Sat 7 Jun 2008
Multi User Video Conferencing Options
Posted by Andrew Mitry under Streaming, VoIP/Telecom
With high speed Internet connections and relatively cheap webcams, multi user video conferencing is now a reality for almost any group or organization. Several companies have hopped on to this bandwagon offering free or low cost software solutions that allow you to host online meetings or classes with ease. We recently did a quick evaluation on the following three options (thanks to #citrt for helping out with the initial eval):
- MeBeam Video Chat - Simple, Flash based site that supports up to 16 users. No software to install.
- ooVoo - Up to 3 simultaneous users for free, 6 with the $10/month super option. Capability to record conference in Flash. Runs on Windows or Mac.
- SightSpeed - Up to 4 users for $9.95/month on a personal account or $20/seat/month on a business account. Video call recording supported on business account.
Our initial testing showed ooVoo with the best video quality and interface (no hard data, just our opinion), plus video recording and six users for $10/month it is a pretty sweet deal. We put ooVoo into production a week ago and began using it for a clergy seminar. Results came back overwhelmingly positive from all those who attended. The only issue is that 6 simultaneous users may not be enough, so we’ll have to make the jump to MeBeam or just go one way (for the larger meetings) with Ustream.TV.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Does oovoo require just one subscriber to pay and the others are using the free service?
June 11th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Hello Jason, good question. I tried to find an answer to that earlier in on the ooVoo site with no success. Right now, ooVoo gives everyone a free one month trial to the subscription service so I can’t tell if it will run on just one account with the “super” option. My account is approaching the end of the trial so I’ll do some testing and keep you posted.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Jason, got a response on your question from ooVoo support:
To have a six-way video call only one user needs to have a SUPER account; the rest of the users only need a STANDARD account option. All users will be able to see and hear each other.
June 19th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Hi! Is oovoo really make the computer slow? Because my pc gets hang everytime I open oovoo.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
We haven’t had any problems with ooVoo at all.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I am trying to find a multi-user web conference system for my company. Of the 3 you suggested, not one of them has a phone number for me to call and speak with a sales representative. I am not tech saavy enough to undestand the technology, do you know of anyone who will actually provide a phone number before I spend several thousand dollars?
July 30th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Dean, I would email them and ask them to give you a call. SightSpeed seems the most business oriented of the the three and I am sure they will contact you quickly.