Desktop video conferencing for remote presentations and file collaboration.
Beam Your Screen is a perfect option if you need to show a remote audience what’s happening on your screen. It’s fairly limited in scope, but is just right for some situations. And because it’s browser-based, your audience doesn’t need to download a client in order to see what you’re doing. The main benefits of Beam Your Screen are as follows: Who’s it for? Beam Your Screen sits in your taskbar and will give you notifications as and when people join your conference. Beam Your Screen gives a lot of options, and an easy way to invite participants. Clicking on ‘Email Session Information’ automatically formats an email that includes all relevant information for anyone wishing to log into your conference. They simply open the link in their browser to see your screen. Choose whether you want to share your whole screen or a single application. Also vary the quality according to your connection speed. You can also record a Beam Your Screen session pretty easily. It won’t upload to a server but you can save it to your hard drive.
0
Dimdim’s a lightweight, flash-based collaborative solution that’s available for anyone with a web browser. It’s relatively low-cost and is aimed at small businesses, charities and freelancers. The main advantages are as follows: Wizard-style intro means you can easily start collaborating by sharing your screen, opening a whiteboard or giving a presentation Start your meeting by setting up the name, and choose scheduling options. Lots of options here, especially considering this is web-based. Web meeting in a web browser; video box can be moved around and here we’re using a whiteboard. You’ll also notice there’s a US phone number you can call if you want to use phone instead of built-in microphone. Here we’re sharing a PDF document and annotating with the annotation features. Again, this is all inside the web browser so no client was required for the person I invited to the conference. There’s also the option to record your meeting.
Click to enlarge When you set up a meeting or event and email an invitation, the URL for your meeting access page is supplied to attendees. They can use this page to access your meeting instantly. Click to enlarge During the meeting, easily view a list of attendees and if you’re the organiser, give permission to any speaker you want to have the floor. Before the meeting begins, you can decide who has permission to do what. Click to enlarge Show a Powerpoint presentation easily within the meeting console: no need to launch Powerpoint separately. Also use the Video/Voice panel to add personality to your presentation. Click to enlarge Upload a handout before the meeting begins to provide your participants with secondary reading material. The handout remains in the room you’ve created, so it’ll be there next time you log in. Click to enlarge Let your participants provide feedback during the meeting without interrupting you. Click to enlarge Question & Answer function lets participants ask questions during the meeting. These are saved in the Q&A panel and can be answered publicly or privately. The organiser can also give the floor to anyone who’s submitted a question, facilitating public discussion on the subject. Click to enlarge Use shared program mode to share a program with your colleagues. You still have access to features such as Q&A from the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click to enlarge Let your participants make notes and draw on the whiteboard. Assign each person a different colour, and retain the right to remove all annotations at once with a single click. Excellent for ‘brainstorming’.
