Documentation:DLSwiki/webconferencing
Chances are the members of your community are spread across a distance - this makes having face-to-face meetings hard. Rather than stretching a tight budget for an in-person meeting, consider using a web-based collaboration/communication tool, which lets anyone with an Internet connection and a web browser meet and engage with others online in real time. There are a myriad of web-based tools that support online events, but not all are created equal. Most tools have very similar features in that they provide a way to communicate and collaborate in the online environment.
Depending on your online event needs, look for are tools that offer at least the basic collaboration features such as a discussion area, screen-sharing capabilities, multiple-authorship, drawing and annotation tools, file uploading, whiteboard, text chat, session archiving, and teleconferencing. Some examples are:
Web Conferencing:
Licensed tools:
- Adobe Acrobat ConnectPro http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/
- Wimba Classroom http://www.wimba.com/products/wimba_classroom/
- Elluminate http://www.elluminate.com/
- Microsoft Office Live Meetings http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/livemeeting/default.aspx
Free tools:
- DimDim http://www.dimdim.com/
- MSN Messenger http://windowslive.com/desktop/messenger
- YuuGuu http://www.yuuguu.com/home
- Zoho Meeting http://meeting.zoho.com/
- Skype http://www.skype.com