Pocket Meeting: A $5 WebEx Killer?
Sharing your screen with someone while chatting on the phone is one of those things that's much harder than it ought to be. We've tried a lot of different tools and none of them makes us very happy. The newest entrant into this field is Pocket Meeting and it's got some promise.
For a one-time fee of $5, you can get a URL that allows anyone to view your desktop in their browser with a Java Applet, something most people have, so no download should be required. That URL will work for 24 hours. The smoothness of the transmission was excellent in our testing, something that bigger bulkier solutions can rarely deliver on. WebEx, for example, is a huge business - but the user experience is not a lot of fun.
Pocket Meeting is very lightweight but it does what it claims to do and it does it quickly. It's also easy to switch screens and turn viewers into presenters. That's really nice. We had about 20 people viewing a screen at one time and it worked well, though the company says the technology is best for serving up to 10 people. You can choose to follow the presenter's cursor or navigate around on your own.
There's no chat or voice, and navigation between screens could be clearer. Viewing meetings over a Blackberry Bold is a beta option, though without voice or chat we're not sure how useful that will be. We'd also really like to see a PayPal option enabled for payment instead of credit card. The service is a product of a Texas design firm called Warb, which isn't a firm we're familiar with.
We've been using Yuuguu for screensharing with small groups, DimDim for larger groups. Neither of those is as lightweight and smooth as Pocket Meeting, but they are much more full-featured. In most cases, we'd choose smooth over features.
This product has some more development it needs to go through, but there's promise here and we'd love a quick, smooth solution to this nagging, unfilled need.
If you want to share your screen with someone while talking to them on the phone, this could be a quick, pleasing way to do it.
Share
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
That's all fine, but can't you do this for free via services like Ustreamtv?
Resolution might not be that good but it's free tho.
Or as I use few linux programs to just capture my screen as HD works fine.
But then again pocket meeting looks more or actually less technical for other people that is guests.
Nice review... bit missing of details how client/server connects. You mentioned no install?
SharedView is free...
Posted by: petar vucetin
|
April 13, 2009 12:00 PM
I'm fond of Glance.net.
Posted by: Roebot
|
April 13, 2009 12:01 PM
Personally, I'm fond of Glance.net.
vyew.com is also free but works on all platforms. It has lots of other features like webcam integration and whiteboarding.
Posted by: Ken McNamee
|
April 13, 2009 12:02 PM
I just started using Adobe ConnectNow for free
Posted by: Jim Huller
|
April 13, 2009 12:07 PM
Are you sure it's a java applet you're talking about? That looks like a Flex (Flash) app .
Thanks for the Dimdim mention Marshall.
We pride ourselves on ease of use. Simply start a Dimdim meeting and tell your friend to go to http://dimdim.com/join and enter your Dimdim ID. That's it; they are instantly viewing your screen with no plug-in (other than Flash) or registration needed. Oh yeah, and 19 more of your friends can see your screen at the same time - all for free (along with VoIP, chat, recording, etc). More powerful plans start at just $9.99 per month.
Not a killer, but a viable alternative for a small business that does not want the monthly overhead. A large business would not want to incur the costs for multiple users (sales people) ticking up $5 a day costs each month. $5 * 20 users/day = about $2000 per month (based on 20 workdays in a month). Not as cheap as it sounds.
Posted by: Matt Danger
|
April 13, 2009 1:13 PM
Matt, you're totally right. Could be good for small biz though
Posted by: Marshall Kirkpatrick
|
April 13, 2009 1:14 PM
Have you tried https://acrobat.com/#/connectnow/ConnectNowBegin? It's one of the best online sharing tool - and it's free.
This looks like it has quite a bit of potential
Posted by: Manuel Arroyo
|
April 13, 2009 1:58 PM
glance.net has rocked. at $5/day that means that if you need to use this for more than 10 days per month, then you're better off w/glance. having played w/almost all of the paid and free services glance is the only one that claims simplicity and lives up to it.
Pocket Meeting is not that impressive.
Like the commenter above, my vote is in for Microsoft SharedView. It's free and viewers can request for control as well. There is a small download and you will need a Windows Live ID (which 300 million or so other have as well). Beats paying $5/24 hours.
Have you tried showmypc.com it is completely free. We have been working with it since 2007. There is no additional plugins needed and no registration.
Interesting. My company uses Genesys Meeting Center. No monthly fees/seat licenses. 24/7 access. Blended audio/web rate per person per minute charge. Integrated audio and web. (I can see who's talking on my calls and can mute individual phone lines.) Webcam & Voip included. Best part is no download for the participants.
Posted by: Miranda
|
April 13, 2009 10:09 PM
how about mikogo (www.mikogo.com)?
teamviewer.com .. free and cross platform
Looks interesting but without voice or chat (and video chat) function it will not win the market. Adobe ConnectNow looks like a great option, cheers for that, I may use it at some point.