WebConfGuide

Archive for the ‘Free Video Conferencing’ Category

In difficult times, saving money on web conferencing is always welcomed

With cost-cutting becoming the mantra of more and more businesses all over the world, the quest is on to find efficient and affordable solutions to the age old concern of data and information exchange within the different components of an organization. The bottom line is the single most important factor that drives many businesses nowadays, and web based video conferencing is only one in the long line of solutions that have been introduced to address these concerns.

Physical distance has traditionally been a major stumbling block in the task of information exchange, and it can be quite a challenge to get key personnel from many different locations on the same page. This is a task for which web based video conferencing is ideally suited, and the wide range of option in web conferencing solutions have taken the business world by storm, mainly due to its affordability.

Web based video conferencing allows you to exchange information and update your staff on key developments as easily and as inexpensively as if they were in the same room together. Of course the technology took a while to get here, with initial attempts plagued by issues such as slow video, audio dropouts, and other technical issues inherent in a new system. However, the advent of improved technology–of which the advent of affordable high speed Internet plays a pivotal role–has made these issues virtually non-existent, and users can now exchange information through web based video conferencing as easily and as smoothly as carrying on a telephone conversation.

Convenience and low cost is not the only advantage offered by such technologies. The same systems that allow for seamless web based video conferencing also allow for a more interactive learning and instruction process, with collaborative writing, collaborative reviewing, and online document sharing being some of the most significant developments of the past several years. These innovations make the process of providing information across vast distances a lot more efficient and affordable to a wider range of users, and the world of online education is all the better for it.

A free and exciting video conferencing

ooVoo is a truly revolutionary web based video conferencing application that allows you to communicate with other users online. The program allows for high-quality video and audio data exchange, supports up to six users at a time. In spite of its sheer power and flexibility, ooVoo remains remarkably easy to use, requiring nothing more than a computer, a broadband Internet connection and a web cam. ooVoo even allows users to add video content to an email or to another ooVoo user, as well as text messaging and file sharing capability. With a user interface that is reminiscent of iChat video conferencing, ooVoo is ideally suited for use in smaller work groups, by way of its conference calls and screen-sharing features.

To make it easier to recall previous communication exchanges, ooVoo includes a record feature lets that allows you to store video chats with other users. All recorded data is streamed directly to hard disk, so you have virtually limitless space in which to store your content. Surprisingly, a 15-minute video conference with 4 users took up only 95MB of disk space on our test machine. The recorded session could then be saved into an FLV file for maximum compatibility with other systems.

One thing we also liked about ooVoo was the conference calling feature, which provides both the host and the other users a phone number that they can call. Upon connecting with this number, ooVoo users get instant access to an ongoing session, and all audio exchanged can be recorded as well. This feature supports up to six people at a time, which means that users can communicate with as many as 12 other users including those using the video functionality.

The ooVoo video player also includes features that allow you to use it for screen sharing and file sharing, you can even impose your own images on other user’s faces or backgrounds for a bit of fun while video conferencing or to aid in user recall. Unlike a few other free video conferencing applications, ooVoo provides support for high-quality video streams.

Dimdim is  a great open source solution which virtually brings the free web conferencing experience to everyone, This is no less then a revolution in the way we conduct business.

A non experienced user will definitely get overwhelmed by the sooo many options and features available in this great free web conferencing product.  The interface is literally scattered all over the place so it might take a while to get acquainted with the software before starting to use it

Setting up a meeting in Dimdim is fairly easy. You can start a meeting immediately or decide to schedule it for later (it also allows recurring meetings). It’s very easy to bring PowerPoints, PDFs, and Web URLs items into a meeting once it’s in progress.

The software lets you create online slide shows using PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. You can annotate on the fly and let users mark up, too. You can also work on a shared, and even multipage whiteboard. Or you can share your own screen, which is a useful feature for demos or online collebration.

There are many ways to interact with your viewers. You can send them a Webcam video and audio (or decide on  a two-way conference), chat with all attendees, and send private instant messages to users.

One noticable big benefit of this software is that viewers of any session don’t  have to download or install any application. That advantage will please viewers like me who don’t like to install untrusted applications and junking up their system just so they can join in the session.

The conference host has the control of what people can see as well as what they can say.

However, at the moment the user interface itself is kinda slow with  inputs response. Also, the company neither guarantees speed or high-quality audio or video streaming on this free service. If you decide to  pay for the professional version ($99 a year per presenter) or the enterprise edition (which you can install on your own servers), you can control the quality of service (QOS)  and get online or on call support from Dimdim.

So the product review summary is as follows: Dimdim is a strong free Web
conferencing tool with a price you just can’t beat. It’s definitely good
enough to make you reconsider it as a Webex alternative solution.

A complete audio and video installation may be a very expensive solution. luckily there are some free video conferencing solutions out there that anyone can either download or use online to enjoy the benefit of a conference call in the comfort of your home or office.

There are a few important things one might want to bear in mind before downloading or using online:

• Is the software clean of all kinds of viruses, spyware and such. For that reason and to save valuable disk space you might want to consider using an online free web conference service.
• Are there any reviews online from people who used this conference software. You might want to Google the software name and the word “review” next to it.
• Its important to make sure the program fits your needs, some programs offer webinars, desktop sharing, remote assistance and many more features, not all of them may fit your needs and budget.
• Try to figure out how intuitive the software is, this is especially important if you are not a technical person and don’t want to get confused with all kinds of technical terms and complicated configuration.
• It is important to make sure that your computer hardware and software is compatible with the web conferencing software so that you will not encounter any difficulties when trying to install or run it.
• You might want to look very closely at the term of use of the software so that you can get a clear understanding if the software is truly a free web conference software or you might need to pay for it by the end of the trial period.

One most important thing: this is a world of ever renewing technology, don’t get left behind, make sure you are updated with all the news related to web conferencing here at www.webconfguide.com