Friday, June 6, 2008

Web Conferencing Solutions

Gas is above $4 a gallon and jet fuel is up 75% from a year ago. It is getting more expensive to travel and that means you need to find an alternative. Everyone has done a conference call. But only about half of my clients have ever been on a web conference. Of those, only a few have lead a web conference. By this I mean sharing their computer screen and giving the presentation. In many ways this is a much better method of communication. It keeps users on the same page as you (literally) and it offers both audio and visual stimulus. If you are looking for a way to cut down on trips across the country or just across town, then you need to have a web conferencing solution.

I recommend Adobe Connect.

Why? Cost for the most part. They offer the least expensive offering with the most flexibility I’ve found. WebEx, GoToMeeting and others have more features, but 99% of the people who I’ve done a web conference with are just sharing their screen. The only time the bells and whistles really got used were in the sales demo to buy the conferencing solution. I mean who has an assistant available to moderate Q&A chat during a sales call? Not me. For a web conferencing solution that has a big name behind it but a small entry price tag, you can't go wring with Adobe Connect.

Be aware that the "Pro" version starts at $375 per month and gets top billing on their website. I had to look pretty hard to find the link to the basic version. Again, a free trial and then $39/mo. for this entry level solution will give you everything you need to initiate web conferencing. Leave the car in the garage and your gas savings will probably cover the monthly cost.

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