What is an e-meeting? Definition and examples

An e-meeting is a meeting between at least two people who can see each other but are not in the same place. An e-meeting is a web-based meeting or conference format that allows people to see and hear each other. They can hear each other through VoIP. VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. Participants talk in real time and may even make presentations with visual aids such as charts and graphs.

The term e-meeting stands for ‘electronic meeting.’ We also call it an online meeting or virtual meeting. A virtual meeting, however, may also refer to a meeting with an artificial intelligence or fictitious character.

In some e-meeting or e-conference software functions, there is a recording or playback option.

BusinessDictionary.com has the following definition of the term:

“Web-based meeting format that allows visual and audio transfer through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).”

“Discussion takes place in real time and may include graph, document and chart displays.”

E-Meeting
Five hundred years ago, we communicated long-distance with drums, pigeon post, and mail that animals carried. Then came the telegraph, telephone, telex, and fax. Now we have the e-meeting. What will we have in 100 years’ time?

E-meeting – usually visual

Technically, any meeting between two or more people who communicate in real time online is an e-meeting. It is an electronic meeting even if all they do is talk without seeing each other.

The letter ‘e’ in the term stands for ‘electronic,’ it does not stand for ‘seeing each other.’ In other words, ‘electronic,’ in this context, means ‘online.’

However, when we use the term, we usually assume that the participants can see each other.

We also assume that the participants are not geographically near each other. Otherwise, they would have had a face-to-face meeting, i.e., with everybody in the same room.

E-meeting – example

Let’s suppose that you are part of a team of ten people who are working on a project. You all work for the same multinational, which has offices all over the world.

You work in the New York office, and so do two other team members. The others work in Chicago, Washington, and Miami. One team member works in the London office.

You are the team leader, and you need to get everybody together to discuss an important matter.

Getting everybody on airplanes and meeting, for example, in New York, would be very expensive. Therefore, you call an e-meeting.

Everybody has Skype, so you decide that you will all communicate via Skype. All team members will be able to talk and see each other.

You will also be able to send each other relevant documents as the meeting progresses.

Regarding current e-meeting technology, InvestingAnswers.com writes:

“The advent of e-meeting technology has allowed people around the world to share ideas and information more cheaply and easily.”

“The technology largely relies on the presence of fast Internet connections, voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) technology, and digital camera technology.”