Stoke-on-Trent City Council meetings viewed on Video Conferences:

AN AVERAGE of 241 people tune in to watch council meetings screened live on the internet.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council invested £120,000 last year in a new conferencing and voting system which allows meetings of the full council to be broadcast online.

It costs a further £16,000 a year to maintain the ‘webcasting’ service.

Figures show the live broadcasts have attracted an average of 241 viewers, peaking at 476 for the council’s historic budget-setting meeting in February at which a package of £36 million cuts was approved. Read more here.

Free Premium Web Conferencing Accounts With Unlimited Meetings

The Web Conferencing Council occasionally negotiates unique deals for the readers and followers. Any Web Conferencing Council member, reader, or contributor can get up to 3 free Professional VIA3 web conferencing licenses for 3 full months. These licenses include a full featured version of VIA3, free support, free training, unlimited workspace storage, and unlimited meetings. VIA3 is FIPS 140-2 security certified, and HIPAA compliant.

To redeem this offer, sign up for a free account at VIA3 TryNow, and enter “Web Conferencing Council” in the referred by field. Your account will automatically extend from 15 days to over 90 days. (Limit 3 free seats per organization, not applicable towards any current license holders.)

Best New Video Conferencing Technology of 2011: VISTIME 3-D Image Collaboration

Vistime is a software product that allows a licensed session participant to invite colleagues, clients or any number or nominated participants into a secure session during which, all involved will be able to simultaneously view and interact with any supported document, image, video or 3D image through a simple and common interface, without the need for the originating software.

Vistime uses proprietary technical solutions like Arithmetic coding and Automatic Media Aspect Adjustment to compress data for communication while still retaining the integrity of the information. This results in high quality feeds to all participants despite poor internet connections. Display a piece of media on all participants monitors in exactly the same manner, irrespective of the individuals monitor resolution, format or size. Read more here