Web Conferencing Made Simple with "GoTo"

GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar are two web conferencing tools created by Citrix Systems. Although the tools are quite similar, GoToMeeting is primarily used for small meetings since it can only accommodate up to 15 attendees. GoToWebinar, on the other hand, can accommodate up to 1000 people. Both tools may be accessed via a Mac or PC, and both offer integrated audio capabilities so that attendees can join over the phone or through a computer using VOIP. My current company employs both tools and I have spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of years using them. Below is a review based on my personal experience.

GoToMeeting is great to use “on the fly.” Just the other day I was on the phone with a colleague in Phoenix and wanted to walk her through some new elements of our team’s SharePoint 2007 site. I simply logged into GoToMeeting and chose the “Meet Now” option. Within seconds, my colleague was able to click on the link from the e-mail I sent her and join my meeting. I was then able to show my screen to walk her around the site. I could even draw (literally!) attention to what I was talking about with a pen, highlighter, spotlight, or arrow on the screen. If needed, I could have recorded our conversation and the associated visuals as well. According to Rupley (2005) getting a session like the one I just described “going with GoToMeeting is easy, thanks to the application’s intuitive UI” (p. 58).

GoToWebinar has a few more bells and whistles than GoToMeeting but the overall look and feel of the tool is very similar. As mentioned earlier, GoToWebinar is used primarily for large meetings with a lot of attendees. I used to use GoToWebinar regularly to conduct “all hands meetings” at my company. These meetings generally had anywhere between 250-350 people, but since the tool is so user-friendly, I was able to manage the logistics on my own. After setting up the meeting, I simply sent out an invitation to the meeting and had people register to join. This was great because I was able to anticipate the audience (and number of people) that would be joining the meeting. If attendance looked low, I simply sent out a reminder e-mail a few days before the event to remind people to register. On the day of the event, I acted as the “organizer” but handed control of the slide presentation over to one of our “presenters.” All attendees joined the meeting on mute by default, and as organizer, I could simply un-mute them when they used the hand raising icon to raise their hand and ask a question. This eliminated the static and background noise that is often heard on conference calls! And, if someone couldn’t join the meeting “live,” it wasn’t a problem. They could simply view the posted recording after the meeting had ended.

Now, don’t get me wrong, as great as these tools are, they still have their faults and limitations. Like other web conferencing tools, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar are less personal than face-to-face interaction. People may take advantage of the convenience as well. In fact, I’ve seen people that work in the same building use GoToMeeting rather than simply walking to a conference room with someone to meet! Both tools also use GoToMeeting’s proprietary software by default to record. This creates a problem since the meetings cannot be edited when recorded in this format. Lastly, the tools are only as good as the people that use them. I have been unable to un-mute people on calls because they failed to enter their audio pin when joining the meeting. I have also seen presenters forget to logout of their e-mail or instant messaging tools when showing their screen. These alerts aren’t things that everyone needs to see but it frequently happens. Overall, however, I believe GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar are excellent web conferencing tools and make good use of the technology available today. They are convenient, affordable, and can help increase efficiencies across an organization. We live in a virtual world and these tools help us navigate that world a little better.

- Melissa McWilliams

Reference:
Rupley, S. (2005). Making Virtual Meetings. PC Magazine, 24(1), 58. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.