In the Virtual Assistant industry, it’s rare to have in-person meetings with clients or peers.

Here in Arizona, and around the country, VA colleagues do try to assemble quarterly to talk shop, but distance and other commitments make that challenging.

Even though I believe there should always be some personal face-to-face time with business cohorts, our Arizona contingent has decided to research online meeting options.

For an overview of how these programs are intended to work, check out this article written by Ramon Ray: Getting on Board with Online Meetings. By the way, Ramon also runs Smallbiztechnology.com, where you can find many additional resources for your home based biz.

Here is a look at some of the contenders in this genre:

Adobe Acrobat Connect (was formerly a Macromedia product, acquired by Adobe when they swallowed up Macromedia). Free trial, works for PC and Mac. Starts at $39/month for individual or small biz use, with a limit of 15 seats per event. Here is a nice feature comparison chart, depending on whether you need their individual or pro version.

FreeConference. (Information supplied by Kate Kelly, ExecAssistLLC.com) “We use FreeConference.com, pay $9 a month for the audio recording and use the free SharePlus Desktop Sharing (web conference), but it’s in BETA (as of 10/22/08) so eventually they will begin to charge for the service. You can have up to 150 callers. I don’t know if you can call in through the computer. If you’re looking to offer presentations via video conferencing, they do not offer that service. If you had a webcam you might be able to use that to do it. I know with my webcam I can see myself on the screen and you could just maximize the screen so that is the only thing showing. Not sure it would work, but you could always test it out on your own and see what happens.

“We have been using the service for several months and it is as good as GoToMeeting, minimal lag time, you can change presenters (who has control of the mouse) and whose desktop you are viewing and you can’t beat the price.”

Facilitate. Hmm, seems expensive. Probably not a SOHO solution.

GoToMeeting. Options are in place for a single organizer with up to 15 attendees, webinar format that encompases webinars AND online meetings, and corporate setups allowing multiple organizers and attendees.

GoToWebinar. (Information provided by Monique Terrell, Sparkle Professional Office Services, LLC) “I highly recommend GoToWebinar it has all the features your use to with the additional numbers you need; although the price point is higher at $99 per month. Webex, Elluminate Live, MS LiveMeeting are all pricey and these would be considered matching competitors for GoToMeeting/Webinar.”

Live Online Meeting. Starting at $19.97/month for three seat meetings.

MeetingOnNow.com (information provided by Patty Benton, Business Manager at ProfessionalAdminteam.com) “I’ve started using MeetingOnNow.com and it is pretty good. It is all online, so if people want to talk, they have to use headsets. Their tech support is really good, the only problem is they don’t have instructions written out. It is all videos, and I like written instructions I can skim. So far the recordings have been good, as well as the call quality. ”

Online Meeting Room by PayGarde IC Ltd. They charge a license annually for a meeting room and you can use it with anyone as long as you want as often as you want with no extra “per user license”. You need to contact them directly for a quote for your situation, but they generally target business users and large corporations. Does NOT support Mac or Linux users.

(editorial note 9/14/07: I heard from the developers after posting this and they corrected me on a few points. Here’s a link to the “true MULTIPOINT environment they offer, providing voice and video access without having to install anything. Thanks to Joe for taking the time to supply additional details.)

Voxwire Web Conferencing. Hooked up computer-to-computer in a sort of unlimited daisy chain, your conference attendees don’t have to purchase their accessibility. If they have speakers, they can join in and hear you, and with a microphone, they can speak to you. Starts at $17 per month for a three person room. For PC users only.

Webex Meet Me Now. Free trial offered. Offers small, medium and large enterprise solutions. Has a 14-day free trial. You can pay as you go based on by-the-minute use or subscribe from $39/month. Couldn’t tell if it’s for both Mac and PC users (well, PC goes without saying!)

Yugma (pronounced “yoog-ma”). This one is FREE forever, if you only need the basic version (which is limited to 10 users at a time). Their demo shows you how it works. Compatible with PC, Mac and Linux. You have to register and then download their application. If you’re wondering what you get with the paid option, here is Yugma’s comparison table.

Zoho Meeting. This one is intriguing. It appears to be in beta right now, so it is currently FREE if you want give it a test run. Presenter must be on PC, but attendees (unlimited number allowed) are able to be on Macs and Linux. Site indicates support for Mac presenters is coming soon. The company is working to integrate with Skype, but for now, it has no audio or video components.

This’ll Cost ‘Ya (maybe)

In my initial peek at what’s available, it quickly became apparent that you won’t be ponying up for any of these options (except the free ones) unless you expect to host meetings or seminars often enough to wrap the monthly or annual subscription costs into your billings.

If your need is for occasional use only, look to any large professional or other organizations in which you already have membership. Two groups that I belong to offer free net meeting areas as a membership benefit. However, bear in mind these uses are probably limited to both presenters and attendees who are members of that particular organization.

If you have had any experience or conducted any of the free trials offered by many of these vendors, please share it here via commenting (below) or by sending an email to ktcosmos-at-LooseEnds-dot-net.

Post updated 12/7/08