Workers in large companies are spread out all over the globe. What’s the best way of getting them to meet together?  We at Toshiba have looked at eleven of the best tools for Web Conferencing.

WebEx

Created by Cisco, WebEx is a widely known web conferencing tool. It provides stellar performance directly in a browser, doesn’t ask to install extra plugins, and has excellent mobile support as well. WebEx works extremely well for small groups. Its interface is a bit rigid, and requires finesse to get through. It also lacks tools to make conferencing work in groups larger than six people.

TinyChat

Built around the concept of the chat room, TinyChat seems to be geared towards consumers more than business users. It is easy to start a chat, though, if you skip the obtuse account creation process and log in with Twitter or Facebook. It does feature smooth webcam integration, but the desktop application’s design and layout is inexplicably poor.

GoToMeeting

Citrix is targeting the user experience with GoToMeeting. It’s a simple program, without many features.  However, what it does do, it does well.  Audio conferencing is a breeze, with one-click meetings and a simple interface. However, it’s top end is 15 users, and while it does offer video conferencing, that’s currently in beta and requires separate registration. Mobile apps are similarly hobbled, as only an iPad version is available at this time.

DimDim

Even though DimDim has lots of features and is fun to use, it still has inexpensive business-class versions. Its API is open, to allow customization and integration. Sometimes it’s a hassle to get going, though, and we did see some latency when sharing desktops.

Adobe ConnectNow

On the plus side, Adobe ConnectNow is capable, customizable, and able to scale to the needs of any business. On the other hand, though, it might be too much for your smaller business; its setup is unnecessarily cumbersome, and oddly, there is no call-in number bundled with the package. It has a robust desktop client, and excellent mobile support as well. It will also scale to up to 100 participants in a single meeting.

Google+Hangout

Simple and easy to use, Google Hangouts gives fast access to chat, and video calling as well. It works admirably on a one-to-one basis or with groups across platforms. However, the mobile app doesn’t show any status messages showing on- or offline status, much less busy. It is free, though, and convenient.

AnyMeeting

AnyMeeting has a different approach than the programs above: It’s an ad-supported SaaS offering. It’ll scale up to 200 users, and there’s no cost to the host to do this. All the standard features are in place, and there aren’t any time limits either. They also offer integration with PayPal, thus allowing businesses to accept fees for paid events.

BigBlueButton

A system optimized for long-distance learning, BigBlueButton aims to deliver high-quality learning experiences to remote students from their institutions of higher education. It includes features such as recording and playback, integrated VoIP, whiteboard, presentation and shared desktop. The presenter can keep participants in sync with any uploaded PDF or Microsoft Office document.

MeetingBurner

A cost-free solution, MeetingBurner is based in Flash and Java. Unfortunately, it lacks a number of features standard among other offerings, namely screensharing, annotation, whiteboarding and recording. It is fairly easy to use, but oftentimes the program isn’t very stable.

BuddyMeeting

Although somewhat limited in scope, BuddyMeeting is quick and easy to use. Files can be shared in either PDF or PPT formats, screens as well, video chats and meetings between up to 25 users, text chats and voice chats too. It’s an open source application that runs on Mac, Linux and PC computers. Registration is completely free.

TokBox Video Chat

Based in WebRTC, TokBox Video Chat is another tool aimed at the consumer videoconferencing market. There’s no client to download, and 20 users can chat for free. It’s seamlessly integrated with many of the major IM services, although social network integration leaves something to be desired. There’s no desktop sharing, and the chat URLs are difficult to share too.

Author Bio:

Michelle is a content creator by passion. Currently, writing for Tri-Tel Blog. With her interest on the impact of cloud telephony in the business industry, she describes how IP phone system is best for enterprises compare to traditional landlines, in her upcoming articles.