Communication when on the move is the number one priority to the mobile worker. As an experienced web conference user, Ian Murphy decided to take a look at GoToMeeting

Dealing with customers is not it sensibly isn’t easy. A couple of decades ago, you would tend to open regional offices to provide support or win new business. Since then, remote working has become the norm and communications have become strained. To ease that process, there has been an increase in the number of companies offering web conferencing solutions. Citrix recently acquired the GoToMeeting web conferencing package and has already updated the program twice. Remote working is more of a requirement than a lifestyle choice today Keeping in touch, however, has become more complex as people have struggled with different technologies. You could install video conferencing but getting enough bandwidth to use it sensibly isn’t easy.

Configuration and control are also a real problem and poor experiences have put a lot of people off. Perhaps your company has become addicted to Instant Messenger technology? It has certainly become very popular but as soon as you start to hold conversations with multiple people, it becomes unwieldy. The range of IM clients also means that you can’t be sure everyone you want to talk to is using the same one. Another technology in this space is web conferencing. It doesn’t have the bandwidth requirements of video conferencing, so is more flexible. Having been around for some time, it can claim to be business proven. Into this market has stepped Citrix, best known for its thin client solutions.

BUSINESS PARTNERS

GoToMeeting is a hosted web conferencing solution that is relatively inexpensive. Until the end of July 2004 the service was free, but now is charged at $49 per month for a single user. The service allows you to create unlimited meetings and invite as many as 10 participants to each one. If you want a larger solution, there’s a corporate option that gives you more control. Contact Citrix for details. GoToMeeting, like its peers, works by allowing all parties to connect to a central point for the meeting.

Although there is no obvious direct control between machines, you can pass control of a machine to other people and change the person managing the meeting. This option is useful if you want to call a meeting with, say, a web designer and have them show you what they are doing. The technology behind the solution uses a secure connection between computers and the hosting centre, and this ensures that your communications are not being intercepted by others. If you require higher security, this is probably not the solution for you as you’d want to host the meeting on your own computers, removing any chance of interception of traffic.

Another advantage of using a hosted solution is that the entire conference uses a web browser and a small plug-in on each computer. This means you do not need to reconfigure your firewalls or risk users inadvertently changing firewall settings when on the road. By lowering the technical knowledge needed to use the solution, Citrix has made it easier to use and less likely to cause problems for IT departments.

UP AND RUNNING

To install the software, you first need to register. This will direct you to a location where you can download the software. Every time you then login, it will check for and download updates. As soon as you login, you will be asked if you want to create a meeting or schedule one for later.

If you choose to create a meeting now, you are taken to a form where you fill in the meeting name, the conference call number and a meeting password if there is one. Citrix provides a free conference call number if you are based in the US. Details of conference call numbers for other countries are still being worked out. You can add your own telephone number if it is a one-to-one meeting, or the number of any teleconferencing service you have an account with. Using a password simply allows you to control who has access to the meeting.

Once the meeting has been started, there is a toolbar showing you what is happening. The first thing to do is decide how you want to invite people to the meeting. This can be done by email, telephone or even by sending someone a fax. If you decide to send an email, then GoToMeeting includes all the details in an email to the person(s) you invite. The email that they receive includes a weblink to the meeting, the conference call number and the meeting entrance phrase. If this is their first time using GoToMeeting, they will be asked to download the GoToMeeting application to their PC. Once they have joined the meeting the presenter is told via a message. A list gives screen names and roles for each attendee. At this point, unless the presenter has already shared his or her screen, the attendee(s) get a window saying that the presentation has stopped.

Presenters can pass control of their screen to any attendee, although they can take control back by moving their mouse. You can even pass control to multiple attendees for group comments but, when we used this, it seemed to create a polling confusion for the software. If you want, you can give control of the meeting to another person. This means his or her screen is then shared but you need to rely on the person handing control back again.

The chat system allows you to pass text messages to all attendees and private messages to other attendees. It’s a bit like passing notes in class. What it does mean is that you can have a meeting with a supplier and pass comments to other members of staff without the supplier knowing. This makes conferring easier and quicker. Sadly, what the software doesn’t do yet is allow you to create a replay of the conference. Citrix is not the only vendor who doesn’t do this. Most web conferencing solutions do not allow you to capture the conference for replay – such a feature would make staff training, or reviewing a particular meeting, a lot easier and enhance the technology beyond where it currently sits. Overlooking such shortcomings, GoToMeeting offers a breadth of features and applications that make it ideal for the mobile worker.

PRICE
£27 per month (with a 20 percent discount if you buy 1 year’s access)
{Note: this pricing based on the current $ to £ conversion rate}

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Web Browser

PROS
• Quick and easy to install and use
• Low cost and reduced technical requirements
make it accessible to small companies

CONS
• No telephone service outside US yet
• No ‘record’ feature

CONTACT
Online only www.gotomeeting.com