PresenterNet: Web 2.0 Online Conferencing

PresenterNet is an example of what could be done with VoIP. It allows a user to call a conference and present a PowerPoint presentation, Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PDFs and other image media from within the browser window. Attendees can be from anywhere in the world, provided they have an account and internet access. PresenterNet supports a wide variety of browsers (Firefox / IE / Opera / Safari), is platform independent and does not require any software to run locally on your computer.

The value-add comes in the ‘integration’ of VoIP with the presentation service. Instead of going through the slides and relying on the words to do all the talking, you can guide your audience through by voice. PresenterNet have used a simple Skype button to make it easy.

Now I’m not one for slating their hard work, afterall we would not have dreamed of sharing a presentation in this way so easily only a few years ago. The cost of development and deployment has dropped so much that being able to simply invite people to an online conference has become yesterday’s news. But instead of relying on an external soft VoIP client (in this case), why does someone not integrate VoIP into their Web 2.0 app. And when I say integrate, I mean integrate! Keep everything in that window, use SIP to connect directly from the browser without having to open another app.

Who should be doing this? 37Signal’s Backpack for one. They already have a group chat service available, but the next step for them is really integrating internet telephony tightly into their already prestigious lineup.