We have added Zoom into our overall ranking and it secured rank number 2 with 95.4%. Zoom offers a broad range of advanced functionality that allows it to compete directly with our highest ranked tool, Citrix GoToMeeting. Continue reading
Category Archives: Web conferencing on mobile devices
Online Meeting Tools Review alters website structure and includes ranking of web conferencing apps for mobile devices
On webconferencing-test.com we feature a direct comparison of the top 5 tools, split into our numerous evaluation criteria to offer a direct comparison between the best online meeting solutions on the market. Now, the top 5 additionally each have their own site with all evaluation criteria and detailed explanation of the results displayed at a glance. That means you can decide which focus is more important to you and then study the direct comparison or our detailed analysis.
And we added a feature. We have been testing web conferencing on mobile devices for quite some time now and decided it is time to add our findings to the site. That is why you will now find an additional link in the menu called Tablet & Smartphone support that indicates which mobile devices support web conferencing apps.
In the Web conferencing on mobile devices category of our blog we have posted the findings from several of our tests. When we began our research and analysis of mobile web conferencing apps we initially checked with the vendors to find out who claims to offer the means for mobile online collaboration. After gathering the initial input from the vendors we then tested the apps for ourselves to see if the tools deliver what the vendors promise.
So Ken Molay is a bit off in his Webinar Blog when suggesting that we rely on vendor information alone. But thank you for raising this issue Ken, we certainly could have communicated that more clearly in this case.
join.me on the iPad
The name says it all: with join.me you can attend meetings on your iPad, that’s it. Which is no real surprise since our comprehensive test of web conferencing apps for mobile devices revealed that currently not more is possible or even sensible for touch devices.
When you attend a join.me online meeting with your iPad you get very clean interface and transfer of the presenters desktop or presentations is smooth. As attendee you have only one option of interacting with others and that is via the chat functionality.
join.me chat functionality on iPad
So basically, join.me fulfills the requirements of a touch device for web conferencing. To view the other vendors’ mobile apps check out our test results here.
TeamViewer on the iPad
We were surprised at the range of functionalities TeamViewer offers users on an iPad.
On your iPad you can chat, alter the size of the screen you are viewing, and have full mouse and keyboard control. You can even decide on your own which screen you want to view if the host e.g. has a second, hidden screen. One member of our testing crew wasn’t too happy about that specific feature as it turned out…
This points towards the restrictions of the tool: You only have all these functionalities if you participate in a meeting with a Mac user. And you can only have meetings one-on-one as soon as an iPad user is participating. Also, we could find no way for the host to restrict the iPad user’s access.
TeamViewer advanced keyboard functionality on iPad
So really, it’s more of a remote access to a Mac – comparable with Citrix’ GoToMy PC – than a meeting, since you can do everything from your iPad. You can even shut down the host’s Mac if he doesn’t watch the iPad user every second of the ‘meeting’.
FastViewer on the iPad
On the iPad, FastViewer falls into the category ‘look, don’t touch’. According to the vendor, a meeting host should be able to transfer mouse and keyboard control to participants using an iPad, but in our tests we were not able to verify this.
FastViewer status bar on iPad
Apart from this FastViewer performs nicely. You can chat – not privately – and can check out the list of attendees any time. We liked the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If somebody sends a chat message during a presentation you can easily switch to the chat window and then back again.
Saba Centra on the iPad
In a nutshell, Saba allows participants of web conferences with an iPad to view another participants’ screens or content that has been uploaded by others. Unfortunately, with your iPad you cannot have a look at the list of participants, which we think would have been a nice feature.
Saba Centra's whiteboard viewed on an iPad
Saba Centra allows you to interact with other participants of an online meeting a little when you are on your iPad. You can chat and at the bottom of the screen you have icons that allow you to show your agreement or dislike of whatever is being presented. If a presentation is really good you can click on the “applause” icon. We are sure the presenter will appreciate it.
Cisco WebEx on the iPad
This was another interesting test: Cisco WebEx is the number three in our ranking of online meeting solutions. So we were anxious to find out how it would perform on an iPad.
The answer: so-so! You can schedule and host a meeting, view the attendee list, and chat with the other participants.
WebEx' chat functionality on iPad
What bugged us in our tests was that you cannot upload any content from your iPad. Also, it is not possible to share your iPad’s desktop with others.
If you disregard these two issues, the performance of WebEx on the iPad really is solid.
Fuze Meeting for iPad
Fuze Meeting is an average online meeting solution. But it runs on iPad, and there the performance isn’t half bad.
You can host and participate in a meeting, which is a neat thing. Fuze Meeting offers you to enter a virtual room rather than share your desktop. So you can upload and look at files.
Fuze Meeting intro screen on the iPad
You can do a lot from your iPad. You can schedule and initiate meetings, you can invite someone while a meeting is running, and you can chat with the other attendees.
What is really neat is the chance to leave the Fuze app for a while if you need to. Returning to an already running meeting is no problem.
Find out more about Fuze Meeting for iPad on the vendor’s website.
GoToMeeting for iPad
We knew that our number-one-ranking tool, Citrix GoToMeeting, was compatible for iPad. Now we tested its actual performance.
It comes as no real surprise that the quality was very good, with no latencies for VoIP and shared screen. Additionally users always have an overview of who is in the meeting with the attendee list displayed to the right.
Overall, a really convincing performance, BUT: only as a participant. iPad users can only watch others present. All the usual goodies like desktop sharing, app sharing, and chat are not available.
You can find all the details on GoToMeeting and iPad on the GoToMeeting website.
Online meetings and smart phones – iPhone currently leads the field in the race to compatibility
A couple of week ago we stated that we weren’t all that convinced of the mix of online meetings and smart phones. Our main objection was the small size of the devices’ displays. Nevertheless, we have to keep an open mind and objectively evaluate the current solutions. So we checked out the compatibility of all the web conferencing solutions on our list with iPhone / iPod touch, Blackberry, and Android.
A lot of vendors have already released smart-phone-friendly versions of their software. Astonishingly, the leaders as far as compatibility is concerned are the solutions below the top 5! Among the top 5 only WebEx and RHUB can be used on an iPhone. RHUB as a browser based solution, WebEx with its own app.
The combination of “runs on iPhone and Blackberry” is most common and currently Intercall Unified Meeting, IBM Lotus Live Meeting, Fuze Meeting, PGi Netspoke, and AT&T Connect are able to deliver.
Next to compatibility of online meeting solutions with smart phones we checked the compatibility with Apple’s iPad. Taken together, 30 per cent of our tested solutions offer web conferencing on either smart phone or iPad, which is ok for starters. Developers are working on the issue around the clock and we will keep you updated on the latest news.
We will now take our iPad and scrutinize the performance of single solutions. Oh, and naturally we inserted the info on which tool is compatible with which device into our overall ranking.