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GoToTips: Difference between GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar

Posted on May 3, 2010 // Leave a Comment

GoToMeeting can be somewhat difficult to understand. First, GoToMeeting is the name of the web-conferencing software that has its own limitations: 15 people, collaborative, etc. However, GoToMeeting is the shortened name for GoToMeeting Corporate, which contains GoToMeeting (upto 25 people) and GoToWebinar. Why did they not call it GoToSuite (which would have allowed for the expansion of GoToTraining, @GoToTraining) or something like that? However, since GoToTraining has not yet arrived on the scene (preview in early October), we will discuss the difference between GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar.

GoToMeeting: Collaborative Sessions

  • Up to 25 attendees (15 in non-Corporate version)
  • Interactive and Collaborative
  • Encourage Participation

GoToWebinar: Structured Sessions

  • 1-1,000 attendees (however, this number should increase soon; however, there is a work-around to this to expand it, I believe, to 2,000)
  • Pre- and Post-session analysis
  • Encourage Interaction

GTM & GTW

GTM & GTW

Now beyond these differences there are some other differences include the following:

  • GoToWebinar has the ability to do live pre-planned polls & post results.
  • Both GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar display arrival/departure times.
  • GoToWebinar’s post-webinar analysis displays the following: Attendee Interest Ratings, Registration Q/A, Poll Questions, Post Session Survey Questions, Registration Date.

It is obvious that GoToWebinar is much more robust than GoToMeeting, and some of the features of GoToWebinar should be included in GoToMeeting (e.g., polling that doesn’t require preparation). So what do you do if you want the tools of GoToWebinar in GoToMeeting? While a GoToMeeting cannot be converted into a GoToWebinar (because of the registration, polls, and planning stage), a GoToWebinar can be converted into a GoToMeeting by simply turning on everyone’s voices (only up to 25 participants though).

Filed Under: Learning // Tagged: , ,

My GoToMeeting Idea: GoToTips

Posted on September 21, 2009 // Leave a Comment

When I first took over the Social Media of my company, which was only 1 application, GoToMeeting, I made it my personal endeavor to try to get more social media in my company. However, in the meantime, I wanted GoToMeeting to be a huge success. While it has not been huge in my opinion (because I see a lot of low hanging fruit that could easily be taken for the benefit of our company), the people at my company do believe that GoToMeeting has saved us a ton of money and has been successful.

I was not here when GoToMeeting was selected; however, I was here for the initial training and roll-out through the entire company. In that roll-out I learned tons about piloting and rolling changes out to the field (I came from the field from another company). So one of the first things I did was create something I called GoToTips. While I told my account manager, and she claimed that she would tell someone. However, soon thereafter she was no longer with Citrix Online (holder/creator of GoToMeeting). So I thought I’d begin a series of my GoToTips.

GoToTip002: Forgot Password

Topic: Forgot Password (GoToMeeting)

Tip: What do you do if you forgot your password? Simply go to GoToMeeting and click on “Log In” on the left side panel under the GoToMeeting Logo. Click on “Forgot Your Password?” under the Password box. Enter your email address and you will receive an email with instructions to change your password.

Login

Login

Forgot Password?

Forgot Your Password?

Enter Email & Submit

Enter Email & Submit

Filed Under: Learning // Tagged: ,

AT&T Connect and GoToMeeting

Posted on August 17, 2009 // 5 Comments

So I have been tasked with a functional analysis of these two web conferencing clients. Currently, my company uses GoToMeeting and it appears that our Chief IT guy would like to switch from GoToMeeting to AT&T Connect simply because of cost (because AT&T already does our phone system). I personally would rather stick with GoToMeeting. However, being a good leader, he would like more information before he makes the final decision. So, instead of giving lists where these two clients share in common like polling, chatting, etc. I will focus on the differences.

Personally, I have had issues with the account managers of both companies from unprofessionalism to the inability to get a hold of them; however, I prefer GoToMeeting’s technical support and customer service. So while this is normally a contributing factor in the decision, I believe that this will be negated.

After a struggle getting AT&T Connect to work on my PC, because my trial account was setup incorrectly twice, I have been able to evaluate the two tools. Some features AT&T Connect has that GoToMeeting does not are:

  1. Lock Event (prevents any other people from joining the meeting, i.e. Late Arrivals);
  2. A More Functional Whiteboard: While AT&T Connect and others would say that GTM does not have a whiteboard, this is not really true. GTM offers what they call a Clean Screen which can be used as a whiteboard (though admittedly with less functionality than AT&T Connect and others).
  3. “Call me” setting where AT&T Connect calls me and I just enter my number;
  4. Over-the-Shoulder Feature; however, GoToMeeting can do “this” too, but doesn’t separate this out into another feature.

When testing AT&T Connect I did run into one problem with their mouse control. When I gave control to another user, the over-ride ability that I was supposed to have over the other person was problematic.

Some features GTM has that AT&T Connect does not include:

  1. VoIP (however, AT&T Connect is adding this at the end of the 3rd quarter with a price structure increase on contract); however, GoToMeeting owns a couple patents on this;
  2. Attendee Interest Ratings (so I really know when someone is paying attention; there vs. “there”);
  3. Webinar Registration (huge for lead generation for sales and customer service and even training);
  4. Robust Reporting. We would have to create a complex, customized report (Crystal Report?) based on telephone, web and collaboration usage (to really determine ROI).

Neither officially support breakout sessions or video (though AT&T is coming out with webcam support in 3rd quarter 2009 & GTM is probably going to come out with something next quarter). However, GoToMeeting already has a couple work-arounds for webcam and video that AT&T does not.

Other things to consider are:

  1. Time and cost of training & re-training of switching;
  2. The ease of use of GoToMeeting over and compared to AT&T Connect. This is GTM’s strongest feature and advantage. While fairly robust, AT&T is quite rigid and strict.
  3. The loss of the Webinar function, which has a huge potential for lead generation sales and customer service.
  4. Cost: GoToMeeting is a flat cost while AT&T Connect fluctuates based on usage (so some months will be higher than other months).
Filed Under: Social Media // Tagged: , ,