End of an era

Goodbye, NetMeeting. Microsoft is retiring the pioneering conferencing application in favor of its MSN Messenger and Office Live Meeting products and services. The directory service for NetMeeting is already down, meaning users must enter an IP address to reach someone using the application. Soon, NetMeeting, which debuted in May 1996, will be completely removed from the site.

For those that thought NetMeeting was already long dead and no longer used, think again. At last month’s Wainhouse Research Conferencing Service Provider Summit, British Petroleum’s Karen Smolinski provided an overview of her company’s conferencing technology and usage. What tool does the 117,000-employee BP use for internal collaboration? You guessed it, NetMeeting.

IM technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that it was only a matter of time before NetMeeting’s number came up. Do you still use NetMeeting? If so, will you move to another option? E-mail me.