GoToMeeting 4.1

GoToMeeting 4.1


With travel getting more expensive (and more harrowing) the competition has gotten fierce in the Web meeting space. While GoToMeeting remains a quick-and-easy way to Web conference, it lacks some features that competing products in the same price range have. Take for example, HearMe which offers videoconferencing as well as audio, or Microsoft Office Live Meeting's audience feedback tools or Cisco WebEx's file transfer. You also have services like Skype used in lieu of traditional conferencing software.

Citrix offers a 30-day free trial, and pricing begins at $49.00 a month or $468.00 for the annual plan. That gives you up to 15 meeting attendees, making GoToMeeting more expensive than Office Live Meeting which charges $4.50 per user per month. And GoToMeeting doesn't allow as many attendees as WebEx, with up to 25 participants (including the meeting host) for the same price. Citrix does offers a corporate version of GoToMeeting for up to 25 users, but its pricing is subscription-based and depends on a business's size and needs.

I am surprised by how feature-thin GoToMeeting remains. The omission of whiteboard, audience participation tools and file transfer features is more unclear than the lack of Webcam integration (how many of us really need to see who's on the other end of a business conference call?). It's not even a feasible argument that omitting these features keeps the price down, since comparably-priced Web conferencing solutions have them.
Specifications

Type
Business, Personal, Professional

OS Compatibility
Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS, Windows 7

So why opt to use GoToMeeting over the competition? It has always been a hallmark of reliability in an area with little to speak of (if you've been in some of these meetings, you know what I'm talking about). Real-time performance between a host PC and attendees is virtually flawless, even when sharing an animation-heavy PowerPoint presentation. It remains an affordable, simple way to conduct online meetings with integrated audio, eliminating the need of a phone conferencing bridge. Plus, the latest version includes a few new features like multiple monitor support.

Install
The software is downloadable and barely takes two minutes to install. It took longer to setup the required account to access the site.

After installation, GoToMeeting asks if you want to create a meeting right then and there, schedule a future meeting, or cancel. A bright, orange flower with a 70's motif is placed in the System Tray. Use that to access a right-click menu to quickly setup, manage or join meetings.

Users do not have to purchase or sign up for a trial GoToMeeting account in order to attend a meeting. They can simply click on the provided link in an email from a meeting organizer. The link directs back to the GoToMeeting Website, where the necessary software for attendees gets downloaded. The install for both organizers and attendees is a snap. And the new integrated toll-free number means they can call in over the phone if they prefer that over VoIP audio.