A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of information

Information

Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...

 among several persons and machines remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system. Terms such as audio conferencing, telephone conferencing and phone conferencing are also sometimes used to refer to teleconferencing.

The telecommunications system may support the teleconference by providing one or more of the following: audio, video

Video

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

, and/or data

Data

The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...

 services by one or more means, such as telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

, computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

, telegraph, teletypewriter

Teleprinter

A teleprinter is a electromechanical typewriter that can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point and point to multipoint over a variety of communication channels that range from a simple electrical connection, such as a pair of wires, to the use of radio and microwave as the...

, radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

.

Internet teleconferencing

Internet teleconferencing includes internet telephone conferencing, videoconferencing

Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...

, web conferencing

Web conferencing

Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...

, and Augmented Reality

Augmented reality

Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is...

 conferencing.

Internet telephony involves conducting a teleconference over the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 or a Wide Area Network

Wide area network

A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...

. One key technology in this area is Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). Popular software for personal use includes Skype

Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...

, Google Talk

Google Talk

Google Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol client application offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005...

, Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Messenger is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft that is currently designed to work with Windows XP , Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Xbox 360, Blackberry OS, iOS, Java ME, S60 on Symbian OS 9.x and Zune HD...

 and Yahoo Messenger.

A working example of an Augmented Reality

Augmented reality

Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is...

 conferencing was demonstrated at the Salone di Mobile in Milano by AR+RFID Lab. is another AR teleconferencing tool.

Software and service providers

Notable vendors with articles:

• ACT Conferencing
  ACT Conferencing
  ACT Conferencing provides global conferencing services: audio, video, web and multimedia events. The company employs approximately 350 people, who are located in the headquarters office near Denver, Colorado, USA; in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, USA; and in other offices in Canada, United Kingdom,...
  
  
• Adobe Acrobat Connect
• Elluminate
• Glance
  Glance Networks
  Glance Networks is software company headquartered in Arlington, Massachusetts. Glance Networks is most notable for Glance, a web-based desktop sharing and web conferencing tool.-Overview:...
  
  
• GoToMeeting
  GoToMeeting
  GoToMeeting is a Web-hosted service created and marketed by Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems. It is a remote meeting and desktop sharing software that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients or colleagues via the Internet in real-time.- Technology...
  
  
• InterCall
  InterCall
  InterCall, a subsidiary of West Corporation, is a conferencing and collaboration service provider. The company claims a customer base of over 1.7 million individual conference leaders in more than 75,000 organizations, 94% of Fortune 100, 88% of the Fortune 500 and 74% of the Fortune 1000.InterCall...
  
  
• Microsoft Office Live Meeting
• Premiere Global Services
• PowWowNow
  PowWowNow
  Powwownow is a British company and is the leading free provider teleconferencing provider in the UK. The company was founded by Andrew Pearce and Paul Lees and now operates in 15 countries worldwide including the USA, Canada, South Africa and Central Europe...
  
  
• Skype
  Skype
  Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
  
  
• WebEx
  WebEx
  WebEx Communications Inc. is a Cisco company that provides on-demand collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and videoconferencing applications...
  
  

See also

• Media space
  Media space
  Media spaces are "electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically separate areas...
  
  
• Conference call
  Conference call
  A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party...
  
  
• Internet telephony
• Videoconferencing
  Videoconferencing
  Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
  
  
• Telepresence
  Telepresence
  Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
  
  
• Telecollaboration
  Telecollaboration
  Telecollaboration refers to a set of software technologies that enable the integration and extension of personal desktop collaboration into high definition videoconferencing solutions....
  
  
• List of video telecommunication services and product brands