# Best web conference app?



## Dleg (Jan 17, 2017)

I was wondering what recommendations people have for hosting conference calls with slides or screen sharing.  I have access to WebEx, but the problem I have is that there are always some people who can't get it to work on their machines.  Adobe connect seems to have the same problems, and like WebEx, you need access to a paid account if you want more than 2 people connected.

Are there any simple, free, on-line conference hosting programs that people recommend?


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 17, 2017)

Dleg said:


> I was wondering what recommendations people have for hosting conference calls with slides or screen sharing.  I have access to WebEx, but the problem I have is that there are always some people who can't get it to work on their machines.  Adobe connect seems to have the same problems, and like WebEx, you need access to a paid account if you want more than 2 people connected.
> 
> Are there any simple, free, on-line conference hosting programs that people recommend?


We are phasing out WebEx due to the high cost and functionality issues you described.

GoToMeeting worked quite well when I was in grad school and needed to set up a brief meeting with a professor. Those who are familiar with Android and Google, Hangouts works pretty slick and integrates nicely across multiple device platforms (and it's free). That was actually more suitable to a school environment because with Google Docs, we could all be editing the same spreadsheet or Word doc all with video and and all while making comments too. In more of a corporate setting, Skype for Business works pretty flawlessly and obviously integrates well with other MS Office apps (e.g. you can add a Skype meeting link to your Outlook calendar invite for those attendees who are remote).


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## Dleg (Jan 17, 2017)

Thanks for the suggestions, @knight1fox3


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## Ramnares P.E. (Jan 17, 2017)

Currently using GoTo Meeting.  Screen sharing capability and the ability to switch who's controlling the display.


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## Road Guy (Jan 17, 2017)

We use Skype for business but I don't think it's "free"


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## jeb6294 (Jan 18, 2017)

We use Microsoft Lync because we're the Gov't and we aren't allowed to use, well, almost anything.  Lync seems to work pretty well though and you can do the screen sharing thing.  It's just there for us, but like a lot of other Microsoft stuff, I think you get it with some of the Office bundles.


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## snickerd3 (Jan 18, 2017)

whatever the AT&amp;T program is, is what works for us...which i mean is one of the few that will download to the computer without needing admin permissions


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 18, 2017)

jeb6294 said:


> We use Microsoft Lync because we're the Gov't and we aren't allowed to use, well, almost anything.  Lync seems to work pretty well though and you can do the screen sharing thing.  It's just there for us, but like a lot of other Microsoft stuff, I think you get it with some of the Office bundles.


I'm guessing your I.T. group hasn't pushed any recent updates to your PCs lately. In Nov. 2015, Lync became Skype for Business when Microsoft acquired Skype. It actually added some nice functionality and also integrates well across different device platforms too.


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## kevo_55 (Jan 18, 2017)

x3 on go to meeting.

I use that for my teaching side gig.


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## envirotex (Jan 18, 2017)

I have my own personal GoToMeeting account that I use for work, also.  I find that GoToMeeting usually works better than Skype, but we use both.


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## Dleg (Jan 18, 2017)

So you guys are paying for a personal account with GoTo meeting?

I have a feeling that I would technically be getting myself in trouble security-wise by going with a private solution like that.  I probably just need to find someone with access to a government Skype account.  I have learned since yesterday that some of my group members can't even do WebEx due to government agency firewalls, even though it's a government WebEx account.  This is bascially becoming an impossible task to accomplish across multiple government agencies and private non-profits.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 18, 2017)

Essentially yes (though I was able to get a student GoToMeeting account). But it's definitely more on the personal/private/small business level in my opinion. I'm not sure what security measures are employed but my guess is it's minimal.  

Skype is much more geared towards the corporate enterprise level and has various levels of security and authentication. But that also comes at a price. But if the company is paying for it, cost is generally a non-issue. I'd reach out to some of your I.T. people (or equivalent) to see what resources the govt. already has (aside from WebEx).


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## jeb6294 (Jan 18, 2017)

knight1fox3 said:


> I'm guessing your I.T. group hasn't pushed any recent updates to your PCs lately. In Nov. 2015, Lync became Skype for Business when Microsoft acquired Skype. It actually added some nice functionality and also integrates well across different device platforms too.


:rotflmao: Clearly you have not met the U.S&gt; Gov't yet.  We finally got "upgraded" to Windows 7 since they're sure all the bugs were finally worked out.


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## Road Guy (Jan 18, 2017)

I actually had to FAX something to the US Government today (their census construction data site was down)  - Had to 1) find it and then 2) plug it in..


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## jeb6294 (Jan 19, 2017)

Fax machines and Windows 7 all go along very nicely with my super high tech Gov't cell phone.


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## Dleg (Jan 19, 2017)

I have a feeling that after all this hacking stuff gets processed, this will be what we get issued:


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## kevo_55 (Jan 19, 2017)

^^ Most hams don't use those anymore.

This would be used today






:bag:


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## Dleg (Jan 19, 2017)

That's just gross.


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## kevo_55 (Jan 19, 2017)

Don't stick it in there then.


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## SE_FL (Jan 22, 2017)

We have been using sococo for screen sharing and web conferences. It doesn't use a phone, it uses the pc speaker and microphone from the webcam. 

https://www.sococo.com/


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## csb (Jan 23, 2017)

We're a Google Hangouts group.


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## goodal (Jan 24, 2017)

We use the free join.me for hosting a phone conference and sharing the computer screen.  Its free and works pretty good. They have a pay option too, but I haven't needed anything it provides yet.


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## Dleg (Jun 21, 2017)

I just discovered today that my freeconferencecall.com account also allows me to screen share, record, and swap presenters with any participants.  They don't even have to download the plug-in; only me.  And all for free (you have to pay if you want more than 1 GB of storage).  Up to 1000 attendees on a conference call, not sure how many on the screen share.  I am going to give it a try tomorrow for a real training session, and see how it works for my federal team members.


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## jeb6294 (Jun 22, 2017)

Well, we still have Windows 7 but, miracle of miracles, they updated us to Office 365 a few weeks ago.  To be honest, doesn't make any difference to me because for what I do there's not that much difference from Office 2013 to Office 365, but one of the things it did do is get rid of Lynx and changed us over to Skype for Business.  Seems to work the same though...IM's, share screens, online meetings, etc.

Yesterday I was even shocked to find a shortcut for Google Chrome pop up on my desktop.


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## Supe (Jun 22, 2017)

jeb6294 said:


> Yesterday I was even shocked to find a shortcut for Google Chrome pop up on my desktop.


We're not supposed to have Chrome installed, but I've had IT take control of my desktop remotely on many occasions, and not one of them has ever said a word about it, even though its prominently displayed in the task bar.  That should tell you everything you need to know about their feelings about Internet Exploder.


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## Audi Driver P.E. (Jun 22, 2017)

I've used WebEx, GoTo Meeting, Skype, and Lync.  They all suck donkey balls.  Skype is ok.  Lync seems to work most of the time.  Goto is good if you can get it to install.  WebEx?  It's been too long to remember.


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## knight1fox3 (Jun 22, 2017)

^ sounds about right coming from a mechanical engineer. 

:thumbs:


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## jeb6294 (Jun 22, 2017)

Supe said:


> We're not supposed to have Chrome installed, but I've had IT take control of my desktop remotely on many occasions, and not one of them has ever said a word about it, even though its prominently displayed in the task bar.  That should tell you everything you need to know about their feelings about Internet Exploder.


The way things work here, this is something that they would have had to push to my computer.  I get the little "do you want to install Google Chrome" all the time when I go to Google to search for something but I'm never allowed to actually install it.  Sad thing is, they've got Chrome so neutered that I'll probably just keep using IE.


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## Audi Driver P.E. (Jun 22, 2017)

knight1fox3 said:


> ^ sounds about right coming from a mechanical engineer.
> 
> :thumbs:


We expect things to work. Yep.


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## Dleg (Jun 22, 2017)

The freeconferencecall.com app worked very well for my team training today!  I give it two "thumbs up" although it was not seamless - my presenter had to log in as an admin to accept presentation rights and install the app, which was not required for the folks at our office (even though we don't have admin rights on our PCs). But all the non-presenter participants were able to view the slides and hear the audio without any problems.


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