Online Meeting & Video Conferencing Software

By Dale Denham

Online meetings are great. I love being able to see someone's face and the demonstration or presentation. I love video conferencing too. I now DREAD conference calls even more because I can't see the body language or hear as well as I can on a video conference.

Online Meetings
Online Meetings are best for screen sharing or larger meetings. All below work on PC and MAC although some require additional fees to run on iPad.

The best free and impromptu meeting software is https://join.me/. Open join.me and it is quick, easy and free to have someone join your meeting. A great way to browse your website together to build ideas. Even though I pay for GoToMeeting, I use this for impromptu meetings often.

My favorite and what we use at Geiger. GoToMeeting includes the video feed for up to 4 participants and up to 25 participants can call in. The screen share capability is great. Pricing is reasonable, especially if you are a PPAI Member with the PPAI 15% discount. For larger meetings they offer gotowebinar.

Webex is the original but no longer the best. I don't like their pricing (per attendee pricing) and I find their software has a lot of features most of us don't use and makes it less intuitive.

Video Conferencing
I work remotely about 50% of the time so I've become quite comfortable with video conferencing. For me, there are 2 options. Google Hangouts and Skype. I use Skype 99% of the time.

Video conferencing makes a huge difference in the value of distance meetings. I'm a huge believer that video conferencing is nearly as good as being there and 10 times more valuable than a conference call. I like Skype because it works on all platforms, Windows, Mac, IOS, Android, you name it. It's very reliable and includes great instant messaging features. It also has a large install base so existing customers are probably already on it.

I pay $50 a year for Skype premium for the ability to have more than 2 people on a video conference. It also lets me make phone calls to any US number which I occasionally use.

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Categories:
Electronics

Companies:
PPAI

Dale Denham Author's page Dale is a business leader who is best known for providing business-focused I.T. leadership. He believes technology is not limited to increasing efficiency, but is essential to driving revenue. Dale strongly believes having great people is the critical ingredient to success no matter how great your technology might be.Known to many in the promotional products industry as a leading technologist, Dale is using his mix of business and technology to help drive the industry forward. One of the leaders and founders of the PromoStandards effort, Dale and others are working hard to address industry inefficiencies. Dale also is a board member of PPAI through 2018.Follow Dale on Twitter @daledenham or connect with him on LinkedIn via http://www.linkedin.com/in/daledenham.