Posted By: Green Cochoa
Meeting People Online: Current Tools - 03/25/20 07:53 AM
During the present widespread travel restrictions and quarantines, it is an opportune time to consider meeting online. For group gatherings in a video conference setting, the following softwares are presently available.
1. Zoom / https://zoom.us
Zoom presently is available for free for up to a 40-minute limit for groups of up to 100 people. For one-on-one meetings, it's free for an unlimited time. But the expense is not high for a monthly subscription. Check it out. It allows screen sharing, audio and video for each participant on an elective basis (can be muted or turned off, as desired), and it can record the meeting. Zoom seems to be widely compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, even those running somewhat older OSes.
2. Webex / https://www.webex.com
Webex is a favorite among some corporate users and online education providers. It offers nearly the same features as Zoom, but seems to require a lesser internet bandwidth to do so. It is similarly available at present, during the COVID-19 crisis, for free for limited use. It seem less device-compatible, requiring newer installations of an OS. It does, of course, offer compatibility with most modern devices.
3. Open Meetings / https://openmeetings.apache.org/index.html
Apache's Open Meetings is entirely free, but being an open-source software with volunteer developers, it is not entirely bug-free. It does have a fairly rich feature set, despite this, which requires Java to run. It offers various combinations of audio/video as well as whiteboard, etc. and the moderator can can control these individually for each participant. For those on super-low budgets, it's worth a try.
4. EZ Talks / https://www.eztalks.com/pricing#meetings
EZ Talks has a similar deal to the first two right now, offering up to 40 minutes of meeting time for free. After that, it is a nominal fee for monthly subscription that allows unlimited time, albeit with some limitations on traffic and server storage space, presumably for recorded sessions.
Stay connected!
Blessings,
Green Cochoa.
1. Zoom / https://zoom.us
Zoom presently is available for free for up to a 40-minute limit for groups of up to 100 people. For one-on-one meetings, it's free for an unlimited time. But the expense is not high for a monthly subscription. Check it out. It allows screen sharing, audio and video for each participant on an elective basis (can be muted or turned off, as desired), and it can record the meeting. Zoom seems to be widely compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, even those running somewhat older OSes.
2. Webex / https://www.webex.com
Webex is a favorite among some corporate users and online education providers. It offers nearly the same features as Zoom, but seems to require a lesser internet bandwidth to do so. It is similarly available at present, during the COVID-19 crisis, for free for limited use. It seem less device-compatible, requiring newer installations of an OS. It does, of course, offer compatibility with most modern devices.
3. Open Meetings / https:/
Apache's Open Meetings is entirely free, but being an open-source software with volunteer developers, it is not entirely bug-free. It does have a fairly rich feature set, despite this, which requires Java to run. It offers various combinations of audio/video as well as whiteboard, etc. and the moderator can can control these individually for each participant. For those on super-low budgets, it's worth a try.
4. EZ Talks / https:/
EZ Talks has a similar deal to the first two right now, offering up to 40 minutes of meeting time for free. After that, it is a nominal fee for monthly subscription that allows unlimited time, albeit with some limitations on traffic and server storage space, presumably for recorded sessions.
Stay connected!
Blessings,
Green Cochoa.
