In our opinion there are way too many meetings in the "normal" office. One reason is that they are easy to have. With the virtual office that is not the case. Meetings usually involve at least some travel with the incumbent expense, and they are held only when absolutely necessary. The problem is that there is no substitute for the "face to face" interaction that binds, builds, and maintains relationships. We have found that a certain amount of personal interaction is necessary to maintain company identification and easy communication.

Nevertheless, today's technology provides the ability to have "virtual" meetings through such things as teleconferencing, video conferencing, electronic whiteboards, and video screen sharing. With a good speaker phone, an electronic whiteboard, the proper software, and an internet connection, it's pretty easy to have an efficient meeting miles or even hundreds of miles apart. Video teleconferencing is the ultimate tool but only the really expensive units produce delay free images and sound utilizing very high speed connections. Check out the links shown below for information available on the Web about tools for the "virtual" meeting.

lectronic Whiteboards
SoftBoard Electronic Whiteboards from Multi-Media Solutions, Inc.
Group Logic Inc.
SMART Board
ideo Teleconferencing
VIDEO CONFERENCING
CompInfo - Video/Desktop Conferencing (Info, Sources, & Manufacturers)
DT-5 / Desktop Videoconferencing Products
Internet Conferencing Tools

These links were all checked when they were added to this page as to their presence and pertinence. However, things change rapidly on the Web. If you find a link that is not there, has moved, or is not pertinent to this page, we would appreciate your letting us know. If you would like to suggest a link, we always welcome hearing about new ones.
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