While virtual meetings are unlikely to ever make the real thing obsolete, refinements to existing technology and a whole new array of products are making them a more compelling alternative than ever before.
Of course, there are times when a face-to-face meeting is desirable, perhaps imperative. In the meantime, however, the virtual meeting world is just a few strokes on the computer keyboard away.
Here’s a rundown of some of the virtual options available today.
SIMULATED ENVIRONMENTS
Acrobat Connect Pro Web
Adobe’s Acrobat Connect Pro (www.adobe.com) webconferencing software allows users to conduct meetings from the office or hotel room, enabling everyone to view a PowerPoint presentation, ask questions or talk to other participants.
Altus
Altus (www.altuslearning.com) is YouTube for the meetings world. It captures meetings with a Video-Powered application that incorporates the latest Web 2.0 community capabilities while providing searchable video technology, blogs and wikis. It TiVos meetings and makes them searchable down to the spoken word. Altus says they’ve helped Cisco’s worldwide sales organization save $133 million in travel costs in one year.
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com), from Citrix is a product that provides collaborative meetings for one-to-one or one-to-many with an All You Can Meet pricing foundation that encourages users to conduct as many meetings as they want for any length of time at no additional cost. For webinars for up to 1,000 participants, there is GoToWebinar (www.gotowebinar.com).
Halo Collaboration Studios
More virtual meeting capabilities are available from HP and DreamWorks, creators of Halo Collaboration Studios (www.hp.com/halo/index.html). With life-size high-resolution displays, surround sound and movie-quality cameras, participants work face-to-face and can read body language. There are more than 90 Halo Collaboration Studios across the globe.
RoundTable
The fall 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft RoundTable (www.microsoft.com/uc/products/roundtable.mspx) integrates audio, video and media into a single experience and, through RoundTable, a 360-degree view of participants in a remote setting. When VoIP audio is used, the video monitor will actively switch to the current speaker.
Virtual Events
Unisfair (www.unisfair.com) likens its latest product, Virtual Events, to a combination of WebEx, LinkedIn and Secondlife in providing virtual meetings, trade shows, interactive conferences, seminars, expos, and job fairs. In other words, it combines collaboration, social networking and a virtual environment. The event can take place over a few hours or a few days and be stored for on-demand viewing in the future.
Handling everything from event planning to delivery of post-event reporting, Unisfair’s virtual meetings have the look and feel of a physical event, including images of a grand entranceway, a conference hall for keynote presentations and multiple conference sessions, an exhibition hall with partner and vendor booths, a resource center, and professional networking lounges. Real-time interactivity is fostered among attendees, presenters, panelists, sponsors, and exhibitors through rich multimedia technologies including text, audio, video, and voice.
The Virtual Events product provides detailed analysis of everything the attendees did during the meeting, including which presentations and product demos were watched, which questions were asked, which collateral was collected, and what was discussed.
Vyew
Up to 20 people can gather in a virtual meeting room to use Vyew (www.vyew.com), a Web-based whiteboard. Users can upload and review MS office documents, photos from almost any format and create “vyewbooks” (separate projects). Versions with advertising are free to users. For ad-free customizable versions of the service, subscription prices start as low at $6.95 a month
SATELLITE THEATERS
CineMeetings & Events
For a big-screen presentation at one or multiple locations, CineMeetings & Events (www.cinemeetings.com) offers 14,000 movie theaters at multiplexes throughout the U.S. Along with big screens, stadium seating and high-resolution digital projection and audio, the company offers CineMedia’s Digital Content Network (DCN), the largest digital in-theater network in North America.
All event content broadcast over the DCN is encrypted to protect against piracy, and CineMedia’s technology gives clients the ability to host events such as live satellite broadcasts and Q&A sessions, pre-recorded satellite multicasts, and multisite road shows in standard or high definition.
Whether they are client/employee appreciation events, company meetings, product launches, seminars, or training sessions, events are typically scheduled from Monday through Thursday during off-peak hours when theater attendance is traditionally low. Catering is available and groups can enjoy popcorn and other traditional movie treats. There is also the option of adding a screening of a feature film, sometimes even before the film is available to the public.
Morton’s/Velocity Broadcasting
Velocity Broadcasting (www.velocitybroadcasting.com) has teamed with Morton’s The Steakhouse (www.mortons.com) to provide a means to reach a national or global audience at Morton’s 67 restaurant locations. The digital theaters are hidden in private boardrooms behind the traditionally sophisticated dining environment. Broadcasts of product launches, training programs and business meetings can be done in standard and high-definition formats.
The theaters, which can accommodate groups from 10 to 100 people, offer nine-foot drop-down screens and 7.2 cinema surround sound through 11 high-fidelity speakers. They use 16.9 high-definition project systems, receive satellite reception and can be interactive for real-time question and answer sessions.
“At the touch of a button, there’s surround sound, a nine-foot screen, a satellite dish—it’s a differentiating point for us because no competitors have this,” says Morton’s spokesman Roger Drake, adding that presentations can be sent out via satellite, much like TV broadcasts, to various Morton’s locations around the country. “Companies can enjoy a broadcast wrapped around dinner.”
Organizations that have used the new services available at Morton’s include Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America and Lionsgate Entertainment.
COMMUNICATION SERVICES
Electronic Virtual Assistant
EVA, or electronic virtual assistant, (www.evanow.com/emax) has a new service, E-Max, that allows users to hear and reply to e-mail on their cell phone. Replies get immediately sent back as an audio file, thus allowing busy executives to keep both hands on the wheel when driving or simply to avoid the annoying thumb-typing of e-mail.
Foonz
Foonz (www.foonz.com) is a new conference calling service that allows anyone with a cell phone to instantly get a group of people on the phone to make decisions, confirm plans or share information. To start a call, users just dial in to the Foonz number, and other invitees receive a text message letting them know that they have been invited to a call. The service also allows people to leave messages for a group and monitor who has dialed in to listen to it. The new technology allows for on-the-fly meetings and for quick group calls for planning purposes.
Free Conference Call
When the budget or timing doesn’t allow for virtual meeting options, Free Conferencing Corporation of America (www.freeconferencecall.com) provides conference call services that are ideal for the meetings industry. The high-quality, reservationless conferencing service is easy to use and is used by more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. The all-digital network is built on voice routers instead of analog-based bridges that can be prone to static and other noise.
Glance Networks
Glance Networks’ (www.glance.net) screen sharing/webconferencing technology lets users present complex PowerPoint slides, sales presentations, spreadsheets, and any other vital documents to clients over the Internet as if they were face-to-face. Available for Macs and PCs, it boasts an ease of use that even non-technical people can easily master.
NEC Display Solutions
With products and services available for PCs and Macs, NEC Display Solutions (www.NECDisplay.com) has the first commercially available projectors (NP1150, NP2150 and NP3150) that are compatible with the Vista operating system. Aimed at meetings for large corporations, higher education and government applications, the Windows Network Projector functions within Windows Vista and connects directly to networked projectors without the need for additional proprietary software. Users just connect a USB mouse and keyboard to the projector’s USB input and use the “connect to a network projector” wizard in the Vista system.
QuickCam
When those who don’t want to or can’t deal with high-defintion technology, Logitech’s (www.logitech.com) new QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks webcams enable users to conduct meetings via videoconferencing with crystal clear images. The lenses were designed with Carl Zeiss, an autofocus system that ensures images always remain crisp (even in extreme close-ups), and a 2.0-megapixel sensor that can capture 8.0-megapixel photos. Both webcams record video at up to 30 frames per second, for incredibly sharp video recording and sharing.
Smart Alerts
Passkey (www.passkey.com) now offers Smart Alerts and updates so meeting organizers and venue staff can be notified when registration for an upcoming event reaches a certain level. The notifications can be sent on a regular basis, whether it’s daily, weekly or monthly. This lets everyone know that additional rooms have to be added, or more staff brought on board, or in the case of insufficient response, more promotional materials distributed.
The Smart Alerts program includes an address book, default alerts that are automatically added to each event and an unlimited number of alerts per event going to an unlimited number of recipients.
ThinkTank
ThinkTank from GroupSystems (www.groupsystems.com) allows anonymous and simultaneous entry of brainstorming ideas, whether in the same room or around the world, and quick categorization and ranking of these ideas. It works with Outlook (www.microsoft.com/outlook), Sametime 7.5 (https://prominic.net/web.nsf/pages/sametime) or SharePoint (www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.mspx).
