videoconferencing

In computing, a system that allows people in different locations to interact via video and audio. It is essentially multiparty telephone conferencing with pictures. Older videoconferencing systems required expensive equipment set up in a special-purpose room. By the mid 1990s, newer systems became available for desktop videoconferencing using much cheaper equipment so that videoconferencing facilities could be deployed to individual users' desks. Webcams and some messaging software now enable rudimentary videoconferencing to take place on ordinary personal computers.