Dimdim... odd name...great product!
| posted by Stephen L RoseI have been a huge fan of FreeConference.com for quite a while now. Making it another tool in my arsnel has become a great way to increase communication while lowering costs.
What has been missing is a "Live Meeting/Centra" type product of the same caliber, that is free as well. Well, I finally got my wish. Dimdim.com.
Dimdim is a free web conferencing service where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate, chat, talk and broadcast via webcam with absolutely no download required for attendees.
It is available in a free open source version and in a commercial enterprise edition which is capable of supporting thousands of attendees. These versions are available in both an onsite version (you host locally on your own server) and hosted (Dimdim hosted) configuration.
The main features:
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Built In VoIP capability
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Free version supports up to 20 users
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Supports PPT and PDF files for presentations
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Video Share Support
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Private Chat
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Annotations and Markup Tools
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Outlook and iCal Integration
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Shared Whiteboard
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Screen Share.
They are working on a Linux/Mac supported version as well as a Recording and Archiving feature as well. They should be available sometime this summer.
Downsides?
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The free version has ads and does not support corporate branding. If you would like to upgrade to a non ad/branded version, the cost for 20 user seats, unlimited use is only $99 a year. Considering Microsoft's live meeting costs over $800.00 for 15 users per month, this a excellent value.
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No application share. This is a feature I recommend they work on for future versions.
Visit them at www.dimdim.com