The field of Web conferencing software is growing at a phenomenal pace. In summer of 1994 there were two products in category--both primitive freeware packages. By 1996, there were over 60 products that supported Web conferencing on market, and proliferation continues at an astounding rate. With increased competition has come much higher quality and more affordable prices.

This tremendous increase has been driven in part by economics--no hotel bills, no airplane tickets, no lost productivity sitting in airports--in short, no expensive travel costs. A valuable saving of both time and money. Secondly, convenience is a major player. All you need to conference face-to-face with any other person in world is a an Internet-connected computer.

The largest single factor driving demand for Web conferencing, however, is often over looked. Unlike earlier technologies that replaced personal meetings (telephone and e-mail, for example), Web conferencing allows for layered communication, combining visual, vocal, and participatory. Because of this layered nature, web conferencing can appeal to different learning styles and offers organizations ability to much of what they could previously do only in face-to-face meetings.

How does Web conferencing work? Participants join a conference designed by meeting leader or presenter. While in conference, participants can see presenter's Power Point slides, take Web tours, and interact using whiteboard. Additional interactive features allow participants to ask questions and vote on certain topics.

Do you leave work everyday with a pain in neck? The simple answer might be a headset. In this era of multi-tasking, wedging your phone between your ear and shoulder while you type, search for a document, or even eat, can be literally--a pain in neck. A relatively simple device, a headset does away for need to have any part of your body support bulky, clumsy telephone receiver, thus sparing you from a stiff neck, sore muscles and a headache. With wide array of headset options available, selecting appropriate one can be very confusing.

A headset consists of an earpiece, a microphone, and a cord that plugs into an accompanying amplifier, which is plugged into phone. While most people may believe that headsets are all same, that statement is far from correct. As computer hardware evolves, everything connected to it evolves as well; headsets are no exception. With creation of smaller, more powerful and faster chips, headsets are now being made much smaller, lighter in weight, more affordable, have a much larger range, and offer much improved clarity.