Dari hasil Survey Pew Research Center terhadap 3001 orang Amerika, diketahui ada 19% yang melakukan Video Call online dari perangkat Komputer atau HP mereka. Dari jumlah itu sebanyak 23% yang melakukan Web video chat dari komputer dan 7% dari HP. Ini merupakan kenaikan dari hasil survey tahun 2009 dimana Web video call mencapai 20%.

Video chat dari HP meningkat karena makin banyaknya Smartphone yang dilengkapi dengan camera, serta adanya layanan video-chat seperti Skype, Google Chat dan iChat dari Apple.

Teleconferencing juga makin banyak digunakan untuk berkonferensi jarak jauh memakai komputer.

Berikut ini berita lengkapnya:

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Some 19 percent of 3,001 American adults surveyed said they have participated in a video call online from their computer or their cellphones, according to new data from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Project.

Users joined video calls, chats or teleconferences from the Web via their computers to the tune of some 23 percent, while 7 percent have used their phones for such tasks.

Often, people placed video calls on both the Internet and their cell phone, but Pew only counted those who said they had used both mediums to participate in video calling once.

People were surveyed this past summer from Aug. 9 to Sept. 13 in what was the first survey of Pew conducted that covered both online and cell-phone video calls.

Pew last year looked at video calls from the Web, noting that the number rose modestly from 20 percent of Web users in April 2009 to 23 percent of Web users in summer 2010.

What is becoming clear is that mobile video calling appears poised to boom in the coming year, as front-facing camera are being included in smartphones and tablet PCs.

"Video calling has become increasingly available as camcorders have spread through the online environment, cameras have been built into smartphones, and as video-chat services like Skype, Google Talk and Apple iChat have become a feature of the online and smartphone environment," Pew said, adding that teleconferencing is also becoming a staple medium in businesses.

Indeed, Skype is picking up traction on mobile phones, with new apps surfacing to leverage the larger screens and more powerful browsers and processors on modern smartphones such as the iPhone and devices based on Google's Android operating system.

Apple launched its FaceTime video calling application for iPhone 4 in June, while Yahoo Oct. 12 launched Yahoo Messenger App for iPhone.

Tablet computers are coming to the fore to leverage video calling, most likely to enable video conferences for corporate road warriors on the go.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab touts a front-facing camera for video chat, as do future machines from Dell and Motorola.

Other trends Pew found:

• A third of Web users living in households earning $75,000 or above have participated in video calls or chats, compared with 18% of those earning less than $75,000.
• Some 29 percent of the Web users ages 18-29 have participated in video calls or chats or teleconferences, compared with 15 percent of Web users age 65 or older.
• Online men are more likely than online women to participate in online video calls (26 percent vs. 20 percent).
  

Dengan makin cepatnya kecepatan transmisi jaringan Internet dan Broadband di Indonesia, maka makin banyak layanan-layanan dapat dijalankan melalui jaringan-jaringan itu, antara lain layanan Videoconference yang dapat menggantikan pertemuan face-to-face dalam bisnis maupun hubungan kekeluargaan diantara para pelanggan telematika.

Berikut ini adalah daftar 9-situs-situs yang menyediakan layanan Vidoeconference tersebut yang gratis maupun murah:

1. WebEx (http://www.webex.com)

Originally an on-line meeting and web-conferencing tool, WebEx has expanded to include video communications in addition to its online collaboration and meeting capabilities.

Probably the most well-known of business video communication services, WebEx offers everything from white-boarding to text chat to multi-way video chat.

COST: $49 per month per meeting host (or free if you are not the host)

2. Skype (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home)

As a voice and IM tool, Skype has gained a huge following within the consumer realm, but the addition of video communications has made it the technology of choice for business travellers who want to phone home. And it also makes it usable for face-to-face business meetings.

Multi-way video chat is currently not available, so meetings between more than two people are out.

COST: Free within Skype (calling plans are available for dialing out to phone numbers)

3. Google Voice & Video Chat (http://www.google.com/chat/video)

Available as plug-in for Gmail. Igoogle and orkut, Google Voice and Video Chat provides video communications capabilities.

Multi-way video chat is not available, so as with other consumer products, video calls between more than two people are not possible.

COST: Free

4. Windows Live Messenger (http://explore.live.com/windows-live-messenger?os=other)

Seeing as we have covered Google, it is only fair to include Windows Live Messenger in the mix. Microsoft's popular IM service has featured video chat capabilities for quite some time, but as with other consumer applications, the video communications features are only good for two-way communication and are not suitable for meetings with multiple people.

COST: Free

5. HP Virtual Rooms (http://h10076.www1.hp.com/education/hpvr)

HP Virtual Rooms offers on-line meeting and collaboration tools for businesses, as well as the ability to do video chat on the desktop.

The service provides everything a business needs for real-time on-line meetings, including white-boarding, shared presentations and multi-way video chat.

COST: Starts at $12.95 per month for five users.

6. Dimdim (http://www.dimdim.com)

Dimdim provides a web-conferencing service that includes voice and video chat, as well as collaboration applications like desktop sharing and the ability to show presentation slides to all involved.

COST: Free far ability to host up to 20 seats in web-conference; $25 per month per user (can host up to 50 seats), with additional pricing plans for ability to host more seats.

7. MegaMeeting (http://www.megameeting.con/)

Aimed at businesses, MegaMeeting provides web-conferencing capabilities in addition to audio and video communications features.

It also features scree/application sharing, PowerPoint presentation sharing, remote desktop control and other functions.

COST: Starts at $45 per month for three seats.

8. Microsoft LiveMeeting (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/live-meeting-help/live-meeting-support-homepage-FX101878057.aspx

Unlike Microsoft's consumer IM product, LiveMeeting has been specifically designed for businesses.

It includes audio and video chat capabilities, as well as the ability to share files and applications.

COST: Starts at $4.50 per month per user (can host up to 250 participants).

9. Adobe Acrobat ConnectNow/Connect Pro (http://www.adobe.com/acom/connectnow/)

Formerly Macromedia Breeze, Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro is a Flash-based web-conferencing suite that features audio and feature conferencing, white-boarding, polling and other on-line meeting features.

COST: Free for meetings up to three participants; Starts at $45 per month (for hosting meetings with up to 100 participants).