Dimdim [1] has launched its free web meeting service to the public, along with making the underlying code open source. The free version of the service will support up to 20 people while the pay-for-it Pro version supports up to 100. All products are in public beta immediately.
Like other web meeting services, a single click starts up a web meeting and allows anyone to share their desktop, show documents and slides, as well as talk, listen, chat and broadcast via webcam. Dimdim had a private beta launch in September 2007 and says more than 375,000 people have used the service; the company cites the United Nations and Amnesty International as users, not to mention immigrants wanting to learn English, a church group providing online seminars, and an Australia-based veterinary group.
Dimdim Free includes desktop sharing, document sharing, video broadcasting, multi-way VoIP chat, IM, annotations and shared whiteboards. Starting at $99 a year, Dimdim Pro provides custom branding, greater performance and reliability and starts at $99 per year, with additional fees for scaling up to 100 people. Dimdim Enterprise enables multiple simultaneous meetings, onsite or hosted configurations, and can support up to 1000 participants per meeting. In addition to the open source version, there are also open APIs available for additional integration and development.
For more:
-Dimdim Free Meeting [2] Press Release
-Venture Beat's Coverage of the Dimdim Launch [3]
Related articles:
Nortel, Tandberg Telepresence [4] Announcement
Is Google going after Cisco/WebEx? [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.dimdim.com/
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/dimdim-frees-web-meetings
[3] http://venturebeat.com/2008/04/10/dimdim-launches-free-online-meeting-services/
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/nortel-tandberg-agree-deliver-fully-managed-telepresence-services-globally
[5] http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/is-google-going-after-ciscowebex/2007-04-23