Thread: Microsoft Live Meeting 2007

TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH than most contenders in the online meeting/conferencing market, Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 uses a fat client model rather than running everything through a browser. Although this approach has pros and cons, you can't dispute that Redmond has given the platform a serious upgrade, add¬ing advanced features like 360 webcam support, integrated full-duplex VoIP, and support for multiple rich-media formats-as well as a solid Web only version for those who don't have the client. If only Live Meeting 2007 worked more reliably!

For basic Web meetings, you don't necessarily need the full Live Meeting client. In fact, unless you're deploying Live Meeting behind your own firewall, most of your attendees will probably wind up using the Web client. Invitees without the app installed will be given the option of installing the client or using the Live Meeting Web Access (LWA) console before logging in to a meeting. LWA provides all the basic features needed to participate in a session. It gives participants a list of attendees, inline chat capability, a shared pre¬sentation window, and basic annotation tools. For any of the advanced features, including support for multiple webcams and VoIP, however, you'll need the full client.

The product has almost as many features and controls as Acrobat Connect Pro, and on the surface it looks easier to use, because all you see are one light menu bar and tool icons. But after using it for a while, I didn't think Live Meeting did as good a job of organizing everything as Acrobat Connect Pro does. For example, while Live Meeting allows for multiple webcam views, figuring out how to give attendees permission to use theirs is difficult, since only the pre¬senter is allowed webcam access by defaul t.



Another feature I particularly like is content search. Microsoft is leveraging the new and improved Windows search to allow users to look through current or past meeting files for specific content. At the moment, however, this doesn't include searching audio or video tracks.

The Live Meeting meeting interface isn't as polished as that of Acrobat Connect Professional, however. I really like the latter's ability to undock its pods, which is lacking in Live Meeting 2007 ironic considering that this app is a fat client, so it could be using the whole desktop, whereas Adobe is relegated to its browser screen.
A coordinated way to have the presenter decide what client the customers will use would be better. Still, at less than a quarter the cost of Acrobat Connect Pro for the professional service, I expect many cost-conscious 5MBs will choose Microsoft unless they're heavily invested in Ado¬be's online-learning features.