How Big Is the Web Conferencing Industry?
With expanding Internet broadband service, rising airline ticket prices and a growing variety of services to choose from, it's not surprising the Web conference industry is booming. What had been a narrow choice of online conferencing services that were clunky, expensive and prone to crash at embarrassing moments has become a mainstay of small and mid-size businesses.
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Growing Spurt
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CNN Money reported the Web conferencing industry grew by 19 percent in 2008. Research firm Frost and Sullivan told CNN that sales of Web conferencing programs and services exceeded $1.1 billion for the year.
Long distance conferencing, primarily video conferencing, has been around for a while, but the expense of the video hookups and satellite connections made it a affordable only for large companies. Web conferencing brought the advantage and cost savings of online meetings with clients to smaller companies, even startups with only one or two employees.
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Competition
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There are a number of companies offering programs and online services for Web conferencing. Prices vary greatly as does the quality of the service. But it's a rapidly changing market and upgrades occur frequently.
You can obtain basic Web conferencing services for usually under $100 a month. A couple of companies such as Yugma.com and Dimdim.com offer their basic package for free, with upgrades starting at under $20 a month.
Citrix Online, which sells the most popular Web conferencing service, GoToMeeting, reported in September 2009 a growth of 40 percent year-over-year, twice the industry average.
Other Major Players
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In a December 2008 online article, InsideCRM.com listed the "major players" in Web conferencing which included some big names in computing, and other companies many have never heard of.
Adobe Acrobat Connect unites a standard format for document sharing, the PDF, with online meeting features such as application and desktop sharing, video conferencing and whiteboards, based on Adobe's Flash technology. IBM Lotus Sametime Unyte Meeting offers a pay-per-minute option as well as flat rates up to $99 per month for 999 seats at a cyber meeting.
Microsoft Office Live Meeting, WebEx MeetMeNow, Saba Centra and iLink are other established web conference services.
What's Included
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Each service offers different features, depending on the provider and what level of service you buy. Basic features include screen and application sharing so attendees can see what a presenter pulls up on his computer, and document sharing so attendees can upload or download files. Text chat also is a basic feature that allows everyone at the meeting to converse, no matter where they are physically. The instant messages sent are usually visible to all attendees, but Web conferencing can also offer private chats, the equivalent of whispering to your partner.
A valuable feature can be one that allows the Web conference to be recorded and played back later so you can review notes or catch up if you missed the live online event. Whiteboards are also big draws as conference presenters and attendees can put down notes on a blank online board.
Web Conferencing Prospects
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Will ticket prices for airlines continue to rise, particularly with extra charges tacked on such as fees for baggage? Will gas and other transportation costs continue to rise? Can a two-day business trip be a waste of valuable time when an hour online would have done just as well--or better?
Web conferencing won't eliminate the need for a business trip, or the value of a face-to-face meeting. But it does help prioritize the trips you do make, and allow you to confer with clients and far-flung collaborators quickly and efficiently. That can only mean continued growth for the Web conferencing industry.
References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Antonio Zugaldia
