Software and web-based video
conferencing
There is
an unprecedented amount of software and web-based video conferencing
applications available today. It’s my new mission to try as many of them as
possible and objectively and subjectively (of course) review them for things
like ease of use, quality of product and of course price.
To date,
here is the short list of tested or soon to be tested products (and more will be added as I find them):
·
Vidyo
Desktop
·
ClearSea
from Lifesize
·
Connections
from Lifesize
·
TenHands
·
GreenAppX
·
EasyMeeting
·
Huddlv
·
Fuzebox
·
OmniJoin
·
IOCOM
insors.com
·
VidTel
·
Skype
·
iMeet
·
Fastmeeting
Each
program will have the benefit of their own full review (or as much as I can do
as one person with two computers and an iPad). Unless noted otherwise, all demos and reviews were done in summer 2012. If there is new information or later demos after that, I will note the date accordingly.
Ease of
use
What I
am looking for is the easiest solution available. Typically, I will not have a
video conference with the same person twice. Therefore I am looking for a
solution where I will always be the moderator and can send out easy invites via
email. I do not want a solution where I have to determine ahead of time who
gets a ‘license’. This is pointless for my needs as stated above. The solution
should be iPad compatible at least on my end.
Quality
of product
As of
this date, I do not plan to hold meetings on 65” televisions so pure resolution
is not so much of an issue. Quality will be defined as latency (and the
program’s ability to self-correct), pixelization and handling of audio. Data
sharing is a must. Latency between endpoints cannot be helped, but any latency
between someone’s mouth moving and what comes out of it will not be tolerated.
At that point, I don’t want to look at the person and want to just listen…just
like on a telephone call.
Pricing
Price
drives most product usage, and I am cheap. Two competing products, yet one with
maybe one extra bell or whistle but a much higher cost will lose. Well, unless
you absolutely need that extra bell. What we’re looking for is video chatting
with data/screen sharing. That’s it. Busy people don’t need or want
complications in a product or pricing scheme. Pricing must be simple, month to
month and we must know what it is. There are several products out there with
fuzzy math as it relates to their pricing. I don’t want that and my guess is
that you don’t either. Please note that I will only share pricing if it is
posted on the company’s website or I am given permission to do so.
About my
setup
I am
testing all products from my home office, using the equipment listed below
HP
HPE-400y desktop with:
·
3.0GHz
AMD Phenom II X4 945 processor
·
8gb
RAM
·
FaceVision
Touch Camera N1 with integrated microphone
·
Generic
speakers connected to on-board audio card
·
Plantronics
Blackwire C420-M headset
·
Acer
23” LCD monitor running 1920x1080
A New
iPad with Logitech’s Bluetooth headset 981-000381
HP
Pavilion dv7 Laptop w/1.8GHz AMD Phenom and 6 GB RAM
I have a
cable connection that runs 10-15 mbps download and 768k-1mbps upload. Both
desktop and iPad share a wifi connection from my router that sits in my old
home office 30 feet away. My laptop also shares this connection and will be
used if necessary for these demos.
Understand
that these reviews are mine based on simple and short tests either by myself or
with a representative of the product being reviewed. These are not month long
product tests under all conditions at all times of day. Also understand that I
do tend to be highly critical of products and they will always be compared to
some fantasy product out there that has exactly what I want at the price I want
to pay. As the saying goes “your mileage may vary” and before taking my word
for it, test one or two of these products yourself. Trust but verify.