I just got through a 2 hour WebEx session where I walked through my deliverable with my client. At $0.33/minute/person for a pay per use session, the bill probably came to around $120 (without integrated voice). That is actually more than the train ticket to get to New York where the client is. Still, when you factor in the time (9 hours of travel round trip!), parking at train station, and (of course) the carbon, it was an economical choice.
An even more economical choice would have been to use Google Doc’s presentation feature for free. It would have worked for me because I wasn’t showing anything other than slides. If I was demo-ing an application I would have needed to use WebEx or some other real screen sharing application.
Oh well. Something to keep in mind for next time.
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Have you tried DimDim? They have an open source edition.
I’ve been meaning to try it out but haven’t yet had the chance.
I looked quickly at DimDim (horrible name, BTW. Sounds like dumb dumb). The deal breaker for me is that I can’t share my Linux or Mac desktop (see faq). Mac/Linux support is on the road map for 2009. However, I could use DimDim to upload and drive a presentation like I can do with Google Docs.
Hey Seth,
Just quickly want to inform you of Mikogo – the free online meeting tool.
Mikogo is the easy and free way to organize desktop sharing sessions and invite up to 10 participants simultaneously. You can share any application on your screen in real-time. Switch presenter, remote control, file transfer, etc. are just a few features.
100% free with no trial periods or hidden catches.
Check it out at http://www.mikogo.com and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Andrew
The Mikogo Team
andrew(at)mikogo.com
Hey Seth,
Take a look at yugma and skype at http://www.yugma.com/share_skype.php . Also, free conference at http://www.freeconference.com/. All these free tools have done very well for my cash flow.
Dum Dum (oops Dim Dim) is very cool. I haven’t used it for a customer preso yet but I have installed and messed around.
Cheers!
-Travis
Hello Seth,
Have you tried WiredReds’ e/pop web conferencing software?
e/pop can run upto 20 live videos, document and application share.
More importantly, it has it’s own built in VoIP engine that allows for free conferencing.
We offer a free 15 day trial of our software too.
Check out http://www.wiredred.co.uk
Ian @ WiredRed Software
Thanks for the heads-up on presentation sharing within Google Docs — hadn’t realized that was in there.
Thanks everyone for their great suggestions. Unfortunately, Mikogo, e/pop, and DimDim do not support Mac screen sharing. However, it does look like Yugma does support Mac. I think I will try that next time I need to share my screen.
One more to add to the list: Zoho Show. It is not full desktop sharing – more like Google Docs presentation feature.