In our previous guides to web conferencing solutions WebEx came out trumps. However, there are many viable alternatives to this fantastic package. Whether it is for basic presentations, screen sharing or holding a teleconference, here are some of the best WebEx alternatives out there.

• GoToMeeting
  The GoToMeeting web conferencing solution is a worthy contender to the WebEx crown. It has a whole raft of features suited to every day business usage. Multiple presenters can lead the meeting, it integrates with Outlook and Lotus Notes for easy reminders and organisation, you can hide all other desktop icons and open documents when presenting and the presenter can share their keyboard and mouse. GoToMeeting also integrates with popular IM clients so you can simply invite friends on your contact list. Above all, it is affordable and reliable. Versions are available for Windows and Mac OS X.
• Dimdim
  Dimdim is an example of what web 2.0 can do to web conferencing. With an open source model, Dimdim lets attendees and presenters communicate with chat and VoIP, screen share, present slides and collaborate while presenters can broadcast your webcam with ease. Dimdim has 2 flavours: onsite where you install and run on your servers or the hosted version that Dimdim administers for you.
• HearMe
  Although not as widely known, HearMe is a solid web conferencing solution for businesses. It has all the usual conferencing features as you would expect such as 24/7 web-based meeting rooms, video conferencing in Internet Explorer with H.264 quality, the ability to share and application, 1-to-1 attendee chat and file transfer as well as the ability to share pre-recorded video in real time. They’re also ideally suited to use in SMB scenarios as HearMe is particularly adept at handling large meetings.
• Live Meeting
  If you’re in a predominantly Windows environment then it is worth looking into Live Meeting. Microsoft’s hosted web conferencing solution has some attractive features, with the tight integration with the Office suite being trump. It allows for easy brainstorming on shared documents with annotation and whiteboarding. Live Meeting supports VoIP and PSTN, attendee-to-attendee IM, live and recorded video presentation and more.
• Yugma
  This web collaboration solution has a free basic version that should cover all the basics. Yugma can handle multiple presenters with ease, anyone can become the presenter at any stage with the click of a button. There is good integration with Skype in the Yugma Skype Edition allowing you to easily invite friends from your contact list to join the conference. Other notable features include a set of presentation tools allowing you to brainstorm on a whiteboard and annotate documents as well free teleconferencing where you only pay for the call. Yugma performed well for us and is a worthy alternative to WebEx.

With businesses always looking for ways to trim costs, more and more are turning to online web conferencing to achieve efficiencies in both time and expenses. The main benefit of using web conferencing to conduct meetings is, of course, financial. But some of the many benefits that online conferences and presentations offer may not be entirely obvious at first. Using an online meeting instead of a traditional face-to-face business meeting is beneficial in many ways.

Benefits Of Web Conferencing

• Efficiency - With a web conference you don’t need to worry anywhere near as much about schedules and fitting into someone else’s diary. Online meetings and presentations are time-efficient and allow presenters and attendees to be flexible.
• Increased Productivity - Making money means increasing productivity, which is something online meetings excel at. Staff can easily interact with clients fielding questions, giving answers and completing tasks faster.
• No Travel - Not only do you not need to buy tickets, you also get the benefit of not having to go anywhere outside the office. That member of staff who was going to travel 2 days to make a presentation will be available in the office instead.
• Reduced Carbon Footprint - Often overlooked but fast becoming more of a concern, it’s your personal and corporate carbon footprint. Replacing the usual business meeting with an online solution means vastly reduced carbon emissions.

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For years email has been widely regarded as the killer app for the internet. It is so popular because it is so easy, it’s free and it does a better and faster job of postal mail. However basic the notion of writing and sending a message may be, it is still not the most fundamental means of communication - that’s the reserve of voice. And with the apparent move of Voice over IP technology from the reserve of desktop computing to the wild west of the internet, how long will it be before VoIP becomes as ubiquitous as email?

There has indeed been much discussion recently about the (almost) exponential growth in popularity of social networking going hand-in-hand with an increase in the number of users adopting VoIP. It hasn’t happened just yet, but we are now seeing a new breed of widgets / gadgets that can be embedded into blogs, emails and profiles on social networks.

This list of widgets does not include the myriad click-to-call services that are available nor any of the current crop of Facebook VoIP applications - we’ll leave that until later.

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If you are one of the new breed of web workers, then you should be very familiar by now with the idea of web conferencing. Being your own boss, working your own hours, deciding on where you’ll work from is great, but there will be times when you need to discuss plans with partners and clients. That’s easy in the traditional business world; you go and meet with the client face to face, have a chat and show him what you’ve been working on. However, in the new world of remote work, that’s just not going to happen unless you do a bit of traveling.

So what are your options? How can you work remotely with others in your company and your clients? Here are a few basic tools we use on a daily basis.

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Mobile phones aren’t renowned for low price calls, far from it. If you’ve ever got the bill for receiving a few calls while out of the country, you’ll know exactly what we mean. Although international roaming charges are starting to come down from their lofty highs, especially in Europe, it’s still very expensive to call home or receive calls when away on a trip.

If you don’t have a call plan with inclusive international calls, then mobile VoIP is ideal for you. Even if you make frequent calls only to domestic mobiles and landlines, mobile VoIP can save you a bunch of cash.

What Is Mobile VoIP?

The Wikipedia defines mobile VoIP as follows:

VoIP Mobile or ‘Mobile Voice over Internet Protocol’ is the application of Voice over IP technology to mobile handsets.

In layman’s terms, mobile VoIP is a way for you to place calls from your mobile phone that connect with the recipient via the internet. The main benefit of mobile VoIP is the combination of flexibility and cost savings on domestic, and especially, international calls.

Are There Requirements For Mobile VoIP?

Yes, mobile VoIP does have some basic requirements. Obviously you’ll need a mobile phone, but it will also need to be a dual-mode phone with WiFi connectivity, 3G, HSDPA or EVDO. You’ll also need a data plan that will allow your mobile VoIP provider to connect to the internet and place the call.

Different mobile VoIP providers require different capabilities. For instance, a mobile VoIP service that uses WiFi will require you to be on a WiFi network in order to make a call. Other services will roam in the background for the best connection whether that be via WiFi or 3G and let you make a call.

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