Elluminate unveils Live! version 5

Elluminate is hoping to remove the telephone from the Web conferencing equation with the release of Elluminate Live version 5, a Java-based product with voice-over-IP capabilities that is said to work over connections as low as 28.8K bit/sec.

You can read my news story via the link above. I got to use the product during a conference call last week when we used the product almost exclusively for our meeting. I say almost because I did have some issues getting the Java application to work with my browser. Turns out if your browser cache is overflowing, the applet sometimes gets cranky and won’t start. Once the garbage was removed it was clear sailing. The voice quality was excellent and the application sharing, whiteboard and other Web conference features worked superbly. Even when my host’s (Elluminate’s Rajeev Arora) cable connection dropped a few times, the system did an excellent job of buffering what he said and quickly caught us up (with a little Chipmunk effect thrown in.) The only drawback to me was the fact you have to push a button to talk and remember to push it again when done (soft of like a walkie-talkie.) Though this feature is practical in conference with more than two or three people. It’s one of those have-to-get-used-to-it features.

If you’re looking for Web conferencing system (either premise-based or ASP) that doesn’t require a potentially costly phone call, Elluminate is worth checking out. They’ve also got a promotion going on to lure customers away from the competition: Use their system for free while your contract with the competitor runs out, provided you sign a one-year deal with Elluminate.