The term
webinar is short for Web-based Seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web, specifically a portmanteau of web & seminar, to describe a specific type of web conference. Some argue that webinars might be one-way,
from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction, so one-way broadcasts are perhaps more accurately called
webcasts. Webinars themselves may be more collaborative
and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full
participation between the audience and the presenter. In some cases, the
presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, while pointing out
information being presented onscreen, and the audience can respond over
their own telephones, speaker phones allowing the greatest comfort and
convenience. There are web conferencing technologies on the market that
have incorporated the use of
VoIP
(voice over Internet protocol) audio technology, to allow for a
completely web-based communication. Depending upon the provider,
webinars may provide hidden or anonymous participant functionality,
making participants unaware of other participants in the same meeting.
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