Vyew: Free Alternative to Dimdim
Online meeting software is fairly common today, there are numerous services like WebEx and GoToMeeting that combine shared document editing/whiteboard/video conferencing/screen sharing, etc, into a single turnkey package. The downside is that those services tend to be quite pricey, usually outside the budget of freelancers, small-medium business, etc.
There has been one standout that offers a free equivalent: Dimdim. Unfortunately, it appears that they've just been purchased by SalesForce.com - who have decided to discontinue all free Dimdim accounts on March 15, 2011 according to an EMail we received from Dimdim today:
Dimdim has been acquired by salesforce.com. Your free Dimdim account will remain active until March 15, 2011. After that date, you will no longer be able to access your free Dimdim account.SalesForce.com already offers their own paid online meeting service, so it isn't terribly surprising that they're buying up the competition and canning their free offerings.
Fortunately, there are a few other services that, while they may not be as well-known as Dimdim, they do still provide most of the same features. The best alternative that I've found is called Vyew - as with Dimdim, it's Flash-based so there's no need to install JAVA or Active-X plugins. Vyew's interface is a bit more complex, though it looks like it has some extra features and does appear to contain all of the essential functionality for online meetings (voice/video conferencing, shared whiteboard, shared document editing, etc).
Disclaimer: we are not affiliated with Vyew.com, nor do we receive any compensation (financial or otherwise) for recommending their service.
