Secure Web Video Conferencing

Choosing the right provider is essential to online meetings

Written by Steven Bryan

Instead of a traditional business meeting or seminar, many companies rely on web video conferencing to strategize and share vital information with employees and partners. With so many online providers to choose from, you'll have to find one that meets your exact conference needs.

Security is a top priority
On the Internet, information is a negotiable commodity and there are online data miners who constantly seek sensitive company information. To keep your data out of the wrong hands, the web video conferencing provider should make use of the following security measures:

• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): During a web conference, the provider should encrypt all information (video, data, voice) with SSL or Transport Layer Security (TLS). These transmission protocols keep your private company data secure and hacker-free.
• Secure equipment: If an outside company hosts your web-based video conference, only a few of their employees should have access to the computer network during the meeting. Ideally, the provider also should have a secure computer room that's used for this purpose.
• Keep hackers guessing: Like the queen in a game of Three Card Monte, your data should never be where hackers expect it to be. A good conference provider will constantly shuffle your information between servers, never allowing it to stay in one place for very long.
• Videotaping: Unless you specify otherwise, the conference should not be recorded in any way. Note you may still want to record your conference to archive for future use. Make sure the provider shows you how to securely record your conferences in-house.

Additional features
The most effective online meetings make use of streaming video and voice and data, so your provider should have enough bandwidth to handle the data load on their servers. They also should offer these add-on web video conferencing applications:

• Instant Messaging: Participants may want to send messages to each other as well as to the meeting leader during the conference. For an online seminar or webinar, participants also should be able to ask direct questions.
• Supported Devices: There are times when your associates may not be near a computer, but a good provider will support a Blackberry, iPhone, or any smart phone device that permits Internet connections.

Host web video conferencing in house
Your meeting may be too important to fully place in the hands of an outside company. If that's the case, look for a provider who can supply web video conferencing software that's compatible with your network. This company also should provide technical support to go along with its software.

Web video conferencing charges
Though it's convenient technology, business meetings held over the Internet can become rather expensive depending on the provider's pricing structure. Some web video conferencing companies charge on a per-minute basis, but others offer unlimited conferencing for a fixed monthly fee. Ask the providers you meet with what their pricing structures are and work with the one that coincides with your conferencing usage.

To get started with a web conferencing solution, use BuyerZone's free request for quotes service. We'll match you to as many as six different web conferencing vendors who will help you find the appropriate package for your business.