Webinar services option for my business

I’ve been researching webinar services options for my business and have been experimenting with a few of them over the past few months.

If you have webinar experience I would be interested in reading your comment and recommendations as we finalize our selection.

We have narrowed our selection to the following options:

1. Webex
2. GoToWebinar
3. iLinc
4. ClickWebinar
5. VIA3

From a usage standpoint, I’m most familiar with Webex having just delivered a 5-day IT Manager Institute for a group of IT managers from Croatia and Slovenia and several 1-hour training sessions leading up to the Institute, , , see Class #47 at https://itlever.com/it-manager-institute-photos/

Webex worked well and was easy to use, but I still have a bit of learning curve. I’m also a bit familiar with GoToWebinar and a couple of other services I have sampled.

The Institute webinar went well overall, but 5-hour sessions over 5 days is a challenge for students although it was much easier for me. I didn’t have to stand up all day, no airports or hotels to deal with, , , simply show up in front of my PC at 8:00am to deliver the class (3:00pm their time).

A couple of students stated the webinar approach worked exceptionally well for them, but one student said it was not that effective for him, partly because he may have had a poor connection, , , so reactions to long classes are a bit mixed at this point. I’ll plan to do another Institute by webinar soon to see if we can get a clearer picture.

I plan to deliver a whole series of 1 and 2-hour training sessions in 2012 so finding a webinar service that works well for me is important which is why I’m spending extra time to scope out the alternatives.

Here is a short list of key features we are looking for in a webinar service:

• Low cost
• Scheduling and reminder capability
• Audio via Internet
• Video (webcam)
• Ability for administrator to control the audio and video
• Preferably no user download requirement (but not an absolute requirement)
• Easy to navigate
• Desktop sharing
• Annotation
• Messaging, Raise Hand, etc.
• Recording and playback
• Ability to collaborate with several people in a meeting

If you have experience in any of the vendor products mentioned above and want to provide insight, we will appreciate your comments.

Stay tuned for my decision.