We are researching options and costs to replace our Webex web
conferencing solution.  Our company has approx. 3,000 employees, but
usage varies as follows:

* up to 100 employees will use web conferencing more than 12 times / year
* up to 250 employees will use web conferencing 6 to 2 times / year
* up to 500 employees will use it no more than once / year
* attendance per session will vary from a maximum of 50+ employees
(rare), medium of 20 employees (sometime), and minimum of <10
employees (typical)

Our needs are limited to:

For Web Conferencing:
* desktop sharing (primarily MS Office products such as PowerPoint,
Excel, and MS Project)
* occasional software demos for training or proof of concept purposes
* phone conferencing with North American 1-800 number, or local number
accessible anywhere

For Phone Conferencing:
* Ability to support 1-800 and local access numbers
* Password and separate chair person access code
* Support for 5-6 callers (typical), 10-20 callers (often), and 20+
callers (occasional)


We have had good experience with Citrix Go2Meeting in terms of
features and ease of use, but are keen on ensuring that costs are
competitive, and will trade features in favour of cost.

Ideally the pricing model will include a base cost for most features,
and scale upward as needed with detailed billing to identify usage.

We would like at least Webex and Go2Meeting to be included in the
analysis as a means of comparison on features and costs.

We are looking for research on popular solutions for these services,
with special emphasis on understanding the pricing model being offered
for both web conferencing and phone conferencing.

Our headoffice is located in Toronto, Canada, therefore services
should be available here.  Our Wan uses firewalls, so services must be
accessible over the web using MS Explorer within and outside of our
firewalls.

Thank you for your assistance.

Hello mlaudisa,

Thank you for your question.

I've only included web/videoconferencing solutions available that are
(or might be, depending on how you will use them) less expensive than
Citrix Go2Meeting. I've provided links to reviews and overviews of all
these companies' software and outlined the features and cons, if there
are notable ones.  There are solutions available that are more
expensive than Citrix-- namely, Windows Live Meeting and Macromedia
Breeze. These products are rated by independent sources such as PC
Magazine as not being as effective as the Citrix software anyway and
are more expensive, so I have not included them in my analysis.

I recommend Interwise as your best choice; it costs a flat fee per
user and then allows unlimited use of audio and video conferencing.
You can have audio conferencing without video and the service is more
flexible than others, allowing you to have as many people in a meeting
as your company wishes (most others limit it to 10 or so). You can
integrate it with either traditional telephone lines or VOIP. If it is
too expensive to pay a flat fee for every employee who needs to use it
during the year, you could use it for the core employees who
conference all the time and use another system for the employees who
only do it once in a great while, such as Genesys which I recommend
below, which charges not on a subscription basis but per minute usage.
 Whether it is worth deploying two different systems depends on your
needs-- is cost a huge issue or convenience? If you have certain
employees who are conferencing constantly, it is obviously in your
best interest to pay a fee for  unlimited usage for them. There are
some other options that I have also provided specs for below.

However, that may not be an issue. I may be mistaken but I believe
that if the licenses you have never exceeds the number of
participants, you will not be charged extra. For example, if you buy
200 licenses, you could have all 500 employees using the system at
different times, as long as more than 200 are not using it
concurrently. You wouldn't have to pay for 500 users, just 200. I get
that impression from this webpage:

ConferZone
http://www.conferzone.com/resource/Interwise_0904.html

'Unlimited usage ? there are no concurrency limits and no limits to
minutes or seats. Also, there is no additional charge for people
joining from outside of the company. For example, one can own 200
concurrent internal licenses but if a connection to 200 external
attendees is needed, there is no additional charge for them.Interwise
also allows on-site customers to seamlessly use its hosted service to
handle conferencing "overflows."'

I have contacted Interwise to ensure that they offer service in
Canada. If they do not, the other choices here should also meet your
needs.  From this press release it does seem that they are focusing on
marketing in Canada:

Interwise Press Release
http://www.interwise.com/press_detail.asp?pressid=131

On a secondary basis, depending on how much conferencing you use,
Genesys could be a good solution. They do not have subscription fees
but instead charge per minute, so you're only charged for what you
use. This way, you're also not locked into a certain system.

----------

Interwise ECP Edition
http://www.interwise.com/

Pricing:
flat $100 per user for unlimited use and no extra fees

Features:
fixed price with unlimited usage
reservationless meetings
unlimited number of meetings with unlimited number of people
share documents
integrated VOIP/audio
recording
low bandwidth usage so your other applications can run in the background
passwords and passcodes for meetings
Lotus Notes integration
SAP integration
SSL/HTTPS
works like email from the desktop
can have voice-only conferencing

Features:
http://www.interwise.com/Features.html

EWeek Reviews:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2004898,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2004906,00.asp

"Interwise ECP Connect has all the bells and whistles that competing
Web conferencing services offer, but the capabilities aren't available
for every Web conference. However, Interwise's ability to integrate
voice over Internet with telephony-based voice conferencing gives
companies an easy way to cut conferencing costs."

Case Study:
Integraph
http://searchvoip.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid66_gci1189111,00.html
Softtek:
http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/ip-conferencing-and-collaboration/articles/2513-softtek-chooses-interwise-connect-voice-web-conferencing.htm

Network World Review:
http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/2005/050205-test-web-conferencing.html

----------

Genesys Meeting Center

Price:
Pay as you go, per minute
No contracts or monthly/yearly licenses required
same rate includes audio and video
32 cents per minute, with volume discounts available

Features:
present documents
record for later playback
audio and web integration
start meetings quickly without advance invitations
Outlook integration
no need to download software to attend a meeting
24/7 global support service
MSN Messenger integration
can require use of passwords to access the meeting
can dial into the meeting with a phone if you don't have web access
phone/web conference integration is excellent
whiteboarding
single menu 
meeting passwords and security codes

Cons:
Meetings must have less than 100 participants
not as good an interface as competitors'

Genesys Features:
http://www.genesys.com/asp/svc_gmc.asp?country=4&language=1
http://www.genesys.com/asp/svc_gmc_fet.asp?country=4&language=1

Phone Access:
http://www.genesys.com/asp/svc_gmc_aud.asp?country=4&language=1

Pricing:
http://www.genesys.com/asp/svc_gmc_price.asp?country=4&language=1

Testimonials:
http://www.genesys.com/asp/svc_ss_main.asp?country=4&language=1

Eweek Review:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1723647,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1724583,00.asp

PC Mag Review:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1745799,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1745801,00.asp

"Interface not as elegant or Windows-like as that of Webex Meeting
Center Service, Raindance Meeting Edition, and Microsoft LiveMeeting."

"The interface is still not as polished as that of WebEx or Raindance
Meeting Edition, but it's very usable and feature-rich."

"As in the past, Genesys stands out with its excellent PSTN/Web
conferencing integration. Once a user enters an access code, the
moderator can see who is connected by Web and phone. If the user
forgets to input a code that links voice to the Web, the moderator can
link him or her in manually."

----------

Raindance Meeting Edition
http://www.raindance.com/rndc/services/rfmOverview.jsp

Price:
Price:
flat $125 per month for five users, audio charges at .30 per minute
unlimited-user license costs .38 per minute, with audio conferencing
charged at a per-minute rate
also named-user five and 10 person packages available for a set fee of
$249 and $399 per month, respectively, with a lower per-minute fee of
.20 and .18 per minute for audio

Features:
whiteboarding
no advance notice required for meetings, such as WebEx
Integration with Outlook
web and audio conferencing in one software package
integrated video
audio conferencing
document sharing/viewing
application sharing
instant messages to group or individual
encryption enabled
security passcodes
record and playback

List of Features:
http://www.raindance.com/rndc/services/rfmFeatures.jsp

Cons:
will require training to learn to use the program

AvenueA Razorfish
Case Study
http://www.raindance.com/rndc/services/rfmCaseStudySBI.jsp

Comparisons to WebEx--

'Solutions from conferencing provider WebEx alleviated a number of
challenges posed by e-mail, but the platform's rigid structure made it
challenging and cumbersome to call meetings without first setting up a
reservation. It could be done, but the extra steps often prevented the
staff from really taking advantage of it. "WebEx's solution is less
than ideal for a number of reasons, but mostly because the
collaboration and application-sharing features are far less flexible
and easy to use versus Raindance Meeting Edition. When my team gets
started on something and an issue comes up that we want other people
to weigh in on, we want to be able to address that immediately."'

Further case studies:
http://www.raindance.com/rndc/services/rfmCaseStudy.jsp

PC Magazine review of Raindance:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1596056,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1596059,00.asp

"Raindance Meeting Edition is the best of the products we've tested
for small, impromptu meetings (even better than WebEx, in fact). The
interface has been completely revamped, with a much more Windows-like
feel and intuitive drop-down menus and task panes. Web/PSTN
conferencing integration is top-notch."

"It's easy to fire up instant meetings of equals. You simply send an
e-mail invitation containing the meeting link and a conference ID.
When the participant clicks on the link, the software is downloaded,
the connection made, and a dialog box asks for the person's phone
number, which is then dialed by the Raindance bridge. No need for
everyone to call an audio-conference number."

"Overall, we still prefer the power of WebEx for a company's overall
conferencing needs. But if users in your organization lean more toward
small, impromptu meetings, Raindance is worth a close look."

Here's PC Magazine's 2005 review of the software:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1853965,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1858476,00.asp

"In all, Raindance is the service for you if ease of use and video
conferencing are high on your list of requirements. You don't get the
ability to activate conferences from Office or to use VoIP, but you
may not care."

EWeek Reviews:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1724659,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1724660,00.asp

-----------

Netspoke Conferencing Hub
http://www.netspoke.com/

Price:
2 cents per minute or $125 per seat per month

Features:
integrated audio and web features
ability to upload files and data for presentation
can arrange meetings quickly without advance invitations
chat 
audio conferencing

EWeek Review--
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1724636,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1724637,00.asp

----------

Citrix Go2Meeting
https://www.gotomeeting.com/

Price:
$49 per user per month (or $468 per year for 10 attendees), long
distance phone charges extra

Features: (of Go2Meeting Corporate)
integration with Outlook, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger
128 bit encryption
each participant can display screen to group

Go2Meeting features
easy to use
launching meeting is simple
Outlook and Messenger integration
document presentation
chat with participants
easy on bandwidth usage

Cons:
no videoconferencing
no whiteboarding
number of attendees for any meeting is limited to 10

Case Studies:
https://www.gotomeeting.com/en_US/pre/caseStudies.tmpl

PC Mag review of Go2Meeting Corporate
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1771193,00.asp
Go2Meeting review
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1731425,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1740822,00.asp

-------

WebEx
http://www.webex.com/

Features:
videoconferencing
whiteboarding
excellent audio conferencing integration with VOIP or traditional telephony
multiple panels on screen (patented process)
Outlook integration
Microsoft Office integration
AIM integration

Cons:
VOIP users can't audioconference with POTS (plain old telephone system) users
can't post recordings to website for later storage and viewing

PC Mag Reviews:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1787545,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1787547,00.asp

----------

Other conferencing options are:

Microsoft LiveMeeting
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010909711033.aspx

Sonexis Conference Manager
http://www.sonexis.com/products/index.asp

Macromedia Breeze
http://www.adobe.com/

I have not included these because they are more expensive than
Go2Meeting and other solutions offered.

Search terms:
webex go2meeting
raindance meeting edition
web conferencing interwise
interwise review
interwise price
interwise canada

If you need any additional clarification before rating, or if anything
is unclear, let me know and I'll be happy to assist you.

--keystroke-ga