Web conferencing for the small biz

For the past few weeks I've been working with Network World on its big DEMO conference preview. This has meant cramming almost a dozen conference calls with start-ups into seven business days.

Each company is eager to share with me their company vision and a brief demonstration of their product. They initially want to meet in person, but with my limited timeframe I've been only able to accept phone interviews.

But trying to grasp what a company does and how their product works and what makes it different in a 20-minute interview can be tough. This year, however, most of the companies have taken to complementing the phone call with Web conference show-and-tells.

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For the past few weeks I've been working with Network World on its big DEMO conference preview. This has meant cramming almost a dozen conference calls with start-ups into seven business days.

Each company is eager to share with me their company vision and a brief demonstration of their product. They initially want to meet in person, but with my limited timeframe I've been only able to accept phone interviews.

But trying to grasp what a company does and how their product works and what makes it different in a 20-minute interview can be tough. This year, however, most of the companies have taken to complementing the phone call with Web conference show-and-tells.

In the process, I've had the chance to sample some of the top Web conferencing tools, including WebEx, Microsoft's LiveMeeting, Citrix GoToMeeting and more. Each one had its pros and cons but overall, they all afforded a much better experience than just a plain-old phone call.

The best tools, like LiveMeeting, allowed me to run the meeting from a Web console, rather than downloading a piece of software to my computer. Some required software and it was hard to backtrack and delete the programs after our session was through. I like to know what applications I'm loading onto my computer and the pressure to download new tools was offputting.

Another nice feature of several of the programs was, rather than just flipping through a PowerPoint in tandem, the moderator could use his desktop as an interactive tool. For instance, one company wanted to show me how their service worked so he took me step-by-step through the product's wizard. If I needed him to clarify a step, he could go back and redo it. It was the next best thing to meeting with him in person to discuss the product.

The biggest problem I had with all the tools was typing notes and watching the presentation simultaneously. The toggling between programs was distracting. But a colleague offered a suggestion: Use NotePad to take notes so the window stays open.

As a small business owner, I hope to start facilitating meetings using these tools. Companies like Convoq cater to businesses that don't need an on-site conferencing system. Also, WebEx offers a per-meeting plan that lets you pay as you go. GoToMeeting offers a single organizer version of its product vs. its GoToMeeting Corporate offering.

Many have plug-ins that work with your calendar and e-mail systems so you can schedule and invite people to meetings.

Eventually, I want to take advantage of combined VoIP and Web conferencing so I'm not tying up my phone line during the call.

The trick is to try a few out and see what works best for you.

Read more about voice over ip in Network World's Voice over IP section.