Mikogo, a free online meeting and screen sharing application has seen an increase of over fifty percent in less than four months, indicating a shift towards free online meeting and collaboration tools. Having reached a user base of more than 40,000 users, the success of Mikogo’s free online meeting solution could indicate that free Web collaboration is rapidly on the rise. This of course raises questions for the future of alternative high priced video conferencing solutions.

Web conferences, online meetings and other online collaboration tools are valuable assets to many individuals and small businesses. However the cost of these applications and services often prevent usage by many who would truly benefit from the technology. With Mikogo’s free online meeting solution, with all included features at no cost and with no time limitations, the web collaboration community has taken notice. Mikogo has users spread across more than 100 countries and serves up to 2,000 free online meetings a day.

Mikogo Co-founder, Mark Zondler:

We are happy to provide Mikogo free of charge and allow everyone to benefit from an easy-to-use screen sharing tool. Our users are able to employ Mikogo for teaching, IT support, picture sharing, university projects, club meetings, and more. Everyday people across the world are finding more and more reasons to use Mikogo free online meetings.

It seems clear that Mikogo has made it’s mark and found it’s place in the free online collaboration community. With a rapidly growing userbase of over 40,000 users under the belt, Mikogo expects that the current fee-based web conferencing services are going to have to pick up their game to stay competitive.

A recent survey of 1400 Chief Information Officers by the staffing firm, Robert Hall Technology indicates that while CIOs appreciate and frequently use video conferencing, online training and collaboration software, they aren’t familiar with or very interested in web 2.0 apps such as blogs and wikis.

CIOs on Video Conferencing, Online Training, and Collaboration Tools

Of the 1400 CIOs who responded to the survey, 47% reported that they currently use online training, with another 13% planning to use it in the next five years. Among the same respondents, 34% said they use video conferencing software today with another 18% planning on using it in the next five years. Telepresence and collaborative workspaces are used by 24% of CIOs with another 19% planning on using those tools in the next five years.

CIOs on Web 2.0 Applications

While CIOs are using many of the larger, more prevalent online communication and online collaboration tools, the same can not be said for web 2.0 applications. Of the 1400 CIOs who responded to the survey, 67% have no intention of using tagging software in their websites, 72% aren’t planning to ever use blogs; 74% of the respondents do not even understand what a “wiki” is, and 84% of the same set of respondents have no plans on using or integrating “virtual worlds” into their systems.

It’s not surprising that CIOs don’t plan to use virtual worlds, and may not have time or interest in personal or company blogs, but it is surprising that they have a lack of interest in wikis. By design, wikis are perfect for IT departments to report lessons learned, track projects and report and correct errors in the system. It may be that the CIOs who reported that they don’t use wikis, just aren’t aware that their IT department does.

InstantConference, the dedicated on-demand reservation-less online conference service, answers the need for company-wide, user-managed online conferencing at an affordable price with the release of a new enterprise service. Featuring low-cost monthly plans starting at $25/month and toll free rates as low as 3.5 cents per minute, this fully-featured online meeting service can be set up and managed in a few minutes with an online administrator account.

InstantConference CEO, Alex Cory:

InstantConference Enterprise was developed with feedback from executives in small businesses and divisions of larger companies who were looking for a simple and centrally managed service at highly competitive prices. We have launched a service that offers a comprehensive suite of user-managed conferencing tools within a company organized platform.

InstantConference Enterprise targets the market for centrally-managed online conferencing services with a high-value mix of free and premium features. Company administrators can easily sign up and manage accounts by division and employee, using centrally-managed online billing and review, plus creation, and deletion of employee accounts. Employees are automatically provided with their own user-managed accounts, which include free online conferencing, free recording and storage, large scale online conferences, free desktop sharing, and very low cost toll free online conferencing. Both InstantConference and InstantConference enterprise services also come with moderator controls, dedicated conferencing numbers, and an easy-to-use online account management system.

InstantConference Enterprise Overview

Monthly Plans:

* $25/month – purchase unlimited Toll Free 800 minutes at 5.5¢/minute
* $50/month- purchase unlimited Toll Free 800 minutes at 4.5¢/minute
* $100/month- purchase unlimited Toll Free 800 minutes at 3.5¢/minute

Enterprise Features include:

* Administrator account management tools for easy sign-up and management of all employees
* Convenient monthly billing plans centralized on one administrator account
* Access to both free(a) and toll free 800 dial-in numbers
* Toll Free rates starting as low as 3.5¢/minute
* Unlimited recording, downloading and 30 days storage
* Online Moderator controls for extra security and control
* Conference activity and transaction summaries
* Up to 250 callers on every online conference
* Unlimited desktop sharing
* Dedicated online conference bridges
* 24 hour reservation-less access

Until recently, web conferencing and online meetings have been prohibitively expensive for most users. However technology and times are changing - BeamYourScreen announces that Mikogo, its free online meeting tool, has recorded rapid growth of fifty percent in its user base in less than two months demonstrating today’s increasing demand for free, easy-to-use quality web conferencing.

This April, Mikogo reached the 20,000 user milestone. Now less than eight weeks later the free screen sharing tool is being employed by over 30,000 users. With such a significant increase and Mikogo’s 100% free no hidden catches approach, business owners worldwide are quickly catching on to the potential benefits.

Antares Italia CEO Enrico Barberi:

Looking for a technical support solution, we tested several desktop sharing programs, and found that Mikogo was the easiest to use and supplied the fastest performance available. With such great support results we then employed Mikogo for demonstrating our software online to new and potential customers.

Mikogo has since revolutionized Antares Italia’s approach to customer service and technical support: “The benefits are incredible. Technical support problems are solved in minutes and customers can interact in product demonstrations by asking real-time questions and even take remote keyboard and mouse control of the CAD/CAM software. However, considering we have over 1000 customers, the greatest benefit is that we no longer need to travel for hours and provide support via on-site visits,” explains Mr. Barberi.

In the past web conferencing giants provided online collaboration solutions for large corporations, underestimating the smaller business and private user base. This disparity has contributed to directly to Mikogo’s popularity, as it is Antares Italia and such users that are embracing the benefits of free software.

As more companies enlist technology to help co-workers and outsiders collaborate around the world, webinars, videoconferencing, instant messaging and online meetings can make business communication easier - and cut travel costs as fuel prices soar. But, there can be some unintended and often embarrassing consequences.

Only a few keystrokes separate one’s private life from the virtual world. The wrong computer settings, an awkward web-camera angle, and even something as harmless as the “hold” button on the telephone can create lasting career memories. Unlike face-to-face blunders, virtual gaffes can be captured for posterity on web sites and ridiculed by viewers time and time again.

Webinar Success President, Ken Molay:

One solution, is for corporations to create guidelines for employees so that they can properly represent the company. Workers from staff assistants to the suits in the corner office need to be more tech-savvy, he says, from learning how to use equipment to presenting themselves professionally through different forms of technology. Otherwise, they might find themselves part of an office punchline.

There are some precautions you can take to prevent your embarrassing moments from appearing on youtube.com or other media sites. The first rule is to become as familiar as possible with the online meeting technology before using it live. When creating a webcast, in which a company broadcasts video and audio feed to an audience via the Internet, the presenter should be aware of the sound quality and camera angles.

Hold a practice session ahead of time and then analyze the way you sound as well as your posture and mannerisms. If you plan on incorporating technology tools regularly, it may be wise to invest in a training session with a consultant.

Finally, disable any potentially distracting applications, such as instant messaging, email notifications and telephone on-hold music, before engaging in a web conference. Companies often record and archive these online meetings to use as reference material.

Premiere Global Services, a global provider of on demand, communication technologies today announced an agreement with Brainshark, the leader in on demand online presentations, to integrate and resell Brainshark’s online meeting solutions as PGi Presentations On Demand Powered by BrainsharkTM. The collaboration between companies will allow Premiere Global customers to enhance marketing and online collaboration capabilities with online presentations that combine online PowerPoint slides, document sharing and other content with high-quality audio, video conferencing and web conferencing. PGi Presentations On Demand enables customers to engage audiences with powerful interactive online presentations and to improve results with built-in functionality that tracks and measures audience engagement.

Brainshark CEO, Joe Gustafson:

We are excited about our agreement with Premiere Global Services as it provides many synergies with their eMarketing and Web Conferencing & Online Collaboration customers. PGi Presentations On Demand enables customers to transform business materials and marketing messages into dynamic content that improves reach, impact and response. It allows organizations to engage with prospects, customers, employees and partners in more convenient, compelling and measurable ways.

PGi Presentations On Demand is a unique addition to Premiere Global’s other online collaboration applications. Presentations on Demand improves productivity, sharpens corporate messaging and can enhance selling efforts. Businesses that require online collaboration and improved intra-company communication can quickly setup the service and begin realizing the financial benefits and convenience of the technology.

IVCi, a leading provider of online collaboration solutions including high definition video conferencing, telepresence, audio visual integration, and web conferencing services, announced today it has expanded its IntelliNet managed web conferencing services to include four new services: IntelliNet Professional, IntelliNet Telepresence, IntelliNet CallCenter, and IntelliNet Custom. These new services were developed to meet the increasing demand for IVCi’s managed services, and to meet the unique requirements of its customers.

Vice President of Intellient Chris Bottger:

Our clients need their video conference and telepresence calls to run smoothly every single time, but many lack the required in-house resources and expertise to accomplish this. That is why we have expanded our traditional managed video services; to offer a true one stop shop for a full range of video products and services, and to provide total accountability throughout the entire process.”

Companies are responding to changes in the global economy and are choosing video conferencing and online meetings to help them become more efficient, save on travel, and be environmentally responsible. IVCi’s expanded managed web conferencing services helps clients get the most out of their video conferencing investment by guaranteeing video conferences are successful every time.

New features in the IntelliNet update include:

• IntelliNet Professional uses a single process to manage, schedule, and coordinate video calls for online meetings that are planned or on demand. This includes a live video conferencing operator for missed calls, and a powerful engine for placing ad-hoc calls.
• IntelliNet Telepresence is a concierge, 24/7 VNOC service created specifically for telepresence customers. This service provides total management of telepresence solutions, including those manufactured by Cisco®, Tandberg®, and Polycom®.
• IntelliNet CallCenter is designed for call centers and kiosk applications. Many large organizations use video conferencing to reach more customers and reduce the cost per sale, while increasing customer satisfaction. This service can enhance an audio only call center with managed video calls.
• IntelliNet Custom is available for those customers whose needs fall outside of the other offerings. IntelliNet Custom utilizes IVCi’s experience and expertise to provide a customized managed service, depending on the customers’ unique requirements.

Today, Adobe launched its beta version of Acrobat.com. Like rivals Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live, Acrobat.com is a free online collaboration tool that allows users to collaborate online, conduct online meetings, and share documents and media without installing and using traditional office software.

Highlights of the Acrobat.com suite of online applications include Adobe Buzzword, a Web-based word processor that allows users to create and edit documents online and collaborate with others users. Adobe ConnectNow is a Web conferencing service allowing users to video conference, share media and even supports desktop screen sharing. Acrobat.com also allows users the ability to share documents with each other and convert them (up to 5 free) to Adobe’s native .pdf format. All features are based on Adobe AIR technology, which the company developed especially for Web 2.0 apps.

Adobe Vice President of Business Productivity Solutions, Rob Tarkoff:

With rich Internet applications enabled by Adobe, we can combine desktop and cloud computing to create innovative productivity applications that will change the way we create, store and share documents together.”

Adobe compares the shift to sharing documents with Acrobat.com to the same type of shift initiated over a decade ago when users began sharing documents as e-mail attachments instead of on paper.

CoolConferenceLive (CCL) is a simple to use and free web conferencing service (albeit with a terrible name) that provides an instant online meeting between you and other participants. The online tool is still in beta, however it is currently fully operational. The interface is very intuitive, easy to use and allows you to start up a web conference or webcast very quickly.

When you log onto the site, you enter a participant code, given to you by your online meeting host. You fill out a short profile, identifying who you are (you can upload a picture if you want) and just like that, you’re in the online meeting. CCL can present online PowerPoint slides and other documents, however there is currently no white boarding or annotation so it is strictly webcasting. Features include quick ad-hoc polling, chat and whisper (chat with one person in the meeting only). Other unique features include the ability to upload and play an audio (MP3) file and a useful feature called “Notes,” which allows someone in the meeting to take notes and then with one click send them to themselves, to specific people outside the meeting or to all those that attending the meeting.

Created by CEO and motivational speaker Don Straits, CCL was designed to fit his personal needs as a consultant and through that success has expanded to a larger market. CCL’s business model is revenue through ad banners at no cost to the user. For a $300 annual fee subscribers can web conference ad-free. Unlike more robust online presentation services, CCL focuses on the basic online meeting services and makes them easy to use. The tool is built using Flex 3 and Adobe Flash.

This month, telecommunications company Nortel, conducted a survey testing the “hyperconnectivity” of major corporations around the world. Nortel defines a “hyperconnected” company as having:

more devices per capita than the other clusters and more intense use of new communications applications. They liberally use technology devices and applications for both personal and business use.

The survey was comprised of the data and opinions of 2,400 people from 17 countries and studied the ‘connectedness’ of today’s businesses in terms of the use of devices and online applications such as online meetings, webcasts, video conferencing as well as examining the rate of growth and the impact hyperconnectivity has on enterprises.

The results of the survey indicated that 16% of the global information workforce is already hyperconnected, regularly using web conferencing and other online collaboration tools, with 36% considering themselves to be “increasingly connected,” occasionally using video conferencing and web conferencing in lieu of conventional business travel. Of all respondents, 20% claimed their company is currently “passive online” and the remaining 28% are “barebones” users, who are online, but use basic internet and email features only.

Peter Newcombe, president of Nortel:

Companies have to embrace hyperconnectivity. They need to accept that it’s coming, it can’t be stopped. Putting up the shutters will achieve nothing. It’s inevitable that the growth will continue. We already have 80% of people using one mobile phone for business and private use and many are also using one PC.

The survey concludes that companies must be “ready to compete in the emerging war for talent. Tomorrow’s workforce will increasingly expect to work in a hyperconnected communications environment and many will consider this a condition of employment.”