Low+Cost+Video+Conferencing

Video Conferencing has been around for a while, but until recently required expensive equipment and tended to be cumbersome to use. Not any more. Now, with the increasing popularity of Skype, and Facebook getting into the visual communication scene, it is easy to find a service provider online to host your video conference with just a few clicks of the mouse.

FREE SERVICES
Todaysmeet [|http://todaysmeet.com] • Chat room format for sharing information while you speak on-camera. • Participants can type in questions, contribute to discussion. • Give “assignments”, asking participants to look for information or research a topic and share in real time what they found. • Only those with the URL have access to the chat room. • Easy to print transcripts of the meeting You decide how long the chat room is available before it disappears into the Ethernet.

OPEN SOURCE
The disadvantage of open source software is that there is no tech support; however, these sites usually have active user communities that offer anecdotal assistance with technical problems.Having a good in-house technology person is key to using open-source software successfully. • Xmeeting for Mac • Ekiga • Access Grid

LOW COST, FREE OPTION FOR LIMITED USE Clear Sea []  • H323 Compatible   • Allows users to join a meeting from a variety of platforms ,i.e.
 * Mac
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Windows
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Android

PAY PER USE OR PER PARTICIPANT
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Blue Jeans [|http://bluejeans.com] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">• “Any(ware) Video conferencing” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">• Interfaces with a variety of conferencing software, including Skype <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">• Cloud-based  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">• User-friendly