Yamaha launches their PSG-01S Microphone Speaker for Skype to be sold via the In Store Solutions shop on the Skype Store.

During my recent European trip I had my first ever encounter, after several decades of traveling on Air Canada, with their baggage scales and new weight limits: 23 kg per checked luggage piece and 10 kg per carry-on item. As a result my wife and I had to reorganize our luggage at the airport to comply with these limits. Given that I would also be on RyanAir for a couple of trips while in Europe – with 15 kg checked baggage and 10 kg carry-on limits, it made me much more conscious of what I would be carrying in my laptop briefcase. Out went the spare battery (Air Canada has laptop power outlets at the seats); I was also reduced to carrying one book along with my laptop. If I want a printer while traveling I can simply fax a document to the hotel fax using PamFax. So when it comes to adding complementary devices for a laptop, such as a device to support audio, I look at not only the feature set but also the weight and “bulk”.

Prior to my trip on RyanAir to eComm Europe in Amsterdam I was given a Yamaha SoundGadget USB Microphone Speaker to determine where I could find user experiences that facilitated my business travel; in addition I arranged to have several units sent out to bloggers for their feedback over the past couple of weeks.

So why would one want this audio device in a market that has many speakerphone offerings?

It’s the combination of size and feature set. It’s not “just a speakerphone”. At about 200 grams in a very portable 12 cm x 4 cm x 5 cm package, the recently released Yamaha USB Microphone Speaker is a personal microphone/speakerphone combination that allows one to combine Skype calling, wideband audio recording and music or podcast listening into a compact, yet feature rich, device. Some of the other features on which feedback came:

• Sound quality: supporting a 300 Hz to 20KHz audio bandwidth for both local (voice and music) recording and listening, the sound quality in such a small size package was the first feature always commented on. While it’s definitely not the boom box that one would have at home, the consensus appears to be that, for its size, sound quality is excellent for voice calls and listening to music or podcasts in a hotel room or small office environment.
• Skype calling: With its Skype client that supports all three of Windows XP/Vista/7, one can use the buttons on the device to answer and end calls as well as manage the speakerphone volume. To date it appears to be the only Skype speakerphone that has the appropriate client for all three versions of Windows and, in particular, Windows 7. (And yes, while the Mac will recognize it as an audio device for Skype calls, a request has been made to Yamaha for a Mac client that would achieve full integration with Skype.)
  • Note, for audio quality purposes, that the microphone supports Skype calling up to 7Khz – sufficient to take advantage of Skype’s wideband SILK codec feature; however, this limitation is removed for “local” voice or music recording.
• 360 degree “around-the-table” pickup: unique in a Microphone Speaker is its four microphone array on the top complemented by the internal echo cancellation and background noise reduction firmware. As a result several people can be positioned, say, around a small office table and all parties heard equally well instead of having everyone facing the device from one side.
• Tilt for (stereo) listening: while vertical it supports Skype calling and recording in mono mode; tilt it to a horizontal position and the two speakers go into a stereo mode for listening. Not much physical separation but then I see a lot of iPod devices out there where the two speakers are combined into one unit.

My experience: it came in very handy during my trip, for instance, my wife and I could participate in calls back home together while sitting across a table; in one case, it was beneficial where a person in the room only spoke Spanish but I had a translator as the called party. When horizontal, it came in handy in my lodging as a speaker for the iTunes media player on my laptop – much better audio quality than the embedded laptop speakers.

As a result, it appears to be the ideal complement to the laptop for road warriors and for use in a personal office. And it could be considered as a holiday gift for the laptop addict amongst your family members or colleagues.

However, as outlined in the full disclosure below, I am probably considered to be a bit biased, although I did a fair bit of research on speakerphones in coming up with this post. I will either add to the end of this post or, in a couple of weeks, put up a post pointing to blogger and Twitter feedback. Update: as I wrote this, the first blogger feedback has appeared from Jonathan Jensen on “The Really Mobile Project”.

But the real test comes if users have a chance to experience it and use it for themselves; perceived audio quality tends to be a very personal experience. So here’s the deal: Normally priced at US$219/£199/€199 – including delivery and VAT/Sales taxes, until December 31, 2009 pricing has been reduced to US$199.90/£179.90/€179.90 – including delivery and VAT/sales taxes. It’s available at any of the Skype Stores that Yamaha has shown on their website for this product. And where’s the value-add? Being able to take advantage of the inherent audio enhancement feature set while traveling, but not paying those €20 per kilogram overweight charges on RyanAir or €5 per kg on Lufthansa.

But you also need assurance that you will have a positive and satisfying personal experience with it. Should you buy the Yamaha SoundGadget USB Microphone Speaker during this promotional period and then decide – for any reason, “no questions asked” – that this device does not meet your expectations, simply return it to In Store Solutions, shipping prepaid, by January 31 and a full credit will be issued. The timing on this return policy is such that you can gift it to a family member, friend or business colleague during this holiday season and still give them enough time to decide if they like it.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

Related articles by Zemanta

• In Store Solutions: Building Worldwide Distribution for Skype Hardware (voiceontheweb.biz)
• eComm Europe 2009: Taking You to the Bleeding Edge (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Geeky Podcasting Mike Avidly Absorbs Audio (wired.com)
• B&W announces headphones, computer speakers (macworld.com)

Columnist David Pogue in a New York Time article reviewing Skype 4.0 starts with the AT&T video phone demonstrated at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and user experience from then. Not a lot of calls due to technical and psychological issues. He talks about why Skype has been so widely accepted (did he remind us it was “free”?) and why Skype has been a survivor when up against iChat, MSN Messenger, SightSpeed and others.

He goes on to mention several issues that have inhibited video calling in the past but then says:

The video quality still varies when you use Skype. Fast Internet connections and fast computers still work better than slow ones. But if you do have a good setup — wow. With certain Logitech or Philips webcam models, Skype 4.0 can deliver a picture that’s as big and sharp and smooth as a TV picture (30 frames a second, 640 by 480 pixels), with almost no delay.

In my test calls to friends in California, New York and Virginia, we were amazed at what a difference it makes when the delay goes away. (Maybe, for its next trick, Skype can lend its technology to the world’s cellphone carriers.)

He then went on to make calls using iChat, ooVoo and SightSpeed: “None of them matched Skype’s immediacy or video and audio quality.” He discusses Skype’s new level of audio quality (with the SILK codec) and reduced network bandwidth speed requirement. He mentions some features that he would still like to see and mentions what differentiates services such as SightSpeed. His closing comment places Skype video calling into a historical perspective:

….. Will we one day adjust to the idea of being on camera every time someone calls?

Nah.

In the end, video chatting isn’t a replacement for phone calls, but a supplement to them, a perfect way to check out someone’s new place, check in with distant family and friends or show off a new talent (or baby). They saw the possibilities back in 1964 — they just didn’t realize that we wouldn’t always want to use them.

Go read David’s post (free registration may be required); it’s an excellent yet objective review of the personal video calling space from the end user perspective. I guess David doesn’t watch Oprah; she seems to be using Skype High Quality Video almost daily according to reports from my wife.

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Gerry Blackwell at VoIP Planet recently reviewed Yugma where he entitled it CoIP (Collaboration over IP):

Is there room in the market for yet another Web-based collaboration service? After all, we already have WebEx and GoToMeeting, among others. Yugma Inc., a Minneapolis company that recently launched version 3 of its collaboration software, thinks the answer is Yes.

We tested the service recently and came away frustrated initially, but in the end reasonably impressed.

The Yugma service lets session leaders invite participants to a Web conference—including non-registered users who have not downloaded client software. Participants can then view and interact with a presenter’s desktop or with a single application program on his system.

Yugma provides a free audio conference bridge—you pay only long distance charges—and offers as well a version integrated (though not 100 percent) with Skype. Client software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Read the full review here. It appears that he tested it during a period in April when Yugma was still addressing some Version 3 access and stability issues. Using Yugma yesterday for a three-party session where two parties were totally non-technical, I found that the participant access process had improved significantly. Once into a Yugma Version 3 session I have always found the desktop sharing to become very transparent to the meeting topic at hand and to perform quite well with respect to following changes from the shared desktop.

Last fall I reviewed Convenos Meeting Center, positioning it as “Your Conference Board Room on the Internet”:

Convenos Meeting Center is a complete conference sharing collaborative environment suitable for both ad hoc and scheduled meetings as well as a virtual meeting room for “persistent”, project-dedicated business activities such as key account sales strategizing or product management support.

I mentioned, however, that one shortcoming was that its Application Sharing was sluggish and found that Convenos only officially supported Internet Explorer as its platform. Last month Convenos released an upgrade that:

• has “lightning-fast” Application Sharing
• supports Firefox as a browser platform
• is Microsoft Vista tolerant (sessions have been known to run successfully on Vista platforms; they just are not sure they have found all the “gotchas”.)
• reduces installation time by about 50%
• provides enhanced Outlook support for scheduling meetings

I did some basic application sharing tests this week and can report that the Application Sharing is very fast — even transmitting some video (but not audio) from the PGA Tour site. Convenos incorporated a “mirror server” into their collaboration architecture to accomplish this.

As a default Firefox browser user, login to, and operation of, my ongoing “Test” Convenos Meeting Room worked just fine. One of the Convenos support staff, who served as another meeting participant during my trial session mentioned above, related a CMC experience where he did not realize two of the participants were on Vista until they mentioned it well into the session. On the other hand they want to do further testing before claiming full Vista compatibility.

If you are currently a Convenos user the upgrade will be offered automatically when you next log into your Convenos subscription. Should you encounter any difficulties with this route, then simply Uninstall your previous installation, reboot your PC and log back, you will have a successful upgrade. The end result performance is definitely worth taking the time to upgrade.

Convenos can be accessed either as an independent browser-based Windows application or as a Skype Extra as a complement to Skype conversations. The Convenos Meeting Center Extra, which recently received Skype certification, provides a complete “instant meeting” Convenos web conferencing mode which incorporates the upgraded Application Sharing . .

And in the same April Convenos newsletter, they remind of the “Green” benefit of collaboration in addition to the well-known cost and productivity benefits:

Did you know that aviation is the world’s fastest growing man-made source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is a major contributor to global warming? Per PlanetArk, 16,000 commercial airplanes release 600 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. A recent survey conducted by a leading unified communications consultancy group revealed that 70% of organizations surveyed rated “reducing organizational carbon footprints” as a key driver in their decision to invest in web conferencing and collaboration.

In these times of rapidly rising fuel prices, one more consideration for using collaboration tools.

One unique aspect of Skype is its very “fluid” or simple approach to adding a another contact to a Skype call to build a conference call. Select “Add a Caller”, select the contact to be added (or enter a phone number, if on SkypeOut), click “OK” and the caller is added. I find I am having more frequent multi-party calls as a result of this simplicity of establishing conference calls for up to 10 participants.

In the past web collaboration has been associated with structured meetings, involving scheduling, emailing invitations and other activities just to set up a desktop sharing session. But a “fluid collaboration” (YouTube video) approach – that allows users to spontaneously escalate conversations from voice and text to incorporate desktop sharing, persistent file sharing and whiteboarding – provides a more intuitive ad hoc process. Yugma’s Web Collaboration for desktop sharing has an architecture that has taken this approach.

Another user consideration: The increased acceptance of both Mac (a record 2.1 million sold in the fiscal 2007 fourth quarter) and Linux (especially Ubuntu) platforms in the market a has led to rising demand for Skype Extras that run on these platforms. A good place to start is a desktop sharing application that is effectively agnostic to the operating system and runs seamlessly in cross-platform scenarios.

Yugma, who has been providing desktop sharing services for a couple of years, recently released a version 3 upgrade to its Yugma Skype Edition, Once installed on a Windows platform simply go to Tools | Do More in the Skype for Windows client and “YugmaSE Team Collaboration” will appear on the drop-down list; on the Mac, install Yugma from the Yugma website and then simply start Yugma Skype. Currently Linux participants can view a session but not host one.

Initiating a session: Once Yugma Skype has been installed via the Skype Extras menu, the ad hoc launch process involves:

• launching the host’s Yugma Skype client via Skype’s Tools | Do More menu¹
• inviting the participants available as Skype Contacts via an “Invite Participants” window which sends a Skype chat message with the URL,
• inviting participants who are not Skype contacts via email address entry from the same window; the resulting email, containing a link, should arrive within a couple of minutes of sending; and
• letting the Yugma Skype client download onto the remote participants’ PC’s and install (if this is the first Yugma Skype session on the PC)¹

Operations: The basic Yugma Skype Toolbar provides an overview of several features:

• Begin Sharing: launches the sharing of your own desktop
• The “mouse” desktop icon controls mouse and keyboard sharing with other participants in the session.
• The mannequin image icon allows you, as the host, to change the presenter who would then share his/her desktop.
• The “page” icon launches a file sharing client.
• The crossed sticks icon opens up a drawing toolbar to provide annotation
• The circle starts session recording
• The right arrow commences playback of a recording
• The double circle allows you to upload a recorded file to your PC
• The matrix image launches the session scheduling website page for those events when you require scheduled collaboration..

The Session

The session above is a shared Mac desktop being viewed on my Windows XP Professional laptop.

The host has various options as represented by the toolbar shown above with additional options in the Action drop down menu shown on the right. Usually the host would “Begin Sharing” simply to ensure the connectivity with other parties is there. At that point the host can continue sharing or change the presenter to one of the other participants. Other options in the toolbar are described above. One should note:

• Users must set up the voice conferencing independently using any of the voice services shown below.
• Participants can be invited in either an active sharing mode or a passive viewing only mode.The host would also need to add them to the voice conference call. Only “active sharing” participants are able to share their desktops – when invited by a host on a Professional account.
• Underneath the bandwidth indicator and to the right of the Session ID number is a Click-to-Copy button with three options as shown. Very handy for launching spontaneous, ad hoc sharing sessions when in a Skype conversation.
• Changing presenters, sharing desktop controls, session recording, scheduling and shared file space require one of the Professional accounts beyond a 15-day trial period.
• Yugma Skype will share either the entire desktop or one selected application. Presenters should make sure their screen is not showing any confidential information.
• The “Shared File Space” client provides a “persistent” shared file space where up to 100 MB of “sharable” files may be stored for retrieval either during a session or later. The host has access to his/her Shared File Space even if there are no other participants in a session.
• Persistent Meeting mode: you can leave a meeting open for various participants to join by keeping the same Meeting ID and communicating it to parties with whom you want to do desktop sharing in the normal course of your activities. The host can also “dismiss” participants at will.
• In the upper right corner of the client is a bandwidth indicator; it should be at least two bars strong to have a continuously reliable sharing session.

In our tests, involving two parties, we found that changes on the screen, such as text chat entries and changing the focus window, were transmitted quite rapidly; only the live video of the Skype call could not keep pace with the video movement. Remote display quality is excellent; while normally it will default to an optimum size on a remote PC there is an option to adjust the remote viewer size (File | Settings) for best viewing.

I have found the combination of Yugma Web Collaboration and Skype’s conference calling algorithm make it a very easy process to set up a small training session, to present a personalized product demonstration or to incorporate desktop sharing into a customer support call. If you are in a Skype call and have a persistent meeting implemented, along with a Skype chat session running, it’s as simple as restoring the Yugma client, Copy a URL via the click-to-copy button and Paste the resulting URL into the chat window. The other party(ies) then click on the URL to access the session.

The essentials:

• Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS/X 10.3 or higher, Linux; also requires Java 1.5 or later.
  • If the user does not have Java installed – often the case for Vista installations, a Yugma-specific Java client is included in the Yugma Skype installation¹.
• Yugma Skype runs on its own (Java) client; however, there is interaction with the web browser; either IE 6 or 7 or Firefox 2.0, as well as the Safari browser on the Mac.
• Meeting Types: Instant, Scheduled, Recurring (through persistent meeting ID)
  • Invite participants via a Skype contact list and email to non-Skype participants
• Packages:
  • Free: (“Personal”) 10 participants plus host; basic desktop sharing, instant sessions only; website support only; sponsor advertisements.
  • Professional: 10, 30, 100, 500 participants: $9.95/month, $29.95/month, $69.95/month, $89.95/month respectively. Adds “change presenter”, remote participant mouse and keyboard controls, session scheduling, web session recording and playback, shared file space. Webinar features on 100, 500 participant packages. Enhanced support via email, phone and web.
  • A 15-day free Professional 10 trial is available to test the service.
• Voice services:
  • Currently voice operates independently of the Yugma Skype client; conference hosts have several options for setting up a conference call:
  • Skype’s inherent conference call feature (up to 10 participants via either Skype or SkypeOut);
  • and three low cost extended conferencing services (long distance charges may apply)
    • Yugma’s Free Teleconferencing service: call into +1-605-475-4261; long distance charges may apply.
    • HighSpeedConferencing (up to 500 participants on either Skype or landline/mobile phones) with HD Voice for Skype participants.
    • iotum’s FreeConferenceCall service (an optional Facebook application – not supported by Yugma)
  • as Yugma’s desktop sharing is almost totally independent of the voice service, you can also use other VoIP or PSTN conferencing services. However, with Skype there is ready access to Skype contacts for chat and other Skype features
• Private (as disclosed by host’s sharing the session ID through individual invitations);
• Public via a Widget button or, for Professional 100 and 500 subscribers, the Yugma Webinar feature.
• Capacity: up to 500 participants
• Web Session Recording (Professional subscription required)
• Access: via Skype Extras (Tools | Do More – Windows only), Skype Extras website (Windows and Mac) or from Yugma’s website (Windows and Mac editions).

Positioning: Yugma Skype is unique for its cross platform desktop sharing capability and providing a free basic desktop sharing service that can have as many as ten participants in a desktop sharing session. Session recording, whiteboarding and file sharing options make it a more feature rich platform. Operation of desktop sharing sessions has always been quite smooth, with rapid refreshes, and transparent to the platform itself provided there is adequate bandwidth on the Internet connection; this is where the bandwidth indicator has been a valuable aid.

Strengths:

• Cross platform desktop sharing (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Free basic desktop sharing for host + 10 participants
• Rapid remote viewing updates from shared desktop
• Rapidly switch presenters (shared desktop)
• Choice of interactive (Sharing) or passive (Viewer) modes for remote participants
• Several voice conferencing options
• Display versatility: options to resize the remote desktop viewing window
• Web session recording
• Connection strength indicator

Weaknesses:

• Needs the ability to include voice conference information within the desktop sharing invitations
• Lacks tight integration of Skype voice channel to voice conferencing options
• Lack of Outlook integration for email invitations

Other posts in this series on collaboration tools:

• Desktop Collaboration: Ten Years Later – The Skype Impact
• Desktop Collaboration: The Skype Ecosystem Expands
• Convenos Meeting Center: Your Conference Board Room on the Internet

¹Windows Vista users may encounter several “permission” windows during installation as explained in Alec Saunders post about “Sun’s Tactical Error on Java”. This may change with Windows Vista SP1.

Tags: Skype, YugmaSkype, Yugma, Skype Extras, HighSpeedConferencing, iotum, FreeConferenceCall, desktop sharing, Skype Conference

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When looking at Convenos, think of entering your conference or board room and encountering the audio-visual devices within that room: a slide projector, a whiteboard, a video monitor and probably a display adapter with screen. In essence Convenos Meeting Center moves that board room to the Internet, even to the point where you can enter and leave the board room at will and re-enter to find all your shared content just as you left them previously. Convenos Meeting Center is a complete conference sharing collaborative environment suitable for both ad hoc and scheduled meetings as well as a virtual meeting room for “persistent”, project-dedicated business activities such as key account sales strategizing or product management support. Perhaps the best indicator of its effectiveness is that Convenos Meeting Center is being adopted by enterprises requiring up to three figure numbers of licenses.

Sharing Modes: The essence of Convenos is demonstrated in their tab bar’s titles:

• Slides: A full presentation slide manager (PowerPoint, PDF and MS Office files, etc.)
• Web: Cobrowsing (sharing links) of web pages
• Draw: A virtual whiteboard with the usual annotation capabilities
• Media: embedded Windows Media Player for full motion video sharing
• AppShare: an application sharing environment for either your full desktop or one individual desktop application window

In addition to displaying the five basic services, the Convenos Meeting Center session displays sidebars that facilitate and support management of the meeting:

The left sidebar includes single click access to shared content (such as presentations and documents formatted for sharing in the Slide tab, Bookmarks for display in the Web Tab or videos to show in the Media tab), listing of logged in users and a text chat service. The right hand sidebar includes Meeting Information (Name, Type, Host, etc.), Polls, Attendees (all who are authorized to attend the meeting and their status), a Notepad and a File Share window for files that you wish to allow all meeting participants to download.

The essentials:

• Convenos runs inside an Microsoft Internet Explorer browser ((IE 6 or later). However, although not supported by Convenos, I was also able to operate the Convenos Meeting Center environment in a Firefox browser tab when using the Firefox IE Tab extension. And, since it uses Internet Explorer and associated technologies, it requires Windows 2000/XP/Vista platforms. Update May 2008: April 2008 upgrade now includes Firefox 2.0 support.
• Meeting Types: Scheduled, Recurring (say, weekly), Ongoing (persistent) and Instant
• Packages: Standard (up to 20 participants, 25GB storage, $30/license/month); Professional (up to 99 participants, 100GB storage, $100/license/month)
• Voice services: Skype (up to 10 participants); HighSpeedConferencing (up to 99 participants) or a host-defined option
• Private and Open (Public) Meetings
• Capacity: 99 participants except when doing Application Sharing – 25 participants
• Access: via Skype Extras: Tools | Do More | Get Extras | Business or download from Convenos website.

Setup and Operation

There are three options for setting up a Convenos Meeting: Web-based, Outlook or as a Skype Extra. While the first two are more appropriate for Scheduled, Recurring and Ongoing meetings; the latter is more appropriate for, and limited to, Instant Meetings. All three options have a one-time free 14-day trial period after which subscription charges apply.

Outlook: This is probably the most general approach with easiest setup of scheduled, recurring and ongoing meetings since it links into your Outlook Contacts and Calendar. Install the Convenos Outlook plug-in, click on the Schedule Meeting or Instant Meeting button, fill in the meeting information, select participants from your Outlook Contacts and send the email invitations. Click on the link to enter the meeting; as the email is received it automatically gets added to Outlook Calendars of all the participants. Any meeting scheduled from the Outlook plug-in will default to using Skype for the voice service; this can be changed by going to My Convenos described below.

Web-based: Convenos is managed through a My Convenos host management session in IE. The three primary categories are Meetings (Enter/Create/Start Instant Meeting), Setup (My Profile, Preferences, Edit Instant Meeting, Purchase and Downloads) and Assistance (Help, Support). Creation of a meeting involves multiple steps including:

• Meeting information: Title, Description, Type, Schedule Information (for Scheduled and Recurring Meetings)
• Meeting Options: Open or Private, Hide Attendees Information, Server Location
• Audio Options: Skype only, Mixed VoIP, landline and mobile (HighSpeedConferencing) or host-defined audio
• Invite Attendees: via email address or from Convenos Contact list, set Attendees’ privileges: (Guest, Participant, Speaker, Recorder)

Skype integration via this option largely consists of automatically bringing Skype users into the voice conversation when they enter the meeting. During any registration session you are asked to enter your Skype Name (but not password) such that when Convenos detects you are entering a meeting it also brings you into the Skype conference call session.

One shortcoming here is the lack of integration with Skype Contacts where one could select a Skype Contact for an invitation and send the invitation via Skype IM (in a manner similar to how the Convenos Skype Extra works).

Actual operation involves the Host entering the meeting from his/her My Convenos while participants can enter from a link in the email (or if they are already a Convenos Contact, from their “My Convenos”). An initial ActiveX client download (~1.5 MB) is required; for Private meetings, non-registered contacts are required to fill in some contact information to register with Convenos. However, given this is an enterprise tool, these operations, once completed, are not repeated, yet they maintain an appropriate element of privacy and security for Convenos sessions. (For Open meetings a one-time participant ID and Skype Name, if appropriate, are all that are requested.)

The Instant Meeting set up via MyConvenos jumps to the Attendee screen from which you can invite contacts. Not quite as spontaneous as inviting contacts via the Convenos Outlook plug-in or directly out of a Skype user’s Contact List, such as with the Convenos Skype Extra, unless the invitee has previously registered with Convenos.

One key area for consideration is how a sharing environment displays across disparate screen sizes of the various participants. Convenos handles this by placing their session in an Internet Explorer window which can be resized in the normal Windows manner. Optionally the sidebars can be hidden to create an even larger display space.

Content for the Slide Tab is generated by a Convenos print driver that converts (“prints”) any file format to a jpg file which can then be viewed in the Slide Tab. As a result slide shows can comprise PowerPoint, PDF, Word, Excel, MS Project or any other printable document; however, they cannot be edited within the Slide tab.

Cobrowsing essentially consists of sharing URL’s to be viewing the same page and, while it will track mouse and keyboard activity, it does not allow any interactivity such as sharing entry of form data (such as Comments to Skype Journal). In practice this is a security feature to prevent unauthorized purchases and access to other personal/confidential activity. When watching a YouTube video each participant must actually start the video and the audio stream comes from each individual’s web browser. (The WEB tab essentially embeds an IE session into the Convenos session.) To share interactivity such as form entry, you must share an IE session under the Application Sharing tab.

A unique feature of the cobrowser, whiteboard (DRAW) and Media Player is the content in these tabs can be captured and transferred to the Slide Tab’s documents for viewing as a slide.

The Media Tab, which supports any video format supported by Windows Media Player including MPEG 4, has seen increased use with the evolution of user generated video content, especially for training and customer support videos.

The one weak area is desktop sharing on two counts:

1. There are only options to share either the full Desktop or one individual application (window) but not multiple selected application windows.
2. In several sessions we found the refresh/update rate to be sluggish. Fast enough to be usable; however, not “snappy”. Update May, 2008; this issue has been addressed.

One major strength of Convenos is the “persistence” of Ongoing Meetings: you can leave the meeting and come back several days later and find the “state” of the meeting has not changed (unless others with appropriate privileges have entered and made some changes). All your documents are there; you are back at the last slide viewed in the Slides tab, the last web page viewed in the cobrowser and the most recent markup of the whiteboard.

Convenos Skype Extra (Instant Meeting): The Convenos Skype Extra is installed via the Tools | Do More | Get Extras | Business path from the Skype for Windows client. Upon installing you are asked to enter your Convenos registration information (email, password) and a Skype Contact window will appear from which you can select names for an Instant Meeting session. Click on Start and meeting information, including a link URL, will go out via Skype Chat windows to each participant.

Subsequently, right click on a Skype Contact’s Name, select DoMore and Convenos Meeting Center. The Skype Contact Window mentioned above appears again with the Contact’s name as the first person to be included in a Convenos session. Click on Start and meeting information, including a link URL, will go out via Chat windows to the designated Contact(s). Basically, four clicks and you are launching a Convenos Instant Meeting session.

Positioning: Ideally suited as an enterprise team building and bonding tool, especially when team members are geographically disbursed. A complete suite of hosted tools for customer presentations, sales and support training, project management infrastructure, recurring team meetings and document sharing.

Strengths:

• A complete conference room environment suitable for enterprise team collaboration and external presentations
• Rapidly switch amongst the various sharing modes
• Persistence: ongoing meetings to support enterprise or special interest community projects
• Voice options: while Skype is there, can be expanded to allow other options for >10 participant sessions; infrastructure inherently provides backup in the case of a specific service’s outage or capacity limitations
• Display versatility: total scaling within the limitations of a participant’s screen size and resolution.
• Skype and Outlook integration
• Full motion video sharing
• Much more user friendly, intuitive user interface and less costly than Webex
• A feature compatible, Skype-enabled alternative to GoToMeeting
• On-the-fly polling to spontaneously develop consensus amongst participants
• Could use a designated coordinator but requires no assigned IT support
• Includes hosted storage of commonly shared and accessed content

Weaknesses:

• Limitations on application sharing (sluggish, options for sharing applications)
• Mildly cumbersome for setting up Instant Meetings from My Convenos manager.
• Flash or QuickTime support comes only via the “Web” mode using the relevant inherent IE plug-ins

May 2008 Update: April 2008 upgrade provides “lightning-fast” application sharing, Firefox 2.0 support and works with many Microsoft Vista installations.