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One key feature that seems to be missing in just about all of the online reviews of "web Conferencing" applications is the weighting of features. Whilst I obviously understand the limited "expertise" of most reviewers - products like GoToMeeting from Citrix should be in a completely separate category, i.e. Webinar Software. Here are the Wikipedia definitions:
Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings, training, or presentations via the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees' computers or a web-based application where the attendees access the meeting by clicking on a link distributed by e-mail (meeting invitation) to enter the conference.
A webinar is a neologism to describe a specific type of web conference. It is typically one-way from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction, such as in a webcast. A webinar can be collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, while pointing out information being presented onscreen, and the audience can respond over their own telephones, speaker phones allowing the greatest comfort and convenience. There are web conferencing technologies on the market that have incorporated the use of VoIP audio technology, to allow for a completely web-based communication. Depending upon the provider, webinars may provide hidden or anonymous participant functionality, making participants unaware of other participants in the same meeting.
It is almost universally recognised that GoToMeeting is probably the best webinar software available. But in terms of web conferencing, it is actually rather poor. The main weakness is that it does not have any video capability and it is not even optional! Imagine going to a physical meeting of say 8 people in a boardroom and being able to see a PowerPoint and hear audio but NOT being able to see any of the other attendees. That's GoToMeeting... so, the main question I would have is what on earth is included in the "Features" criteria that gives GoToMeeting a 5-star rating?
Here's what I suggest should really be used:
Audio: VoIP - Echo cancellation, automatic gain control, ability to use for example laptop mic and speakers without inducing echo loops when multiple live participants in a meeting. (with GoToMeeting and all other Webinar apps there is 1 speaker and all participants are muted - hardly a meeting scenario... but great for webinars)
Video: Peer-to-peer (bandwidth and processor intensive) or client-server based multipoint? Max per session, max resolution, max frame rate, compression technology, flexibility, bandwidth usage controls... oh and ease of use / quality?
Sharing: Ability to share applications, documents, browsers, etc on-the-fly without pre-requisite to convert doc to XYZ format. Can applications be shared without having to resort to sharing whole desktop.
Control: Can document / application control be handed to a remote participant (without requiring additional software download). For example, host is editing a document and passes keyboard & mouse control to remote participant whilst retaining full control - essential for effective collaboration.
Media: Ability to share media files - both audio and video - to remote participants without any additional software downloads. Control over playback quality and size, in order to utilise available bandwidth without saturation.
Annotation: Ability to annotate over anything being shared, e.g. including web browser content, etc.
Security: All data, voice and video secure over a single HTTPS SSL/TLS connection. Most "other" products use multiple protocols and multiple ports, e.g. TCP/IP + UDP (inherently insecure) + T.120 (1980s method of sharing data).
Anyway, I think everyone already agrees that there is more to it than price - it's the cost of use and the features available that should be compared
In summary, I would recommend Nefsis to a friend.
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