ConferReview —
December 18, 2003
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A free e-newsletter about technology in the e-conferencing industry, published
by ConferZone -- Your eConferencing Resource
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SUMMARY
Welcome to our final edition of ConferReview for 2003! E-conferencing
technology is evolving daily, with new players and updated tools. We
want to make
your job easier. So that you can concentrate on producing your best e-conferencing
events, we have gone behind the scenes to save you time. From the perspective
of e-conferencing professionals, we have evaluated vendors and products.
In each edition of ConferReview, we will share our latest findings. With
this edition, we review:
* Anytime Networks
* Creative Minds
* SightSpeed
* SignUp4
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Review: ANYTIME NETWORKS
Company Overview:
Anytime Networks was founded in 2000 and is
privately funded and held. It is facilities based and operates
as a reseller of various technologies, enabling the company to offer
an end-to-end Web and audio conferencing solution. Anytime Networks also
offers event management services to support the pre-show, live-show,
and post-show
aspects of your virtual conferences. It has 24 staff supporting
over 750 clients with many in
the technology, legal, and retail industries.
Product/Solution Overview:
Anytime Networks' solution includes:
*
Web Conferencing - Microsoft® Live Meeting/PlaceWare, Anytime Web Express
(the company's light Web conferencing tool).
* Audio Conferencing - reservation-less teleconferencing and
operator-assisted teleconferencing.
* Other solutions - registration pages, e-mail promotions, telemarketing,
content development, Microsoft® PowerPoint
design, archiving, fulfillment, etc.
Unique Benefits:
Reseller models offer access to multiple technologies and professional
services to really bring the event together from start to finish.
Possible Drawbacks:
Working through a reseller adds a layer to the process. However, if
the reseller has a well established relationship with the technology
provider, this should be seamless.
Pricing:
* Web conferencing - $.15 cents/min/user (USD) to .30/min/user (USD).
* Audio non-operator assisted: $.08 cents/min/user to $.21
min/user (USD).
* Audio Operator-assisted - $.18 cents/min/user to $.28/min/user (USD)
* Registration - $600.00 (USD).
* Archiving – available in Flash or Windows Media Player -
($700.00 USD).
* Event management - basic event management is about $300 (USD) -
complete strategic event planning, marketing, and production is in the thousands
(USD).
Free Trial Available: Complimentary event management is available.
A free trial for reservation-less audio
is also offered. Anytime Networks will waive the event management fee
for first-time customers.
Contact: www.anytime.com
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Review:
CREATIVE MINDS INC.
Company Overview:
Creative Minds Inc. was founded in 1997, was privately funded, and
is currently privately held. Creative Minds provides solutions to support
e-conferencing presentations. It provides products and custom solutions
for Microsoft® PowerPoint
templates, images, audio clips, animation, and even presentation training.
The
company has 10 full-time employees and an
extended staff of various contractors supporting hundreds of customers
across all industries.
Product/Solution Overview:
Creative Minds provides many products that can be bought directly from
its Web site at any time. Upon request, it can develop custom solutions
to fit your needs. Some of its key offerings are:
* PowerPoint Templates - static and animated
templates for high-impact presentations.
* Slides
That Win! - a tool that offers expertise on efficient use of the
Slide Master, effective use of color and design, how to maximize
PowerPoint animations, etc.
* ImagesObjects - ClipArt, Realistic Objects, Symbols and Geography to help you
visually make your point.
* FlashClips - product allows users to import Flash files into PowerPoint and
provides over 85 clips.
* Presentation In A Hurry - topic specific presentations such as: How to Sell
A Service, How to Give Bad News, etc. The presentation templates provide content
shells to help get your creative ideas flowing.
*
Training and Tools - provides books and other tools for anyone who
wants to
learn how to create high-impact presentations.
Unique Benefits:
* Customized AND turn-key products - the company has "productized" its
experience while still offering customization when needed.
* Flash
insert* - most solutions enable you to turn PowerPoint presentations
into Flash. This solution allows you to embed Flash into a presentation
—
a much better process.
*Remember — many
e-conferencing solutions do not support Flash, so be sure to ask.
Currently, Creative Minds is
working with Brainshark and WebEx to ensure its products integrate
well with these solutions.
Possible Drawbacks:
No real drawbacks with these solutions. Creative Minds is a great
complement to e-conferencing.
Pricing:
* PowerPoint Templates - individually $15.99 (USD) each to an unlimited
database access of $69/year (USD).
* Slides That Win! - CD-ROM version $99 (USD)
or downloadable version $79 (USD).
* ImageObjects - $4.99 (USD) each, volumes from $9.99 (USD)
to $19.99 (USD).
* FlashClips - $149.99 (USD) software product for unlimited usage.
Free Trial Available: To ConferZone members, Creative Minds
is providing a special offer. Choose from one of the following FREE
offers:
* FREE
14-day version of the FlashClips software
* Or...ONE FREE PowerPoint Template
* Or...FIVE FREE Images
Contact: www.creativemindsinc.com
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Review:
SIGHTSPEED
Company Overview:
SightSpeed was formally founded in 2001 but began its research six
years earlier in 1995. After an additional two years of development,
the company launched its product in August of this year. The company
is privately held with venture backing from Roda Group (invested
in Ask Jeeves). SightSpeed has 17 employees (mainly engineering)
supporting over 100 clients directly, 60 resellers, and thousands
of trials since August (see trial offer below).
Product/Solution Overview:
SightSpeed offers a one-to-one streaming video and audio solution.
SightSpeed's primary product, SightSpeed Web, provides audio (phone
or VoIP), video, and text messaging (chat). It is the equivalent
of video conferencing without the ISDN lines and complication. The
speed and clarity of both the audio and video is impressive. An
interesting note is that the company provides the solution
to ClubDeaf.com — an organization that can only utilize fast,
high-quality solutions with no latency. In 2004, they also have plans
to launch
other products — even one for MAC and Linux.
Unique Benefits:
* No ISDN - you use the public Internet.
* It provides an ASP solution and a system you can install in-house.
Possible Drawbacks:
* File download - ActiveX plug-in - this automatically adds to
your start-up and may cause problems with firewalls.
* You can't control the public Internet Protocol (IP) which can
slow things down.
* The solution is currently one-to-one only (this will change in
2004).
Pricing:
There are too many pricing components to list in this review.
The company publishes its pricing. More
details...
Free Trial Available: Yes - seven-day free trial is available.
Contact: www.sightspeed.com
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Review:
SIGNUP4
Company Overview:
SignUp4 was founded in 1999, and is a privately funded and held
company based in Atlanta, GA. The company provides event
registration and e-marketing management solutions. It
sells directly
and also works through alliance partners such as Web conferencing
providers, event producers, and marketing companies to provide
clients with an event management system. The company has
10 full-time employees and additional contractors supporting over
150 customers. Although the solution is not industry specific,
SignUp4 has many customers encompassing a wide range of industries,
including the pharmaceutical and financial services industries.
To date, the company's marketing strategy
relies heavily on customer referrals and viral marketing,
allowing it to maintain a profitable position over the past two years
and manage growth to ensure customer
satisfaction remains high.
Product/Solution Overview:
This event registration and management system can support both
virtual and traditional events. The registration pages are
easily formatted through an interface similar to Microsoft® Word,
allowing you to drag and drop or cut and paste (HTML can also be used).
Templates are available or the company can customize the pages
to look like your Web site. Beyond the registration capabilities,
the system also offers features to create HTML invitations,
e-commerce, detailed reports, and much more.
Unique Benefits:
* Drag and drop form fields - very nice!
* Easy access to reports - you can set up a link in your "Favorites" list
in your browser to instantly access reports. No login is required,
so you can provide this link to your team and/or clients.
Possible Drawbacks:
In comparison to other proprietary registration tools, the product
is fairly new. However, it seems very solid and stable.
Pricing:
Pricing is offered on a per event and annual license basis.
Please contact SignUp4 for details.
Free Trial Available: No free trials, but will entertain
pilot projects.
Contact: www.signup4.com
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PRODUCT REVIEW SCHEDULING
Want to suggest a product for ConferZone to Review? If so, please contact
the editor at editor@conferzone.com.
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ABOUT CONFERZONE - Your eConferencing Resource!
ConferZone is the first objective e-conferencing resource that tracks
the latest technology and trends in the marketplace. ConferZone provides
comprehensive, objective content so businesses can make educated and sound
decisions when purchasing e-conferencing services or products.
http://www.conferzone.com
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