Although everyone secretly loves hitting up those free continental breakfasts at business-class hotels – this being the only manner in which most otherwise staid adults can get their hands on novelty cereals without this being known to one’s peers – sending a dozen branch managers to Dallas or some such place to conduct presentations at one’s corporate mothership has never been a particularly cost-effective business tradition nor a particularly eco-friendly one. Better to pick up some croissants and take advantage of the information age with Great America Networks Conferencing, a fine little firm that lowers the cost and expertise barriers once inherent to video conferencing.
Aside from offering all of the fundamentals that companies have come to expect from such services, GAN’s web-based software also provides users with a wide range of nifty features for use in their webinars (which is either the best or worst neologism to come about in recent years); most of these tools appear to be simple enough that even the most techilliterate (we can make up words, too) presenters can not only conduct face-to-face meetings from thousands of miles apart, but also present documents and other visual aides in a manner far superior to simply sticking a piece of paper up to the camera and asking it it’s in focus. Users can, of course, import Powerpoint presentations; other features include a nifty “whiteboard” with which participants can collaborate via doodle, as well as the ability to annotate videos in real time. The software also allows for easy recording of sessions, the storing of documents online for easy and consistent access, and the use of emoticons (essential for those with inexpressive faces). Better than many of its competitors, GAN enables up to twelve video feeds to run simultaneously on the screen.
GAN also offers a purely audio-based conference system for use on those occasions when visuals aren’t needed or participants are particularly ugly. Among other things, this option provides the services of a human operator who can greet all comers and moderate question-and-answer sessions.
Both the video and audio conferencing systems are available without subscription or other commitments, with charges being based entirely on duration of usage.
