If you have never used a web conferencing tool, imagine that as a small business owner, there is a product that you want to show a client and instead of having a face to face meeting (dealing with traffic, burning gas, long commutes), you just start a session from your desktop which will generate a session ID. You ask your client to go to www.mikogo.com if you are on a Mac or send them an invite if on Windows platform. Your client joins a session by entering the session ID and in a few seconds, your client is able to see your desktop.

Web conferencing is great for:

• Product demonstrations
• Online presentations
• Webinars
• Remote support
• Web presentations
• ...and more

To install the product, just go Mikogo's website and go to the "Download" page. I use the product on a Mac and initially was a little confused after the install. I did not notice that the icon was at the very top of my screen where the battery life is displayed and not in the deck. Also on the Mac, I did not see where I was able to send an invite to participants. But once the meeting is started, you are instructed to ask attendees to go to the Mikogo website and click on the "Join Session" button.

It loads quickly and works very well. You are able to change presenters and then see his / her desktop and you can also transfer files. Some of the other features are:

    * Desktop Sharing
    * Multiple Meeting Participants
    * Remote Keyboard and Mouse Control
    * Initial Viewing Direction and Remote Control Settings
    * Session Scheduler
    * Session Recording and Playback
    * Whiteboard
    * Application Selection
    * Participant Pointer
    * Copy/Paste/Email Meeting Info

I had actually wondered why a valuable tool like this would be offered at no cost when other companies provide it for a monthly charge. Mikogo answers that question on its website by basically saying that due to a high demand for a scaled-down version of one of its premium products, the company decided to make such a version available for free. That was nice of them! So Mikogo does offer a more robust solution as well for a monthly charge.

If you are looking for a web conferencing tool that offers the the necessary functionality to conduct a online meeting with fewer than 25 participants, is reliable and easy on the budget, Mikogo would be a good addition to your productivity toolkit.