Screen Porch: White Paper

Conferencing On The Web : Communication & Collaboration At Every Desktop

Networked Information on the Web
The Web is now ubiquitous. For organizations, it has provided a low-cost platform for distributing information throughout a networked organization as well as to constituents and customers with Internet access. For users, it has become a single, simple, friendly interface to information worldwide.

Early Web Applications
But, the first generation of Web applications have been static. The initial use, and still the prevailing use, for Web sites on the Internet and internal networks (Intranets) has been to publish and distribute fixed pages of information in a hypertext interface. In these applications, communication consists of pre-formatted information, and such information travels in one direction only -- from server to client.

More recently, organizations have begun to create and deploy Web-based interfaces to a variety of databases and document archives. In these second-generation applications, a user is able to query information (often using SQL) through a Web server, establishing an important measure of control over the format and structure of the information on the Web page before him. Even in these applications, however, information continues to move in one direction only, still flowing from server to client.

A New Generation
Now, we are at the birth point of a new third generation of Web applications, true networked and internetworked applications that enable dynamic two-way, even multi-way, communication and collaboration on the Web. These new applications will enable remarkable new uses of the Web in the organizational workplace and on the Internet.

Such applications benefit from the traditional ease and economy of Web-based applications. On the server side, they are quick to develop and economical to deploy. Because they require no proprietary client software -- indeed they are client-platform-independent -- they impose no burden of software distribution, configuration or support.

Such applications have been made possible by the development of new development tools for the Web. Of particular importance among these tools are engines and control languages which can dynamically generate Web pages in HTML, while employing variables, functions and programming logic to adapt these pages in form and content to the particular context and command of a user.

Conferencing On The Web
At the heart of this third generation of Web applications is Conferencing on the Web. Conferencing on the Web may be defined as the dynamic exchange of all kinds of information -- text, graphics, HTML links to information, audio, video, etc -- in a context of structured conversations organized by item and allowing a participant to contribute spontaneous responses to any item in the conversation.

The goal of such a structure of online conversations may be decision-making, technical support, community-building, project management, distance education, electronic meetings and more. Nearly any goal, which people strive to reach through two-way or multi-way communication, can be the source of a dynamic application for Conferencing on the Web.

A Brief Survey of Computer Conferencing Systems
Computer Conferencing is by no means a new application. Computer Conferencing systems have existed since the 1970s, deployed mostly at universities, research facilities and government installations -- all environments with many linked desktops. Aside from systems specifically designed for Computer Conferencing, USENET News groups, Email Listservs, and BBSs have all provided one form or another of conference-like exchange. On-line services also offer threaded discussion areas.

More recently, organizations have begun to use conferencing internally, as a way to improve communication and enable ongoing collaboration among workgroups and project or management teams. Proprietary networked messaging systems like Lotus Notes have offered these conferencing capabilities. In the case of Notes, each desktop requires a proprietary client software package, which comes with a significant support load. On the server side, Notes employs a complex scheme for database replication among far-flung servers.

Conferencing On The Web : System Advantages
Conferencing on the Web offers a simpler model for enabling people to communicate and work together from their desktops across Wide Area Networks. This single platform can support group interaction and collaboration within and across enterprises, and between enterprises and their customers or constituents.

Replication among servers is unnecessary in most environments. The Internet's ubiquitous transport protocols together with the Web's http protocol make virtually any server reachable from virtually any desktop. Moreover, Conferencing on the Web requires no custom software at the client's desktop. The browser, with its simple and familiar Web pages, is the only tool required.

The Web browser is quickly becoming a universal network client -- the display and interaction point for a wide variety of seamlessly integrated networked applications. Conferencing on the Web allows discussion and information exchange to be linked to virtually any other Web-based application.

Because a contribution to a conference item can include text, graphics, audio, video, "live" HTML links to information worldwide, and more Conferencing on the Web lets people wrap all kinds of data, analysis, opinion, evidence, etc. in simple packages and add them to an ongoing conversation. In this way Conferencing on the Web positions online conversation as a key environment for collaboration.

Conferencing On The Web : How, When & Where
Applications for Conferencing on the Web suggest themselves readily. Within an enterprise, an application as general as discussion and feedback on Human Resources policy, and one as specialized as interaction among a distributed team scouting locations worldwide for a new company facility, are both ideal for Conferncing on the Web.

Because of the universality of the Web, it is possible to integrate groups and systems between enterprises without a great deal of effort. A manufacturing company and one of its suppliers,for example, might use Conferencing on the Web to improve the performance of a "Just-in-Time" inventory supply system.

At an Internet site, Conferencing on the Web is a powerful tool for supporting customers, building loyalty and a sense of community, and enabling members of your constituency to add value for each other. The conclusion is clear. Wherever collaborative work methods are important in order to achieve success for a project, team, or an enterprise as a whole, Conferencing on the Web is a natural tool to employ.

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