Cisco, targets small business with $19-a-month WebEx version

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is dropping the price on its popular Web conferencing product, WebEx, offering unlimited meetings for $19 a month, more than 60 percent off the normal $49 a month for the SaaS product.

The discount does limit, however, the number of attendees to one host and seven guests; the full-priced WebEx package allows up to 25 attendees.

Cisco, in a blog post, said the new offering was aimed at off-site workers, freelancers, home businesses and startups.

The latest iteration, WebEx 8, includes unlimited meetings, desktop sharing, optional videoconferencing with support for multiple webcams and active speaker switching, the ability to record meeting and integrated Outlook scheduling.

WebEx 8 also works on smartphones, including Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, as well as on the iPad and other wireless or 3G mobile devices.

The limited service is currently available in the U.S. only and must be ordered online.

The web collaboration space is becoming increasingly crowded, with vendors like Cisco, Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) and more offering an increasing number of features for free or at a reduced price.

Citrix, for example, earlier this month added free HD video conferencing to its web collaboration software as well.

For more:
- see this blog post

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