Explore remote meeting possibilities: face-to-face doesn't mean you have to be in the same place.

STAYING CONNECTED. It's one of the most critical issues facing mobile workers. Always on the go, we rely on multiple gadgets--cell phones, laptops, PDAs--to make sure the corporate office and important business clients are within easy reach. We tap into wireless networks at Starbucks, use SMS on our cell phones, and grab e-mail constantly with BlackBerry devices, all in attempt to enjoy mobile freedom while doing our best to stay as connected as stationary desktop workers.

Still, one of the biggest challenges we face is that most people want to hold meetings at a physical location. Sure, we can drive around town chatting on a cell phone, but at some point, we have to pull up a chair, flip through paper documentation, watch a PowerPoint slide show, and converse in person.

Or do we?

Thanks to the proliferation of high-speed connections, Web conferencing as a multimedia-rich, virtual meeting environment has become a legitimate business best practice. Now, you can use a service such as WebEx from anywhere and feel like you're sitting right next to your boss and your associates. Whiteboarding helps you visualize the topic of conversation, and an optional video feed lets you see reactions and gestures that help reinforce the remote communication.

"While some business travel will always be necessary, we are seeing a shift in work habits where people are more frequently using collaboration tools to work with their colleagues," says Denise Persson, an executive with Web conferencing company Genesys. "The long-term implication is that demand for integrated multimedia conferencing will continue to grow, not because it replaces travel, but because it enhances communication and productivity."

"The main benefit of Web conferencing is it lets people easily get together and conduct highly effective meetings in situations where an in-person meeting is impractical or impossible," adds Mike Fratesi, a Cisco MeetingPlace spokesperson. "This lets users meet more frequently and accelerates decision making and knowledge transfer."

Web conferencing defined

Web conferencing is a vast improvement over basic video conferencing, which became popular several years ago when business customers started using video booths and camcorders to connect with remote clients, often overseas--and at a premium. Over the past few years, video conferencing has become more popular as an add-on to instant messaging tools such as MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Still, these solutions often don't include document-sharing capabilities or support slideshow presentations. And, some packages require meeting attendees to use a Web cam.

Web conferencing provides more features for business communication, but with less stringent requirements. For example, participants can log into a Web client, load a small Java or ActiveX control (a download that's usually less than 50KB), and join a meeting in just a few minutes. Those with Web cams can use them as needed; voice communication is also optional. Usually, one main slideshow or document takes center stage. Online chat capability means each participant can ask questions.

The best Web conferencing tools include a feature for recording everything that takes place on the screen, a function that lets any user share his screen, a way to control another user's computer (this is useful for tech support), and video conferencing with polling, question/answer, and virtual hand-raising.

Presenter functions are also important, such as an audio mute function for putting meeting participants on hold. Other functions, such as whiteboarding, help participants create rough diagrams and flowcharts and communicate with notes. Just about every feature is designed to make meetings as productive as possible.

"The primary use of Web conferencing today is to link remote locations for business meetings," says Gartner analyst Carol Skvarla. "This also includes meetings among remote office locations, telecommuting, interactive distance learning, telemedicine, passing of financial information between markets, and video streaming of live data." Web conferencing can also be a good tool for conducting preliminary interviews with job candidates, running product demos, disseminating human resources information, and holding live corporate events.

One important distinction among Web conferencing tools is that some are "on-premise," some are "on-network," and some are available as a service. On-premise solutions function more like a client-server application and are often sold as a software package similar to Microsoft Office. After you buy the product, you can use it however and whenever you want, with no additional fees. The network solutions are similar, but usually run on a server similar to Microsoft Exchange or a Novell product, so they might provide better integration with existing network products.

Service-based Web conferencing companies don't provide a one-price package offering. Instead, they charge by the user and by the minute. You can access a Web conference anytime you want, as long as you have an account and are willing to pay the service fees, which usually run about 35 cents per minute per user. The service provider maintains the Web conferencing system, so it's similar to an ISP or ASP. Sometimes, a Web conferencing company will charge by the user seat per month; so, instead of paying by the minute, you can pay about $80 per user per month for unlimited use, and much less if you buy hundreds of concurrent user licenses.

For this overview, I look at all the major Web conferencing products on the market, analyzing them for features and pricing. I compare each of the products to find out which one works best for mobile workers. I examine how each package !works in a business environment for information exchange, mission-critical meetings, and quick decision-making chats.

It's worth pointing out, though, that as long as the basic mechanics are there--online chat, slideshows, application sharing--you can't go wrong with any of these offerings. Just look for a tool that matches your business needs, your budget, and your personal interface design preferences.

Cisco MeetingPlace

http://www.latitude.com

COST: The flat-rate concurrent-license package for on-premise use starts at about $100,000. Or, you can install MeetingPlace network components and pay roughly 20 cents per user per minute for the Web conferencing services, or 12 cents for teleconferencing services.

When Cisco acquired the Web conferencing company Latitude and its MeetingPlace Web conferencing tool, analysts and business decision-makers took note. Positioned as a network product as opposed to a software solution, MeetingPlace is designed to be an easily accessible virtual meeting network that enhances Cisco's impressive line of products. MeetingPlace can directly tie into existing phone networks and run just as reliably on an e-mail or file server. Because the product works so well within existing network infrastructures, its main strengths are reliability and scalability. At press time, the product didn't include video conferencing, which is an important component for virtual meetings. The fact that even a free instant message client such as ICQ supports video just makes MeetingPlace look old-tech. However, several hundred MeetingPlace customers are already testing a beta client that includes video conferencing.

The user interface sports some trendy colors, so it's one of the best looking Web conferencing applications I tested (figure 1). MeetingPlace provides a phone conferencing component that works with either PBX or VoIP phone systems. The interface automatically identifies who's speaking or screen sharing.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

MeetingPlace offers some powerful presenter tools. For example, if you're running a meeting, you can change the user settings so the participants can only view a slideshow, listen to the audio, or just use online chat. This helps conserve bandwidth, since some connections may take a toll on download time. Users have some extra control, too. They can conduct quick sidebar meetings with other participants for private discussions. Another unique feature is that MeetingPlace can work in conjunction with a Cisco IP phone, showing you an XML-based text display of the meeting time and topic.

The system, which approximately 450 companies worldwide are using, works alongside your existing network, making it a hybrid, on-premise tool. As one of the most elegant Web conferencing agents, MeetingPlace is a standout performer.

FVC Click-to-Meet Express

http://www.fvc.com

COST: This on-premise tool is available in several concurrent user license packages, which start at $7,000 (for 10 users) and run up to about S 150,000 for hundreds of users.

White Pine CUseeMe was a popular video conferencing tool that let anyone, anywhere, connect in a virtual meeting place and talk over one-on-one video feeds. When First Virtual Communication (FVC) merged with White Pine Software, it leveraged this video technology. The result is Click-to-Meet Express, a Web conferencing tool that offers excellent video capabilities and a streamlined interface designed for visual communication.

The product supports 200 concurrent users, which is well below what some of the enterprise-oriented packages such as Microsoft LiveMeeting and WebEx offer. These products support thousands of concurrent users. The Click-to-Meet video components support the industry standard H.323 video protocol, and most of the video conferencing tools are situated right on the main interface for easy access. No other Web conferencing tool gives you quite as much video control: You can pause live video, move the video feed around on your screen disable it quickly, or run several video windows on the screen at once.

As a product that supports skins, the Click-to-Meet interface lets you customize it with your own look and feel (figure 2). Tabs along the top of the interface are clearly labeled. Click-to-Meet is colorful and user-friendly, but not as powerful as many of the other Web conferencing tools. For example, there's no direct support for common business applications, so you have to convert files to Click-to-Meet format. There's a handy chat function, though, and the product does support application sharing. If you want to record the Web conference, you must use a plug-in available as an add-on purchase. There's no Outlook integration; however, you can send meeting notices through MSN Messenger.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Click-to-Meet started out as an ATM system, and you can see how many of the functions are designed for anyone to use (not just business users with an MBA). For those who require more robust video conferencing and aren't as concerned with scalability, Click-to-Meet is a powerful and well-designed Web conferencing system.

Genesys Meeting Center

http://www.genesys.com

COST: Price averages 32 cents per minute per person.

If some Web conferencing systems are designed specifically for small companies or seem more suited for the enterprise, Genesys Meeting Center is the jack-of-all-trades that could work in well any size business environment. As a service-based system, Genesys offers a price model and specific products that match several different business needs, from large-scale events with one "talking head" addressing thousands, to a four-person meeting among mobile workers. This kind of flexibility is both a blessing and a curse. You can quickly and easily access a meeting, but at about 32 cents per minute per person, the overall costs add up quickly for large-scale deployments.

Meeting Center supports various presenter tools, such as polling, question and answer, and graded quizzes (figure 3). Wizard-like tools help the presenter quickly set up a meeting. This is especially important if business clients are logging in soon and your company is footing the bill for the meeting. The product supports secure socket layer encryption so you can send business financials without worries about someone hacking into the meeting. The whiteboarding function works well for exchanging freeform ideas. Genesys also pre-caches all the slideshow and documentation exchanges so the meeting itself flows smoothly, without any bandwidth issues.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Application sharing, video conferencing, and teleconference recording make this all-in-one tool a good choice for business use. However, it's worth noting that, during testing, I wasn't able to access a meeting on several occasions, even using various entry methods. In fact, I was never able to test the video conferencing capabilities, so your mileage (and success) might vary in terms of frame rate and quality. Genesys Meeting Center, even as a version 2.0 product and with 17,000 active customers holding thousands of meetings every week, still seems like it needs some refining before it's ready for mission-critical meetings.

IBM Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing

http://www.ibm.com

COST: Single-user licenses start at $48 each.

Function over form--that's what IBM offers with its robust but somewhat bland-looking on-premise tool, IM and Web Conferencing. Formerly known as Lotus Sametime and IBM eMeeting, the product definitely sets a high standard in terms of security, the number of people you can include in a meeting, impressive multi-platform support, and well-integrated teleconferencing. According to IBM, the product is used by several thousand companies worldwide, with some 10 million seats sold.

Unfortunately, the first thing you notice about the tool is there are no icons to speak of; all functions are buried in an outdated menu architecture. To start a meeting chat, for example, you have to select an option from the menu. Meeting participants won't be initially impressed with the interface, even if there's a colorful slideshow waiting to greet them (figure 4).

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

IBM IM and Web conferencing is an on-premise product, so it isn't as scaleable as a Web conferencing service such as WebEx or Genesys Meeting Center. Each user must own a license, which starts at $48 per user. That's more of a commitment than a per-user-per-minute rate. Plus, it's a serious undertaking in terms of ongoing user account maintenance. Still, many companies prefer to make a capital investment in software. You can be assured that after you purchase the required number of licenses, you won't have to pay a per-minute charge for every virtual meeting.

NOTE: You can pay for Web conferencing services by the minute through IBM Global Services, although that option seems to be downplayed at the IBM Web Conferencing site.

Because this package is designed primarily for business use, each Web conference (and every file transfer) benefits from 128-bit, end-to-end encryption on all Internet channels. This is the best security offered by any of the Web conferencing tools I looked at. Also, the product supports IT governance and compliance models, so it can fit into existing network infrastructures and standard desktop configurations.

The tool provides a simple way to record both the onscreen action and the teleconference. Users can share their entire desktop and all applications, or share just specific applications--and, meeting leaders can hand over control to a remote participant. IBM Web conferencing runs on various Linux and UNIX platforms, and the IBM Lotus Instant Messaging client even works on mobile devices. Although the product doesn't support direct Outlook meeting invitations, users can send e-mail or iCal invitations to business associates. In general, all the features you would expect in a Web conferencing tool are here, just without the extra flare and color.

Macromedia Breeze

http://www.macromedia.com

COST: $1,000 per seat for unlimited on-premise use. $85 per user per month for hosted service.

If holding a virtual meeting requires a little extra visual punch to make sure participants are engaged, Macromedia Breeze is the perfect choice. Based on the Macromedia Flash platform, this Web conferencing tool looks as stylish as a trendy Web site, with as many colors and shaded toolbars as some graphics applications (figure 5). Flash is probably already installed on your laptop, so joining a Breeze Web conference probably won't require an extra download. After you're in the meeting, you can view slideshows, audio conference via a standard phone network or VoIP, and engage in private chats.

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

Breeze comes with some preset layout patterns for distributing the various palettes and chat boxes on the screen, which is handy for presenters who need quick control over the presentation view. They can switch to a slideshow view during the main part of the meeting, then quickly switch to a chat-only view with just one click. There's also a presenter-only area where those leading a meeting can chat and exchange ideas.

Breeze supports the Flash Paper format, which works just like Adobe's PDF document exchanger, except it works within the Web conference. (Breeze doesn't support PDF files).

Although licensing is more expensive than competing products, it could work well for small graphics and art departments or small businesses that hold frequent virtual meetings. In other words, if the more elegant look and feel is important to you, it's worth the extra cost.

Microsoft LiveMeeting

http://www.microsoft.com

COST: $75 per user per month for Web conferencing services. $150 for On-premise, per-server product starting at 100 seats for unlimited use.

With Microsoft's LiveMeeting service, there's no software to deploy or maintain, no infrastructure to worry about, and practically no overhead. Of all the Web conferencing tools I tested, LiveMeeting worked the fastest and offered the most user-friendly experience, although it isn't quite as graphically pleasing as Macromedia Breeze (figure 6).

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

LiveMeeting offers the best of both worlds: As a service, it's fully scaleable for large corporations that want to host enterprise-wide meetings. The price structure is just a bit lower than other service tools, running about $75 per user per month. Microsoft also offers an on-premise, per-server product starting at $150 per user for unlimited use.

LiveMeeting supports up to 2,500 users and includes all the bells and whistles you'd expect: video conferencing, private chats, streamlined Outlook integration, and direct support for the Microsoft productivity applications. In fact, the product is officially called Office LiveMeeting, hinting that Office users are the primary targets for the virtual meetings. Of course, you can participate even if you don't own Office.

The product supports whiteboarding, video conferencing, audio recording, and even one-way VoIP streaming for large-event meetings. There are two clients available. One runs as a client on the Windows desktop and offers enhanced features such as meeting recording, and the other version uses Java technology for multi-platform support. Both products look and function similarly. If your company is a Microsoft-only shop and you want Office integration and pricing flexibility, LiveMeeting is easily one of the best offerings on the market.

WebEX

http://www.webex.com

COST: Approximately $75 per user per meeting.

Considered by many to be the Web conferencing tool to beat, WebEx has almost single-handedly redefined what a virtual meeting is all about. Designed primarily as a reliable meeting portal for mission-critical business use, this Web conferencing system competes with a phone system or Microsoft Exchange server. It's the perfect example of how a top-notch tool can help you connect with business associates, and stay connected during the entire meeting. The reliability has led to some impressive revenue, growing from $80 million in sales to about $190 million in just two years.

Interestingly, although there's a market perception that WebEx completely dominates the Web conferencing field, only about 8,000 corporations use the system, compared to much higher numbers for the IBM and Genesys offerings. Of course, many of those 8,000 companies are large installations; Boeing and American Express are two examples of large companies that rely on WebEx.

WebEx has positioned its product as not only a multimedia-rich application, but also a network service similar to a teleconferencing system. The company wants to make Web conferencing as easy as dialing a phone number and pressing a few keys to join--and that's exactly what it's like. The system isn't as streamlined and colorful as some of the competing tools, such as MeetingPlace and Breeze (figure 7). However, you really can just click on a link or go to WebEx.com and join a meeting in just a few seconds.

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

The system supports up to four simultaneous video feeds, and includes all the standard features for whiteboarding, chats, and concurrent audio conferencing. It's a multi-platform tool that supports Linux, Mac, UNIX, and Windows. WebEx supports thousands of concurrent users, and charges by the meeting are roughly $75 per user. Because WebEx is a hosted service, there's never any stored data exchanged between computers, so encryption isn't as important for secure meetings. There are no special requirements to use WebEx, and the small ActiveX plug-in takes just a few seconds to download.

Overall, although WebEx isn't as colorful as some tools, and doesn't offer an on-premise solution for companies that need to make a capital expenditure for Web conferencing, there is one critical feature that can't be ignored: WebEx works well, and it's the easiest and fastest Web conferencing tool on the market.

Making the connection

Web conferencing tools help you connect--and stay connected. Many of the tools on the market have already proven that meeting participants can be productive, and mobile workers can spend more time getting work done on the road and less time driving to the company headquarters. With rich multimedia support, private chats, the ability to record slideshow presentations, and colorful interfaces just waiting for your team to explore, Web conferencing is a business practice that's here to stay.

MOBILE BUSINESS BENEFITS

Mobile technology makes it easier for people to remain productive away from the office, but remote meetings can still be a challenge. Whether you're working with a distributed team or with clients, It's important to remember that "connected" Isn't just a technical term. You want the people you're meeting with to feel you've made a personal connection, too. It's also important to make sure the meetings ere as productive as possible end that everyone has easy access to the information they need; for example, key documents end PowerPoint presentations. Web conferencing tools can help by giving you a way to create a virtual meeting place where you can meet face-to-face with anyone at any time, regardless of location.

John Brandon is a freelance writer from Buffalo, Minnesota. Before starting his writing career, he worked as an IT manager with a large consumer electronics retailer. His areas of expertise include handheld computers, notebooks, smartphones, wireless technology, displays, and any other computer-oriented device, [e-mail].