Webconferencing

[Jamisjockey]

I'm in virgin territory here, and on my fifth beer, so bear with me.....
My Wife's business involves some training, and it would add to that personal touch that women love oh-so-much if we could web conference some in on meetings and training.  I'd really like something where we can even go through slides that they can watch on thier screen.  Group sizes would vary.  Must be pass word encrypted.  I'm thinking a third party company where we can pay as we go.
Thoughts/advice/suggestions?

[charby]

With those demands, you better get ready to pony up some $$$ for the service, especially if you are going to deliver video both ways with 3 or more users. I have been working out several solutions at work and none of them are cheap.

-Charby

[auschip]

I only know of three:

www.livemeeting.com
www.webex.com
www.gotomeeting.com

Of these three, I prefer Live meeting (although it was even better when it was Placeware - before MS bought them).

On average I use Livemeeting around 4 times a week, and have found they are the least "laggy" of the bunch.  You can upload your slides, or show live from your desktop.  They also offer the ability to get live feedback from the group, and to accept questions by text.  Plus, you can give sharing to one of the other attendees if you choose. 

For a new business, it might be better to go with Gotomeeting, as they are (or were) somewhat cheaper, and I don't believe they force you to sign a contract.  Either way, that gives you a place to start looking.

None of these will really allow you to videoconference, but for training purposes I think they are quite good.

[Ben]

We use Webex, which seems to work well for what you outlined you want. I understand they're being bought by Cisco, so I wouldn't be surprised if price increases...

[Jamisjockey]

With those demands, you better get ready to pony up some $$$ for the service, especially if you are going to deliver video both ways with 3 or more users. I have been working out several solutions at work and none of them are cheap.

-Charby

That's what I've been finding, but I was hoping that multiple noggins on the problem might produce a better result
 
The suggestion was made to use a company called vmdirect.com, but a buy in is required to use full featured products, which doesn't appeal to me.  The only thing that appeals to me is the webconferencing anyway....

[Manedwolf]

gotomeeting is a piece of @#%!

Not only do they have the most ANNOYING XM commercials in existence, but I've literally given up and hung up on more vendors than I can count when their spiel via that product locks up. If they can't be bothered to find a product that can reliably deliver their pitch, I don't have time to waste listening to it and will listen to someone else.

It's cheap because it's trash. It's like taking your potential clients to lunch in a $500 rusted Saturn instead of a new Lexus. They're not going to be impressed.

[charby]

This might be what you are looking for but it is expensive and you have to have a webserver to host it. I actually have first hand knowledge on the client side of this program.

http://www.elluminate.com/