Video conferencing...

[Chad Cardin]

Does anyone have any recommendations for really good (maybe even free!) video conferencing options? A friend of mine use to use skype all the time but has said its service is no longer a free service and you have to subscribe and the connections arent as great as they use to be.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!

[Glenn Woodward]

Chad,

For one on one I use Skype (I am not sure about multiple connections - I will check).
It is free.
No problem with connections here - that's probably more a function of your ISP than Skype.
I use the screen sharing function to show my clients the plans, etc., and do interactive sessions.

I am happy to give you a demo trial if you are interested.

PS.
Looks like you need an account to do more than one on one for screen sharing and video.
but, one on one IS free for both.

[Chad Cardin]

Nice, thanks Glenn for updating me with that.

[Mark]

This free is freehttp://www.mikogo.com
As I have found skype struggles with pore internet speed more so and it has way more features

[Joe Carrick]

Nuance PDF Converter Pro comes with the capability. It's about $100 but it has so much more functionality than just video conferencing that it's worth a whole lot more. I couldn't live without it.

[Chad Cardin]

Thanks for the additional recommendations, I will look into these!

[dgavin]

I use join.me. I got it for about $100 for the year. Works well. I did not know about Skype at the time but will be giving that a try.

[Glenn Woodward]

I find the good thing about Skype is that a lot of people have it anyway and are used to the interface, and they don't have to download another program.

[lbuttery]

I tried to use Skype for video and ran into issues

Skype tech support was useless
they kept asking same questions over and over via email
it became obvious they weren't even reading mine
they refused to talk over the phone

that was in 2009 - maybe things have changed ???

I moved on and used Mikogo

Skype for voice works fine

Lew

[johnnyprc]

Glenn gave me a lesson using Skype and it worked fine - he is in Australia and I am in Washington. Multiple users to a single conference does cost money with Skype - but its a very reasonable cost. Also, as Glenn said its a common app clients most likely have, and I personally wouldn't want to get into a position of requiring new apps for install in order for clients to communicate with me.

[lbuttery]

Johnny:

most video conferencing tools are "Join from any browser, no downloads"

downloading the tool is only needed if you want to host a session

Lew

[joey3032]

I also use Mikogo with no complications.....and no fee.

[Chad Cardin]

Nice! I havent heard of Mikogo before, I will look into that. Lew being that youve used both Skype and Mikogo, what are the biggest differences you see between the two?

[lbuttery]

Chad:

I was never able to use Skype
that was when I discoverd Mikogo

I did use GotoMeeting before that and I don't see much difference
between them

you can record sessions and switch control among the participants etc

GTM did have its own phone service where with Mikogo (and others)
you have to use an alternative method such as Skype Voice

I have unlimited calling across the US and Canada so I would call the client
and then conference in my partner and we could chat while viewing Mikogo

we also used Skype voice

Lew

[Mark]

I used mikogo a couple of days ago and it had voice

Chad:

I was never able to use Skype
that was when I discoverd Mikogo

I did use GotoMeeting before that and I don't see much difference
between them

you can record sessions and switch control among the participants etc

GTM did have its own phone service where with Mikogo (and others)
you have to use an alternative method such as Skype Voice

I have unlimited calling across the US and Canada so I would call the client
and then conference in my partner and we could chat while viewing Mikogo

we also used Skype voice

Lew