning on using it in the next five years. Telepresence and collaborative workspaces are used by 24% of CIOs with another 19% planning on using those tools in the next five years.

CIOs on Web 2.0 Applications

While CIOs are using many of the larger, more prevalent online communication and online collaboration tools, the same can not be said for web 2.0 applications. Of the 1400 CIOs who responded to the survey, 67% have no intention of using tagging software in their websites, 72% aren’t planning to ever use blogs; 74% of the respondents do not even understand what a “wiki” is, and 84% of the same set of respondents have no plans on using or integrating “virtual worlds” into their systems.

It’s not surprising that CIOs don’t plan to use virtual worlds, and may not have time or interest in personal or company blogs, but it is surprising that they have a lack of interest in wikis. By design, wikis are perfect for IT departments to report lessons learned, track projects and report and correct errors in the system. It may be that the CIOs who reported that they don’t use wikis, just aren’t aware that their IT department does.

In the face of rising fuel costs, many companies are turning to online collaboration and video conferencing services to reduce travel costs and at the same time help protect the environment. This current push for video conference services have left many companies scrambling to find the appropriate IT solution for their company, and the Marriott Hotels are looking to provide the solution, or at least be a stop-gap solution for companies that need an immediate solution.

Marriott International Hotels are installing Hewlett Packard’s Halo telepresence centers in key hotels around the world. The Halo telepresence system is a complete video conference solution that has a physical semi-circle conference table, with large LCD television screens that make up the other half of the table. The result is what appears to be a round conference table, half with people physically present, and the other half at any other location that has a similar Halo setup. The technology allows very realistic conferencing, without the hassle and costs of conventional travel.

Marriott Spokesman, John Wolfe:

It’s an opportunity to open up a new line of business that we currently don’t have.

A study conducted by Orbitz Business and Business Traveller magazine found that 79% of corporate travel managers are feeling some pressure to cut travel expenditures and 42% are exploring alternatives to business travel, including web conferencing and video conferencing services.

Teleprescense systems like Hewlett Packard’s Halo can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The availability of these systems at key Marriott hotels will provide easy access to companies that only need to occassionaly use the technology, and for companies that plan to purchase the technology but would like to use it first. No date has been set on when Marriott and HP plan on rolling out the service.

Large companies are taking note of successful alternative work styles and the shifting desire of many employees to work from home or at satellite offices closer to home. Many of these companies are attempting to tackle the problem with large-scale, expensive telepresence and video conferencing services that cost as much money as they save. Here are 7 keys to keep a remote workforce program successful:

1. You can keep a strong client / vendor relationship without ever meeting face-to-face. The concept of representatives flying around the world to meet clients is a thing of the past. While face-to-face still has its place and value, interacting by video conferencing, phone and email is no longer “impersonal” and can be quite intimate and engaging. Many workers these days are just as comfortable with colleagues they’ve never met as they are with their in-office counterparts.

2. Physical presence doesn’t necessarily mean quality presence. Old and large corporations live by the notion that if you aren’t sitting at your desk, you aren’t working. But being in the office does not guarantee that you are truly engaged in your work and by the same token, being away from the office doesn’t mean you’re not working. There are dozens of online project management tools - often including time tracking - that can help managers keep a handle on their remote workers.

3. Large telepresence systems may be overkill for smaller companies. Telepresence systems may be an ideal solution for large companies that have multiple satellite offices that have frequent online meetings, but there are many inexpensive, even free, teleconferencing and videoconferencing services like instantpresenter.com that can still make distributed teams incredibly productive for a fraction of the price.

4. Electronic “paper” trails increase accountability. Unlike face-to-face meetings or phone calls that are not taped, many remote online meeting tools have built-in recording features that can be archived and reviewed. Using project management tools in the work process can also track and archive all of your correspondence. Switching from standard meetings to online discussion boards helps make your “institutional memory” more readily available to all workers in the company, creating a knowledge management database and cutting down on needless searches for information.

5. Archived training videos and demos, along with archived webinars and webcasts are all right at your fingertips. They are also at your client’s or potential client’s fingertips any time of the day or night or in any time zone. Your sales tools are always at the ready.

6. Online web-work can help save the planet. All corporations are feeling the pressure to go green, and having employees work from home and not drive, and having clients meet via video conferencing and not fly are easy success stories that you can use to impress stakeholders. Save fossil fuels by implementing telecommuting and remote work processes. Corporate workers care about saving the planet, too.

7. Take advantage of web conferencing, audio conferencing and video conferencing services. Just because workers are out of the office (whether traveling, working in remote offices, or working from home) doesn’t mean that you have to be out of touch. There are many quality video conferencing and webcasting services available at very low costs such as InstantPresenter and WebEx.

Video conferencing services and web conferencing have become a vital part of many American and international companies. Video conferencing and web conferencing are convenient and lower operational costs.

Because of the millions of dollars that videoconferencing services have saved U.S. firms, the web conferencing and online collaboration industry expanded by about 30 percent in 2007. In 2008, the total income of all audio conferencing, video conferencing and web conferencing technologies is expected to hit $8 billion and is forecast to further increase to $10 billion by 2012.

Although videoconferencing services have been around for several years, during its early years early adopters of the technology claimed that in many cases the video quality was so poor or too choppy, and would often opt to meet important clients in person. New advances in high definition video conferencing services have remedied the issue.

Installing high definition videoconferencing services can be a major investment, with initial expenses for software and hardware averaging $200,000 and maintenance costs of 15 percent a year. However, with the ever-rising costs of fuel, and the related increase in travel, video conferencing technology can quickly pay for itself. Video conferencing also lowers the carbon footprint that companies create while using conventional travel.

With the newest releases of both Citirix GoToMeeting and new GoToWebinar applications, Citrix is throwing in a few free online collaboration tools. Free VoIP and audio conferencing for both Mac and PC are now integrated to deliver a seamless experience with the newest releases the company’s webcasting and webinar applications. One-click online meetings are now possible with this new combination of VoIP, phone and web conferencing for small-group online meetings and large-group webinar events.

Citrix Online (a division of Citrix Inc.) flagship product, GoToMeeting can accommodate up to 25 attendees and it’s newer online application: GoToWebinar can accommodate up to 1,000 attendees simultaneously

Vice President of Citrix Online, Elizabeth Cholawsky:

[With the new releases of GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar], every feature is based on extensive user feedback, from full Macintosh access to this new total audio solution.

Citrix Online sells direct via a sales force and online, but also has a channel program that offers incentives to resellers who recommend Citrix products to clients. Citrix has approximately 7,680 channel and alliance partners in more than 100 countries world-wide.

As organizations throughout the world are becoming increasingly dispersed, their reliance on solutions that promote online collaboration and web conferencing continues to grow, helping to drive demand within these industries.

According to a study on Asia Pacific online collaboration services released by Wainhouse Research, the use of video conferencing and web conferencing services is growing at a rapid pace in the Asia Pacific market.

Key findings of this study include the growth of audio and video conferencing, which grew to 50 percent in 2007 and is expected to continue at over 20 percent year-over-year for the next four years; Web conferencing is poised to grow, but has not yet found wide-spread adoption; India has seen substantial growth in awareness of video conferencing technologies, while China still has only started to enter the market; and green initiatives and travel costs do not factor into usage in Asia as much as it recently has in Europe and North America, yet geographic disparity and the need for personal productivity are the strongest drivers.

This study includes the review and forecast of six local markets, including Australia/New Zealand, Japan, China Country Group, South East Asia Country Group, India and Korea. In the study, each market is sized and forecast by service type and a review of 50 different online collaboration service providers operating in the market is offered.