Adobe Connect Now:  Adobe Connect Now (once known as BRIO) is a Web Conferencing software along the lines of WebEx and Microsoft Live Meeting.  Connect Now’s main features are screen sharing, annotation, whiteboard, and integrated video conferencing.  It is based on Flash and Flex.    ConnectNow is free, but  allows for only three simultaneous users.  Adobe also has a pay-by-seat Web Conferencing program called Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro.   My understanding is that the two products have different underlying architecture.  I’ve been told that the feature set of Connect Now will be migrated over to Connect Pro, but that the three user version will remain free.
Adobe ConnectNow FAQ

DimDim: We didn’t look at DimDim at the June meeting, but it is another free, Web based conferencing product with a feature set comparable with Connect Now.   Like Connect Now, it is available as a hosted service, but unlike Connect Now it is also available for on site installation.  They also advertise support for 1-1000 users and Moodle integration (DimDim feature set).  Talence Web Meeting is a customized version of DimDim which is available for a relatively small monthly charge, and comes with support. Monique Cuvelier, the CEO and Peter Maureemootoo, the CIO introduced themselves at the meeting.

ooVoo: ooVoo is a videochat program that is free for up to three users, and has a $10/mo 6 user version.  You download the ooVoo client from their website.  ooVoo features; ooVoo FAQ.

SightSpeed: SightSpeed is another videochat program, quite similar to ooVoo, that we mentioned in passing, but didn’t show at the June meeting.  It too has a stand alone (not browser based) client.  SightSpeed offera a personal edition that is free for 2 party videoconferencing, $10/month for 4 party (features).  They also offer a business edition that supports up to 9 party calls with a much enhanced feature set (possibly including better video quality) and a different pricing plan (starting at $19.95/month).

ooVoo and Sightspeed seem to be competing in a race to the top that, according to Jamie Watson (see below), has them getting better and better.  Each has put out a major new release since the meeting in June.  One interesting new development, which also puts them in contention with TokBox (below)  is that you can now video-chat with people who don’t have the ooVoo or SightSpeed client.

TokBox: Not shown at the June meeting TokBox is a video chat program somewhat different from the two mentioned above.  Its primary distinguishing features are that it is completely free and open source, uses flash video, and runs in a Web browser.  They claim they can support up to 20 simultaneous callers; we’ve tried it with five callers (with fast network connections), and it worked pretty well.  TokBox, in addition to running in a Web client, also has a stand-alone client.

Yugma: Yugma is Web conferencing program that offers a fairly limited free “personal” version and a more fully featured business version with a somewhat different feature set than ConnectNow and DimDim.  The business version price starts at $9.95/month for 10 simultaneous users.  Yugman is a Java app than runs in a browser.   We ran into a worrisome number of problems, including firewall problems, trying to use it.  The free version has screen sharing, conference calling (voice only), and text chat.  The paid version adds whiteboarding and annotation, shared control of applications, and session recording. Yugma business and personal feature sets.

Vidyo: Vidyo is a video conferencing system that points to where I think personal video communication is headed.   It’s main claim is that it makes more efficient use of available bandwidth than other forms of videoconferencing.  “Vidyo['s]… VidyoRouter provides multipoint functions such as composite layout, rate matching and error localization…without decoding or encoding the video, making it much more scalable, economic and, lower delay than traditional MCUs. Since the VidyoRouter sends only as many packets as an endpoint is capable of handling, network utilization efficiency is significantly improved” (Wainhouse Research Bulletin).   One method they use for achieving this efficiency is scalable video coding, SVC, which is part of the MPEG H.264 standard for video compression.   Another nice thing about Vidyo is that each user has a lot of control over the presentation, and can choose to see either a matrix of other participants or, through voice activated switching, only the person who is talking.

Other suggested resources:

Wainhouse Research Bulletin – Information about videoconferencing and “rich media”.
Jamie’s Random Musings on Video IM – Jamie Watson’s blog where you can learn about the latest developments in the world of ooVoo, SightSpeed, TokBox and Skype (which he doesn’t like), along with occasional commentaries on his experiences with Linux.

This is obviously far from a comprehensive list of collaboration tools or resources.  It would be great if others would share their own favorites in the comment section of this posting.  Or leave any sort of a comment.  You don’t have to sign up to comment, the first time you leave comment, I’ll have to approve it.