

Ask HN: WebEx alternatives? - jsdalton

The company I work for (B2B publisher) currently publishes sponsored webinars using WebEx.<p>I'm sitting down today to rework some related code -- and it occurs to me that it is 2010, and I can't believe there are no viable competitors to WebEx (at least for larger presentations, e.g. over 100 people).<p>WebEx continues to be the same bloated, clunky, overpriced, enterprise-y service from 2003. How has no one yet found a way to compete?<p>If anyone has had positive success with another service for large scale events, I'd be so happy if you could share that here.<p>If not, hopefully one of you guys will get inspired to take on a dinosaur that, as far as I know, is continuing to rake in the cash.<p>EDIT: To be clear, I'm specifically curious about webinars as opposed to smaller meetings or presentations. The publisher I work for has produced webinars with over 1,000 participants so the need to scale is paramount. (That said, the need for every participant to be able to participate as in a traditional webinar is actually a bit unnecessary.)
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mscantland
This is a market that is ripe for innovation. The large incumbents are very
expensive and offer an experience that borders on abuse.

My company has about a half-dozen heavy users and we spend more than $300 per
month on this junk. A lighter-weight $20/month solution could do very well I
think. Here would be my feature list:

* Cross-platform HTML5, not a java plugin or Flash

* Cope with multiple screens and very high screen resolutions for presenters (so viewers on crappy hardware don't suffer)

* Simple interface. Nothing but "share screen" and "invite participant." No chat, surveys, hand raising or other cruft.

You would also want to support corporate pricing as a lot of users are at big
cos.

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NEPatriot
I agree with you here. But the only problem is... you need the stomach for the
enterprise sales cycle. Meaning 6-12 months. Anybody looking to jump in should
do lots of homework here and if a willing corporate pre-buyer is there, line
them up and let them pay to build the product. Leveraging their connections
could also be a benefit. What company feels the most pain from this/would pay
for it?

~~~
mscantland
I think the very biggest companies (with hundreds/thousands of users) would
require a long sales cycle, but I would start by ignoring that market since
those companies aren't going to move to this new upstart until it has some
history.

So the bulk of this business probably starts with individual accounts and
small departments/companies (<50 users). This group is making purchase
decisions much like consumers. That group can be sold on the web, and just
needs bulk pricing options to feel good about their purchase decision.

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fjabre
I had the same problem when searching for a WebEx alternative a little while
back. Didn't really find anything viable.

They all seem kind of Fortune 500ish with complicated pricing matrices and
awful looking websites plastered with stock photos of people in suits.

Definitely seems like there's plenty of room for a new entrant to come in and
eat their lunch.

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eli
GotoMeeting is better than WebEx.

Microsoft SharedView isn't terrible for free:
<http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=94>

~~~
jbail
I've never used WebEx, but GoToMeeting is horrible. Their app/plugin re-
downloads EVERY meeting, certain clients of mine behind firewalls can't use
it, etc. They are the perfect example of dinosaur screenshare technology.

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adamilardi
Webex works fine behind firewalls and not. It also lets you use your computer
as a MIC and speaker instead of dialing in. It can also handle large volumes
of people.I've been in some large meetings myself and haven't seen terrible
slowdown. For personal stuff you can use the adobe connect
now(<http://www.adobe.com/acom/connectnow/>). It's free for 3 people and
pretty darn good. It's got 3 way webcam. That way you can see when someone is
sleeping. Skype will let you screen share with one person.

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rgrieselhuber
It does far less but for simple screen sharing and confereces, Skype's free
service has worked beautifully for small meetings, though I know you're
looking for something that supports bigger audiences.

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noodle
<http://gotomeeting.com>

~~~
huhtenberg
Does it really scale to 100 participants?

~~~
brk
Yes, and beyond.

I just did a joint webinar with 100 attendees over my Verizon USB dongle on
GTM. Worked great.

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cpr
Doesn't Acrobat Connect scale that far? I don't know off-hand.

~~~
MichaelGG
[http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/webconferenc...](http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/webconferencing/marketingsales.html)

According to this, it supports up to 80,000 participants.

Having looked around for a similar product, Adobe Connect Pro seems the
smoothest so far. The Flash/Air install is fast and easy. I'm not completely
in love with how the window ("pod") management works, but it's not the
horrible suck that is WebEx.

Microsoft LiveMeeting is so so (better than WebEx IMO), supports hundreds of
users, and is very cheap. But, it requires a big Windows client. Their Java
client is lacking basic features, like VoIP.

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jenn5500
If you don't need video and is looking for a similar hosted solution like
WebEx, I say go with GoToWebinar. They can support larger groups, even up to
1,000.

If performance has been an issue in the past, maybe you should consider self-
hosted products. Since its on-premise, you'll have more control over it. A
good one is RHUB (<http://www.rhubcom.com>).

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spiretop
AT&T Connect is the best I've used

[http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Service/unified-
commu...](http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Service/unified-
communications-enterprise/conferencing-services-enterprise/web-conferencing-
enterprise/)

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nreece
Checkout a list of many more alternatives at
[http://vzhai.blogspot.com/2010/06/30-amazing-remote-
desktop-...](http://vzhai.blogspot.com/2010/06/30-amazing-remote-desktop-
sharing-and.html)

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jakecarpenter
It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it is open source so you
might be able to bend it to your will: Big Blue Button
(<http://bigbluebutton.org/>)

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jeffepp
<http://dimdim.com>

~~~
thorax
Quite clunky, but I've used it a lot-- hard to beat "free".

For pay versions, I have to second GoToMeeting-- it's pretty solid.

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biznickman
Check out <https://www.readytalk.com/> ... I used it this morning and it was
great.

~~~
sanderjd
I was hoping someone would mention ReadyTalk - I worked there a few years ago
and can attest that they are very focused on user experience and personalized
support and training, and have been building a really strong webinar offering.
Give them a shot!

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ignu
logmein is the best by far for 1 on 1.

logmein pro only lets you share one screen... but it does it perfectly.
invaluable for pairing.

logmeinexpress is free and better quality than dimdim

<https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/express/Default.aspx>

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izak30
I haven't had an event that size, but DimDim seems to be fairly strong, and a
'free' service in most respects.

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jason_slack
Check out vsee.com

They are pretty awesome and in my experience better than WebEx and
GotoMeeting.

