Business Pick of the Week: WebEx Meetings

Cisco WebEx: Remote and On-the-Go Meetings

How do businesses maintain consistent communication and collaboration with a workforce that is increasingly made up of remote and on-the-go team members? Technology, of course. There are a number of options now for holding virtual, video-based meetings with computer workstations and mobile devices. Cisco's WebEx Meetings stands apart, though, because of its well-developed feature set and the stability offered by Cisco's large resources as an established communications and networking company.

WebEx is available as a desktop app and a mobile app for most smartphones and tablets. What makes it a better solution than, say, Skype is that it not only allows for video conferencing but also screen and document sharing. Even the free version (see below) allows users to display documents and use a "laser pointer" cursor to point out items.

We will say that WebEx isn't for every situation. It's great for holding a meeting between two or more individuals, but it's not as good for, say, conferencing a remote team member into an in-person group meeting. The voice connection is set up to cancel out all ambient noise other than the individual speaking into the mic, so the user on the other end won't be able to interact with a large group.

Availability and Pricing

As stated above, WebEx is available as a desktop app and as a mobile app. The desktop app supports both Windows and Mac, and the mobile app is available for smartphones and tablets running OS X, Android, Windows Phone 8, and Blackberry.

There are a number of different plans and pricing options. The basic free version allows for meetings between up to 3 people. Paid versions (starting at $25 per host per month) allow for more users, HD video, call-in functionality, better support, and more.

We have implemented WebEx as a solution for clients, so drop us a line if you'd like help deciding which option is the best for your company and implementing it.