Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix

Transcription

1 Patricia Seybold Group Trusted Advisors to Customer-Centric Executives Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Comparing Services and Products from Convoq, Genesys Conferencing, IBM, Macromedia, Microsoft, Oracle, Raindance, and WebEx against Our Evaluation Framework By David S. Marshak Sr. VP and Sr. Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group UNAUTHORIZED REDISTRIBUTION OF THIS REPORT IS A VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW 210 Commercial Street, Boston, MA Phone Fax

2 Customer-Centric Solutions / Comparative Matrix Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Comparing Services and Products from Convoq, Genesys Conferencing, IBM, Macromedia, Microsoft, Oracle, Raindance, and WebEx against Our Evaluation Framework By David S. Marshak, Sr. VP and Sr. Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group October 21, 2004 NETTING IT OUT The online meeting space is white hot. Many of us find ourselves in online presentations on an almost daily basis. Online meetings promise and in many cases deliver material savings in cost and time, while significantly improving efficiency and effectiveness. And the combination of our ubiquitous connectivity and the plethora of online meeting products available as either online services or enterprise software products makes it easy to adopt the online meeting model. Today, most of the online meetings we participate in (Webinars, product announcements, financial analysts briefings) are prescheduled and follow a one-way model: presenter and audience. Sure, there may be a Q&A after the presentation, but it is essentially the kind of feeling we would get in attending an event in an auditorium. To us, however, the major promise of these meeting products and the services they provide is to enable truly rich, ad hoc, real-time collaboration much more the model of a conference room than an auditorium. Many of the online meeting products provide collaborative capabilities, such as shared screens and Web co-browsing. And some are evolving from their initial focus on large, scheduled, presentation-oriented, auditorium-modeled meetings to support ad hoc collaboration better. In March 2004, we published our Online Meeting Evaluation Framework, 1 against which we have evaluated the leading online meeting and Web conferencing products. In these evaluations, we have looked at all of the major meeting functions, but our focus has been on those that best enable collaboration. Most important of these, in our opinion, is the ability to call (or convoke) meetings easily in a seamless, contextual, ad hoc manner. Another key evaluation criterion is the pricing model, which, when too high or too confusing, can quickly undermine the use of online meetings for ad hoc collaboration. Finally, the product architecture can greatly impact the user experience in a negative or positive way: A negative experience includes long and difficult downloads or poor performance; a positive experience is seamlessly woven into the fabric of our day-to-day activities, in the same way an ad hoc meeting occurs around the water cooler or in someone s office. The online meeting products and services that we have evaluated to date are: Convoq ASAP IBM Lotus Web Conferencing Macromedia Breeze Live 1 Customer Scenario and Customers.com are registered trademarks and Customer Flight Deck and Quality of Customer Experience (QCE) are service marks of the Patricia Seybold Group, Inc. 210 Commercial Street, Boston, MA USA Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

3 2 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Meeting Oracle Web Conferencing WebEx Meeting Center In this report, we summarize our evaluations in the form of a matrix. Rows of the matrix represent evaluation criteria and sub-criteria. Each column represents a summary of our evaluation of one of the products against those criteria. This tabular presentation lets you compare the products. For clarity, we ve divided the matrix into two tables. The first contains those products that are delivered as hosted services, and the second contains those products that are primarily delivered as licensed software that is installed on a customer s premises. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

4 Feature Comparison Matrix 3 NETTING IT OUT Strengths: Integration with multiple IM systems and the ability to use their presence awareness to convene businesscritical meetings with contacts in real time Unique advanced meeting convocation features No-download-required client for meeting participants Strong video, audio, and text-based collaboration Simple and cost-effective pricing model Weaknesses: Limited meeting scheduling Cannot pass control of shared applications Lack of integrated teleconferencing Lack of archiving facility Strengths: Tight integration between the audio and Web components Strong real-time, ad hoc meeting convocation Advanced applicationsharing tools and desktop video Simple per-multimediaminute pricing Weaknesses: IM integration limited to MSN Messenger Lacks leading-edge presence-based and role-based meeting convocation facility Strengths: Support for both Windows and browser clients Integration with Outlook, Notes, and Windows Messenger IM for meeting convocation Strong collaborative tools Great experience for meeting presenters Breadth of pricing models Weaknesses: Lack of integrated teleconferencing Lack of dynamic role management Incomplete integration with other Microsoft products such as Office Lack of support for video Strengths: Strong collaborative and video services to make you feel as if you re in a face-toface meeting Advanced integration between the telephony and Web experiences Hybrid deployment architecture Attractive pricing model Weaknesses: No integration with IM for basic presence-driven meetings or advanced meeting convocation Lack of archiving facility Strengths: Full set of meeting functionality Integrated teleconferencing Variety of methods for convoking meetings (including multiple ways to support ad hoc collaborative meetings) Architecture that supports delivering and caching presentations, documents, and multimedia in the background, so all meeting attendees stay on the same page Weaknesses: Single presenter only Market leader lacks leading-edge presence-based meetings, telephony integration, and video functionality Perceived as the high-price solution 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

5 4 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix MEETING CONVOCATION Real-Time Meeting Invitation Meeting Scheduling Supports ad hoc meetings and invitations within meetings Integrates presence across multiple IM products (including AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging, and Microsoft Real-Time Communications Server) Can invite attendees via IM and in a single action Advanced convocation features, including Lifelines (the ability to invite people to a meeting by role), Stand-Ins (the ability to have someone else be contacted in a critical situation), and Meet As Soon As Present (the ability to convene a meeting as soon as all the required participants are present and available) Lacks real scheduling and invitation for scheduled meetings No integration with Outlook or Notes Calendars Supports Quick Meetings and express Meetings Persistent meeting launcher in Windows toolbar Integrates with MSN Messenger IM No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Easy walk-through scheduling process from online Meeting Center Web page Integrates with Outlook Calendar Supports Meet Now Integration with Windows Messenger IM No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Straightforward scheduling from the PlaceWare.com Conference Center Integrates with both Outlook (mail and calendar) and Notes calendar Real-time meeting invitation via or a manually embedded link within an IM and from within a meeting No integration with IM systems or applications such as Microsoft Office No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Lacks real scheduling does not require reservations Integrates with Outlook Calendar Supports Instant Meetings Integration with MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Business Messenger IM systems One-click meetings from desktop and Office applications No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Wizard-driven scheduling from WebEx Web site Integrates with Outlook Calendar A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

6 Feature Comparison Matrix 5 Pre-Meeting Preparation and Tracking Meeting preparation mode allows meeting owner to enter and pre-populate the meeting with presentations. Can track accepted invitations Meeting owner can set up presentations, quizzes, and surveys before the meeting starts. The Meeting owner can send out a survey before a scheduled meeting actually starts. Strong tracking of attendee responses to invitations to scheduled meetings; also up to two automatic reminders (configurable by the meeting owner) to each attendee who has responded Can pre-populate the meeting space with presentations and other information Supports automatic slide cycling Attendee tracking for large meetings Auditorium view of attendees entering before the meeting begins No integrated attendee tracking capabilities, other than viewing responses in Outlook Calendar Host can set up presentations, polls, and other documents to be used in the meeting. Host can set a customizable welcome and upload a slide, document, or an automatically advancing presentation that participants will see when they enter the meeting. Meeting host can require attendees to pre-register for meetings. The host can see both who has registered and the information that they were required to provide upon registration. Before opening the meeting, the host can see who is present, both on the Web and on the phone. Entering the Meeting Enter the meeting from an link or IM link No integrated teleconferencing ASAP Console runs as a Macromedia Flash application. Enter the meeting from the Web page, link, or IM link Client is a set of dynamically downloaded client meeting components (different set for participants and presenters). Attendees enter Waiting Room until the meeting starts and they are let in the meeting room. Integrated teleconferencing, including calling out to attendees Enter the meeting from the Web page, link, or IM link No integrated teleconferencing (though integrated services are available through partners) Live Meeting Console software may be downloaded as either a Windows Console or a browser client. Enter the meeting from the Web page, link, IM message, or the Raindance Meeting Edition client Integrated teleconferencing, including calling out to attendees Meeting client can be a Windows executable or a set of dynamically downloaded and unwrapped Java runtime executables. Enter the meeting from the Web page, link, or IM link Integrated teleconferencing, including calling out to attendees Meeting Manager is a set of dynamically downloaded client meeting components Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

7 6 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix COLLABORATIVE MEETING FUNCTIONS In-Meeting Communicati ons Application Sharing Meeting level chat with rich features such as fonts, colors, and emotisounds Audio communication via voice over IP Application or whole screen Non-ASAP licensed users cannot share Cannot pass control to another participant Multiple users can annotate. Multiple chat options, including chat to anyone, only to the moderator, only to the moderator and presenters, or to all Participants can set up their own groups within the meeting and chat to them. Can move selected audio participants to a subconference room Integrated teleconferencing enables attendees to see who is currently talking. Application, multiple applications, or all applications that are running on the desktop Can pass control to all others Whiteboard No whiteboard feature Multiuser draw, point, text, annotate Co-Browsing Lacks true co-browsing Webtouring provides true cobrowsing. One-to-one chat between presenters and between attendees Application, section of a screen, or whole screen Can pass control to all others Text slides allow multi-person collaboration. Meeting model is a presentation, and everything is a slide within a meeting. Multiuser draw, point, text, annotate Multiple, simultaneous whiteboard Slides Lacks true co-browsing Web Slides allow presenters to push a URL to all attendees. Rich chat with one other participant, several participants, co-moderators (if the participant has Moderator status), or the entire meeting Integrated teleconferencing enables the attendees to see who is currently talking via follow the speaker video. Running application, file (which is launched into its application), desktop region, whole desktop Can pass control to another participant Multiple annotators Multiple whiteboards; multiuser draw, point, text, annotate True co-browsing Chat with all other attendees, all participants, the host, the presenter, or both the host and presenter Integrated teleconferencing Application or whole desktop Remote control Can pass control to another presenter Multiple annotators File transfer within the meeting Multiuser draw, point, text, annotate Lacks true co-browsing Web browser mode Share Web Content feature allows presenters to push a URL to all attendees. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

8 Feature Comparison Matrix 7 Video Two-stream PC video Two-stream PC video Floating video window ADVANCED MEETING FUNCTIONS Presentations PowerPoint plug-in for converting files Fairly slow process Very good font and image fidelity Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions Fast and easy upload and conversion of presentations Very good font and image fidelity Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions Uploaded presentations can be used in any meeting. No PC video Does not support slide builds, animations, and transitions Allows content to be persistent from one meeting to another Multi-point desktop video Picture in picture Attendee-controlled or follow the speaker video Take podium capability can force attendees to always watch speaker Conversion and upload of Microsoft Office documents before or within the meeting; also can convert *.vsd, *.txt, *.pdf, *.prz, *.jpg, *.jpeg, and *.bmp formats Fast and easy Very good font and image fidelity Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions PowerPoint performance is enhanced by pushing the background presentation graphical elements once and caching them at the client, so that only the added material on each slide needs to be transmitted. Single stream PC video Floating video window Dynamic presentation conversion and presentation from the presenter s PC Fast and easy conversion Very good font and image fidelity Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions Presentations are distributed in the background to the meeting attendees and cached on their local machines. Supports multiple formats, including multimedia files Toolkit lets the presenter insert video and other media directly into PowerPoint 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

9 8 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Classroom Functions Hand raise to become presenter or take podium Audio questions enables moderators to unmute attendees individually. Polls can be created before or during the meeting. The results are published as they come in for all participants to see though the individual responses remain anonymous. Surveys can take place before, during, or after the meeting. Survey results are automatically stored in the moderator s Genesys Meeting Center database for later review and analysis. Quizzes are self-grading tests with scores or weighting and can be sent to participants as part of the invitation process or during meetings. Results are made available in the reports section of the. Mood indicators enable participants to show the moderator that they are ready, behind, or disconnected; that the presentation should be speeded up or slowed down; or that they agree with, disagree with, or applaud the presenter. Single-question polls can be created within meetings or before meetings. Poll results are displayed dynamically as percentages; display can be limited to presenters or shared with the whole meeting; and a polling report can show individual votes. Live Q&A feature Audience feedback, with seating and moods Hand raise to become presenter or take podium Polls can be created within meetings or before meetings. Results displayed after the poll closes A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

10 Feature Comparison Matrix 9 MEETING MANAGEMENT AND MODERATING Meeting Control Outcome and Agenda Management Moderator can control which features (audio, video, presentations, screen sharing, chat, file sharing, etc.) are available within the meeting. Meetings cannot be locked, but further invitations can be prohibited. No specific agenda management features Meeting owner can control participant and presenter password requirements, type of meeting (audio, Web, or both), and available media (streaming audio, video, and custom). Meeting owner can open the meeting to anyone or lock it and force attendees to stay in a waiting room until admitted into the meeting. No specific agenda management features Pre-meeting survey can be used to send out and get opinions on agenda, desired outcomes, etc. Windows are available for attendees to capture Minutes, Notes, and Action Items, which can then be copied and pasted into another document for later use. Meeting owner can control password requirements, meeting size and length, whether pre-registration is required, and whether participants can enter the meeting early. Meetings cannot be locked. No specific agenda management features Preloaded documents can be used to distribute outcome statement, agenda, notes, or next steps associated with the meeting. Moderator can select which capabilities will be available in the meeting. Almost all features can be turned on, turned off, or limited to some participants. The Moderator can see attendees as they come into the meeting via Web and/or phone, and can control their participation (including muting and disconnecting) from the Web interface. The Moderator can lock the meeting from further attendees. No specific agenda management features Host controls the meeting functions available and sets access to these for the meeting attendees. The host can expel users, mute them (using the Web interface if WebEx teleconferencing is used), and lock or end the meeting at any time. Host can create an Agenda prior to the meeting and distribute it as part of the meeting invitation Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

11 10 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Role Management Participant Capabilities Management Presentation Management Post-Meeting Activities Moderator, presenters, and attendees Any participant with an ASAP client can be promoted to moderator or presenter, while any Web-based participant can be made a presenter (though with some limited capabilities specifically not being able to screen share). No additional downloads are required. Allows multiple, simultaneous presenters Permissions can be set for all attendees or any attendee. Multiple concurrent presenters Navigation via arrows and slide list; no thumbnails Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions After the meeting, all users can save the transcript (text chat) locally. Meeting owner, presenters, and participants Can promote participants to presenters within the meeting. This requires an additional download. Permissions can be set for all attendees or any attendee. Single presenter Navigation via arrows and slide titles; no thumbnails Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions After the meeting, the owner can go back and see who attended, see the duration of the meeting, see the results of any surveys and quizzes associated with the meeting, and create a new survey for the attendees. Presenters and attendees Cannot promote an attendee to presenter within the meeting Permissions must be set for all attendees and cannot be set individually. Multiple concurrent presenters Navigation via arrows and slide titles; no thumbnails Separate slide review window Presenters can move or edit uploaded slides. Reports available Moderator, co-moderators, presenters, and participants The last three can be dynamically reassigned by the moderator during the meeting. No additional downloads are required. Permissions can be set for all attendees or any attendee. Multiple concurrent presenters Navigation via arrows, slide titles, and thumbnails Presenter can view thumbnails, page descriptions, or speaker notes prior to showing individual slides. Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions After each meeting, the meeting owner receives an with a Post Conference Report on the meeting. This contains a link to a Web report that includes the time of the meeting, the participants (by phone number), and a billing code. Host, presenters, and attendee Attendees can be promoted to presenters. No additional downloads are required. Permissions can be set for all attendees or any attendee. Single active presenter Tabbed interface shows multiple pages (presentations, whiteboards, applications) that are part of the meeting. Navigation via arrows, slide titles, and thumbnails Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions The host and presenters are prompted to save shared documents, notes, chats, and polls, which can be saved to a local set of files within a file folder for the meeting. At the host s option, transcripts of the meeting can be ed to attendees. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

12 Feature Comparison Matrix 11 ARCHIVING AND PLAYBACK Capture and Storage Simple archiving facility in which the group administrator can specify that all meeting transcripts are mailed to a designated archive The meeting owner can choose to begin and stop recording at any time and can designate the audio, Web, or both to be captured. Private chat and Notes (including Minutes and Next Actions) are not captured and must be saved separately. Desktop video is not captured. Retrieval Synchronized playback of all meeting elements is available via a zip file, a CD, or having the archive hosted for some period of time. During playback, surveys/polls/quizzes can be answered by the person watching the archive, and the results are posted to the Moderator s account so that they can be captured along with all the live participants data. MEETING PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE Service or Licensed Product Users Meeting owner can start and stop recording at any time. Recording includes all meeting objects, including teleconference (server dials into any third-party conferencing server as a participant). Synchronized playback Recordings are published in the Live Meeting Replay format and retrieved from PlaceWare.com Conference Center. does not currently support meeting recording and playback. Host can record (and let attendees record) the meeting at any time, and recording (including all meeting elements other than video) is saved to a local file on the host s desktop in the compressed WebEx wrf format. Playback is through the Web- Ex Player, which requires an automatic download and install the first time it is used. WebEx Player enables users to view and edit the meeting recording. Hosted service Hosted service Hosted service Hosted service Hosted service Has its own directory Integration provided to external IM systems including AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging (Sametime), and Microsoft Live Communications Server Does not currently integrate with corporate directories or enterprise applications Has its own directory No integration with corporate directories Integrates with the user s Microsoft Outlook directory and MSN Messenger buddy list Has its own user directory with APIs that allow integration with any central directory service Meeting owners who download the add-ons for Outlook and MSN Messenger can dynamically access the contacts within those applications for meeting invitations. Meeting owners can access contacts from Outlook environment. No integration with corporate directories, systems, IM systems, or ERP applications Product has its own company contacts and personal contacts lists. These can be imported from Outlook Contacts or a comma-delimited file. They do not directly integrate with (nor do they synchronize with) corporate directories, or IM systems, or enterprise applications Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

13 12 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Client Security Systems and Network Architecture Meeting participants: All participants require only a Web browser and the Macromedia Flash plug-in. Supported browsers include Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, or Solaris operating systems. Meeting owners: Licensed users who initiate meetings require the installation of a Win32 client from Convoq. Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are supported, and Windows operating system is required. Password-protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption HTTP-tunneling to work across firewalls Physically secure hosted site Built on Macromedia Communication Server Communications via Macromedia real-time messaging protocol (RMTP) No APIs available Meeting participants: All participants use a client that is a set of dynamically downloaded Java components. Presenters: A Windows client and a set of ActiveX controls are required for presenters. Password-protected meetings Audio participant identification High security model with 6-8 digit personalized participant security code 128-bit SSL encryption HTTP-tunneling to work across firewalls Physically secure hosted site Distributed server-based architecture; Tier 1 data centers located globally Online tools for branding and look-and-feel available for customers or used by Genesys on behalf of customers Rich HTTP-based API for integration with third-party systems or customers portals Two client models: the Windows Console (a persistent set of ActiveX controls) and a dynamically downloaded Java Console Java Console supports Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator and runs on Windows, Macintosh, and Solaris OSs. Password-protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption IP-tunneling to work across firewalls Physically secure hosted site Hub-and-spoke server-based architecture APIs for branding and integration Client is windows, with a Java client planned. Windows client requires Windows as its operating system and Internet Explorer as its browser. Password-protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption IP-tunneling to work across firewalls Physically secure hosted site SwitchTower multimedia network supports audio, video, and Web conferencing. Hybrid architecture allows hosted and premises deployment. WebEx Meeting Manager is a set of dynamically downloaded Java components. Meeting Manager supports Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers on Windows, Macintosh, and Solaris OSs. Password-protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption IP-tunneling to work across firewalls No data sit on servers. Physically secure hosted site MediaTone Network supports advanced streaming data via T.120 protocol. URL-based and XML-based APIs are used for integration with other products and systems. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

14 Feature Comparison Matrix 13 PRICING AND METERING Pricing: Model and List Price Named User Model: Individual Plan: $ per year per named user. Each meeting is limited to 25 users (with only the meeting owner needing to be licensed). Meetings of over 25 attendees are charged an overage of $0.10 per person (starting with the 26th attendee) per minute. Group Plan: $ per year for 4 named users each of whom can initiate meetings. Additional named users can be added at $ per year. Each meeting is limited to 25 users (with only the meeting owner needing to be licensed). Meetings of over 25 attendees are charged an overage of $0.10 per person (starting with the 26th attendee) per minute. Conference Room Plan: Subscriptions for an introductory price of $2,995 per year for an unlimited number of meetings with up to 50 people per meeting, or $4,995 per year for an unlimited number of meetings with up to 100 people per meeting. Pay-Per-Use Model: An unlimited number of attendees at $0.10 per person per minute. Per-Minute Model: $0.32 per multimedia minute per attendee Prices include teleconferencing. Concurrent User Model: Standard Edition: $75 per user per month; Professional Edition: $150 per user per month. Overages are charged at the per-minute rate. Per-Minute Model: Standard Edition: $0.35 per user per minute; Professional Edition: $0.45 per user per minute. Reserving a block of monthly minutes results in a discount with overages charged at that same discount. Named User Model: Standard Edition: $180 (down to $90 at volume) per named user, with a minimum of 5 named users, plus $3,000 annual fee. Professional Edition: $300 (down to $100 at volume) per named user, with a minimum of 5 named users, plus $3,000 annual fee. Room Model: Standard Edition: Limited starting at $6,000 for a 50-seat room per year; Unlimited starting at $18,000 for a 50-seat room per year. Professional Edition: Limited starting at $10,000 for a 50-seat room per year; Unlimited starting at $30,000 for a 50-seat room per year. Prices do not include teleconferencing Concurrent User Model via the Web and Concurrent User and Per-Minute Models for Enterprises: 5 Concurrent User Pack: $ per month. For an additional charge of $0.50 per minute per participant, the meeting owner can add up to 15 more participants. Teleconferencing is $0.20 per minute per participant 10 Concurrent User Pack: $ per month. For an additional charge of $0.50 per minute per participant, the meeting owner can add up to 30 more participants. Teleconferencing is $0.18 per minute per participant. Corporate prices are negotiated and can be either on a concurrent user or per-minute basis. Prices do not include teleconferencing. Concurrent User Model (called the Committed Port Model); Per-Minute Model (in both Committed Usage and Unlimited Usage Models): Committed Port Model: Standard pricing for Meeting Center Pro is $200 per port per month. Customers pay a perminute overage for using more than the subscribed number of ports. Online Subscription Model: a concurrent user model that also includes some integrated audio minutes. A fivesimultaneous user license for Meeting Center Pro is $995 per month, which includes 500 minutes of audio conferencing. Committed Usage Model (also called the Enterprise Edition): Provides a certain number of minutes per month for any WebEx service. An unlimited number of users can use up the set number of minutes; then overage fees are incurred. Unused minutes are lost at the end of the month. The price range begins at $0.35 per minute. Uncommitted Usage Model: A simple pay-per-minute-ofuse model, with a list price of $0.33 per minute Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

15 14 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Pricing: Model and List Price (continued) Provisioning Metering and Reporting Prices do not include teleconferencing. Individual accounts are selfprovisioned off the website. Group accounts are set up via the Convoq sales team. An account administrator is designated who can then use an Admin portal to manage licenses and add and delete users. A number of reports on licensed users are available. Individual sign-up online or via Companies can provide a spreadsheet of user names, with which Genesys Conferencing performs a large customer upload. Genesys Conferencing typically works with its larger customers to create an extranet for their users for signing up new accounts, and it provides a tool to add, change, and delete individual accounts. Meeting owners can see reports on past meetings, including who attended the meeting and for how long. They can also view start and exit times for the meeting and for all participants. Also, quiz and survey results are available in the Reports section. These reports can be exported as a CSV file to be viewed in a spreadsheet or reporting tool. PlaceWare administrator can create new users, give permissions and set roles, and create and edit groups of users. Full set of reports, audit trail, and trends analysis are available to meeting owners and PlaceWare administrator. Reports can be printed or saved as a CSV file for importing into Excel. Available self-provisioning via the Web Raindance can also import CSV files (from Excel or other applications) for a batch setup. Single per-meeting Web report includes the time of the meeting, audio activity and Web activity by the participants (by phone number), and a billing code. No export or integration capabilities Teleconferencing services used within any meeting list at $0.20 per minute per user. WebEx provisioning team works with the customer s site administrator. The site administrator sends a list (in Excel) of people to add. All call detail records are collected for each meeting. Outof-the-box reports include usage reports by meeting, host, attendees (including registered and attended), and the time each person joined and dropped off. Each meeting can be assigned to a department via a drop-down menu. The site administrator can customize this. Only the host and the site administrator can see the reports, which can be exported into CSV files. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

16 Feature Comparison Matrix 15 NETTING IT OUT Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Strengths: Easy meeting convocation Integration with third-party teleconferencing provider Premiere Conferencing Wide set of collaborative features Simple and highly competitive pricing Distributable enterprise architecture Weaknesses: Lack of specific features (most notably an integrated facility to invite other people to meetings) Difficulty of using the product in a non-all- IBM/Lotus environment MEETING CONVOCATION Real-Time Meeting Invitation Meeting Scheduling Pre-Meeting Preparation and Tracking Supports Instant Meetings and invitations within meetings Integration with Lotus Instant Messaging No integration with other IM systems or applications such as Microsoft Office No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Intuitive scheduling UI via Meeting Center Web page Lacks integrated invitation facility Integrates with Notes Calendar Does not integrate with Outlook Calendar Can pre-populate files to the whiteboard No integrated attendee tracking capabilities, other than viewing responses in Notes Calendar Strengths: Customizable in-meeting experience Persistent meetings Content management and search facilities for storing and retrieving presentations and other meeting items Flash-based architecture Weaknesses: Lack of integration with teleconferencing systems Supports ad hoc meeting invitation Persistent meetings are available at any time. No integration with IM systems or applications such as Microsoft Office No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Clear and fast scheduling via the Breeze Portal Integrates with Outlook Calendar Persistent meeting rooms allow meeting organizers to prepare room prior to meeting beginning and easily reuse meeting content and layouts for recurring meetings. On Demand content available before, during, and after meetings, including presentations, documents, surveys, and polls. No integrated attendee tracking capabilities, other than via Outlook integration Strengths: Innovative collaboration model Strong screen- and application-sharing tools Enterprise deployment model Low per-named-user pricing Weaknesses: Immature presentation capabilities Lack of out-of-the-box integration with user calendars and IM Lack of integration with teleconferencing systems Supports Instant Conferences No integration with IM systems or applications such as Microsoft Office No advanced capabilities such as role-based initiation or start the meeting when all participants are available Straightforward scheduling from the Oracle Web Conferencing Web page Integrates with Oracle Calendar Does not integrated with Outlook or Notes Calendar Can pre-load documents into the meeting and enable attendees to view them at any time before the meeting begins No integrated attendee tracking capabilities, other than viewing responses in Oracle Calendar 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

17 16 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Entering the Meeting Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Enter from Web page, link, or Lotus IM Integration with Premiere Conferencing allows dial-me functions. Meeting Room is a Java component dynamic download. COLLABORATIVE MEETING FUNCTIONS In-Meeting Communicati ons Application Sharing Whiteboard Co-Browsing Video Public and private chat Intelligent PC audio Integration with Premiere Conferencing shows who is speaking in the teleconference. Application, frame, or whole screen Can pass control to all others File transfer within the meeting Draw, point, text, annotate Used for document presentation All users can annotate. Lacks true co-browsing Does have URL push to attendees Supports PC video Single stream Floating video window Enter the meeting from the Web page, Outlook calendar, or link Self-registration facility No integrated teleconferencing Meeting client uses local Flash Player. Text chat with an individual, the room as a whole, or with presenters only PC audio Application and screen Can pass control to all others No multiuser annotation File transfer within the meeting Draw, point, text, annotate All users can annotate. Lacks true co-browsing Web Links enable presenters to push HTML pages to meeting participants. Supports PC video Multiple streams Floating video window Enter the meeting from the Web page or link No integrated teleconferencing Click on the hyperlinked conference title to see details and to find out if there are any documents associated with that conference Conferencing Console is dynamically invoked Java component. Rich host, private, or public/group chat PC audio Application, region, or whole desktop Concurrent sharing control Unique collaborative interface Used for presentations Multiuser draw, point, text, annotate True co-browsing No PC video A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

18 Feature Comparison Matrix 17 ADVANCED MEETING FUNCTIONS Presentations Classroom Functions Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Supports many formats Fast and easy upload and conversion process Good fidelity of text and images Does not support slide builds, animations, and transitions In-meeting polling, but single question at a time and cannot save poll results Can provide correct answers and grade responses MEETING MANAGEMENT AND MODERATING Meeting Control Outcome and Agenda Management Moderator can control time, security, and features of the meeting. Meetings can be limited to named attendees. Meetings cannot be locked. No specific agenda management features Supports PowerPoint Slow uploads Very good fidelity of text and images Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions Full-text retrieval of presentations On Demand access outside of the meeting Add-on enables Flash movies and other rich content to be added to the presentations. Persistent polls can be created before or during meetings. Multiple, simultaneous polls Presenter can track participants immediate responses and show the results in real time. Results can show the names of individual poll respondents within the results chart. Results can be saved for reporting and analysis after meetings Meeting owner can control meeting capabilities (video, chat, screen sharing, presentations, etc.) at a highly granular level. Meeting owner can allow participants to view materials when the meeting is not going on (On Demand) and enable the meeting to be persistent and reentered at a later time. Meetings can be locked. No specific agenda management features On Demand documents can be used to distribute outcome statement, agenda, notes, or next steps associated with the meeting. Slow uploads Does not support slide builds, animations, and transitions Multi-question polls can be created within meetings or before meetings. Show progress in real time by stopping and sharing results Results are automatically archived. The host can view a summary of poll responses and individual attendee responses and optionally make them available to others. Host can control what participants can see and do from the Conferencing Console (and whether attendees see this console at all). Host can control types of chat allowed and what meeting events will generate alerts. Meetings cannot be locked. No specific agenda management features Preloaded documents can be used to distribute outcome statement, agenda, notes, or next steps associated with the meeting Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

19 18 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Role Management Participant Capabilities Management Presentation Management Post-Meeting Activities ARCHIVING AND PLAYBACK Capture and Storage Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Moderator and Attendees Collaborative meetings lack presenter role. Moderator can give moderator roll to others (but cannot take it back). No additional download required to share or be moderator Permissions can be set for all attendees or for each attendee. Navigation via arrows; no slide titles or thumbnails Does not support slide builds, animations, and transitions Details of meetings available from the Finished Meetings area of the Meeting Center Moderator can record the meeting (must be selected before the meeting starts). Moderator cannot record Instant Meetings. Moderator can save chats and whiteboards. Participants can save chats. Premiere Conferencing audio does not yet sync with the meeting. Separate teleconferencing recording is available. Presenters and participants; also planning presenters Supports multiple presenters and in-meeting promotion and demotion between roles No additional download required to be a presenter Permissions can be set for all attendees or for each attendee. Navigation via arrows and slide titles; lacks thumbnails, but can have multiple copies of the same presentation open Supports slide builds, animations, and transitions A transcript (index) of the meeting is dynamically created, and meeting reports become available to the meeting owner. Polls, quizzes, and surveys can be given to meeting participants in an on-demand mode and can be used for post-meeting activities such as satisfaction surveys. Attendees can rejoin persistent meetings. Meeting owner can start and stop recording at any time. Recording includes all meeting objects except private chats. No integrated teleconferencing recording Host, presenters, attendees with shared control, attendees Can have multiple presenters Roles can be granted during the meeting. Host role can be assigned during the meeting and then taken back by the meeting owner. No additional download required to host, present, or share Permissions must be set for all attendees and cannot be set individually. Navigation via arrows, slide titles, or thumbnails, but requires awkward flipping between modes Does not support slide builds, animations, and transitions Host is prompted to publish the report information. Host can start and stop recording at any time. Recording includes all meeting objects, including teleconference (server dials into any third-party conferencing server as a participant). Synchronized playback A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.

20 Feature Comparison Matrix 19 Retrieval Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Saved meetings retrieved from Meeting Center and played back via a Java component MEETING PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE Service or Licensed Product Users Client Security Licensed software Also available as a hosted service from IBM Global Services Uses Domino directory or any corporate LDAP directory (including Microsoft Active Directory, Netscape iplanet, IBM Secureway directory server, or any LDAP V.3 directory) Does not support users other contacts (such as Outlook and public IM systems) Meeting Room: dynamically downloaded Java components Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Mozilla browsers on Windows, Unix, and Linux operating systems Password-protected meetings Secure meetings (based on corporate directory authentication) 128-bit SSL encryption IP-tunneling to work across firewalls Meeting archives are stored on the Breeze portal and are played back via the Flash client. Playback of archive includes ability to interact with simulations and demonstrations, as well as download files shared during the original meeting. Breeze automatically creates an index (table of contents) of the recording at both the event and content level, so viewers can navigate immediately to the segment of interest to them (rather than having to view the entire recording). They can also use the Find feature to pinpoint the occurrence of a keyword in a slide, chat, or note and begin the playback from that point in the recording. If Breeze Presentations have been used, these also can be full text searched across multiple archived meetings. Licensed software and hosted service Integration with directory services, such as Exchange or Open LDAP Integrates with the user s Microsoft Outlook directory Meeting client runs in a local Flash Player 6.0 or higher. Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, AOL 7, CompuServe 7, Mozilla, or Opera 6 browsers on Windows or Macintosh systems Password- and ticket -protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption HTTP-tunneling to work across firewalls Recordings accessed via the Archive tab on the Oracle Web Conferencing site Archives available to registered users Archives can be exported and linked to other applications. Licensed software Also available as a hosted subscription service from Xigns Contains its own directory of registered users, which is built on the Oracle Internet Directory (OID). Integration with other directories (Active Directory, LDAP, etc.) is provided directly by OID. Meeting owners cannot use their Outlook or Notes contacts unless their organization has built APIlevel integration. Conferencing Console: dynamically downloaded Java components Internet Explorer browser and Windows OS only Password-protected meetings 128-bit SSL encryption All traffic over HTTP port 80 and HTTPS port Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law. A Customers.com Research Service

21 20 Online Meeting Services Comparison Matrix Systems and Network Architecture PRICING AND METERING Pricing: Model and List Price Online Meetings Table 2 Licensed Software (Primarily) IBM Lotus Web Conferencing 6.5 Macromedia Breeze Live 4.0 Oracle Web Conferencing 2.0 Domino-based server (can either run in existing Domino environment or can include a runtime Domino server); runs on Windows, OS/400, AIX, and SPARC Solaris T.120 for streaming media Distributed enterprise architecture for scalability Open APIs and a variety of toolkits Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing: Named User Model: Entitles the user to an IM account and to create and attend online meetings at a one-time license fee of $47.59 per user. Any number of licensed users can attend a meeting. However, non-licensed users cannot be invited to a meeting under this product. This requires the Extranet Server edition of the offering (list price $31,842). Lotus Web Conferencing: Concurrent User: Pricing lists for one-time fee of $475 per concurrent user. Prices do not include teleconferencing. Breeze Server is built on existing Macromedia technology, including the Macromedia Application Server and Macromedia Communication Server. Runs on Intel-based hardware running Windows. Communications via Macromedia real-time messaging protocol (RMTP) Distributed architecture and load balancing Published APIs and a Web Services framework in Breeze to integrate with existing XML-based enterprise applications and systems Concurrent User Model: Software License Model: Breeze Live Server is available for $10,000, which includes 10 concurrent meeting seats (equaling $1,000 per concurrent user). Additional seats are available based on the volume of additional seats purchased, and there is no overage model. Hosted Subscription Model: The hosted version of Breeze Live is priced at $84 per seat per month, with overage charges of $0.32 per minute per user, or at a flat rate of $0.32 per minute per user Price does not include teleconferencing. Provisioning Automatic, via corporate directory Manual or through a synchronization process with existing infrastructures such as LDAP Metering and Reporting Large set of real-time, per-meeting, and aggregated reports Reports can be exported to a variety of database and spreadsheet formats. APIs enable customers to tie the logs into their own billing systems. Wide set of reports, including usage reports, content reports, course reports, and meeting reports Reports are accessible via the Breeze Portal. Reports can be downloaded into CSV format. Runs on all of the standard Oracle platforms, including Windows, Unix, and Linux Can be deployed on a single machine or on multiple machines across internal and external networks Set of published APIs defined and implemented as Web Services, supporting HTTP as the transport and XML as the messaging interface Named User Model: Meeting owners require license; meeting attendees do not. Unlimited number and duration of meetings. Unlimited number of attendees in a meeting. Perpetual license lists at $45 per user. Price does not include teleconferencing. Automatic import from LDAP and Active Directory Number of attendees, conference duration, public chat transcripts, etc. Appropriate reports can be seen by meeting owners, lines of business, and administrators. Custom reports can be generated using tools such as Oracle Discoverer. All records are auditable for corporate governance and regulatory requirements. A Customers.com Research Service 2004 Patricia Seybold Group Unauthorized redistribution of this report is a violation of copyright law.