Professional Webinars, Webcasts and Virtual Events

Webcasting and Webinars – Business Communication Redefined:

When Brian Raila first proposed the possibilities of transmitting audio webcasts or video webcasts over the internet in 1989, little would he have known that the business and entertainment world would seize up on this webcasting opportunity? Be it Webcasting of musical events, Webinars of training sessions or annual financial announcements through webinars. Webcasting is probably the biggest contribution from the internet to communications in the business and entertainment world. Webcasts, webinars are carried out using webinar and webcasting software. Webinar and webcasting software for delivering webinars and webcasts can be easily downloaded and accessed over the internet.

Companies such as WorkCast offer unique webcasting and webinars solutions through easily managed webinar software delivered and accessed over the internet. Organisations have realised that by webcasting entertainment and business webinars through webinar and webcasting software, there is a huge opportunity to benefit from improved communication through the use of webcasts.

The Key Differences between Webinars and Webcasts:

Webinars, usually containing training or corporate presentations are transmitted as webcasts and each webinar is intended mainly for training or presenting information in a one to many format. Webinar software provided by most of the companies should allow some level of interaction during the webinar itself as well as customer invitation and registration processes.

Webinars are used heavily in business communications and are usually intended for product launches, sales lead generation, customer and partner education or employee training. Webcasts which may also be delivered as a webinar are intended to transmit anything – webcasting a musical event, webcasting a sports match or even webcasting a marriage. Webcasting possibilities are endless when you consider that webcasting and webinar software is now becoming easier to use. Setting up a webinar or webcast through a webinar or webcasting software solution can now be very simple. By opting for webinar or webcasting software and services from a reputed webinar and webcasting company like WorkCast, all your webcasting and webinar requirements can be simplified.

Typical Features of webinar software:

Most modern webinar software provides for advanced webcasting and webinar features such as sending webinar appointment mails, configuring webinar reminders, creating registration pages, recording webinars and follow up mail from webinars. For example, WorkCast, a leading webinar and webcast specialist sends out a branded webinar invitation, which also automatically configures the webinar calendar entry. Once the live webcast or webinar is over, post webinar branded communications ensure the right visibility for your company. Post-event webinar playback is also possible with the possibility of adding additional background information to the webcast such as polls, questions and document downloads. Adding questions during the live and recorded webinar is another possibility in advanced webcasting and webinar software for lead generation.

Webinars being delivered through webcasting technology is now rapidly gaining popularity and these webcasts using leading webcasting software from vendors like WorkCast are now considered to be serious alternatives to official or personal travel. Software for webinars and webcasts allows any number of participants at the webinar with many add-on features which make each webinar or webcasting session much more productive and interactive. As well as saving on travel costs, organising webinars through live webcasts also help in ensuring a low carbon foot print.

The need for every meeting to be face to face is decreasing rapidly with the emergence of webinars and webcasts. With a feature rich webinar software, managing and impressing your clients, prospects, investors and employees with highly branded webinars and interactive webcasts has never been easier. Many companies are seeing significant return on investment from implementing webcasting and webinar technology.

General Webinar and Webcast information

A webinar is a term to describe a specific type of web conference. It is typically a one-to-many type virtual event from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction. A webinar can be collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, while pointing out information being presented onscreen, and the audience can respond over their own telephones, speaker phones or via online chat allowing the greatest comfort and convenience.

Many organisations today are using webinar software solutions in order to effectively communicate with large disparate audiences. WorkCast provide full webinar services and we provide our clients with a managed webinar service to create, promote and broadcast their webinars and webcasts. We provide a full webinar service that takes our customers through the entire process of managing webinar programs. Our years of experience have provided us specialisation in offering solutions for webcast and webinar applications catering to the needs of varied industries. We have developed productivity tools clients need to operate events and subsequently, analyse the event’s success.Through the WorkCast Webinar Services team we help the customer through a well-defined process that helps to guarantee a well-attended, well delivered webinar.

Communicating with customers through a free webcast, or a series of free webcasts allows you to reach a broad audience easily and effectively. Inviting clients to a free webcast or free webinar as an alternative to large scale events benefit business and participants alike. The interactive nature of webcasts and webinars through the webinar software that is available enables people to give, receive and discuss and discuss information in real time whilst saving money on venues catering and travel.

Good Webinar software will have many features that allow the host to get the most from their webinar. The webinar software should allow the host to step through an online process to set up and hold the webinar. The webinar set up process should include webinar email invites and webinar reminder process, the webinar details set up and registration process, the live webinar screens and management console and the post webinar follow up email process.

Most leading webinar software has some of the features. Webcast Manager from WorkCast is one of the only webinar software on the market that allows all of these plus the ability to completely brand all steps of the process but also to create a fully branded webinar recording that can be distributed as On demand webcast after the webinar has finished.

As well as providing the benefits of live Webinars and Webcasts, the WorkCast Webinar Software allows you to record your live webinar and then use the media over and again for marketing purposes. This allows organisations to re-run the same topic as a live webinar using the same media as they have previously increasing the spread of knowledge with ease. These can then be used for a series of free webinars in which all of the information has been recorded from earlier webinars or webcasts.

With the practise of carrying out a webinar or webcast to promote your organisation becoming more and more important it is also important that these events are run professionally so that the most can be gained from them.

It is important to plan your webinar. If your run a live webinar or live webcast it is important to think about the time that most people will be able to attend.

You should also plan your promotional activities for your live webinar or live webcast. How are you going to let people know about the event with plenty of time to put it in their diary’s. Can the promotion of your live webinar be part of your current communications strategy – newsletters, social media, etc – and would it benefit from a targeted email campaign. Don’t forget to remind people closer to the date so that your free webinar is at the forefront of their minds.

As well as getting information out to potential customers and clients companies use their free webinars and free webcasts to get information back from their clients. Webinar software and Webcast software can allow you to gain reporting feedback from your events. In order to keep attendees engaged during a live webinar it is important to create an agenda, including creating compelling content. During your live webinar you should make the most of your webinar software, creating polls, allowing people to express their views and facilitating question and answer sessions. One of the most positive aspects of a live webinar or a live webcast is that you are able to build in a level of interactivity with your clients, customers and prospects.

With a traditional live event, whether that be a physical seminar or meeting or a live webinar or live webcast, you are limiting your audience to those people who are able to make the event time. By recording your live webinars, using a tool such as WorkCast’s Webcast Manager, you are able to make the most of the event. Having your media available on-demand, as an addition to your live webinars, can be very useful as some reports say that four times as many people choose to view a webinar at their own convenience.

Many webinar providers focus on providing a very standard set of tools to many clients because it easier to manage. However, your branding is a vitally important part of the process so check to see how much branding your provider gives you in the email and registration process, live webinar and on demand webinar viewer auditoriums.

Once you have completed your live webinar or live webcast you still have a great deal that you can do with the assets that you have gained. WorkCast’s webinar software allows you to pull together your reporting and feedback assets. This allows you to communicate your clients who attended the live webinar, provide an on-demand recording to those who didn’t and then monitor the viewings of the recordings.

Internet Broadcasts

Internet broadcasts have taken the world by storm. It is not just the online movies or music that are popular internet broadcasts; now you have conferences, online trainings or even one to one meetings happening as internet broadcasts through webinars and webcasts. The online world is filled with endless opportunities for an individual or organisation who wants to take advantage of the benefits of internet broadcasts.

Types of internet broadcasts:

There are several types of internet broadcasts. Some of these internet broadcasts use public technology to transmit videos and information. Other types of internet broadcasts services are more customised with security layers to prevent unauthorised access to the broadcast. This is especially true in the case of organisations that need to transmit company information through seminars, conduct board meetings or have interviews and conferences.

Advantages of internet broadcasts:

When you have internet broadcasts done through webinars or webcasts, you also establish the credibility of your organisation by letting your viewers (internal or external) know that you have invested time and money on the internet broadcasts and that you are serious about these internet broadcasts. You are also able to better prepare your viewers about the agenda of the internet broadcasts through the various options which internet broadcasts service providers give. Unlike a live presentation, internet broadcasts also gives the online viewers option to view the content later or in some cases, pause the content and view them later. There is also an option of rescheduling internet broadcasts such as a webinar unlike a live conference where the participants would have already arrived at the venue and rescheduling the conference is not possible. Internet broadcasts also give added functionalities such as taking notes, Q&A sessions and many other features which are not likely to be present in a regular traditional type of meeting. The meetings over internet broadcasts can be held in a more informal way. The participants in internet broadcasts are likely to be much more comfortable with a familiar environment rather than a formal setting. The host can handle the internet broadcasts sessions with much more ease.

While all of the above is true, the greatest benefit of internet broadcasts is the cost savings associated with travel and lodging. The accumulated annual costs of an organisations travel and lodging expenses can become huge and can be easily avoided through an effective system of internet broadcasts such as webinars and webcasts.