Yugma Review - Online Meeting Software Review 2009
Yugma is a web app that brings together desktop sharing, and web conferencing, You can call together a few people that you work with, and you can show them your desktop, and demo software, or other things. It's really cool. It is built off of java and will run on Windows and Macintosh. After I did a little digging, I found that Yugma is a venture backed company, which has offices in Minnesota, and India.
I actually found this to be one of, if not the most useful apps I've 'played' with to date. I can open it up, tell a friend, or a co-worker to hop on, and we can have a conference. The thing that I really like about this app is that it is all live, fast, and quick. Instead of having to upload or email a file to the other people, I can just pull it up on my own desktop and show it to them.
A cool thing with this, is that you can use annotation tools which is extremely useful for presenting ideas. I took a few screenshots of how this works, they're down at the bottom of the page. With the annotation tools, you can use a freehand tool, which allows you to draw any shape you want. You can use the circle shape as well as the oval shape. Then there is the rectangle tool, along with the rounded corner rectangle tool. All of these can be used to highlight certain areas, and such.
The annotation tools are the first thing that helps out while presenting to other conference members. Another thing that helps, of course, is audio! This is a feature that I think needs some work, for Yugma, but it is cool, never the less. Currently you can call a number, with a Duluth, Minnesota area code, and dial into a conference call.
When you call in, you can talk to whoever else called in. To me, it seems like it may be a better idea, to allow people to talk right through the client. It would be really awesome to setup a VoIP run service. Where you could talk through the client, as well as allowing someone who doesn't have a computer, to call in to a specific number, and be part of the conversation
Overall I think that this is an extremely useful app. It takes desktop sharing, and conferencing to the next level, at least from what I've seen. It allows me to demo things for people, that I normally couldn't demo. The only downside is the communication for voice, but that is easily solved with something like Skype.
The word “Yugma” is a Sanskrit language term meaning “the state of being in unified collaboration”, which is an appropriate definition for the application that carries this name. Developed by Yugma, Inc., a privately held venture-backed company in Minnesota, Yugma is a free web collaboration service that enables people to instantly connect over the Internet and share content and ideas using any application or software. It works on Window as well as Mac and Linux. Popular uses of Yugma include the hosting of study groups or tutoring sessions, hosting of virtual common-interest groups or clubs, conduct of training sessions, online customer support, and similar interactive collaboration activities. Ease of Use :
Like most interactive collaboration applications, Yugma is quite easy to use. It just requires you to register your ID and password, allow the download of the software, which is done automatically with no configuration work on your part and in no time at all; you are ready to invite people to a meeting. At the free level, there are features that are disabled which you can enable by securing Premium Membership. At the free level also, only a maximum of 10 participants is allowed for the session, each of which will have to register before they can participate. At the Premium Membership level, this registration is not required. Features :
The Yugma Meeting Room is a practical computer-to-computer online meeting application that allows people to talk to, send SMS to, and even see the people they are meeting with as well as the documents that you and they are meeting about. Unlike other online meeting products, no license purchases are necessary. Anyone with a computer and speakers can join and her you in Meeting Room. They can even talk to you if they have microphones. Speed and Reliability :
Like any on-line session, the speed and reliability of the session is really dependent on the speed of Internet access and the number of participants. It is especially true when you need to discuss and review documents on-line. Yugma ( Yugma.com)is reliable and secure. It adapts to organizational security standards like AD and LDAP. Pricing :
Yugma has two major categories of subscription: the monthly subscription and the annual subscription. If you avail of the Annual Subscription, you will be charged the equivalent of only ten months the monthly subscription of the plan you avail of. For example, the Premium 10 plan (maximum of 10 participants per session, with full features), goes for only US$ 9.95 per month if you avail of it via the monthly subscription category. However, if you avail of Premium 10 plan via annual subscription, the rate is only US$ 99.50 for 12 months. In effect you get 2 months worth of service for free. There are three other Premium Plans (30, 100, and 500) you can choose from, with monthly subscriptions at US$ 29.95, US$ 69.95, and US$ 89.95 respectively, with counterpart annual subscriptions at US$ 299.50, US$ 699.50 and US$ 899.50 respectively. At the Premium 100 and 300 plans, there is the additional feature of Webinar, which allows you to conduct full-blown online seminar activities. Support :
Support at the Free Level is only via the FAQ and Support pages. At the Premium level, there is online, phone-in, and email support available. Summary :
The beauty of Yugma is in the fact that for most simple online meeting applications, there are enough features that you do not have to pay for. This will allow you to experience Yugma for a long period of time without the commercial burden. When you are ready to hold more sophisticated meetings and seminars for large groups, with participants all over the country or all over the world, then the Premium Membership of Yugma is a good choice, both because of the additional powerful features it provides as well as its low cost per participant.
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