Top Mac OS X Web Conference Services

When it comes to web conferencing, whether video or audio, you need a service that works as well on Mac OS X as it does with Windows and Linux. In light of strong sales figures from Apple it is now more important than ever that your choice of conferencing solution will work with OS X in what is quickly becoming a world less dominated by Windows.

So here are the cream of the Mac OS X conferencing tools about at the minute. Please do take into consideration that this list will be updated in the future as and when new services are made available.

• WebEx
  The granddaddy of online video conferencing works with Mac OS X, thankfully! WebEx boasts a whole host of features including document and desktop sharing, annotation, text chat, audio conferencing via the WebEx service and video conferencing. These features, and more, are all fully supported in the Mac OS X version of WebEx MeetMeNow. In terms of actually using WebEx, I have had little to no problems whatsoever: screen sharing performance between a Windows presenter and Mac attendee was void from problems. WebEx excels in meetings where there are multiple attendees, screen refresh rates were good and audio (via their call-in number) was also good. All round, WebEx is a great choice for web conferencing on a Mac whether you will be using it in a SMB or large corporation.
• GoToMeeting
  It might have taken a little while, but it is possible to run GoToMeeting on Mac OS X now. However, this popular web conferencing application is somewhat hobbled in that Mac OS X users can only participate in conferences as attendees and cannot present. Nevertheless, if you are coming into a mixed environment that is mostly Windows centric and you will be an attendee in the majority of conferences, then GoToMeeting is well worth having a look. GoToMeeting has numerous features including application specific sharing and Microsoft Office integration to name but a brace.
• iChat
  It wouldn’t be a post reviewing web conferencing solutions for Mac OS X without covering iChat. Originally nothing more than just another AIM client (with .Mac IM also), iChat has blossomed into a proper conferencing application. Of course, as you’d expect with an Apple product, the interface is seriously slick. With iChat you can video and audio conference with multiple attendees, but it really does excel itself with video: iChat’s interface for video conferences is nothing short of stunning. However, it has more than one party trick. It’s also possible to share your desktop and documents from within iChat, but there is no whiteboarding functionality. If you are only just getting into web conferencing on your Mac and are looking for a free solution, then iChat is a good place to start. This isn’t some panacea of free web conferencing though, just remember that it is for Mac OS X only!
• SightSpeed
  Often (wrongly) overlooked in favour of Skype, SightSpeed is an excellent web conferencing application that runs natively in Mac OS X but is also compatible with Windows and Linux; no problems in setting up and conducting a successful web conference in a mixed-OS environment here! It’s not difficult to see why SightSpeed is an award wining video conference application. Among the many features SightSpeed boasts are unlimited multi-party video and audio calls, in-call file sharing and unlimited video email storage. It doesn’t however have application or desktop sharing, but if you want to easily video conference and don’t mind that documents need to be individually distributed before or during the conference, then SightSpeed would be well worth looking into.
• Dimdim
  As a completely browser-based solution, Dindim works on Mac OS X as well as Windows and Linux. The list of features is extensive, impressive and rather compelling to say the least. With Dimdim you can meet online and share your screen, talk via VoIP, video chat, annotate and whiteboard, share and present documents plus more. All these features run inside the browser, there is nothing to download. Furthermore, Dimdim is open source and can be installed on your own servers or let Dimdim host the service for you.
• Yugma
  This was one of the first web conferencing solutions that I personally used. As a telecommuter myself I found their service to be reliable and extremely cost effective. The quality of video was great, even when screen sharing from a large screen. Yugma is free, offers screen and application sharing, Skype integration that allows for free calls and video chat as well as free teleconferencing should you have the need to accommodate large numbers of attendees and integrated conference recording. I like that they make it very easy to webcast recorded conferences, which will be particularly handy in companies with multiple remote workers.
• ReadyTalk
  ReadyTalk are proud to be OS agnostic, it’ll work on Windows and Linux just as well as it does on Mac OS X. This is a browser-based service, which has the benefit of not requiring you to install any software on your computer. Features include email invitations for attendees, screen sharing and application sharing, annotation, document presentation and integrated audio conferencing. I have a particular interest in the Flash conference recording, which is a real time saving device. If you don’t need integrated video chat, then ReadyTalk is definitely worth looking into!
• Glance
  Glance is a web conferencing tool that works on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. It has a screen sharing tool that lets you host live web demos, sales presentations and webinars with up to 100 attendees at a time. Presenters will need to download and install the Glance application so they can share their screen, applications and documents, but guests will only need to visit a URL and can attend via their browser. It’s easy to use, affordable and well worth checking out as an option.