Choosing a Web-conference Program

With so many vendors and developers of web-conferencing software, how can a company choose?
 Assessing your company's needs is the most basic step. Once you're done with that, you can look through the list of software and go through each of their services and see which one can be a best fit for you.

First thing to consider, of course, is the cost and how much you're willing to pay for web-conferencing software. If you're still feeling uncertain over this, a lot of developers offer a free trial to see how things work out.

Here is a list of some web-conferencing software that offers free trials:

Macromedia Breeze – Goes beyond actual web-conferencing to include live meetings, trainings, product demonstrations, etc. They offer a 15-day free trial.

MCI Conferencing – Is an experienced provider of conferencing services. It is also the world's largest. They offer a 14-day free trial for their NetConferencing.

IMConferencing – Offers desktop, audio, and web video conferencing. They offer a 15-day free trial.

Linktivity – Can conduct online meetings using a variety of file transfers, co-browsing, and streaming video features. They offer a 10-day free trial with up to three people in a meeting.

GoToMeeting – Is an easy and cost-effective way of organizing business meetings over the web. They offer a 15-day free trial with unlimited online meetings.

iLinc Communications is a leader for web and audio-conferencing software. It is used by many professional firms worldwide. They offer free Apple iTunes and an Apple iPod mini once you register for their free 15-day trial.

There are at least three basic steps that you have to complete before shopping for web-conference software. What do you seek to accomplish by using this? What are your company goals with regard to web-conferencing? Your search for the perfect software will get easier as you get more comfortable in answering your own questions.

Do your research too. Look for websites that offer comprehensive reviews of competing web-conferencing software (ConferZone, for example) and get to know the technology and the industry. The better-informed you are, the better a decision you'll be bound to come up with.

Know if web-conferencing will be enough to meet your needs. If you don't think so, you have the option of expanding your web-conference into something much bigger and perhaps better. Take note, though, that what fits one company may not fit yours. You and your company are not obliged to follow the latest trends if it simply won't suit.