17 Online Meeting Tools That Facilitate Collaboration

Online conferencing tools are used for many reasons – sales presentations, webinars and training, to name a few. Plus, if you work from home, like many freelancers and small business owners do, you face the unique challenge of needing live meeting time with clients who may be located around the world.

There are many online meeting tools out there that offer a variety of features at varying costs. Here are a few tools you may want to consider, some of their notable features and the cost for using them.

1. Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro

• Share your screen
• Customize the interface
• Incorporate various training features (create content on the fly, track progress, reports)
• Edit recordings
• Manage the registration process

Cost: 30-day free trial with pay-per-use, monthly and annual plan options (pay-per-use is $0.32 per user per minute)

2. Arkadin

• Share desktop and individual applications
• Create a shared work space
• File transfer
• Brand interface with your company information
• Generate post-conference reports
• No software download required

Cost: Free trial, contact for individual pricing info

3. BeamYourScreen

• Share your desktop with up to 20 people
• Grant remote control rights to participants
• Transfer files
• Integrate login options into your existing website
• Record and playback the session
• Generate usage reports

Cost: 7-day free trial, monthly pricing starts at $30

4. Dimdim

• Share documents, webcams, websites, and whiteboards
• Pass control to multiple presenters
• Record your meetings
• Send public and private messages
• No installation necessary

Cost: Starts at $9.99 per month for 20 attendees, with annual commitment discounts

5. Elluminate

• Share interactive whiteboard and applications
• Include audio capability
• Instant messaging
• Create content and use editing tools
• Transfer files
• Record sessions

Cost: Contact for custom pricing

6. eZmeeting

• Share your desktop live for someone else to see or control
• Collaborate, including the ability to mark up and redline documents
• Transfer files
• Instant messaging

Cost: 7-day free trial, monthly pricing starts at $99

7. GatherPlace

• Share and view desktops
• Chat
• Record sessions
• Integrate your website
• Optional install for guests

Cost: 14-day free trial, monthly pricing starts at $29

8. Glance

• Share your screen with up to 100 guests
• Allow control and control guests’ screens
• Includes free phone conferencing
• Add a button so guests can connect from your website
• Customize the pages guests see when joining and leaving sessions

Cost: 7-day free trial, $49.95 per month (a one-day pass option for $9.95 is also available)

9. GoMeetNow

• Share desktop (for presenter and guests)
• Share one application at a time
• Chat
• Includes whiteboard and annotation ability
• Record screen and voice
• No downloads

Cost: Starts at $15.95 per month for 2 participants

10. GoToMeeting

• Share/view desktop
• Collaborate in real time
• Instantly change presenters
• Chat
• Record and playback
• Generate attendance reports

Cost: Starts at $49 per month for up to 15 participants

11. Mikogo

• Share your screen
• Switch presenters mid-session
• Transfer files
• Record and playback
• Voice conferencing

Cost: Free service provided by BeamYourScreen

12. Microsoft Office Live Meeting

• Share a portion of your desktop or the entire screen
• Broadcast visuals of any type
• File transfer and storage
• Participants can show their desktops
• Chat
• Whiteboard, text slides, web slides, annotation and polls included

Cost: $4.58 per user per month for 5-15 users

13. ReadyTalk

• Share your desktop, programs and files
• Grant control to others
• Manage your audio conference through the web
• Record audio and web together
• Chat to one or all participants

Cost: $34-49 per month, with annual commitment discounts

14. Spreed

• Share your screen
• Remote control desktop
• Interactive whiteboard
• Chat
• Recording and archiving

Cost: Free for up to 3 participants, starts at $19 per session for up to 10 participants

15. Voxwire

• Share your screen, desktop and files
• Integrate video conferencing
• Record and playback meetings
• Customize screen layout
• No downloads of any kind

Cost: 30-day free trial, starts at $39 per month for up to 20 participants

16. WebEx

• Pass control to others
• Get integrated phone conferencing
• Add a face-to-face experience with video
• Record, edit, and playback meetings

Cost: 14-day free trial, pricing starts at $69 per month for up to 25 participants, or pay-as-you-go for $0.33 per user per minute

17. Yugma

• Share your desktop
• Free teleconferencing
• Chat
• Share mouse and keyboard controls with other attendees
• Change presenters
• Recording and playback

Cost: Free for up to 20 participants, pricing starts ay $14.95 per month for more than 20 participants

Have you used any of these online tools? What others should make the cut?

All prices in USD.
Image credit: Steve Woods