Did you say free web conferencing?

Most contracting firms have used Webex  or Go2meeting either by inviting or being invited to an on-line seminar or web conference.  There are many other players in this marketplace like Intercall and Skype.  Yes I said Skype, the free video calling that Oprah promotes and the game show Millionaire uses to call an expert.

So did you know that Skype 4.0 (and subsequent releases)  has video conferencing available with screen sharing?  This is completely free but if you need to have large groups, and send invites ahead of time you’ll want a 3rd party add-on called InnerPass to make it more business friendly.   You’ll need to pay for InnerPass, but for a significantly smaller fee than you pay on the popularly advertised web conferencing systems.  I learned about this from an OPEN Small Business Forum from American Express but since 95% of all contractors are small businesses, and larger firms have suppliers, customers  and outsourced IT guys that would find this helpful, I thought it appropriate to share it with you too.

You’ll need a headset & microphone from your laptop, and a webcam if you want video.  This solution works great with Outlook and Xobni too.  Try it out for your next one-on-one instant web conference and you won’t be sorry.  I’d like to encourage you to share your experiences and add your comments to this blog entry after trying it out.