Gotomeeting

Writen by Peter Cullen

GoTOMeeting is a web conferencing tool from Citrix Online, based in Santa Barbara, California. It's a hosted solution with a component that runs on your PC. It's a full-featured package and very easy to use. Because it's integrated with Microsoft Outlook, you can actually start a meeting from your Outlook window with a single click - GoToMeeting is also integrated with IBM's Lotus Notes, providing the same ease of use from that environment.

If you're considering GoToMeeting, you must view the product demo that you'll find at www.gotomeeting.com. The ease of use will amaze you. Citrix has done an excellent job of removing the hocus-pocus and complication from web conferencing. Literally with a couple of clicks, you can have a meeting scheduled and be "live" shortly thereafter. There are no licensing problems for attendees either. For a first-time meeting attendee, there is a simple plug-in download to their PC and they are ready to participate.

Meeting Set Up

The one-click meeting set up really is one click, which you can see when you watch the demo at www.gotomeeting.com. There's a GoToMeeting tool bar integrated into your Outlook screen and a meeting can be started simply by clicking on the "Meet Now" icon. GoToMeeting is integrated with MSN Messenger too, so you can kick off meetings right from the messaging interface.

If you've ever done any meetings with screen-sharing, you've probably thought that it would nice to be able to control what items on your screen are made visible to the attendees. The new "screen clean" feature provides you the ability to "clean up" your desktop before you show it to the attendees. A very convenient feature - especially if your Mom is attending, and usually tells you that your desktop is messier than your bedroom used to be be!

Meeting Control

The meeting control interface is very nicely done too. Desktop sharing, changing presenters, screen drawing, chatting with attendees, are all accessed with a just a few clicks, and very clear, simple, screen instructions.

The desktop sharing function lets you share any file or application ou have on your PC, and it supports 24-bit color, so what your attendees see is just what you see. Control of the meeting is easily transferred to someone else in the meeting, so that, if need be, they can share something from their desktop with the group. Screen drawing, controlled from a tool bar, lets you highlight and point to specific screen content, to facilitate communication with your attendees. The chat function lets you talk with a specific attendee or with the entire meeting.

Attendance Reporting

If it's important to you, and it usually is, to be able to track meeting attendance, it's easy to do. Reports tell you who was there, when they entered, and when they left.

Recording

You can record the desktop presentation and the audio portion of your meeting or presentation and reuse it again! Internet marketers will love this! The toolbar control for recording couldn't be simpler. And if you happen to have a multiple monitor system on your desk, you can easily integrate GoToMeeting with it.

And if all that isn't enough, Citrix is about to release (or already has - check their website) an "optimized" version of GoToMeeting called GoToWebinar, which is pointed directly at online presenters and has a different usage and pricing model that makes it even easier to reach larger audiences.

Get all the facts and details at: http://www.Web-Conference-Info.com

Pete Cullen runs http://www.Web-Conference-Info.com where web conferencing software is reviewed and relevant articles are posted.