How to Choose a Web Conferencing Service
One of the main reasons that companies postpone implementation of Web conferencing services within their business is the undeniably bewildering question of where to start. With the plethora of widely varied, and even more confusing, extremely similar, web-conferencing services, how exactly should one go about selecting a service that is best for their specific needs?
There are a number of ways to proceed, but the undeniable first step is a clear assessment of the various business needs you are considering purchasing Web conferencing to fulfill.
You might also want to consider the option of hiring a of the Web conferencing consultant company to do the work for you. These are entire companies whose function is solely to analyze your lists of wants, compare it to an immense variety of Web conferencing vendors, and recommend the best fit. These companies usually offer the following services:
- Work with your organization to solidify your list of web conferencing needs
- Provide you with an overview of the purchasing process
- Make available to you various buyer’s guides and purchasing tips
- Supply basic profiles of specific providers and their customer satisfaction ratings
Continue service after provider selection to ensure that you are happy with your final purchase and act as a mediator for any potential conflicts.
Another option would be purchasing the services in a type of bundle package from the various corporations that resell web-conferencing services. However, if neither of these options are right for you, or financially feasible, you are going to have to navigate the various offerings by yourself.
When comparison shopping, it can be most helpful to set up the specific parameters you are working with in five different categories, and research vendors based on their capabilities, and pricing, in those areas.
- Number of people that you would like to have participating in each session
- Number of sessions you will be holding a month
- Desired flexibility of the platform you would like to incorporate
- Part of selecting the type of platform you want to be able to launch from is determining how user-friendly you want the service to be.
- The common sense approach is usually that less is more.
- Make sure that your software or license does not come with a voluminous 700 page direction manual, and you are not relying simply on brochures or demos to make your decision. Good questions to ask include:
- Are free trials available?
- How is the service installed and used?
- Can presentations be uploaded in real time? (some vendors require that programs and/or presentations first be sent via e-mail to the vendor for uploading onto a server)
- Can all users upload programs or only specific administrators?
- What applications can the service be launched from?
- How many features you want present and what are those features?
- Don’t just assume that all services are equal.
- Make sure that you can get the features you desire.
- Read up on what several of the major companies offer to make sure you have a good grasp on what is possible with a Web conferencing tool so you can compile a realistic shopping list.
- Be aware that some Web conferencing services only support presentations that are already uploaded online, while others offer comprehensive feature packages that read like a dream list: polling, application sharing, archiving, white-boarding, remote pc control, web-surfing in groups, teleconferencing, and specific private chat options.
- Price
- Prices of Web conferencing providers vary greatly, but they are usually directly correlated to the number of sessions and number of participants you request.
- There are two main pricing models commonly used by various vendors.
- The first is a flat monthly or yearly rate based on a soft-ware user license. Once purchased, it doesn’t matter how much you use the service in any given month/year time period.
- The second way providers assess price is a per-minute rate for use of the conferencing services. This is frequently preferred by those just trying out the services for the first time.
- Deciding ahead of time which pricing model you want can narrow down the options rapidly.
The next step from there is to simply look at what all the companies have to offer. Input it into a Microsoft Word table or an Excel matrix if it helps for easier comparison.
On a final note, make sure you have considered security needs. If security is an issue for you or your company, that could be the deciding factor on whether or not you use the a Web conferencing service as software installed internally or hosted from an outside source.
Most Web conferencing products are reasonably secure, using the internet to communicate presentations stored on the presenter’s personal hard drive, and utilize a basic encryption. However, don’t take anything for granted. Also, make sure meetings can be locked and unlocked (so not just anyone has access) and there is a password authorization required to initiate use of the product.
Finally, make sure you consider all the vendors. Once that is done, however, if you find a few vendors with equivalent pricing, features, services etc. that fit your needs, it is often best to go with the better-known provider.
Name recognition is not all snobbery, the more established Web conferencing providers tend to have better customer support, and greater overall reliability. In addition to the information contained in this article, there are also multiple books, webcasts and podcasts etc. to help you navigate the difficulties of selecting a Web conferencing provider that is right for you.