Tips to make the Teleseminar Experience Good for Everyone

1. Call the phone number you have been given for the teleseminar at the scheduled times. Make sure you clarify what time zone your conference call will be taking place.
2. Call from a regular land line or a headset phone. Please don't use a cell phone, an internet phone, or a speaker phone as these create problems including static and echos.
3. Disable your call waiting feature before calling in. Besides being disruptive, it can cause technical problems for the rest of the callers, if you take the second call while on the bridgeline.
4. Do not put the call on hold if you have music on hold. If you do, the other participants will hear your music until you return.
5. When you call, you may hear others on the line. Callers are greeted as they come on the line. Wait to be greeted before introducing yourself then say your name and where you are from. If I hear an echo come in with you I will ask you to hang up, count to 10 and call back in. This will usually clear the problem.
6. If you are late to your teleseminar, dial in and be silent until you are clear about what is going on in the call or for an instructor to greet you. If you leave the teleseminar early, do not announce you are leaving. Just hang up
7. Mimimize background noise by being in a quiet room. Please use your mute button if you have any noise going on, otherwise please use it sparingly - I like to know I'm not just talking to myself! If you do not have a mute button on your telephone you can mute yourself by hitting *6. When you wish to speak you can unmute yourself by hitting *6 again.

7 more tips tomorrow...

source:Wikepedia

Teleseminars Series

A TeleSeminar is similar to a normal face-to-face workshop -- some lecture, some questions, some discussion. It gives you the opportunity to learn and grow from other high performance people in different geographic locations and countries, thus broadening your outlook and network.
Sometimes you may simply attend a one-off stand alone session, normally of 60-75 minutes at other times you may attend a series. A series generally can have up to 24 sessions in it run either weekly or fortnightly
A series gives you an added advantage. Because of its on-going nature, you build a close relationship with your peers, over the phone, and you find that you challenge each other to apply what you have learned, brainstorm new ways of handling issues and set-up accountability structures that enables you to remain focused and on track - and phew all of this over the phone!
Your investment in TeleSeminars enables you to gain invaluable support, insight and wisdom not only from other Breakthrough Leaders, but your lead Facilitator.
A group teleseminar is one of the most time and cost effective methods for continuous leadership development. It gives you a wonderful opportunity to participate from wherever you are; no hassles in getting away from work or driving, parking, or doing your hair. All you need is a phone.
A Teleseminar is similar to a normal face-to-face workshop -- some lecture, some questions, some discussion. It gives you the opportunity to learn new tools and to learn from the other high performance people who are on the call: people, who are from different geographic locations and countries, thus broadening your outlook and network.
The information I will post tomorrow helps you give yourself the best chance of having a free-flowing experience on the call. With nothing distracting you, you'll be able to focus on your learning experience.

source:Wikepedia

Teleseminars

A Teleseminar is the ideal answer for the very busy leader who wants on-going growth in a group setting, yet can't get away from the office for days at a time.
A Group TeleSeminar is one of the most time and cost effective methods for continuous leadership development.
As you may have guessed, a TeleSeminar is a conference call. No travelling, or parking hassles and with the convenient choice of day or evening sessions. All you need is a phone. Since you can call in from anywhere this highly flexible way of learning is perfect for either intact teams who are on the go, or teams who are geographically dispersed, or people from varying organizations.

source:Wikepedia

Teleseminars

Teleseminars are used to provide information, training, or promote or sell products to group of people interested in a particular topic. They are similar to traditional seminars, in content and purpose, but they are given over a teleconference or bridgeline rather than at a specific location.
It is an emerging way to communicate, provide teletraining, and conduct business without the cost of travel. The host of the teleseminar will schedule a specific time and date in advance to communicate with his/her audience. The audience can vary in size from a few callers to 1,000 participants depending on the capacity of the bridgeline used and the popularity of the topic being discussed.
These conference calls are typically recorded. There is typically a fixed period of time devoted to the presentation of information followed by another fixed period of time for questions and answers.
Teleseminars provide an opportunity for a host to provide information to a large number of people at one time. It allows a trainer to train many participants at once, one on many rather than one on one. It also eliminates the need for travel, expensive preparation and presentation material costs. These factors make teleseminars a very cost effective delivery method.
Teleseminars can be free or have a cost associated with participation for the students. The cost will vary depending on the content being discussed and the organization hosting the call. Despite the participation fee, the advantage for students is this medium does not require the hassle and expense of traveling to a live seminar. Participants can join the teleconference from home or anywhere that there is a telephone connection.
After paying the fee, participants will receive a phone number and pass code for the call. If there is no charge for the teleseminar, the phone number and pass code may be distributed via email or may be available on the company’s website.

source:Wikepedia

ILEC Duties

ILECs have the same duties of an LEC and in addition:
· Duty to negotiate - The duty to negotiate in good faith the particular terms and conditions of agreements to fulfill the duties described for an LEC and the specific ones for the ILEC. The requesting telecommunications carrier also has the duty to negotiate in good faith the terms and conditions of such agreements.
· Interconnection - The duty to provide, for the facilities and equipment of any requesting telecommunications carrier, interconnection with the LEC's network -
o For the transmission and routing of telephone exchange service and exchange access
o At any technically feasible point within the carrier's network
o That is at least equal in quality to that provided by the LEC to itself or to any subsidiary, affiliate or any other party to which the carrier provides interconnection
o On rates, terms and conditions that are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement
· Unbundled access - The duty to provide, to any requesting telecommunications carrier for the provision of a telecommunications service, nondiscriminatory access to network elements on an unbundled basis at any technically feasible point on rates, terms and conditions that are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement. An ILEC shall provide such unbundled network elements in a manner that allows requesting carriers to combine such elements in order to provide such telecommunications service.
· Resale - The duty
o To offer for resale at wholesale rates any telecommunications service that the carrier provides at retail to subscribers who are not telecommunications carriers
o Not to prohibit, and not to impose unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or limitations on, the resale of such telecommunications service,
· Notice of changes - The duty to provide reasonable public notice of changes in the information necessary for the transmission and routing of services using that local exchange carrier's facilities or networks, as well as of any other changes that would affect the interoperability of those facilities and networks.
· Colocation - The duty to provide, on rates, terms and conditions that are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory, for physical colocation of equipment necessary for interconnection or access to unbundled network elements at the premises of the local exchange carrier, except that the carrier may provide for virtual colocation if the LEC demonstrates that physical colocation is not practical for technical reasons or because of space limitations.

source:Wikepedia

ILEC Definition

ILEC, with respect to an area in the United States, the local exchange carrier (LEC) that:
· On the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provided telephone exchange service in such area
o And on such date of enactment, was deemed to be a member of the exchange carrier association pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R) Title 47, section 69.601(b).
o Or is a person or entity that, on or after such date of enactment, became a successor or assignee of a member described in the previous bullet.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may, by rule, provide for the treatment of an LEC (or class or category thereof) as an ILEC if:
· Such carrier occupies a position in the market for telephone exchange service within an area that is comparable to the position occupied by a carrier described in previously
· Such carrier has substantially replaced an ILEC described previously
· Such treatment is consistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity

source:Wikepedia

Incumbent local exchange carrier

An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the break up of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone Company responsible for providing local telephone exchange services in a specified geographic area. GTE was the second largest ILEC after the Bells, but it has since been absorbed into Verizon, an RBOC. ILECs compete with Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC). When referring to the technical communities ILEC is often used just to mean a telephone provider.
In Canada, the term ILEC refers to the original telephone companies such as Telus (BC Tel and AGT), SaskTel, Manitoba Telephone Systems (MTS Allstream), Bell Canada Enterprises and Aliant.

to be continued...

source:Wikepedia

Common causes of poor conference calls

There are three common causes of a poor quality conference call:
· People simply not showing up.
· Lack of familiarity with behaviour and protocol.
· Technology.
Each of these causes requires a different kind of corrective action. However, there is usually one primary root cause; for example, people may not be showing up because the technology does not work, or the technology may not work because people are not familiar with it.
Technology problems tend to fall into two kinds: lack of bandwidth and poor equipment. Again, it is worth checking which of these apply in the case of technology problems.

source:Wikepedia

Premium conferencing

Here participants dial in on a premium-rate number typically beginning with the prefix ‘09’, the conference call being hosted by anyone that adds value to the call in order to justify the premium rate element: this could be a celebrity, a sports personality, astrologer, lawyer, or expert in any given field. That person then receives the majority of the accrued revenue. Premium conferencing can also be used for charitable fundraiser.

source:Wikepedia

State legislation

Several long distance carriers lobbied the South Dakota legislature to propose legislation forbidding rural telephone carriers from entering into revenue-sharing agreements with traffic-pumped services. However, the legislation was defeated.

source:Wikepedia

Court Rulings

Cases remain pending in several courts across the country, including federal courts in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky, and New York. Several courts have recently asked the FCC for additional guidance on determining the appropriate rate that should be paid by the long distance carriers for calls directed to traffic-pumped services, calling it an area of regulation “in dynamic flux.

source:Wikepedia

Federal Administrative Commission Rulings

In 1996, AT&T filed a Section 208 complaint with the FCC against Jefferson Telephone Company, a rural incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) based in Iowa, which entered into a commercial agreement with a chat-line provider. AT&T’s complaint alleged that Jefferson violated Section 201 of the Communications Act of 1934 because it “acquired a direct interest in promoting the delivery of calls to specific telephone numbers.” AT&T also argued that the access revenue-sharing arrangement with the chat-line provider was unreasonably discriminatory in violation of Section 202 of the Act, because Jefferson did not share revenues with all its customers. The FCC rejected both these arguments and denied AT&T’s complaint.
In 2002, the FCC issued two more orders, denying similar complaints by AT&T directed at LECs that shared access revenues with chat-line providers. In AT&T v. Frontier Communications, the Commission rejected AT&T’s allegations that “revenue-sharing arrangements” constituted unreasonable discrimination in violation of Section 202 or violations of the ILECs’ common carrier duties under Section 201(b).[19] In AT&T v. Beehive Telephone, the FCC again denied AT&T’s complaint against a LEC that engaged in a commercial relationship with a chat-line provider for the same reasons.
The FCC has more recently issued an order in a case involving an Iowa carrier relating to interstate calls (calls made from any state other than Iowa to an Iowa telephone number). In that order, the FCC determined that the Iowa carrier was not entitled to collect the entire amounts it billed to a long distance carrier, but that it was nevertheless entitled to some compensation. The exact amount of payment has not yet been fixed by the FCC.

source:Wikepedia

State Administrative Commission rulings

The Iowa Utilities Board recently issued its final order in a complaint proceeding brought by Qwest and intervened by AT&T and Sprint Nextel against eight rural telephone companies in Iowa. Except for one call blocking finding against Sprint, the decision was unfavorable for the rural carriers, which may have to return the fees they received for calls directed to traffic-pumped services by Iowa residents. However, damages have not yet been assessed and the Iowa Utilities Board does not have jurisdiction over the vast majority of disputed calls—those that were directed to Iowa from callers in other states—so the reach of its decision is limited. Moreover, the Board has indicated that it is reconsidering its decision and several appeals have been filed challenging the lawfulness of the Board’s order, thus it is not yet a final decision.
The FCC subsequently issued a ruling on this case

source:Wikepedia

Role in dispute between AT&T and Google

The Google Voice telecommunications service offers a service similar to long-distance telephone calling at no cost, using VoIP to connect users with their calling destinations. In order to avoid paying high connection fees to traffic-pumping carriers, Google Voice has blocked calls to some of these carriers.
AT&T has appealed to the FCC to intervene, charging that Google Voice ought to be required to connect these calls just as plain old telephone service (POTS) carriers are required to do so. Google has responded that its service, and those of other VoIP providers such as Skype, is distinct from those of a traditional POTS common carrier, and that it should not be obligated to complete these calls. Google further charges that AT&T is trying to distract the FCC from concerns regarding network neutrality, and accuses AT&T of conducting regulatory capitalism, in which businesses exploit laws and regulations to stifle competition and slow innovation. Finally, Google urges the FCC to revise "outdated carrier compensation rules" to end the practice of traffic pumping.
AT&T has written to the FCC, stating that Google's blocking of calls to traffic pumping numbers gives it a substantial cost advantage over traditional carriers. AT&T further argues that the issue of network neutrality is highly relevant, since Google is violating its own statement of the principle of non-discrimination, that "a provider 'cannot block fair access' to another provider." AT&T agrees with Google that the FCC should act to forbid traffic pumping schemes in the first place, calling them "patently unlawful", but asks that Google be required to accept the same common carrier requirements even if they are not shut down.
A bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives has joined in AT&T's complaint, urging the FCC to investigate Google Voice's practice of blocking calls to high-fee rural local exchange carriers. Some of these legislators have received significant campaign contributions from AT&T, and represent districts where rural carriers profit from traffic pumping. Sam Gustin of DailyFinance suggests that there may be issues of conflict of interest and pork barrel politics involved in these legislators' efforts.

source:Wikepedia

Consequences of Traffic Pumping

End-users of traffic-pumped phone services often do not pay directly for the high fees collected by rural local carriers and service providers. Many wireless and land line customers now have unlimited long-distance plans, and thus the entire inflated cost of using these services is borne by their long-distance carrier. Providers of traffic-pumped conference calling service assert that these long-distances carriers still profit when their customers use traffic-pumped services.
In 2007, AT&T estimated that it would spend an additional $250 million to connect such calls, and has warned that it may have to raise its customers' calling plan prices unless regulators address the issue of traffic pumping. However, providers of traffic-pumped conference calls claim that AT&T has refused to provide evidence of these costs, and that it is a ploy by AT&T to leverage its market power to put competing conference calling providers out of business.
AT&T and other long-distance carriers have in some cases attempted to avoid these costs by blocking their customers from calling the phone numbers of traffic-pumping services. However, the FCC has forbidden common carriers from this kind of selective blocking, and so the long-distance carriers are essentially obligated to complete these calls.
Based upon an independent study of 50% of long distance calls originating on wireless networks in U.S., calls terminating to carriers meeting a traffic pumping profile were estimated to cost $95 million annually, representing 11% of all long distance costs in the study. Extending to all wireless service providers, the cost is estimated to be more than $190 million annually

source:Wikepedia

How Traffic Pumping works

Under the regulatory mechanisms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, wireless and long distance carriers (such as AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon) pay access fees to local exchange carriers (LECs) for calls to those carriers' local subscribers. Rural carriers are allowed by the FCC to charge substantially higher access fees (as high as 10-20 cents/minute) than carriers in more urban areas, based on the rationale that they must pay for substantial fixed infrastructure costs while handling lower call volume.
In order to increase their incoming call volume, and thereby fees owed, rural carriers partner with certain telephone service providers to route their calls through the rural carrier. These services typically include phone sex and conference calling providers, which expect a high volume of incoming calls. Notably, these service providers do not need to establish a physical, local presence in order to route their calls in this way. Many of these companies are actually located in Los Angeles, California. As a consequence of this arrangement, the rural carriers can receive millions of dollars of fees, which they then share with the ostensibly "local" service providers, who are responsible for vastly increasing call volume above typical rural usage.
Many of the rural carriers participating in these schemes are located in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota.

source:Wikepedia

Traffic Pumping

Traffic pumping, also known as access stimulation, is a controversial practice by which some local exchange telephone carriers in rural areas of the United States inflate the volume of incoming calls to their networks, and profit from the greatly increased intercarrier compensation fees to which they are entitled by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
As of March 2010, traffic pumping is the subject of an ongoing legal and regulatory dispute involving AT&T, Google Voice, rural phone carriers, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

source:Wikepedia

Free conference calling

Free conferencing is different from traditional conference calling where the organizer of the conference call pays either a flat rate fee or per minute charge or a mixture of both. It has no organizer fees and allows for multiple people to meet for the price of their long distance connections. Companies that provide free conference call services are usually compensated through traffic pumping arrangements, and consequently are subject to call blocking by some carriers. Calls to these seemingly free conference services and other reverse billing rate centers can be 20 times more expensive than a ‘normal’ call. In the United Kingdom the prefix 0870 system is used by UK-based free conference calling providers in order to receive a rebate from every call from telephone company that owns the number. However in April 2009 Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, announced that the rebate that is payable to the telecom's supplier when an 0870 number is used would be removed. Removing the income stream for free conference call providers these providers had to find other ways to generate income in order to stay in business.

source:Wikepedia

Prepaid conference calls

Prepaid conference call services allow businesses and individuals to purchase conferencing services online, and conduct conference calls on a pay-as-you-go basis. Typically, a conference call PIN and its associated calling instructions are displayed immediately online after being purchased and/or sent via email. Generally, prepaid conference call services are used with a landline telephone, mobile phone, or computer, and there is no need to buy additional expensive telecommunications hardware or add/switch long distance service. Some services allow you to start or join a conference call from virtually any country worldwide—with appropriate telephone access.
Large telecommunications providers such as AT&T, Embarq (formerly Sprint), Verizon and other large to medium conferencing service providers maintain a dominant position in the conferencing niche; servicing many of the World's biggest brands. However, the Internet and improved global VoIP networks have helped to significantly reduce the barrier of entry into this niche.

source:Wikepedia

Flat Rate Conferencing

Flat rate conference call services are now being offered which enable conference call users to have unlimited access to a conference bridge at a fixed monthly cost. Because telecommunication carriers offer free long distance bundled with local service, this alternative is gaining widespread popularity for budget conscious businesses and non-profits.
In the UK, there are conference services offered on a pay as you go basis where the cost of the phone calls (using 0844, 0870 or 0871 numbers) from each of the participants covers the cost of the conference service. With this service type there is no monthly charge and usually no contracts to sign.

source:Wikepedia

Party line

Conference calls can also be used for entertainment or social purposes, such as the party line or a group call. People call in to a specified telephone number, and are connected to conversations with other callers. This serves as a way to talk to and perhaps, subsequently, meet new people.

source:Wikepedia

Business conference calling.

Businesses use conference calls daily to meet with remote parties, both internally and outside of their company. Common applications are client meetings or sales presentations, project meetings and updates, regular team meetings, training classes and communication to employees who work in different locations. Conference calling is viewed as a primary means of cutting travel costs and allowing workers to be more productive by not having to go out-of-office for meetings.
Conference calls are used by nearly all United States public corporations to report their quarterly results. These calls usually allow for questions from stock analysts and are called earnings calls. A standard conference call begins with a disclaimer stating that anything said in the duration of the call may be a forward looking statement, and that results may vary significantly. The CEO, CFO, or Investor Relations officer then will read the company's quarterly report. Lastly, the call is opened for questions from analysts.
Conference calls are increasingly used in conjunction with web conferences, where presentations or documents are shared via the internet. This allows people on the call to view content such as corporate reports, sales figures and company data presented by one of the participants. The main benefit is that the presenter of the document can give clear explanations about details within the document, while others simultaneously view the presentation.
Conference calls are also beginning to cross over into the world of podcasting and social networking, which in turn fosters new kinds of interaction patterns. Live streaming or broadcasting of conference calls allows a larger audience access to the call without dialing in to a bridge. In addition, organizers of conference calls can publish a dial-in number alongside the audio stream, creating potential for audience members to dial in if and when they wish to interact.

source:Wikepedia

Conference calling

A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak. It is often referred to as an ATC (Audio Tele-Conference).
Conference calls can be designed so that the calling party calls the other participants and adds them to the call - however, participants are usually able to call into the conference call themselves, by dialing into a special telephone number that connects to a "conference bridge" (a specialized type of equipment that links telephone lines).
Companies commonly use a specialized service provider who maintains the conference bridge, or who provides the phone numbers and PIN codes that participants dial to access the meeting or conference call.

source:Wikepedia

Videotelephony descriptive names & terminology

Videophone calls (or 'videocalls'), differ from videoconferencing in that they expect to serve individuals, not groups. However that distinction has becoming increasingly blurred with technology improvements such as increased bandwidth and sophisticated software clients that can allow for multiple parties on a call. In general everyday usage the term videoconferencing is now frequently used instead of videocall for point-to-point calls between two units. Both videophone calls and videoconferencing are also now commonly referred to as a 'video link'.
Webcams are popular, relatively low cost devices which can provide live video and audio streams via personal computers, and can be used with many software clients for video calls.
A videoconference system is generally higher cost than a videophone and deploys greater capabilities. A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) allows two or more locations to communicate via live, simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. This is often accomplished by the use of a multipoint control unit (a centralized distribution and call management system) or by a similar non-centralized multipoint capability embedded in each videoconferencing unit. Again, technology improvements have circumvented traditional definitions by allowing multiple party videoconferencing via web-based applications. Telepresence system is a high-end videoconferencing system and service usually employed by enterprise-level corporate offices. Telepresence conference rooms use state-of-the art room designs, video cameras, displays, sound-systems and processors, coupled with high-to-very-high capacity bandwidth transmissions.
Typical uses of the various technologies described above include videocalling or videoconferencing on a one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many basis for personal, business, educational, deaf Tele-Relay and tele-medical, diagnostic and rehabilitative use or services. New services utilizing videocalling and videoconferencing, such as personal videocalls to inmates incarcerated in penitentiaries, and videoconferencing to resolve airline engineering issues at maintenance facilities, are being created or evolving on an on-going basis.

source:Wikepedia

Videoconferencing's impact on media relations.

The concept of press videoconferencing (or press videoconference) was developed in October 2007 by the African Press Organization (APO), a Swiss based Non-governmental organization, to allow African journalists to participate in international press conferences on the subject of development and good governance.
Press videoconferencing permits international press conferences via videoconferencing over the Internet. Journalists can participate on an international press conference from any location, without leaving their offices or countries. They need only be seated by a computer connected to the Internet in order to ask their questions to the speaker.
In 2004, the International Monetary Fund introduced the Online Media Briefing Center, a password-protected site available only to professional journalists. The site enables the IMF to present press briefings globally and facilitates direct questions to briefers from the press. The site has been copied by other international organizations since its inception. More than 4,000 journalists worldwide are currently registered with the IMF.

source:Wikepedia

Videoconferencing's impact on law.

Videoconferencing has allowed testimony to be used for individuals who are not able to attend the physical legal settings. In a military investigation in North Carolina, Afghan witnesses have testified using videoconferencing. In Hall County, Georgia, LifeSize video conferencing systems are used for initial court appearances. The systems link the jail and the court room, reducing the expenses and major security risks of transporting prisoners to the courtroom.

source:Wikepedia

Videoconferencing's impact on business.

Videoconferencing can enable individuals in faraway places to have meetings on short notice. Time and money that used to be spent in travelling can be used to have short meetings. Technology such as VOIP can be used in conjunction with desktop videoconferencing to enable low-cost face-to-face business meetings without leaving the desk, especially for businesses with wide-spread offices. The technology is also used for telecommuting, in which employees work from home.
Videoconferencing is now being introduced to online networking websites, in order to help businesses form profitable relationships quickly and efficiently without leaving their place of work. This has been leveraged by banks to connect busy banking professionals with customers in various locations using video banking technology.
Although it already has proven its potential value, research has shown that many employees do not use the videoconference equipment because they are afraid that they will appear to be wasting time or looking for the easiest way if they use videoconferencing to enhance customer and supplier relationships. This anxiety can be avoided if managers use the technology in front of their employees.
Researchers find that attendees of business and medical videoconferences must work harder to interpret information delivered during a conference than they would if they attended face-to-face. They recommend that those coordinating videoconferences make adjustments to procedures and equipment.

source:Wikepedia

Videoconferencing's impact on medicine and health.

Videoconferencing is a very useful technology for telemedicine and telenursing applications, such as diagnosis, consulting, transmission of medical images, etc., in real time in countries where this is legal. Using videoconferencing, patients may contact nurses and physicians in emergency or routine situations, physicians and other paramedical professionals can discuss cases across large distances. Rural areas can use this technology for diagnostic purposes, thus saving lives and making more efficient use of health care money. For example, a rural medical center in Ohio, US, used video conferencing to successfully cut the number of transfers of sick infants to a hospital 70 miles away. This had previously cost nearly $10,000 a transfer.
Special peripherals such as microscopes fitted with digital cameras, videoendoscopes, medical ultrasound imaging devices, otoscopes, etc., can be used in conjunction with videoconferencing equipment to transmit data about a patient.

source:Wikepedia

Videoconferencing's impact on education

Videoconferencing provides students with the opportunity to learn by participating in a 2-way communication platform. Furthermore, teachers and lecturers from all over the world can be brought to classes in remote or otherwise isolated places. Students from diverse communities and backgrounds can come together to learn about one another. Students are able to explore, communicate, analyze and share information and ideas with one another. Through videoconferencing students can visit another part of the world to speak with others, visit a zoo, a museum and so on, to learn. These "virtual field trips" (see history of virtual learning environments) can bring opportunities to children, especially those in geographically isolated locations, or the economically disadvantaged. Small schools can use this technology to pool resources and teach courses (such as foreign languages) which could not otherwise be offered.
Here are a few examples of how videoconferencing can benefit people around campus:
· faculty member keeps in touch with class while away for a week at a conference
· guest lecturer brought into a class from another institution
· researcher collaborates with colleagues at other institutions on a regular basis without loss of time due to travel
· schools with multiple campuses can collaborate and share professors
· faculty member participates in a thesis defense at another institution
· administrators on tight schedules collaborate on a budget preparation from different parts of campus
· faculty committee auditions a scholarship candidate
· researcher answers questions about a grant proposal from an agency or review committee
· student interviews with an employer in another city
· teleseminars

source:Wikepedia