By David R. Woolley, president, Thinkofit Inc.

You've probably heard the buzz about Web conferencing by now. Maybe you've even attended a Web conference or two — an online meeting arranged by someone you work with, or a free "Webinar" hosted by a vendor. But it might not have yet occurred to you that Web conferencing could be a useful tool in your own work. Or perhaps the thought has crossed your mind, but you've put off doing anything about it because the whole subject seems too big, too complicated, too fraught with peril, and you're not sure how you would use Web conferencing, anyway.

Consider this: In a typical week, how much time do you spend in meetings or phone conferences with people who don't work in your office, be they coworkers at other locations, clients, or consultants? If it's more than an hour or so, it's worth taking a look at how Web conferencing can improve your communications and possibly even save you a lot of time.

Let's start by looking at a few of the reasons you might be avoiding Web conferencing:

• It's too hard to use. You might have visions of a software program that has so many buttons and controls that it resembles the instrument panel in a jet cockpit. And, indeed, some Web conferencing software can be complex. But software meant for small group meetings tends to be simpler. If all you need to do is share what's on your screen with a few coworkers, you can use software that does exactly that, nothing more. Screen-sharing software is so simple that you can be an expert user within minutes. And that's if you're the meeting organizer. All your teammates have to do in order to participate is fire up their Web browser and go to the URL that you provide them.
• It's too expensive. As Web conferencing solutions become more advanced and widespread, prices have become more competitive. Also, Web conferencing packages can be tailored to your usage needs and the size of your organization, which can also help you keep costs under control. Frequently, Web conferencing costs work out to a small sum per person per month. Considering the travel costs you'll be saving, Web conferencing begins to look like a no-brainer.
• It's too unreliable. A few years ago when Web conferencing was on the bleeding edge of Internet technology, getting it installed and working properly could be, shall we say, a challenge. Thankfully, conferencing software has matured. Web conferencing vendors have improved setup, configuration, and user experience, even managing to go through most firewalls without a lot of hair-pulling and reconfiguration.
• It's too insecure. Of course, you don't want your competitors — or even the wrong people from your own company — listening in on your meetings. Fortunately, because just about everyone who uses Web conferencing in business is concerned about security, every conferencing vendor has to be concerned with providing a more secure experience for customers. In general, you can expect Web conferencing vendors to have a detailed security strategy in place to address this critical issue. (You'll be sure, of course, to review this strategy before you make your decision.)

"Okay," I hear you saying, "maybe Web conferencing isn't really so scary. But you still haven't told me why I should bother with it."

One word: Pictures.

Yes, pictures. You know, those things that are worth a thousand words?

A Web conference is like a phone conference, only with visuals. Think of any situation in which you might conduct a meeting by phone, and chances are that there's something you'll all want to look at together. It might literally be pictures: an architect's sketches, storyboards for a new advertising campaign, a graph of last quarter's sales figures, even medical x-rays. Or it might be some other kind of document: a spreadsheet showing year-to-date revenue and expenses, a draft of a movie script, technical specs for a new product. Whatever it may be, most meetings go better when everyone is looking at the same thing.

Of course, you know this. That's why the last time you arranged a phone conference, you probably faxed or sent something by e-mail to everyone ahead of time. That's fine as far as it goes, but what if there are last-minute changes? What if, after the conversation has started, you realize you need another document? Even when you've managed to get all the relevant documents in front of everyone beforehand, the meeting itself can be frustrating. Does this sound familiar: "Wait, which paragraph did we just delete? I don't see it. What page are we on, anyway?"

In a Web conference, every participant sees whatever the facilitator is showing at any given moment, so you can make sure everyone is literally "on the same page." Any document on your computer can be pulled into the conference and shared with everyone at a moment's notice. You can give a tour of a Web site, or a software demo, or run through a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 presentation, as easily as if the other participants were sitting in your office. You can use markup tools like highlighting or freehand drawing to call attention to specific items on the page. And all the while, you and your colleagues are simply talking with each other in the way you would in an ordinary phone conference.

In fact, it might actually be an ordinary phone conference. Many people hold meetings by having a traditional phone conference, with a simultaneous Web conference carrying the visuals. That's the most universally accessible method. But if every members in your group has a headset that he or she can plug into a computer, you can save on long-distance charges by letting the Web conference carry the audio, as well. The technology has improved to the point where conversations carried over the Internet usually sound just as good as conversations over telephone land lines — and better than those over cell phones or speaker phones.

Of course, this being the world of computers, you can do plenty of other things in a Web conference that you can't easily do in a phone conference. Examples include seeing a list of who's present, which is updated automatically as people join and leave the conference. Or, recording the conference so people who missed it can play it back later. And if you have webcams, you can even incorporate live video so that you can see one another's smiling faces.

But these are extras, like retractable sunroofs and heated leather seats in a car. Luxury features can be nice, but the important thing is getting to your destination. And when it comes to phone meetings, sharing a common view through a Web conference means you won't be driving blind.

About the author   David R. Woolley, president of Thinkofit Inc. (www.thinkofit.com), has been a pioneer in online conferencing since the early 1970s. He is now a Web conferencing consultant.