5 Places To Get Deals On Web Conferencing Services compared

Here are our top choices for live streaming tools, webinars & employee collaboration online

A screenshot from Watchitoo, an inventive and powerful new addition to the Web conferencing field.

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More and more nonprofits, businesses and entrepreneurs are turning to Web conferencing services communicate with fellow staff members, customers, supporters and prospects.

A Web conference is a virtual meeting you conduct online, allowing you to share documents and applications from your computer with people in far-flung locations and to communicate with them via video, text or voice chat. Through Web conferencing, you can bring together employees to collaborate on a project, present webinars about your latest product or services, or train advocates or support staff.

While your organization likely uses email or conference calls for much of your long-distance communication, sometimes a full-blown virtual meeting is the only way to hammer out the details of an important initiative. Web conferencing lets anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser meet and collaborate online in real time.

Some conferencing tools require participants to install a piece of software on their own computers before they can participate; other tools are entirely Web-based. All require an Internet connection. The tools differ in the features they provide for collaboration and communication. For instance, some let participants speak to one another through their computers’ microphones while others let everyone interact via video. Still others have an option to join the audio part of the conference by a separate audio/telephone bridge.

To help you choose a service that suits your nonprofit, we’ve pointed out features commonly found in Web conferencing products and explained other considerations you should be aware of. Our list leaves out tools like Skype and Apple’s iChat, which offer great video conferencing (video chat) and text chat for a limited number of people but don’t offer full-on Web conferencing services that offer a wide range of collaboration capabilities.

When considering all of these great features, it’s important to consider how these capabilities will affect your Local Area Network (LAN). For example, many of the products below include videoconferencing. One person Using hosted videoconferencing at a location wouldn’t add too much to local network issues. Multiple workers videoconferencing at the same time could slow the rest of your network traffic.

 Whenever possible, try out the product before purchasing. Use the information below and on product websites to narrow your choices, then try the two or three products that best fit your needs.

Here is our comparison of 14 top Web conferencing services. If you have your own favorites, or have any updates or corrections, please share them in the comments!

1 Watchitoo: Multimedia collaboration

 We used Watchitoo during Personal Democracy Forum and the midterm elections and were impressed with its rich collaboration feature set. Watchitoo is a real-time collaboration platform where multimedia presentations meld with video conferencing to create a powerful stage for online communication. Its technology lets you easily host and participate in cutting-edge presentations that support multiple video feeds, screen sharing, white-boarding, API implementation, embedding capabilities and recording functionalities that enhance employee communication and collaboration.

Software required: Web-based, no download required.

Invitation tools: Multiple embed locations, internal email invitations.

Collaboration tools: Screen sharing, up to 25 presenters while simultaneously playing any form of rich media, text chat, questions, Twitter & Facebook posting, mobile access, videoconferencing, video editing, whiteboard.

Recording: Yes

Polling & survey: Coming in the next 75 days.

Post-meeting reports: Yes

Pricing: Free up to 5 people; up to 25 people for $39/month plan; up to 50 people for $49/month plan with a larger storage capacity.

Pay per use: Yes for live events

Trial: 30-day free trial

Bottom line: A cutting-edge service for collaborating around rich-media projects. Includes some capabilities not found elsewhere. One hiccup: a slight time lag in VoIP conversations.

2 Infinite Conferencing: Nonprofits are top of mind

  

Infinite Conferencing, an Onstream Media company, specializes in phone and Web conferencing solutions, webinars and webcasting. It delivers feature-rich solutions that range from on-demand conferencing to full-scale, online event management. Invitees need only an Internet-connected computer and phone line to participate in a Web conference. Infinite has a nonprofit program that offers discounted rates to charities, religious organizations, foundations, educational institutions and membership and scientific associations. Clients include the American Hospital Association, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Dell, Sony, Disney — more than 5,000 customers in all.

Software required: Web-based; no software downloads needed.

Invitation tools: Registration tool lets you create a customized e-vite and registration page. In addition, the system sends automated confirmation and reminder emails. Integrated with Microsoft Outlook.

Collaboration tools: Web conferencing, teleseminars, webcasting via webcams, webinars, phone conferencing, VoIP and a suite of Pro services. Not currently compatible with mobile devices.

Recording: Yes. You can record the session via an on-demand recording feature at $1.99 per minute, or a member of the Infinite team can capture the recording for you for $200.

Polling & survey: Yes. The polling feature is available throughout a Web session. Infinite can create a customized survey that pops up following your webinar and can also be sent out via a url for $100.

Post-meeting reports: Yes. Following the session, you’ll receive an email that lists each participant’s name, company, email address and duration of connection. In addition, the report will feature all of your polling results if the feature is used.

Pricing: Two pricing options. You’re billed on usage (how many people attend and how long they’re connected) or you can select an unlimited usage package. No term requirements or monthly minimums. Basic prices: Reservationless audio conferencing, 3.5 cents per minute per line. Operator-assisted audio conferencing, 18 cents per minute per line. Web conferencing: 6 cents per minute per connection — compare with WebEx at 33 cents per minute — or consider the flat-rate option. It supports up to 1,000 participants with no advance reservation required.

Pay per use: Yes, see Pricing. An FAQ offers other answers.

Trial: 7-day free trial.

Bottom line: Infinite is not as cheap as some free alternatives for small teams, but its rates are reasonable and it offers an extensive suite of scalable, secure, feature-rich online meeting capabilities for nonprofits and companies. The site says, “We typically surpass the competition in support and flexibility.” And indeed, there’s live chat support and each account is assigned a dedicated account manager. Nice.

 

 3 GoToWebinar: Solid track record

 GoToWebinar offers one of the most reliable and best-known solutions in the marketplace. Just schedule your webinar without tech support, invite people to register, prepare for your event and present your webinar. Streamline your organization’s communications, update employees on new policies, host online seminars and more.

Software required: No downloads for participants, supports instant Web conferencing for any Windows or Mac operating system.

Invitation tools: Automated email templates, instant or planned webinars and meetings, webinar registration pages.

Collaboration tools: Screen sharing via desktop and applications. Multiple presenters, annotating tools, text chat, teleconferencing and VoIP. No mobile access or video conferencing.

Recording: Yes

Polling & survey: Yes

Post-meeting reports: Length of stay in meeting and interest metrics

Pricing: GoToMeeting for meetings of 15 people or less for $49/month. GoToWebinar for $99/month (up to 100 people) to $499/month (1,000 people). GoToTraining, $149 to $349/month.

Pay per use: No

Trial: 30 days

Bottom line: Best for large organizations bringing more than 50 people together at a time.

4 Elluminate: Strong in The education market

 

 Elluminate is marketed as a unifying learning experience for everyone. It supports learning with an easy-to-use platform designed as an inclusive learning environment. Elluminate offers products to fit large institutions as well as smaller customers.

Software required: A quick download of a Java file (jnlp) takes about 60 seconds, and then you are launched into your “room.” Supports Web conferencing for any Windows, Mac or Linux operating system.

Invitation tools: Various

Collaboration tools: Share applications, files, documents, and desktops. Multiple video feeds, up to six. Annotating tools, text chat, teleconferencing, VoIP,  videoconferencing. Virtual breakout rooms are available for larger audiences/conferences.

Recording: Yes, in Elluminate vOffice and vClass. Elluminate vRoom does not offer an option to record.

Polling & survey: Yes

Post-meeting reports: Yes, you can generate summary and comprehensive usage reports and track who views recordings.

Pricing: $499/year for licensing one room with up to 50 users, pricing expands with number of rooms/users. There is also a pricing option for smaller rooms. Elluminate offers several Learning Suite options as well as vSpaces, with meeting rooms for different size audiences. Teleconferencing: 6 cents per minute per user.

Pay per use: Only for audio, not video conferencing.

Trial: 30-day free trial

Bottom line: Best for organizations that want the flexibility to hold both large webinars and small collaborations with a fixed annual cost.

5 Adobe Connect: Revamped & ready for prime time

 Adobe Connect is an enterprise Web conferencing solution for online meetings, elearning and webinars used by leading corporations and government agencies. It’s based on the widely available Adobe Flash technology. Released in November 2010, Adobe Connect 8 software has a new simplified interface featuring better organized controls, accessibility functions and one-click sharing.

Software required: No downloads, supports instant Web conferencing for any Windows, Mac, or Linux operating system.

Invitation tools: Online calendar and meeting scheduler, compatible with Microsoft Office.

Collaboration tools: Screen sharing via desktop and applications. Multiple presenters, annotating tools, text chat, Teleconferencing, VoIP, video conferencing.

Recording: Yes

Polling & survey: Yes

Post-meeting reports: Yes

Pricing: Adobe’s buying guide offers different purchase options for individuals and small businesses vs. companies, government agencies and educational institutions but doesn’t clearly define the cost of Adobe Connect for nonprofits. Adobe Connect Pro: $55 per host per month (training, events, and webcasts additional) or $45 per month under annual plan.

Pay per use: 32 cents per minute per user.

Trial: 30 days

Bottom line: A good choice for professional use.

 Source Virtual meeting smackdown! 15 top Web conferencing services compared