…your business is part of the education industry. Whether it’s a class or tutoring session or something else entirely, there is no other webinar software out there that can compare to Blackboard Collaborate when it comes to learning. The live whiteboard means that your students can get personalized, written examples — not just typed. You could do online office hours, for instance, or even hold class entirely within the webinar software. Some universities use Blackboard Collaborate as their online LMS, which indicates its stability. Basically, if you’re in education (and can afford it), Blackboard is the right fit. That said, the price can be high, and is generally tailored to your needs.
Collaborate is getting ready to shift to a very different interface in the coming month. They bought another webinar company that runs completely in the browser. If you are looking into a near in the future purchase, wait a bit until they get some resources out there for you to understand what the new version will have in the way of features or to get a head start on training. It may be very different than what is in the current version.
…you are already an Adobe user and want to stay within that software ecosystem. Like Cisco in telecomm, Adobe has a reputation for premium software. Connect is no different. If you use Photoshop or Illustrator or any of their other software, you will feel right at home with their webinar software. If you really need data, analytics, and the ability for small-group presentations outside of your primary webinar, Connect is where to go. It’s incredibly feature-rich and maybe near the top of the list, but it’s not for those with small budgets, either.
Great article! But a little on overwhelm right now as to all the possibilities. I had a bad experience with a company called Big Marker when my webinar registrants couldn’t log in easily and other quirks that had me to ultimately have to cancel. Glad to see they weren’t listed. However, reading that none of the platforms are 100% has me a little squeamish about choosing another company that I can trust their reliability.
I’ve never used the process you have described to scan documents, but will have give it a try. I have two flatbed scanners and use the HP scan software. However, when away from my office I use an iPhone app called “DocSanner”. It uses the iPhone camera. Once the image of the document, or sunset, etc. is captured you can crop, change dark/light settings, or rotate. Once complete you have the options to email as PDF or JPEG. You can upload to Dropbox, Evernote, eFax or HP eprint. You can even add a signature. The app also has an OCR option. Not bad for a free app!!
MaestroConference is the company that I have found that has a platform that allows me to transform a whole brain in-person event into a virtual one. Unfortunately, the regular webinar companies just don’t have the functionality. MaestroConference has tools like breakout groups, hand raising, polling, microphone control (so you can mute people with background noise), and RSVPs with email reminders.
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…you run a small business. Some folks don’t want their business to use services like Google Hangouts or Skype as webinar software for fear of looking unprofessional (it is generally not seen that way, though). In those cases, a free option like AnyMeeting should definitely be a contender. With their focus on small businesses, you can lift your brand up for little effort or money. With phone support and mobile friendliness, your users can engage you directly from wherever they are. Or wherever you are.
Hi Nathan, I’ve recently come across a company called workcast. They genuinely seem to have everything and unlike the others, don’t cap attendee numbers or add costs onto it on the sly! gotowebinar like you say is clunky and just a bit basic really, workcast took the branding guidelines we gave them and created a really nice looking auditiorium for our webinar, which incidentally was very highly commented on by our attendees. maybe one to look at?
On24 claims to be webinar software designed for marketers and includes features to increase engagement like surveys and group chat. No software download is required for attendees. On24 also offers on demand webinars and a custom gateway that you can use to continue to promote recorded webinars. On24 appears to be an enterprise level webinar solution with a high price tag, according to forum comments like this one.
Ian Atkins is a writer and general manager of the Finance team at Fit Small Business. Before leading the finance team, he was the managing editor focusing on finance and real estate investing. He brings over 9 years of experience in personal finance and small business lending spaces. As a manager, he works with his team of writers to put the most relevant and up-to-date finance information in the hands of small business owners.
…engagement is high on your priority list. If you are looking for webinar software that allows for the highest engagement and social sharing, ReadyTalk is one to keep an eye on. With calendar scheduling, follow-up emails, built-in social promotion, ReadyTalk is all about getting the word out about your webinars. With the customized branding, too, you can really be your brand and make your webinars exude your personality.
…your business is part of the education industry. Whether it’s a class or tutoring session or something else entirely, there is no other webinar software out there that can compare to Blackboard Collaborate when it comes to learning. The live whiteboard means that your students can get personalized, written examples — not just typed. You could do online office hours, for instance, or even hold class entirely within the webinar software. Some universities use Blackboard Collaborate as their online LMS, which indicates its stability. Basically, if you’re in education (and can afford it), Blackboard is the right fit. That said, the price can be high, and is generally tailored to your needs.
R-Hub (Real time collaboration hub) is software you can download to host webinars and video conferencing. The software has no monthly recurring costs and is a one time purchase, making it a possible choice for businesses looking for a long term solution for hosting multiple webinars without the monthly fees. Supports up to 30 webcams and up to 3000 attendees.
Every FIRE Business Platform solution (e.g. FIRE Webinar) is built on top of a single data repository, so all of your data works together without the need for custom integration. There's never any data duplication or replication, which saves you hours in maintaining your precious customer data. Your data is backed up regularly and can be restored at any time.
I've been doing recorded webinars for years. Call me a 'control freak' but knowing that every nuance of the presentation is perfectly executed is just good business. But what about the technical end of a recorded webinar? EverWebinar is so well done and feature rich I now know every technical element of the webinar will run like clockwork every time without fail. Not only does it work like magic, EverWebinar is one of the simplest applications to use no matter your skill level. Support is very good if you need help. My favorite feature? The ability to clone (then edit) a complete "packaged webinar" including all timed events and email followups. Great feature if you do (or plan to do) promotions via JV partners.
