- Access to phone conferences only costs the price of a call
- To use web conferencing you must register, but this is free
- A premium service, starting at £30.00 per month, is available for high end business use
- Completely free and easy to use voice and web conferencing service
- Show your desktop to anyone in a meeting
- Present images and graphics to people, wherever they are
- Allow participants to control your computer
- Up to 50 participants in a meeting
- Premium service offers free access numbers
- Operators to help set up your calls
- Integrated instant messaging with anyone else using the service
- No need to register for basic access
- Participants don't have to download anything
- Free shceduler to invite participants
- Pay nothng but your call charges
- Online support available
- Compatible with Windows or Mac
Powwownow, despite sounding like the name of a new children's toy, is a useful voice and web conferencing service aimed at customers in the UK. The main service provides free phone conferencing where you and your guests only pay the price of the call. If you register for free you also get access to a web conferencing service that provides some useful features to supplement your calls.
To use the basic phone conferencing service, you don't even have to register with Powwownow. Simply enter your email address and you are sent a PIN code which can be used by all of your guests to access the conference. Using this service, however, you are provided only with a 0870 number, which can be quite expensive to call. If you register, which is also free, you get access to a lower rate 0844 number and low cost international dial in access as well as use of the web conferencing Showtime service.
The Showtime service provides basic web conferencing features which can be used to supplement your voice conference. By downloading a small client application you can share your desktop with anyone who visits a unique URL and enters the conference PIN code. This allows them to see anything that happens on your desktop, which is ideal for displaying a PowerPoint presentation as you talk. If your guests choose to also install the application it is possible to control their desktops and allow them to control yours. The interface for this works a bit like an instant messaging tool and allows you to initiate text chats with any of your contacts who are signed into the service.
A premium service is available for high end business use. With this you can choose a package to suit your requirements with features available such as a choice of dial in numbers, secure call recording, real time reporting, custom welcome messages and no need to book. The cost of this varies on your requirements and a sales consultant will help you decide on a package.
Powwownow is a useful service and the fact that they provide web conferencing features free of charge is very useful. While the voice conferencing facility works as well as most others, the web conferencing features are lacking. There is not as much functionality provided as you would get with a paid for service, but for just displaying a few notes and graphics to supplement your conference call it is perfect. Our top ten reviews some of the best dedicated web conferencing services around if this isn't enough.
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