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Web conference solutions for large companies

There is now a range of online conference solutions available for large companies. You can find a selection of solutions that we have found during our research here; we have tested some of these. As none of them have been designed for small companies or freelancers or do not meet the other selection criteria, we have not included them in the comparison test.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional is a scalable solution, offering a large number of online personal meeting rooms and Web conferencing for up to 1,500 participants. This version was designed primarily for large enterprises. We have, however, included Adobe Acrobat Connect (i.e. without 'Professional') in our comparison. This is suitable for small and medium-sized companies - and is also more affordable.

Overall score	8.2 out of 10
Number and scope of features		Solution offers a wide range of features. Users can create custom pods (consoles) and enhance functions with Collaboration Builder SDK.
User friendliness		The availability of multiple options increases complexity and training effort.
Meeting setup effort		Meetings can be easily scheduled in your local email client after installing the Outlook plugin.
Software installation effort		1. Register account 2. Install Meeting add-ins to enable desktop sharing and to upload presentations 3. Install add-in for Outlook for one-click meetings (from Outlook)
Pricing/ cost transparency		Choice of pricing models: Starter Pack 1: 5 concurrent users = US$ 375 per month Starter Pack 2: 10 concurrent users = US$ 750 per month Pay-Per-Use Plan: US$ 0.32 per minute and participant Further licensing models for volume purchases
Security		Custom security levels, defined by the meeting organizer; DCTS JITC-certified solution
System requirements		Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional can be deployed across multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Solaris, and Linux)

Assessment scale: (= very good); (= good); (= satisfactory); (= poor); (= very poor)
Prices: valid in June 2008
Review updated: June 2008

RHUB Turbo Meeting

The RHUB TurboMeeting hardware product is installed within an in-house network. TurboMeeting exists in various versions; in the smallest version two web conferences can take place in parallel with a total of 10 participants.

An advantage of the solution is that it supports the most varied of target platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris/Unix, iPhone). The disadvantage of this solution is that neither VoIP nor a telephone conferencing service is integrated.

RHUB TurboMeeting was not included in the test comparison as the solution did not meet our selection criteria and a comprehensive test could not be implemented due to the substantial cost of installation.

WebEx Meeting Center

WebEx Meeting Center enables concurrent users to hold multiple interactive meetings - with more than 10 participants each. The solution has a wider range of functions than WebEx MeetMeNow. However, we chose to include WebEx MeetMeNow in our comparison, as it is the more affordable version.

Overall score	8.6 out of 10
Number and scope of features		A large number of functions and features
User friendliness		High complexity due to rich functionality and large number of options with limited added value
Meeting setup effort		One-click function enables unscheduled meetings to be set up at short notice. When planning a meeting, there are 10 different steps - far too complicated.
Software installation effort		1. Register account 2. Install WebEx Meeting Manager 3. Install plugin for one-click meetings 4. Install plugin for Outlook
Pricing/ cost transparency		Monthly package starting from 5 licenses (named hosts) US$ 75 per license and month = US$ 375 per month; minimum term is 12 months Pay-per-use US$ 0.33 per minute and participant
Security
System requirements		Can be deployed across multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Solaris and Linux)

Assessment scale: (= very good); (= good); (= satisfactory); (= poor); (= very poor)
Prices: valid in June 2008
Review updated: June 2008

We have viewed the following enterprise solutions - but not submitted them to our complete test run:
- Centra Live for eMeetings
- Cisco Unified MeetingPlace
- iLinc MeetingLinc
- Genesys Meeting Center
- Interwise Connect
- PGi Netspoke

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