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Archive for the ‘Web Conferencing’ category

Virtualization as One of the Keys to Economic Recovery

June 21st, 2011

Things are not looking very good for global economy right now. On one hand there is an oil crisis which affects prices on most commodities and has vast repercussions on the industrial sector, on the other there is another crisis in Europe, the US most faithful friend, which affects deeply the American import/export sectors, slowing down growth and crippling the economy. All of this has two consequences: increasing the unemployment rate and decreasing confidence, making people cut on spending which further cripples the economy.

The latest Gallup index, which measured the confidence of the American people, shows that confidence went down by 9% in just two weeks. According to a Gallup survey, 70% said that the economy was getting worse and 47% said the economy was poor.

Another report, this time from the National Federation of Independent Business, found out that small business are refraining from hiring as a way to cut back on spending. In fact, this same report states that in May there were more business planning to decrease payrolls than increasing them.

This only shows that businesses are looking for ways to cut their spending and many still see laying off as one of the most effective ways to do this. In the face of the current situation, it is normal that businesses are worried about surviving than growing.

But what many businesses don’t realize is that there are other ways to curb spending and one of these ways is to restructure their practices and operations. As times are changing, so is technology. Practices that in the good old days could be done by physical presence are now possible to be done virtually, saving the costs and time that the physical practices required.

RHUB conferencing and remote support appliances can help restructure many business practices and virtualize operations, reducing business expenses. RHUB appliances have four applications: web conferencing, remote support, remote access and web seminar.

Web conferencing allows companies to meet in a virtual environment thus cutting on costs of travel, including gas, hotels, etc. It also saves time and allows people in different parts of the world to participate from their local offices. Web conferencing is perfect to discuss business practices, collaborate interactively in the same project, make sales presentations, etc.

Remote support allows companies to give remotely PC and Mac support to their clients. This saves the costs of the dislocation to the clients house to work directly on his computer and also saves the time of the travel.

Remote access allows workers to access their office computers from anywhere and anytime, meaning that they always have access to their work. With remote access function, employees can work directly from home and to solve any problem or question that might arise when they are not present, making them more productive.

Web seminar allows workers to attend a seminar to improve their working practices without leaving the comfort of their offices. This saves time and money on the travels and it also saves the costs of renting the required space for giving the seminars.

In an age where small businesses are fighting for their survival, virtualization of their business operations might be the key to their success. All that is required is a shift in the frame of mind of managers and CEOs and a small investment that in a short time will pay itself many times over.

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Posted in RHUB News, Remote Access, Remote Support, Web Conferencing, Web Seminars

Ensure your Business security via RHUB Web Conferencing Appliance

June 14th, 2011

Web conferencing plays a very important part in every business, irrespective of whether it is small or big. It can be considered as one of the biggest boons for businesses of the twenty first century, because it gives countless companies the flexibility to conduct business beyond the walls of their offices. In fact, conferencing technology has created something that was considered unachievable at one point of time – a global marketplace. However, the Internet has always been anonymous with a lack of security. In addition, the continued absence of any stringent cyber laws means that there is still a great risk of security breaches in cyberspace while companies are using remote collaboration tools to team up over the Internet.

The vulnerability of web conferencing technology to security threats is not just applicable to large business; they are a reality for small and medium sized businesses as well. The frightening part, however, is that you would not even realize when your video or audio meeting sessions are compromised by unexpected intruders. This is especially the case when you have sent out tens or hundreds of online meeting invitations with passwords and login IDs. Those emails could easily get intercepted over the cyberspace. Thus, if you want to protect your business materials and if your business involves a lot of conferencing between other departments or with clients all over the world, then you need to first make sure that your business information remain completely secure. If you secure your internal and external communication portals over the internet, more than half your business cyber security measures are set in place.

However, the big question still remains – how can you secure your web conferencing services to ensure that your business stays secure? Appliance-based web conferencing solution is highly recommended. This is because that, compared to most software or web-based solutions, appliance could be deployed behind companies’ own firewalls. Thus, unlike the hosted web based meeting service where conferencing is hosted in vendors’ servers, appliance-based solution will host meeting session on in-house servers. In this way, appliance gives users the ultimate protection from users’ own firewall. RHUB web conferencing appliance is a leading vendor who is dedicated to providing reliable and secure hardware based solution.

In addition to the firewall protection, RHUB web conferencing appliance offers transmission and access security to your web conferences while providing an affordable and easy way of conferencing over the internet. So, if you are concerned about internet security for your business, consider getting your hands on RHUB web conferencing solutions.

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Posted in Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing

The internet is responsible for 21% of the economic growth, new study reveals

June 13th, 2011

According to a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the internet is responsible for 21% of the economic growth, accounting for 3.4% of the GDP of the analyzed countries . The Internet Matters report also finds that small and medium businesses have increased productivity by 10% since they started using the internet and that those using Web technologies grow and export twice as much as the others which don’t use them.

The study, which was released to coincide with the first eG8 conference held between 24 and 25 of May in Paris, finds that internet use is growing everywhere and in every sector of society. This growing, the study states, is still in its infancy. In more developed countries, like the UK and Sweden, the internet accounts for 6% of the GDP but in most countries it is still under 4% which shows that internet use still has much to grow.

Internet Matters also correlates internet with job creation. The report says that 2.6 jobs are created for every one that is destroyed by the internet. An analysis of the French economy has shown that the internet has created 1.2 million jobs over the last 15 years while is has destroyed 500,000.

The internet as a major factor in increasing productivity

According to the report, for which were surveyed more than 4,800 SMEs, those that use the internet in their business practices grow and export twice as much as those with a small or none internet use. The study also shows that SMEs with an heavy use of Web technologies also created twice the number of jobs than their counterparts.

But the number of the companies with a high use of Web technologies still accounts for only 27% of all the companies studied, meaning that only 27% of the 4,800 SMEs are taking advantage of the benefits and the growth the internet gives to its users. According to the study, 42% of the companies reported a low Web-intensity and 31% reported medium Web-intensity.

Curiously the report also finds that the countries with a higher percentage of companies with a high web-intensity implemented practices are also those to which the internet contributes a greater portion of the GDP.

Online tools to increase productivity

This means that most companies aren’t still taking advantage of all the internet has to offer and of the Web tools and productivity enhancing technological solutions available in the market. Tools like the RHUB 4 in 1 Webconferencing software have been proved to improve productivity in companies in every sector of the market while, at the same time, it cuts down costs.

Webconferencing tools increase productivity by improving communication between and among the several departments, increasing work flow, collaboration without any employee having to leave his work place. These tools also allow employees to access their work place from home and allow them to attend seminars without leaving their workplace, reducing costs and time spent on dislocations.

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Posted in Uncategorized, Web Conferencing, Web Seminars, webinar

Major medical institutions using Web Conferencing to share and advance research

June 8th, 2011

Major medical institutions using Web Conferencing to share and advance research

In an initiative called HOPE, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital are using web conferencing to share information on AIDS and advance research around the world.

HOPE, which stands for HIV Online Provider Education, was created in 2004 to connect HIV clinicians from all over the world with the objective of exchanging ideas and advice and to create a platform of collaborative learning.

Doctors can log in easily and quickly, within 5 to 10 minutes, to share their findings on AIDS research with other colleagues on the other side of the world, said Rishabh Dev Phukan, HOPE’s program coordinator, to eWeek.

HOPE holds interactive conferences every two months in which are discussed HIV issues with attendants from Africa, China, India, Dominican Republic, the UK and the US. The conferences feature an expert which makes the topic presentation and then allows discussion between the several participants. Participants can also discuss particular cases between themselves and ask for the opinion of the clinicians present in the web conference.

Another HOPE initiative is the HIV Consult, which has several HIV clinicians providing online help and consultation to doctors with challenging cases or who are working in a limited resources setting.

The Harvard Center for AIDS Research and the Massachusetts General are also working with the McCord Hospital in South Africa using web conference to provide help and advice on AIDS treatment and specific cases.

RHUB TurboMeeting Appliance protects privacy

HOPE’s experience illustrates how web conferencing software can make a difference in medical and scientific research. Online conferencing allows doctors and researchers from all over the world to share their data and experience, discuss their ideas and get advice from experts, all done without leaving their institutions and wasting time.

RHUB has seen more medical clients in 2011. It is known that clinics and hospitals are especially concerned with patients’ privacy protection. When doctors hold online collaborations, RHUB’s appliance-based solution could better ensure that all information is securely protected by medical institution’s own firewall. Compared to the hosted solutions, in which meeting or seminar information will be sheltered by the hosted servers, more hospitals are opting for appliance. RHUB’s dedicated appliance gives doctors the comfort of real-time privacy protection.

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Posted in Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing

Tags: online collaboration

Web Collaboration market will reach $20 Billion in four years

June 7th, 2011

According to a new report called “ Global Team Collaboration Software & Audio, Video, Web Conferencing Solutions Market” by MarketsandMarkets, the web conferencing market will reach $19.97 billion by 2015, meaning a 10.4% compound annual growth rate.

The report states that behind this exponential growth is that managers have started to realize that collaboration and web conferencing tools increase employee and business productivity. In the future, according to MarketsandMarkets, increasing productivity and cost control will determine how web conferencing software and appliances will evolve.

These tools and appliances already play an important role in businesses around the world but it is a market with an exponential growth capability. With many companies looking forward to expanding globally, web conferencing tools are the solution to overcome distances and time zones, bringing people together to work collaboratively in real time. Collaborative remote support appliances are also great to train employees and to supervise their work, allowing an employer to train and manage a team on the other side of the world.

With this exponential growth it is expected that over the next few years remote working and web conferencing systems will change the landscape of the traditional working environments. Companies with implemented remote solutions will tend to grow faster and create more jobs becoming dominant in the markets they’re in.

Appliance-based Solution: Lower your cost of collaboration

The web conferencing market is divided into three different types of service delivery: hosted, software and appliance-based services. While hosted services are the most common service available, there are some companies who provide software, with appliance-based solutions being still relatively unknown to managers and IT professionals worldwide.

While still relatively unknown, the appliance-based systems offer the most reliable web conferencing and remote collaboration solutions.

When comparing RHUB, the leading provider of web conferencing and remote support appliances, with hosted services like WebEx, Citrix and LogMeIn, it is noticeable the RHUB’s appliance is a better solution for companies than the others because it offers more features and better quality. For example, the image quality is better over an appliance-based web conference than at a hosted solution, the same with audio in VoIP. Security wise the appliance is also a better product offering firewall protection for internal meetings and an SSL & Proprietary transmission security. RHUB’s appliance also allows to monitor employee desktops and has an unlimited number of users who can host meetings.

With the market growth with a 10.4% annual growth rate, it is expected that managers will be looking for the better solutions to implement in their companies and so it is anticipated that appliance-based systems such as RHUB will grow over the competition.