Meetings are an essential activity of business life. It does not matter if you are running a one-man operation or work in a conglomerate, meetings with suppliers, colleagues, subordinates, and/or superiors are needed. The level of interaction and collaboration depends on the meeting but generally this is quite significant. 

Generally, there are two ways to meet: Face-to-face and online. Before, it used to be more practical meeting face-to-face because the alternative was quite prohibitive, and the level of collaboration and interaction was limited. Also, with the online meeting alternatives of yore, it was still necessary for the participants to go to a central venue where the facilities were housed. 

Nowadays, however, thanks to the flexibility of Internet Protocol, availability of large capacities of IP backbone and the growing sophistication of online meeting software, all one needs is a computer and access to the Internet to conduct an online meeting. 

Online meetings have several advantages over the traditional method of meeting. First and foremost, online meetings can be conducted with little advanced notice since the participants do not need to leave their workstation to meet. Furthermore, the participants can continue to do their work without missing the meeting. Online meetings make multitasking possible. 

Secondly, online meetings are cost-effective. Consider the following: 

1. There is no need to reserve and prepare a venue.
2. There is no money spent (in terms of travel time and the resulting loss of productivity) in order for the participants to attend the meeting.
3. A participant can “attend” several online meetings at the same time. This increases the productivity per employee significantly.

Third, online meeting software (some have this as a standard while others provide this as an option) have powerful tools that enhance real time collaboration among the participants. For example, the whiteboarding feature allows freehand markups of documents and presentation materials, just like what one can do in face-to-face meetings. Another powerful feature is the ability to transfer keyboard and mouse control to a participant to allow him to fully explain his points and call up documents he needs to assist his explanations. Participants are also equipped (as a standard feature) with chat facilities so that they can communicate with the other participants without disrupting the proceedings of the meeting. 

Fourth, there are powerful moderator tools in online meeting software that can be used to completely control the meeting. For example, mute functions can prevent hard-headed participants from unnecessarily butting in on the discussion without adding any value thereto. Participants can also be barred from the meeting, either in certain “need to know” parts or completely, with just a click of a few buttons. Face-to-face meeting moderation is not so easily accomplished effectively. 

Fifth, online meeting software can record the meeting’s proceedings for future review, playback, and broadcast. To accomplish this on face-to-face meetings requires special recording and reproduction equipment and is quite time and resource consuming. 

Finally, online meetings can be controlled as to participation because of its powerful security features. No one who is not invited or allowed to join will be able to attend the meeting. Again, this is harder to control with face-to-face meetings. 

These and other reasons make online meetings better than their face-to-face counterparts. If you further consider that subscription rates are just a few dollars per participant per month, then there should be no reason that you should not make this medium your choice for the lion’s share of your meeting activities.