I’ve looked at Skype for conference calling (between 3 and approx 15 athletes). Call quality always seems to be an issue with Skype here in NZ - can be quite hit and miss when using on a 1:1 basis. I’m thinking that is prob as much to do with us living rural as the software itself.
But any thoughts on other platforms for conference calling? Are there any other products out there that are ideally free, or low cost, and considered better quality of calling than Skype?
Thoughts appreciated…
I’ve heard quite abit about Google Hangouts lately but I’m not sure exactly what it does or if it’ll meet your needs.
There’s always WebEx or GotoMeeting.
Professionally, I have always used GotoMeeting with quite good results.
Skype is it.
Poor call quality (dropouts, noise, etc…) have everything to do with the quality of the internet connection and nothing to do with Skype as such.
Different software has different usability. Use whatever is easiest. Also, due to how all the devices are all different, some software may not work for some folks without troubleshooting, but that pertains to camera not working or no sound or the incoming call won’t ring. The poor call quality is entirely the fault of the internet connection or possibly just their local Wi-Fi (assume everyone is wireless nowadays).
Skype is it.
Poor call quality (dropouts, noise, etc…) have everything to do with the quality of the internet connection and nothing to do with Skype as such.
Different software has different usability. Use whatever is easiest. Also, due to how all the devices are all different, some software may not work for some folks without troubleshooting, but that pertains to camera not working or no sound or the incoming call won’t ring. The poor call quality is entirely the fault of the internet connection or possibly just their local Wi-Fi (assume everyone is wireless nowadays).
Have you had luck w/Skype for conf. calls with lots of parties? They may have changed it but Skype bandwidth requirements were linear to the number of parties, making it good for a few but horrible for large groups.
At my company, we been testing Oovoo but webex is our go to for video conferencing with webcams.
I use Skype and google+ (hangouts) daily at work for calls between 2 - 6 people, including folks in NZ and the US. Within my company, there is universal agreement that the quality of google+ is superior for both voice and video.
One issue with google+ is that their software is pretty active on the network and “phones home” even when not in a call.
If you want to use features such as screen sharing within a conference call, you have to pay for Skype, such features are free in google+.
One note about google+ is that their GUI sucks and is anything but intuitive.
I’ve looked at Skype for conference calling (between 3 and approx 15 athletes). Call quality always seems to be an issue with Skype here in NZ - can be quite hit and miss when using on a 1:1 basis. I’m thinking that is prob as much to do with us living rural as the software itself.
But any thoughts on other platforms for conference calling? Are there any other products out there that are ideally free, or low cost, and considered better quality of calling than Skype?
Thoughts appreciated…
Gotomeeting is ok, I prefer (and our company uses) webex. There are quite a few conference call providers that don’t have video capabilities (i.e. not internet based), not sure what pricing is.
John
Thanks for suggestions so far.
I did think in terms of ease of use, and athletes having prior knowledge of the software - Skype was the go. It’s just the quality. But as you say I imagine it’s because we’re rural that the quality is sometimes less than ideal.
I’ll try having someone in the city / better connection initiate the call rather than myself, and then see if that improves quality for the other users, I expect ours will stay the same.
We use webex and I’m impressed, by that I mean it works well that you don’t think about it.