A means of simultaneous, two-way communication comprising both audio and video elements. Participants in a video telephone call can both see and hear each other in real time. Videotelephony is a subset of teleconferencing, broadly defined as the various ways and means by which people communicate with one another over some distance. Initially conceived as an extension to the telephone, videotelephony is now possible using computers with network connections. In addition to general personal use, there are specific professional applications, such as criminal justice, health care delivery, and surveillance that can greatly benefit from videotelephony.