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History of Web
Conferencing
History of web conferencing -- multi-function conferencing comes of age
December 9, 2004
By: Lucy P. Roberts
While web conferencing and video conferencing are
sometimes confused, the reality is that web conferencing is
a completely different animal, with far more options
available and a much greater range of functionality than
video conferencing. Web conferencing offers not just the
opportunity to chat and communicate via webcam so that you
can see each person in your conferencing link, but to
exchange documents, share applications, access shared
desktops, use PowerPoint, whiteboards and other presentation
features and even poll participants.
It all started with PLATO…
Web conferencing is “the total package.” Interestingly,
the conceptual design of web conferencing began long before
there was a World Wide Web or Internet structure in place.
In the 1960’s, the University of Illinois developed a system
known as PLATO for their Computer-based Education Research
Laboratory (CERL). It was a small, self-contained system
supporting a single classroom of terminals connected to one
mainframe computer. In 1972, PLATO was moved to a new system
of mainframes that eventually supported over one thousand
users at a time.
In 1973, Talkomatic was developed by Doug Brown. This was
essentially the first “instant messaging” program ever
designed, with multiple windows displaying typed notes in
real time for several users simultaneously. In 1974, Kim
Mast developed Personal Notes, a new feature for PLATO that
enabled private mail for users.
In 1975, Control Data Corporation set up its own PLATO
system in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first commercial use
of multi-function conferencing system. Within ten years,
PLATO was being used in over one hundred sites around the
world, some with dedicated lines for full-time use.
In the late 1980’s, however, microcomputers were becoming
more reasonably priced and the heyday of mainframe-based
systems was over. Eventually the original Control Data
systems were shut down because PLATO was no longer
cost-effective. Control Data now has a few systems operating
under the name CYBIS.
PLATO’s descendants
In the late 1970’s, Ray Ozzie and Tim Halvorsen worked at
CERL. Years later they took some of the features of PLATO
and greatly expanded on their capabilities when designing
one of today’s most powerful web conferencing tools -- Lotus
Notes, released in 1989.
Lotus Notes was the first commercially released product
that really took off to offer user-created data-bases,
document sharing, and remote location communication under
one umbrella. It created a “relationship based” environment
that took the corporation world by storm.
Other descendants of PLATO included DEC Notes, originally
known as VAX, written by Len Kawell. It is still used today
on DEC’s EASYnet and on Starlink, a universal web
conferencing community. NetNotes is a client-server system
designed to improve on the original DEC Notes, with WebNotes
as an add-on for World Wide Web access.
True WEB conferencing
The distinction between true web conferencing and systems
conferencing is difficult, however, to define. When the Web
first became a contender as a valid means of collaborative
conferencing with document sharing, etc, many companies took
conferencing packages originally designed for intranet
systems and redesigned them. The results weren’t always
seamless. It wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that true Web
Conferencing software that was reliable was available.
PLATO and other main-frame based conferencing systems
were based on a centralized structure, with all elements
feeding into a central computer. This structure saw the
development of several types of conferencing software that
included Backtalk, Caucus, COW, Motet, Web Crossing, Podium,
TALKaway and YAPP.
PlaceWare, arguably one of the most influential Web
conferencing systems developed, had interesting origins in
the 1990’s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where it
began as a multi-user game called LambdaMOO. PlaceWare was
one of the first companies to provide complete Web
conferencing after the initial release of PlaceWare
Auditorium in 1997. In April of 2003, Microsoft purchased
PlaceWare, adding it to its newly formed Real-Time
Collaborative Business Unit.
P2P shifts the focus of web conferencing
Another popular form of software was Groupware,
essentially defined by Lotus Notes. The difference between
the centralized structure of PLATO-based systems and Lotus
is in the additional functions -- Lotus provided a host of
other options like scheduling and document sharing.
Groupware software is more complex than Centralized software
and focus on work flow; that is, making sure documents,
graphics and templates are where they need to be. Popular
Groupware products developed in the 1990’s included InTandem,
Livelink, Lotus Domino, Oracle InterOffice, TEAMate and
WebShare.
As the price of home computers dropped, peer to peer
(P2P) file sharing became more and more commonplace over the
World Wide Web, although primarily on a user to user basis.
That changed when members of Napster, then an illegal,
informally organized group of college youth and other
music-lovers, began sharing millions of music files among
themselves. It began a revolution in the use of the Internet
that changes the way Web conferencing was eventually
perceived. P2P began to be seen as the way to host Web
conferencing, rather than through a single server.
Groove took this peer to peer concept and applied it to
Web conferencing. The Groove technology, originally released
in 2000, was upgraded to real performance power with Groove
2.1 in 2002 and was impressive. The advantages of peer to
peer were immediately obvious -- once you loaded the
software and were set up, you never had to pay a
subscription or user fee for an offsite server to store any
files, you will never lose all files in one central
location, and you are set up and good to go for life (or
until the next upgrade, at least).
Another company that recognized the need for quality Web
conferencing software during these years was WiredRed
Software, founded in 1998. In 2003, they released e/pop, a
real-time Web Conferencing suite with comprehensive features
for all aspects of industry -- it was the first installable
web conferencing software with no significant install time.
NextPage also offers P2P web conferencing and document
sharing capabilities developed out of the Napster movement.
In fact, they use the example of Napster file sharing and
downloads to illustrate to companies the advantages of using
a peer to peer network over a centralized server.
What about UseNet?
In the 1980’s, Usenet software was developed with
specific protocols to format and transmit messages. It also
allowed messages to be passed from one news server to
another, replicating around the world rather than being
stored in any one location. It has become the standard for
news readers on the Internet, with Netscape Navigator and
Internet Explorer both having built-in news readers for
UseNet.
For some, web conferencing can be achieved simply by
taking advantage of UseNet. Download free software to set up
a news server, create a few local newsgroups on it, and have
your users access your server with their Web browsers to
create your conferencing site.
Most companies, of course, prefer to have a more
professional package than that, and ease of use and security
are concerns that are addressed better by companies who have
specifically developed company or enterprise Web
Conferencing solutions. A good web conferencing package
today contains voice over IP (VoIP), co-browsing and
application sharing at the minimum, with add-ons and other
features if needed, including polling, event management,
PowerPoint presentation, playback, recording and live
annotation and markup.
Easynet, founded in 1994, is a broadband networking
company based in Europe providing primarily European
businesses with Web conferencing capabilities. This
infrastructure based provider provides unbundled loop access
to companies in some countries as a part of a “leased line”
program for conferencing.
VoIP is making noise
The latest frontier in Web conferencing is the
practicality of using IP based voice communications on a
regular basis with Web conferencing. While Web conferencing
is considered desirable for document exchange, text
messaging and whiteboards and many other functions, many
people still think VoIP technology has poor quality overall,
especially with so many people still using dial-up
connections.
Actually, there are several contenders in the marketplace
who have produced excellent quality VoIP offerings in their
Web conferencing packages, including
iVocalize,
Voxwire,
VoiceCafe, and
HotConference.
The future of web conferencing
One of the last stumbling blocks for web conferencing has
been the incompatibility between Macs and PC’s. With the
heavy preference for Macs by those in graphics heavy
industries such as architecture, advertising and publishing,
it has always been difficult to share documents and set up
effective Web conferencing if the clients are PC-based.
Session from
WaveThree was released in 2003 to address
this problem and seems to have actually overcome this
seemingly insurmountable problem -- one of the first really
effective systems for Mac/PC collaboration over the
Internet. Using a bandwidth of 128 KBPS or above, Session
provides videoconferencing, desktop sharing, document
sharing, whiteboards and live annotations on photos and/or
documents. More Web conferencing platforms of this type will
no doubt be on the horizon.
As Web conferencing becomes more and more common, new
developments will inevitably arise, including, perhaps,
dedicated lines that are constantly open, improved, secure
peer-to-peer access and more Mac/PC web conferencing
options. With so many players on the field, it is likely
that there will be a variety of divergent developments over
the next few years.
About the Author
Lucy P. Roberts is a successful freelance writer providing practical information and advice for
businesses about everything related to
web
conferencing software and
web based meetings. Her numerous articles include tips for saving both time and money; product reviews and reports; and other valuable insights for persons searching the Internet for information about
how web
conferencing works and related topics.
Also See:
[
Interactive whiteboards for online data conferencing &
collaboration ]
[ Interactive white
boards -- convert dry erase boards using eBeam ]
[ Interactive
white board capture devices -- Mimio Xi for virtual meetings ]
Home Page:
[ Web-Conferencing-Zone.com ]
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