Web conferencing deepens collaboration

Raindance Communications this week will unveil an integrated Web, audio, and multipoint desktop video conferencing platform that aims to simplify online meetings while enhancing collaboration tools.

Raindance Meeting Edition IP conferencing platform features an audio-to-video bridge, which allows users to track the current speaker in the video pane of the meeting space. 

The Meeting Edition platform is designed to streamline the scheduling and joining of meetings with one-click access through e-mail that replaces the need for dial-in numbers and IDs.

"We see Web conferencing emerging from early-adopter into early-majority stage, but it needs to be more accessible," said Scott Chalfant, vice president of marketing at Raindance.

Furthermore, the offering allows application sharing without leaving the meeting and participant management via fine-grained permissions.

Meeting Edition is available as a hosted service, an on-premise offering, or a hybrid model.

While other vendors in the space integrate audio and Web conferencing, and some tie in video, Raindance is distinguishing itself by wrapping those capabilities around the central core of team collaboration, said David Marshak, senior vice president and principal consultant at the Patricia Seybold Group.

The Raindance offering reflects a trend to move online "meetings from big presentation-oriented Webinars to collaboration-oriented meetings," Marshak said. "The [Raindance] platform is optimized for groups to collaborate and to make it feel like you are in a collaboration space."

Meanwhile, Intranets.com last week integrated Web and audio conferencing into its online collaboration suite. Intranets.com Conferencing, aimed at small and midsize businesses, lets users share applications in real time with features such as Web and audio conferencing, chat, polling, calendar, database management, and whiteboarding.