Group videoconferencing

[rastan]

Hello:) If I want to vc, using a webcam, with a group of folk ( eg: 8 folk all indifferent parts of the world ) and all be able to see and converse w/ all, do we need particular software to accomplish this?

Thank you

[George]

Well first of all there's NetMeeting :D

Also, I think Viack(www.viack.com) VIA3 software may be able to help you in this scenario if all you have is a plain old web cam and mic.

One of our members (Gary Miyakawa) recently introduced me to the software this past weeked. We did a test conference. Here's my impression.

Pros:

Good quality video - I am using what some consider to be the chevy chevette of webcams (the cheapest) the Logitech QuickCam Express. Yet we had stunningly good video on both ends over my home cable modem connection using nothing more than my wireless laptop with a camera and mic plugged in.

Easy Set Up - It was a it of a struggle to find the free download for the Attend Only plan because I had to figure out that that's what I was looking for. But once I found it HERE (https://www.viack.com/prod_dl/registration.asp?np=l&planid={00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}&i=3) I registered with their service and downloaded the software. Install was a breeze.

Free to use for participants - I can now use their service FREE of charge whenever anyone invites me to a conference. You get a little desktop toolbar pop-up message when you get an invite, so long as you have the software running.


Cons:

Not free for host - In order to be able to create a conference you have to purchase license, but from what Gary told me, it's only $2.50 per month and you get to host unlimited conferences. Read more about that (here (https://www.viack.com/prod_dl/registration.asp?np=l&planid={6B94293A-F514-4955-8B62-9EAFA04A24F7}&i=2)). Not bad considering the quality and ease of their software.

Not quite ready for major applications - Though as I said, the quality is excellent, the actual conference mode still looks sort of... well.. PCish. But then I am biased because I use industrial CODECs on a day to day basis. And I haven't played with it since then so there may be a few different modes. Ask Gary.

[Gary Miyakawa]

it's only $2.50 per month

You missed a couple digits George. It's $250.00 per month, unlimited usage...

Gary Miyakawa

[George]

Ouch. Have they got any smaller plans?

[Gary Miyakawa]

Originally posted by George@Jun 5 2004, 05:26 PM
Ouch. Have they got any smaller plans?
Nope, It's $250 per month, unlimited users per conference, unlimited conferences per month.

It's very reasonable considering the capabilities, quality and full encryption (AES).

Shoot, you can't even buy a ViaVideo for that price and then you have to find bridging services.

Gary Miyakawa

[Jay Charles]

I hope no one thinks of the following as spamming. I haven't seen any discussion about Flashcom on the forum here, and I don't want anyone to think I'm just here to try to peddle my services.

That being said...

Have you considered a Flash based application that uses Flash Communication Server? If you're in a situation that you have a server to run it from, you can buy a 50 user/ 1mbps license for $500. Alternately, you can buy shared Flashcom hosting which is fairly inexpensive

Then it's just a matter of having someone build the application for you. If it's just video communication and no file sharing, user management, or other toys, it would only take a good Flash developer a few hours to put the application together.