Which Is The One `Free Meeting Webinar Service' To Rule Them All?

This week on Toolkit Time I”m not doing my usual video review of one cool tool, instead I’ve highlighted 3 tools that will make you view holding meetings in a whole different light!

So lately there’s been this spate of services popping up to offer us entrepreneurs better ways to promote, market, demo and teach online for free.

After the domination of the big players like GoToWebinar, WebEx, Citrix and Adobe Connect, the little guys are moving in to say

“Hey you guys all suck. You’re way overpriced. Your systems are clunky and slow and we can do better!”

Don’t you love that entrepreneurial spirit of David socking it to Goliath. And I have to say it’s come at an awesome time.

I run 1-2 webinars a month, I host monthly Q&A calls with my Social Media Club members where I want to share my screen but let them chime in too, and I like to do screen sharing for clients when I’m coaching them on tool and social media strategy.

I’ve tried several of the above now and I’m impressed with none.

So let me introduce you to the new-ish breed of companies stepping up to do battle and fighting the fight for the little guys and gals running their online businesses and needing the right solutions.

Webinars Any Time

If you’re looking for a free webinar platform that allows you to have up to 200 attendees then you should check out AnyMeeting. The layout and interface is very similar to GoToWebinar if you’ve been using that.

You can also include a survey in your registration sign up which is handy and even better their recording software provides you with a link after you‘ve finished to view it via their platform (no more hassles converting a video format and making it viewable to your attendees).

The minor downside is your registration form has advertising at the top (hence why it’s a free platform) and the share buttons include a little advertising blurb about using AnyMeeting (which you can edit out).

The only other frustration I have with AnyMeeting is that you can’t have two presenters talking or presenting at the same time. So you have to stop talking. Turn off your microphone. Set them as the current speaker and then they’re off and running. Great if you both know what you’re doing – that’s why I advise to get on the call 30 minutes before your attendees arrive.

The Fastest and Easiest Meetings Ever

MeetingBurner are still in beta but their short video intro won me over in a heartbeat. It’s frickin hilarious and really well done. You can check it out on their home page.

I’ve now used their platform for several group coaching calls and love the clean interface, easy to use layout and fact that their loading time is beyond quick and there’s no software to install. In fact I did a full review of them last week on Toolkit Time on How to hold the fastest meetings ever with MeetingBurner and from the tweets and comments I received it seems like there are lots of new happy signups starting to use it.

Here’s an awesome review of how Meetingburner Reignited Webinars at AppStorm.

Say Goodbye to Costly Online Meetings!

FreeConferenceCall.com are excited to launch their FreeScreenSharing.com service. Basically this is an online meeting and web conferencing tool that is perfect for screen sharing, product demonstrations, webinars, training sessions and much more – and all is absolutely FREE! Just in case you didn’t pick that up in the name….

According to them: “All it takes is your name, email address and a self generated password to get started. When you register you’re provided with a complimentary FreeConferenceCall conferencing account to use during your online meetings.”

However, if you’re like me and you already have an account you’re welcome to use your existing conferencing account or any account you prefer.

I haven’t yet checked out their service but having used their free conferencing line in the past with no problems this is another alternative you may want to try.

Have you used any of these services or found another you want to share?

http://www.businesstooligans.com/ ChaseSherman

Thanks for making this list, Natalie. Will probably be needing a free webinar service soon… probably going to be back to review before we make our decision.
NatalieSisson

@ChaseSherman Let me know what you think of these platforms when you try them out.
Kristin

“The only other frustration I have with AnyMeeting is that you can’t have two presenters talking or presenting at the same time.”

Just FYI this is no longer true.

Our non-profit organization chose the free version of AnyMeeting over MeetingBurner for our national/international online member meetings (we outgrew Skype) because it allows 200 attendees vs. 100 and up to 6 people can be made presenters, which allows them to all screen share. You can have a standard meeting where only the 6 presenters have audio/video capabilities or set up the meeting to allow all attendees audio/video (but only 6 are presenters who can screen share.)

So far, the only drawback is the “either or” between using the web audio vs. call in audio. It would be nicer if they were like Skype and allowed people who cannot be in front of the computer to attend via phone while the others are using the online audio. We did a work-around by opening Skype in another window on the host computer and calling the non-computer members via Skype – they could then listen/participate via the Skype audio coming through the host’s computer. We hope they’ll eventually integrate Skype as we understand MeetingBurner does. Meld those two programs together and it’d be the perfect inline meeting place for us!
http://www.teaity.com Chris Giddings

I’m trying the FreeScreenSharing.com solution now.

The user interface isn’t free, but to get a free conference call line and free screen sharing for $0 and o cents is fantastic!
Natalie

Thanks Chris I will be sure to check it out.
MarketingManiac

Free is always intriguing to me. How is it they can offer it for free while others charge a premium? Does free get you the same level of technical support? Strong reporting? Do they provide any SLA? This is something I need to know before a put an unknown product between my brand and my customer. Free would be good, but I can’t afford to lose a customer on a bad experience. What more can you share with me to set my mind at ease?
Natalie

Free is usually the simple and useful features of a product or software that works very well and allows you to use the tool and see if you like it before you unlock more of it’s premium or advanced features. Sometimes the free version is all you need. With regards to MeetingBurner you can use it perfectly well for small meetings and webinars and get the benefit of all the cool features.
Bill Haisman

Free means advertiser supported so your meeting/presentation is sharing screen space, and “mental space” with advertisements that you have no control over. I’ve used AnyMeeting and been pretty happy. I don’t think it rates as high as say GoToWebinar which I’m very familiar with, but its pretty darn good!
Elsa Schieder

thank you – I’m now looking at your options – 1 and 3 actually, as the second is only for small groups.
Slobodan Krstic

Thank you for this recommendation. Its nice when you advertise something you newer did use. According to this post and your experience now i dealing with great blammage about Anymeeting.. I did ashamed my self like newer before in more than 14 years of working in IT.On this service nothing work correct. Its impossible to troubleshot and there is no any tips and help. I did try to use it today together with some test candidates and university professor and nothing worked. Web cam run in real time, sound don’t work at all. Then sound work but everyone can only hear me and no one else did..Then sound left us again.
This service simple don’t work . Do not waste your time on it and get ashamed like me.
http://www.facebook.com/aliasgar.babat.1 Aliasgar Babat

We use RHUB web conferencing appliance in our organization in order to conduct webinars, web conferences, online meetings etc. We think it is a better solution as compared to hosted services.
http://www.facebook.com/Studio4PR Robin Rushnell Taney

I used http://www.freeconferencecall.com to record the audio for one of my workshops that I put on a CD to give away at a conference I spoke at and the sound was HORRIBLE. I had to pay a CD duplication service almost $200 to try and correct it and it still sucked. It might be ok for live calls, but I don’t think I’d use them for recorded ones.
http://www.facebook.com/paalavstaal Pål Av Stål

Anymeeting seems like a great choice. Thanks!
Donna Haines

anymeeting will be charging now to record the webinars. Disappointed.
Natalie

You should really try Meetingburner then!