We small business owners have to be careful. We need to invest in growing our business, but not waste a cent. Web conference software can help, if you understand what to look for.

We often hesitate to sign up for internet conferencing services, thinking it’ll cost too much or that we’ll get stuck with features we didn’t need. This article should help you understand the plans available and decide what features are important to you.

Web conference pricing is much more accessible than a few years ago. Vendors are pursuing the small- and medium-size market, and have pricing plans geared for them. For example, Webex’s MeetMeNow prices out to as low as $35 a month for an unlimited number of meetings (10 participants per meeting).

The trick to deciding whether the finances make sense is to figure out what you’ll save. Are you traveling to meetings? Internet web conferencing will save travel dollars. Are you spending a lot on long distance phone calls or cellular minutes? Web conferencing provides a toll-free number for all the participants. When you calculate your savings you’ll probably agree that web conferencing software is a good investment.

The next step is to decide which internet conferencing features you need. If you’re an hold hand at web conferencing you already know what you want. If not, the best advice is to read this list of features and then sign up for a free trial — take the software for a spin.

Audio Conferencing: Your web conference vendor should provide a toll free number for participants. If possible, they should also allow for VoIP calling (calling over the Internet).

Video Conferencing: Video streaming is going mainstream. You can hook up a webcam to your pc and let the attendees see you as you speak. Most web conference vendors integrate video streaming into their software.

White Board: Virtual whiteboards are a great tool. A shared, online white board is a must for me. The group works together to draw out a new concept, just as if they were in the same room.

Annotating Documents: Tired of reading through documents over the phone, or trying to integrate a slew of “track changes” documents? Instead, the group can review and edit documents together.

Meeting Quantity and Size: Plans vary here. Some give you unlimited meetings for a monthly fee. Some are priced per-meeting. Also, the number of participants allowed per meeting may vary. Take a look at the quantity and size of your current meetings to estimate what you’ll need in the future.

Has this helped? Look over this list of features and think about how you see web conferencing fitting into your business. The best way to decide is to sign up for a free trial. Give the software a spin and see if it meets your needs.

Tags: Business

Share This

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!