1videoConference is a free web conferencing tool in alpha stage that’s burning up the charts on Sourceforge. Like the previously profiled DimDim, it’s software you download and install on your server. It’s designed to be folded into your domain just like your other web pages. Site administrators can then invite users to participate in a video, voice, text chat and screen sharing web conference. The product is far from perfect today, but if these sorts of services can be implemented well in open source they could really change the high priced game of web conferencing. 1videoConference is the 12th most active project on Sourceforge this week and I think it’s one worth watching.
The product was developed by Hardik Sanghvi of Ahmedabad, India and Jason Cox of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sanghvi is part owner of Indian VOIP and BPO outsourcing firm Adiance. Cox was the creator of MyWhatSpace, a program we profiled here in July that was later acquired by MySpace co-founder Brad Greenspan’s new company Live Universe. (There’s some news for you, MyWhatSpace was acquired by Live Universe.)
There’s a demonstration video of 1videoConference here. It’s a Windows only program that currently requires all users to download an installer to upgrade .NET, make sure Flash is up to date and install a certificate into IE. I haven’t tried the installer yet because I tested it when those upgrades had to be made manually. Cox says that future iterations of Windows will elliminate the need for the upgrade.
Latency and sound quality are all right so far, video image quality is acceptable. Screen sharing hardly works yet, the conference admin can only get a very low quality view of participants’ screens and participants cannot view the admin’s screen. Thus it’s alpha, a proof of concept or something you’d only want to use in certain circumstances. Sanghvi is already using 1videoConference on his site MedInIndia, a service that connects doctors in India with international medical tourists. Up to 6 people can participate at once by default, but the code can be changed to increase that number.
1videoConference’s promise of integration of web conferencing into any website is an intriguing one. If video capture for recording can be folded into any page ala VideoEgg, the next logical place for the imagination to go would be to integrated video conferencing. Real time collaboration amongst distributed parties is something that many people are working on; see also our review of two related products, Conceptshare and Thinkature, earlier this week. 1videoConference is also planning on offering a paid hosted version and providing support once the product is commercialized.
The team has a long list of features in the works including recording of sessions and automatic upload of the recordings to the web. You can read more about their plans on the 1videoConference site. The primary value here for now, though, is that they have built a free web conferencing platform that’s gaining traction in the open source community. Hopefully it will fill out into a solid product. That’s something that many people would love to get their hands on and it’s only a matter of time until some one makes something finished that fits the bill.
Cool I will use this In my TechMush.Com Site
Very Nice Easy to use.
Yay! Another cool j.v app from India
Interesting product. Voipnews.com.au reports “The 1VideoConference, available on Source forge, now allows web, audio/video phone, Skype, MSN and Yahoo users to participate in a multipoint video conference.” at http://www.voip.../view/1291/111/.
very interesting product. If startup companies like netus.com or freelanceit.com are able to incorporate this technolgy seemlessly, companies like o-desk that are using video conferencing as a major value-added to their service purchasing site will start having problems.
CrossLoop doesn’t fulfill the same exact purposes, its more of a remote control solution, but it is still excellent for remote support and could be used to demo technologies. It uses VNC, but offers a very simple method to setup sessions, much easier than anything previously available. It may give companies such as WebEx and GoToMyPC a run for their money, especially since it is free and easy.
What a nice move folks? I really loved it!
Thank you for making such great job for all of us, go open source!
Yours,
Abdullah
Arab Portal Network
http://www.WeArab.Net/
Can you integrate it to OpenLaszlo folks?
This is great…I am looking forward to this maturing…One of the other technologies I use for cheap and effective communications with India is the Unyte plug-in by WebDialogs (http://www.unyte.net/) for Skype…It works really well for desktop sharing.
too bad it doesn’t support Java and FreeBSD
Thank you guys for such a great response to our initial release of the product. We are humbled.
1videoConference is one of the world’s first open source webbased Web2.0 audio/video conference call software for Asterisk with support for internet & telephony user videos. This VoIP and VVoIP technology for Business, Government, Education, Healthcare and Community is based on WinFX, XAML, .NET 3.0 and Asterisk.
1videoConference Open Source functionality includes:
Video/ audio Conferencing
Whiteboard
Poll
Co-browsing
Desktop sharing and remote monitoring
Power Point Presentation
web and phone users support
The product now supports phone, web, MSN, Yahoo and even Skype participants to the video conference.
Listed are some of the possible applications and scenarios this solution can be used in:
- Elearning
- Telemedicine
- Remote surveillance of IP cameras
- Multi-user meetings
- Egovernence
- Remote monitoring of user desktops
- Marketing presentations
- IPTV
- Kiosks
- Telefarming
- SDK
- Online Video services
Outsourcing providers closing more business deals by personalizing with perspective clients through secure Video/ Voice and Data platform instead of just traditional voice and text mode; or outsourcing companies having effective control over projects running across the world by watching the team members and their desktops live resulting in higher success rate for offshore projects; or governments, Educational institutes, healthcare, non profit and commercial organizations carrying out multi-party video conferencing but through inexpensive and non-proprietary Video & Voice over IP platform without leaving any footprint on user system.
A farmer can now show his destroyed crops to Scientist sitting in another corner of world & know the exact reason of harvest failure within few minutes. World best learning Institutes Oxfords & Harvard’s can now impart education at a time to many students at a time spread across the world. Companies spread across the World can have board meetings together at a time thus saving cost as well deciding new strategies.
You can fine more details about the product at http://sourcefo...rojects/vmukti/.
We look forward to the continued and increased community support to produce one of the great collaborative solutions of coming times.
Thanks
Hardik Sanghvi
Hi Arab
It will support Posix and other OS as part of our roadmap.
Thanks
Hardik
# Arab
November 13th, 2006 at 2:05 am
too bad it doesn’t support Java and FreeBSD
1vC is an open product after all…it shouldn’t be impossible to integrte it with other open source products.
Thanks
Hardik
# Arab
November 12th, 2006 at 8:16 am
Can you integrate it to OpenLaszlo folks?
Thanks for the compliments. Community support and motivation is one of the important factors that keeps us going!
# Arab
November 12th, 2006 at 8:13 am
What a nice move folks? I really loved it!
Thank you for making such great job for all of us, go open source!
Yours,
Abdullah
Arab Portal Network
http://www.WeArab.Net/
Dear Hardik,
I was inspired to see your project . I would like to have a conference
with you and co creator and indian friend if possible .
I see a potential aligment to be, that i feel will be benificial on all levels .
I am not a :techie: but was called to reach out to you for this purpose.
I would not bother you with anything mundane as i am in the flow of grace and syncronicity .
please contact me asap @ my website email address
or put me in touch with usa associate ty > geodowser- facilitator
OK, I really must ask….why the hell .Net? The main benefit of Asterisk is that it is a killer portable media gateway/IP PBX, why oh why .Net?!
Second question (I haven’t looked the code yet), is what kind of integration with Asterisk are we talking about? Did you guys managed to crack NellyMoser codec that Flash uses for encoding voice? Because if you didn’t (and noone did for now, as far as I know) then I fail to see how you integrated with Asterisk.
Uhhhhh, sorry guys, I thought that you are using Flash as a client for videoconferencing (which would be kind of, well, Holly Grail) However, it is a Windows only AND .Net 3.0 software. Well, interesting nevertheless, however, requires quite a hefty download.
Video web conferencing is becoming the most popular form of communicate on the internet. Many company’s worldwide are using live conferencing to connect with their clients and staff members around the world, all in one place at the click of their mouse. Technology is now at the for front with Internet communications – Live Web conferencing/meetings!!
Click here for more info – Live Conferencing Info!
It’s amazing to see the number of innovate and free collaboration apps emerging. I just saw Yugma’s announcement today on Robin Good’s blog (http://www.kolabora.com/). Yugma has launch an easy/free/thin app that allows you to instantly web conferencing, change presentors, share mouse/keyboard controls, record/playback, whiteboard. Their site is pretty modest, but the app is very impressive — for a free product that hosts up to 11 people in a session. Check it out as http://www.yugma.com. 2007 is going to be an interesting year for folks like Webex and gotomeeting!
It’s very usefull article!! I will use it in our locat network..
Great stuff!!! I spend a lot of time searching some like this! Thanks a lot!