In this and in several upcoming posts we will take a closer look at these web conferencing providers. We’ll start with Citrix GoToMeeting. This service gives you access and allows interact with information and attendees in real time.

Survey of Online Meeting Tools says about Citrix GoToMeeting: ‘User-friendly solution with all key functions and transparent costs. Latest version enables Mac users to participate in – though not to organize - meetings.’

So what is good about GoToMeeting?

1. User-friendliness. GoToMeeting is an easy-to-use application. It offers a number of functions (see below) that make meeting arrangement and meeting conducting easy. It offers:

• a meeting calendar,
• Meet Now button,
• it also provides free access of the attendees to your meeting, which means that they do not have to be GoToMeeting members.

2. Large amount of attendees. It allows you to hold unlimited meetings for an unlimited duration with up to 10 attendees per meeting, which means that you can have as many online meetings as you want at no additional cost. Besides, if you want to expand the number of attendees up to 1,000 computers, you can try GoToWebinar.

3. High level of security. GoToMeeting ensures that your confidential meeting information remains private. It offers industry-standard security features, which include:

• a meeting ID for all attendees,
• a meeting ID plus a password for your attendees,
• the Inactivity Time-Out, which automatically stops screen sharing after a specified period of inactivity
• you can share just the application you choose, instead of your entire desktop

Features.

GoToMeeting has a wide range of features, though some useful ones are missing, e.g. that would be great if it allowed to expel attendees after the meeting started and included surveys and participants reporting. But on the whole, GoToMeet offers a full range of features necessary for web conferencing and even more. It allows you to

• Organize an instant meeting with a Meet Now button
• Use a Meeting calendar
• Organize an upcoming meeting
• Invite participants after meeting has started
• Transfer mouse and keyboard control
• Access to desktop and selected applicaions
• Clean screen (wallpapers, panels, etc.)
• Chat
• Instant messaging
• Audio conferencing
• Annotation and drawing tools
• Meeting recording

How much will it cost you?

It will have cost you nothing for the first 30 days, if you sign up for a free trial account which allows you to hold meeting with up to 10 attendees each. If you are satisfied with the service you can subscribe to GoToMeeting either on monthly or annual basis (the latter allows you to save 20%).

Manual basis - $49 per month, which will be $588 per year

Annual - $468 per year, which will mean $39 per month.

For more information visit GoToMeeting official website.

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The PC-to-phone rates are very cheap starting from 1 cent per minute with the maximum rate being that to Diego Garcia (sounds like a name of a person) - $0.95. The minimum price is lower than Skype used to offer ($0.02) and the list of destinations is impressive. You can see the rates here.

So what do you need to get is a PC, a broadband connection, a headset and download Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Before starting using it, you have to buy a prepaid credit (either $10 or $25), which is easy to do online.

So after you have done all that, you are good to go.

Step 1. From the main window, click the gray touch pad icon to bring up your touch tone dial pad and enter the phone number.

Step 2. In the text box next to the dial pad icon, just type in the number.

Step 3. Remember to include the area code when dialing the number.

Step 4. When you are done with talking, you just press the button “End Call.”

You can get a phone-in number for your PC, so that people can call your PC just like it is a regular phone. For it you go to Phone In, select your country and area code and you got it.

Remember to give the number to your friends and relatives and happy call conference.

Internet telephony, VoIP, Yahoo! Messenger, VoIP software, VoIP providers, Voice over Internet Protocol

Technorati Tags: Internet telephony, VoIP, Yahoo! Messenger, VoIP software, VoIP providers, Voice over Internet Protocol

However, it is not the machines that are going to convert the meaning and words from one language into the other. Skype has invited human translators and interpreters to contribute to intercultural communication, which VoIP naturally make possible.

“The interpreter service is being offered in conjunction with Voxeo, a company that provides the background technology hand-off to the interpreters, and Language Line Services, the company that is responsible for providing the actual interpreters,” www.newsfactor.com informs.

When conversing via a Skype application, the users can now request a live interpreter, which will cost them $2.99 per minute.

The service offers translators and interpreters of 150 languages. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On average, it takes about 45 seconds to get switched to it. One needs to have a SkypeOut account to run the service and the billing can go to this account.

The translation service can be useful for face-to-face large-group conferences and meetings. International businessmen sitting at one table and striking a deal have two options of using the Skype interpreters. First they can get connected to the service through the handset and then pass it to each other. The second scenario is that they have to acquire the newly announced Skype-compatible speakerphone.

Probably the service is not going to be the most popular solution, but it can sometimes be resorted to save a deal.

Skype, VoIP, translation service

Technorati Tags: Skype, VoIP, translation service

Still before calling anyone make sure you have the right people’s cell phone numbers.

Are the calls really free? Yes, they really are: no advance payment, no subscription fees, no nothing. The only two limitations include: the calls are free for those ringing from and to a number within the USA and Canada. Calls to the rest of the regions are still subject to standard rates.

The second limitation is that the offer is unlikely to be sustainable as it will cost the company a pretty penny. The creators promise that the offer will be available till the end of 2006 that is till December 31, 2006.

For the most popular calling destinations SkypeOut Global Rate of € 0.017 per minute is applied. € 0.017 is approximately the same as 0.021 American dollar or 0.012 pounds. These rates are for calling regular phone lines only (see rates to all destination). Phone calls to mobile numbers are usually more expensive.

Skype has taken a decision to cut down fees for landlines and mobile phones in an attempt to grow its North American market, which is a bit slack at the moment. The team is happy to be among the first companies to offer totally free conference.

Skype works on all platforms where SkypeOut is available, which at this time means Windows, Mac, Linux and Pocket PC. PC-to-PC calls continue to be globally free, which means that for the users in the USA and Canada calls made to PCs, traditional phones and mobile ones are 100% free.

Skype has outrun its VoIP rivals that include MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, and services such as Vonage that offer outbound phone calls at a fee.

Skype, SkypeOut, free calls, free landline calls, free mobile calls, VoIP, PC-to-PC calls

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