Forskningsnettet

It is possible to access traditional videoconference meeting (H.323) via an ordinary computer. It requires special software, often called a softphone, that can handle such kind of communication. Next, you need a camera and a microphone; i.e. a webcamera and a headset.

Forskningsnettet recommends the following software for videoconferencing (H.323) via a computer: 

1. Commercial software for Windows og Mac:

Mirial Softphone: http://www.mirial.com/products/Mirial_Softphone_HD.html

2. Free software for Linux and Windows (the later is a beta version):

Ekagi Softphone: http://ekiga.org/

With regard to configuration, you will need to follow the manuals for each of the solutions.

Additional information

For comparisons of various softphone solutions, you can browse the following charts on wikipedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software

Videoconferencing via computers entirely

If all attendees in the videoconference have a computer and a headset, using a system like Adobe Connect will give a lot of advantages. This includes features such as chat, screen sharing, document sharing, shared text, file sharing, web links and much more.