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[Entwood]

As the secretary of an organisation involved with tin-tents, our monthly committee meetings have all been cancelled by the school we use .... I've put everything off for this month but we'll need to do things from May onwards... I'm looking for advice on ideas for the best way forwards .....  we can sort most urgent matters/things out by email (we have our own domain/email system) but it takes time and requires everyone to actually check their emails !! Some committee members are not the most computer literate folks going ....

I'm thinking of trying to set up a timed video conference to replace the meetings and wonder if any of the resident experts on these things have any advice ... my thoughts are ..

Zoom .... fairly easy to set up and if I "host" the meeting I can control some aspects .. but the free version is limited to 40 minutes

Skype ... also easy but the free version is a max of 5 connections and I need 12 if everyone joins in

Microsoft Teams ... not free ... free version takes you to Skype so we go around in circles ....

Are there any other decent free conferencing software solutions I've missed ?? 

ta muchly

E

[Kevin Wood]

Cisco Webex is worth a look. That's what my radio club ended up landing on.

[Doctor Gollum]

Cisco Webex is worth a look. That's what my radio club ended up landing on.

Ironic given the subject matter... 

[TheBoy]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Cisco Webex is worth a look. That's what my radio club ended up landing on.

Ironic given the subject matter... 

Made me chuckle as well. 

Although I imagine a 12 way radio chat could get quite confusing. Over. 

[STEMO]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

You really should get on to BT about your Wi-fi 

[dave the builder]

can'r understand why people use WiFi
I use hard wired electricals
even in the bath
what's the worst that can happen 

[Viral_Jim]

Our business uses Google Hangouts, think it's free to use too.

It works but is sensitive to connection speed (audio quality dies on it's ar$e with slow WiFi).

It's main advantage is that it's very widely available and links to your Gmail account which means some or more of your members may already have it.
 

[STEMO]

Our business uses Google Hangouts, think it's free to use too.

It works but is sensitive to connection speed (audio quality dies on it's ar$e with slow WiFi).

It's main advantage is that it's very widely available and links to your Gmail account which means some or more of your members may already have it.

I always thought that was some sort of porn site.

[Viral_Jim]

You're in a 'funny' mood this evening I see.   

[Sir Tigger KC]

Our business uses Google Hangouts, think it's free to use too.

It works but is sensitive to connection speed (audio quality dies on it's ar$e with slow WiFi).

It's main advantage is that it's very widely available and links to your Gmail account which means some or more of your members may already have it.

I always thought that was some sort of porn site.

Maybe you can use it for virtual orgies?   

[STEMO]

Our business uses Google Hangouts, think it's free to use too.

It works but is sensitive to connection speed (audio quality dies on it's ar$e with slow WiFi).

It's main advantage is that it's very widely available and links to your Gmail account which means some or more of your members may already have it.

I always thought that was some sort of porn site.

Maybe you can use it for virtual orgies?   

I might be able to manage a virtual orgy 

[Auto Addict]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

Well, I didn't know that

[TheBoy]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

You really should get on to BT about your Wi-fi 

My Wifi aint provided by BT.

The issue here is people are stupid, and don't stick to the 3 non overlapping channels, instead going for the overlapping ones, thinking they are available.  So, as every single channel from 1-13 is in use, everything has overlapping channel interference, making 2.4Ghz unreliable .  Tempted to acquire a jammer, just to knock everyone off, so they actually bother to look up how to set them up


5GHz works well, but not all my devices are 5GHz capable

[STEMO]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

You really should get on to BT about your Wi-fi 

My Wifi aint provided by BT.

The issue here is people are stupid, and don't stick to the 3 non overlapping channels, instead going for the overlapping ones, thinking they are available.  So, as every single channel from 1-13 is in use, everything has overlapping channel interference, making 2.4Ghz unreliable .  Tempted to acquire a jammer, just to knock everyone off, so they actually bother to look up how to set them up


5GHz works well, but not all my devices are 5GHz capable

You really should get on to BT...about getting their excellent Wi-fi 

[Kevin Wood]

FFS, my bloody wifi is *REALLY* pissing me off. Another long reply lost. FFS. So short reply this time.

If any of your members have a paid for Office365 Subscription, then Teams/Skype for Business would be free, and other members can join via web link. Do a pre run a few days before so everyone can get the plugins installed (same applies to all options.

Cisco Webex is king, but don't think they do a free option.  Same with Citrix's Goto Meeting.


Worth trying SIP providers for (audio only) free conferencing options.

You really should get on to BT about your Wi-fi 

My Wifi aint provided by BT.

The issue here is people are stupid, and don't stick to the 3 non overlapping channels, instead going for the overlapping ones, thinking they are available.  So, as every single channel from 1-13 is in use, everything has overlapping channel interference, making 2.4Ghz unreliable .  Tempted to acquire a jammer, just to knock everyone off, so they actually bother to look up how to set them up


5GHz works well, but not all my devices are 5GHz capable

Microwave oven with the door interlocks bypassed will do the job.

Set it up in the garden and you've got a nice barbecue with almost zero fire risk, too.

[Doctor Gollum]

My Driver CPC course is being done via Microsoft Teams... seems to have downloaded to my Win8 laptop... will let you know whether it's actually any good in a week or so

[TheBoy]

My Driver CPC course is being done via Microsoft Teams... seems to have downloaded to my Win8 laptop... will let you know whether it's actually any good in a week or so

It works, but if you're hosted on UK South, that had capacity constraints before this current bout of hysteria started.

Any form of VoIP is desperately sensitive to latency.  So do what you can to reduce it - hardwired landline type broadband, cable to router rather than wifi, reduce other traffic etc.

A delay of 50mS will start to introduce audio quality issues, and 100mS cause people to talk over each other.  Proper VoIP solutions go to great lengths to ensure minimal latency, but the likes of Skype, Teams, Zoom and the opensource one called something like jitshit look at featureset over quality. Some options allow PSTN dial-in for audio, which can sometimes improve things, or sometimes make it unworkable, YMMV.  Probably due to where the actual conference bridge is being hosted, and the loading on the PSTN gateways.

Videowise, it doesn't really matter.  Unless screen/slide/whiteboard sharing, and that will be 100% down to the upload bandwidth of the presenter.


I regularly use the following in a business capacity, listed in order of best first (in my experience)
Webex
Goto
Skype for Business (on-prem)
Teams

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Zoom concerns me a bit. Apologies for the link to the Grauniad.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/01/do-you-know-how-zoom-is-using-your-data-heres-why-you-should

[TheBoy]

Zoom has clarified its position on "End to End" (E2E) encryption (ie, it doesn't), tried to make using conference passwords the default to avoid ID stuffing (brute forcing conferencing IDs), and made some noises about what it does with data it collects.

I too would be wary of Zoom, but for some, these concerns might be a non issue....    ...after all, people seem perfectly happy to use Facebook, and they will give *ALL* your data, and all the data of your contacts, and all the data of their contacts, and all the data of their contacts to anyone who asks.  And will package said data up nicely if you pay for it.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

One of the many reasons I wont sign up to it.

[Doctor Gollum]

Have to say very impressed with MS Teams.

CPC courses being delivered in groups of 20. A couple of people have been having the occasional issue with wifi, but generally solved by them turning their cameras off to minimise buffering... That said, one such person is participating from tother side of Aberdeen.

Also been a few issues with getting videos to play, but these seem to be down to course leader operating system issues and/or familiarity with the technology rather than with MS Teams specifically

Using such a platform is obviously a learning curve away from traditional meeting formats, but as long as people only switch their microphones on to speak rather than leaving them on permanently and the 'chair' manages the questions/discussions, it's almost as effective as having a discussion around a table

[STEMO]

My missus has been using zoom throughout the school closures with no problems at all.


I read in the news this morning that the guy who owns/developed zoom is now worth $7.5 billion.

[dave the builder]

I notice the Wifi fails on news debates etc just as a difficult question needs answering 

[Kevin Wood]

My salt mine got MS teams sorted out about a month before this struck. I'd say that was quite a lucky strike.

It has the usual M$ traits of hiding the options you really want, pestering you with ones that are of no interest and second guessing you (wrongly) all the time, but seems to do the job. I hate to think what a mess we'd be in without it, having made a transition from 100% office based to 95% WFH overnight.

I'm sure the first iteration of IM software used to be much more intuitive, though (without all the audio, video and calendaring bells and whistles, etc. of course).