Originally published on November 8, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.
At a time when law firms and their clients seek to reduce expenses, the option to conduct meetings online, rather than in person, has evolved from a novelty to a viable cost-saving opportunity. Of course, a standard telephone conference has long served as a cost-effective way to communicate. But it has limitations — particularly when more than a handful of parties join the call or when the participants need to jointly review documents. Web meetings work better for these more complex scenarios. But which service best suits small law firms?Battle of the Web Conferencing Titans
The beauty of Web conferencing lies in the ability of the meeting moderator — or any designated participant for that matter — to share his or her computer screen with the other participants. For example, if you want to walk your client through an agreement, you can open the document on your computer and "share" the screen with your client. The client sees the document on his or her own screen within the Web conferencing application's window.
Of the many commercial online meeting services available, the two leaders in the field are Citrix's GoToMeeting and Cisco's WebEx. At the most basic level, GoToMeeting and WebEx offer the same general service. One party initiates a Web meeting from a computer and invites others to join via email or calendar invitation. The invitees then join the Web meeting either by clicking a link in the invitation or by entering a meeting ID in their Web browser. The service launches a small application on the user's computer — which in most cases does not even require any system administrator privileges — that connects the participants. Both services enable each participant to choose between communicating through their computer's microphone and speakers or headset or by telephone.
Beyond the basics, there are some notable differences between GoToMeeting and WebEx. In my opinion, these differences make WebEx the better choice for small law firms. First, WebEx provides video conferencing, a feature currently absent from GoToMeeting. Second, in addition to screen sharing, WebEx enables you to upload, share, and annotate individual documents. Third, all features of the WebEx service are available to both Windows and Mac users, whereas the Mac version of GoToMeeting is missing some important features such as document annotation and the ability to display only a portion of your computer screen.
In terms of price, both services offer a single-user plan for a flat fee of $49 per month that includes an unlimited number of Web conferences. Under the flat fee plan, WebEx allows up to 25 participants per meeting, whereas GoToMeeting limits the number of attendees to 15. At the enterprise level, both companies offer multi-user plans that you can customize to suit your law firm's particular needs.
Mobile Web Conferencing
Both GoToMeeting and WebEx have ventured into the realm of mobile Web conferencing by releasing apps for Apple's iPad (and in WebEx's case, for the iPhone too.) Here, WebEx again excels.
Although the GoToMeeting app provides the mobile participant with the audio and the ability to observe the moderator's screen, it doesn't provide any of the text messaging functionality available in GoToMeeting's desktop service. The audio levels also tend to be much lower, the video appears to stutter a bit, and the app lacks a button to exit the conference.
By contrast, the WebEx application includes the text messaging features, the audio sounds loud and clear, and the on-screen images are noticeably less choppy.
Neither app enables the viewer to take control of the moderator's screen.
Conclusion
GoToMeeting and WebEx offer lawyers an economical alternative to in-person meetings. The technology works as advertised. Going forward, we can expect more functionality on the desktop and especially mobile devices.
Written by Dan Friedlander of LawOnMyPhone.com.
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