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Group Video Conferencing?

Posted by Cliff on from the three's-a-meeting dept.

darhaw asks: "What started out as a simple request has turned into a big deal. I work for a small firm with partners in 4 different cities, and we'd like to do weekly video conferences. There seem to be many different 2 PERSON video conferencing products -- but there are very few GROUP video conferencing products. Is there anything out there? Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated."

5 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. iChat, supports up to 4 by danpat · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.apple.com/au/macosx/features/ichat/

    Bandwidth will become a bit of an issue, as you need to serve your stream out to everyone involved, as well as downloading theirs.

    1. Re:iChat, supports up to 4 by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Informative

      Specifically it's iChat Video... and it requires that all machines be at least 1Ghz G4... and the host machine be a G5

      So you could get 3 Mac Minis, 3 isights and a new iMac w/ integrated iSight and be good to go...

      --
      A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  2. Why iChat is better by feijai · · Score: 3, Informative

    I had to go through exactly this to do conferences with places like Paris and San Diego (I'm on the east coast) with DARPA funding agents etc. The video had to be good, and the audio had to be good. We tried all sorts of PC-to-PC options and PC-to-Mac options, pretty much everything that could be done for under $200. And iChat (using iSights) was better than all of them by far. The video was clean and fast, the audio was excellent. Eventually my DARPA program manager broke down and just bought an iBook, and is glad he did it.

    Apple has done a really, *really* good job. Don't fool around with crap like NetMeeting and H.263. Do it right.

    Now, if you're willing to put in some serious $$$, there are other options with higher fidelity still. One of the big problems with iChat is that its resolution -- good as it is -- isn't good enough to read Powerpoint slides off the screen. There ought to be some mechanism by which everyone can see PowerPoint or Keynote being broadcast in real-time.

    1. Re:Why iChat is better by Kadin2048 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Even if you figure on one new iMac for each end of the conference, as a dedicated videoconferencing "appliance," the cost of an iChat system is very low for what you get. It's easy to set up and use, it works very well through firewalls and doesn't require a lot of tinkering with your network, doesn't need dedicated lines or anything, and isn't intimidating to use.

      At the very least, anyone interested in videoconferencing should go down to an Apple store with a few friends when they're not busy and get a demonstration. (I'm sure they'd be happy to, especially if you told them that you're possibly interested in buying a handful of Macs.) If the resolution doesn't do it for you, then start considering dedicated options like the ones from Polycom.

      The only "serious" videoconferencing system I've used is an ancient one that requires dedicated point-to-point ISDN connections. I've never been told the price but I've heard rumors of over $20k a unit, and the quality isn't particularly great. The only neat feature is that the cameras are remote-controllable and have pan and zoom, so you can close in on a presentation slide or just somebody's face.

      Really what you need to consider is are you doing person-to-person conferencing (even with 3+ people, will the users be seated at a desk by themselves or in groups), or "conference room" style, where you want to link two or more rooms together with multiple people on each end. If you can do it by individuals, get an iMac and use iChat. Even if you don't use the Macs for anything else it'll be worth it. If you need to link whole rooms you're probably better to go with a professional solution. Just make sure it comes installed and maintained, so you don't have to fiddle with it. I know our sysadmin has grey hair from playing with our old beast.

      --
      "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  3. lots of web conferencing options by RobTerrell · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's lots of internet conference options out there:

    1. Avacast (cross-platform, browser-based, small groups or large audiences) http://www.avacast.com/ (note: my employer)
    2. Citrix GoToMeeting
    3. Adobe Breeze (also browser-based, small to medium sized audiences)
    4. Microsoft LiveMeeting (video not supported)
    5. Webex (video not so good)
    6. NetMeeting (H.323, have big bandwidth at the ready)
    7. Other H.323 products from companies like Polycom, Tandberg, Sony (big bandwidth)
    8. Skype (for limited audio and video conferences)
    9. iChat AV (if everyone is on a Mac)
    10. WiredRed (no Mac support)

    You can google for more. There's probably 50 vendors, all told. Of the commercial options, I'm gonna have to say that I think Avacast is the best.

    In the world of open source:

    11. OpenH323-based products like Xmeeting & GnomePhone

    With Red5 on its way, expect more open source SWF-based web conferencing solutions soon.