Why go with a hosted service?

Businesses can purchase Web conferencing in three different options: They can deploy it as an in-house application on the corporate network; a dedicated server can be set up and configured for a corporation on a hosting service's server; or the company can purchase seats or accounts on a third-party hosted application server shared with numerous other account holders. For companies with a high Web conferencing usage, especially among employees of the same company, purchasing and operating a server internally is frequently the most cost-effective scenario. Controlling secure access to the server behind a firewall for users on the public Internet can be challenging to set up and manage.

The fully hosted "open" yet secure services tested for this story offload all management and maintenance for a fixed monthly cost and are optimal when participants are widely distributed, all connected by way of the Internet and don't share a common IT infrastructure. Small and midsize businesses find this purchasing option most attractive. We also believe that application service providers can add features incrementally to their customers more quickly than they release them for their customer premises equipment customers. As the Web conferencing service providers reach a common baseline platform, including VoIP and support for video, and they begin to pay off their infrastructure investments, they increasingly will compete for customer business on the basis of price, making this option more financially attractive for any size customer.

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Businesses can purchase Web conferencing in three different options: They can deploy it as an in-house application on the corporate network; a dedicated server can be set up and configured for a corporation on a hosting service's server; or the company can purchase seats or accounts on a third-party hosted application server shared with numerous other account holders. For companies with a high Web conferencing usage, especially among employees of the same company, purchasing and operating a server internally is frequently the most cost-effective scenario. Controlling secure access to the server behind a firewall for users on the public Internet can be challenging to set up and manage.

The fully hosted "open" yet secure services tested for this story offload all management and maintenance for a fixed monthly cost and are optimal when participants are widely distributed, all connected by way of the Internet and don't share a common IT infrastructure. Small and midsize businesses find this purchasing option most attractive. We also believe that application service providers can add features incrementally to their customers more quickly than they release them for their customer premises equipment customers. As the Web conferencing service providers reach a common baseline platform, including VoIP and support for video, and they begin to pay off their infrastructure investments, they increasingly will compete for customer business on the basis of price, making this option more financially attractive for any size customer.

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