  Web conferencing tools have entered the mainstream of business applications.
Using web conferencing for IEEE conferences has a good potential of adding
value to both organizers and participants. Authors propose a concept of Truly
Integrated Conference (TIC) according to which a multi-point
worldwide-distributed network of conference online authors/participants will
enhance the standard (centralized) IEEE conference model, which requires
attendance of the participants in person at the main conference location. The
concept entails seamless integration of the onsite and online conference
systems, including data/presentation, video, audio channels. Benefits and
challenges of the TIC concept are analyzed. Requirements to the web
conferencing system capable of supporting the TIC conference are presented and
reviewed against commercial web conferencing tools. Case study of the IEEE
Toronto International Conference ? Science and Technology for Humanity, which
was the first realization of TIC, is presented which analyzes various aspects
(organizational, technological, and financial) of the integrated conference.
