

GoToMeeting 4 - New Features

100% Mac Compatibility

Integrated VoIP

Additional New Features
Attendee Audio Controls and Advanced Audio Monitoring

One-click Recording

Floating Control Panel

JoinGoToMeeting.com

Edit Countries International

Learn More
- GoToMeeting Product Overview
- Watch a GoToMeeting product demonstration
- FAQ
- Technical fact sheet (PDF)
- Sign-up for 30-day free trial
- GoToMeeting v.3 Review by Robin Good
Summary Overview
Pros - Key Strengths
- 100% Mac and PC compatible
- Integrated VoIP
- Best screen-sharing performance in the market
- Integrated audio and screen recording
- International support (growing)
- Integration with other tools such as Outlook and IMs
- Live annotation and mark-up tools
- More manageable and customizable interface
Cons - Areas for Improvement
- New cosmetic changes to the interface do not provide tangible improvement. In some cases they may even infer some frustration as user brow accustomed to their tools and to the way they look and feel. If unwarranted changes even to the most cosmetic parts is introduced without a strong need, there will always be users who will like and others who will not because they already liked so much what they had before. Solution? Such improvements should be offered as an "option" in the Preferences setup of the tool and not as a forced upgrade.
- VoIP. Too little too late. Two years ago was the right time to add VoIP to this tool. As of now, the addition of a mediocre VoIP solution, at least as seen from its initial performance, offers more something to talk about rather than something to talk through. People have gotten used to utilize Skype in conjunction with G2M, and made exception for those who can't use Skype for some reason, the rest will not find this addition worth abandoning their habitual solution.
- Annotation and markup have remained the same. A major opportunity for gaining further market strength and to attack other uses and applications has gon unused. Live markup, collaborative tools are going to see a huge boost in demand and use and being on the cusp of innovation and usability on this front means being ahead of the game by a long step.

Editor's Comments
The new GoToMeeting 4 confirms its leadership as the best screen-sharing tool on the market. In My opinion, and after having tested hundreds of competitors remains unchanged: Citrix GoToMeeting has the best performance and screen-sharing quality you can find around. There are competitors who are easier to use, less expensive or more feature rich. But, if your main goal is to do a professional screen-sharing session with up to 25 attendees, I would not hesitate a second in recommending this tool. GoToMeeting ver. 4 has all of the basic features you may need to do a professional screen sharing session, including text chat, voice over IP, teleconferencing, invitations, recording and moderator tools. The user interface is the best in its class and outside of a few minor items it makes just about any task easy and intuitive to find. The addition of VoIP offers greater collaboration opportunities to those who do not have access to a phone line or who didn't want or like to use Skype or similar tools in tandem with G2M. Though the integrated VoIP technology in G2M isn't as good as Skype, it does provide a fallback solution for some users. The element which still offers the greatest opportunity for extending GoToMeeting competitive edge is the annotation and markup facility. This is an area that will see lots of growth in the near future across all of collaboration tools. I have been suggesting several improvements to the G2m markup tools in the past but only some have seen the light of the day so far. I am ready to bet that in the next version of GoToMeeting or in the next version of one of its key competitors you will see some major innovation which will provide a great incentive for new users to jump in. All in all, GoToMeeting consolidates its screen-sharing position as a leader offering a well-rounded, solid, reliable and highly performing tool for a reasonable price ($49/month for up to 15 users). If you have never tried GoToMeeting, I do suggest you give it a good try.Originally written by Robin Good for Master New Media and first published on July 1st 2008 as "GoToMeeting 4 Everyone: 100% Mac Compatibility Plus VoIP Keep The Screen-Sharing Crown At Citrix"