Created three years ago along with fellow Evite alum Al Lieb, ClearSlide aims to update sales for the wired present, rescuing reps from thumb drives, massive attachments and clunky web conferencing solutions, offering a simple, cloud-based solution for sales pros to share content either over email, during a live pitch or at an in-person presentation. Teams upload all their decks, videos and other content to ClearSlide (the product doesn’t include authoring), which generates a branded link that a prospect can click to view the material in a quick, clean environment, no downloading required. Reps can also lead prospects through the material, interacting with rich media such as calculators or live web pages within it and pulling up additional materials to answer prospects’ objections.

“When we looked at the market, all the investment in the space has been in CRM. There’s really nothing for sales to help them communicate with customers. We saw a big need there,” Lieb told GigaOM. His company’s approach to filling that gap appears to be working, with ClearSlide announcing a handful of new customers today, including CareerBuilder, Gannett., ShareThis and Wayfair, as well as revenue growth of 400 percent in the last year. Expedia, Yahoo, Amazon are already customers and ClearSlide received $11 million in series A funding led by Greylock Partners in September of last year.

Of course, ClearSlide isn’t the only company helping folks share presentations. WebEx, GoToMeeting and SlideRocket offer some of the same capabilities, but ClearSlide is more specifically focused on sales, combining tools for email and in-person presenting, as well as the virtual pitch. “Most of the solutions in the space are designed around web conferencing, WebEx for example,” explains Lieb. “One of the things we think is unique about ClearSlide is we have a broad horizontal package that ties it all together. It’s really email we’re competing with.” Plus, ClearSlide offers analytics.

Send a link to prospects and ClearSlide will tell you not only when they open it but how long they spend on each slide, as well as aggregating data on a specific deck to show managers what’s getting looked at and what’s being ignored. “We’re giving sales reps back-end data that’s really actionable, so we’re helping them better service their prospects by understanding how they have engaged with the content. Sales guys are able to follow up smarter,” says Benton.

It’s a big reason online home goods retailer Wayfair chose ClearSlide, according to Andrew Garcia, local media manager for the company. He runs a small team within Wayfair that sells media to brick and mortar stores that has been using ClearSlide for a couple of years, and he says the ability to know exactly what his prospects are spending time on has been valuable. “We think where ClearSlide wins for us is really as a sales intelligence tool,” he says. “We end up selling smarter. For my sales guys, it’s important to them to know the right time to follow up with their prospects. In the case of ClearSlide, we actually know when prospects have been looking at our email decks. In the old world, you’d have someone maybe badgering you day after day– ‘Did you look at my deck?’ – but now we just know, which is great.”

“And we’re selling more efficiently because we just know what topics to address,” he adds. “We see the prospect looking at a particular slide and say, OK, the prospect is interested in a particular testimonial so we have to be sure to bring that up when we talk to them.” A review of the last six months of sales revealed at least half involved ClearSlide at some time during the process, he notes.

The analytics may win over the cool heads of sales managers, but the product wins the hearts of sales pros in the trenches and their distant prospects with its elegant content sharing, according to Benton. “There’s a little bit more of a warmth to this because you don’t have a lot of technology in the way. It’s just the visuals and the conversation,” he says. The result? No matter the distance, “you feel like you’re just sitting next to somebody.”

ClearSlide users out there, what’s been your personal experience with the platform – have you found any drawbacks?

Image courtesy of ClearSlide.

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The new feature is built into the latest version of the GoToMeeting software, and doesn’t require any fancy equipment — any webcam and microphone will do, although headsets will most likely be needed to keep room noise down, or users can choose to dial into an audio bridge. Each stream can be displayed at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, for a total maximum resolution of 1920 x 960 pixels.

I attended a demo with four attendees, and found it to be easy to use, and the quality to be very good. If you’ve used GoToMeeting before, you know that the software (available for Windows or Mac) is  quick to download, and doesn’t generally require any fiddling with settings. Audio was perfect, and video quality was quite acceptable for standard “talking head” meetings. The folks at GoToMeeting told me that they decided to limit the service to six simultaneous users in order to maintain video quality — plus, with more users, the video thumbnails for each person would be pretty hard to see.

The program automatically displays a split screen divided into the appropriate number of boxes need to show each participant, and a screen sharing space when desired. GoToMeeting has added some useful touches, like a subtle white outline that shows who’s talking at any given moment, and the ability to resize the viewable area to maximize the shared desktop if desired.

The new service occupies a niche between Skype and some of the higher-end video conferencing options that require sophisticated hardware. For organizations and individuals that won’t use the service often enough to justify GoToMeeting’s cost, similar technology will be available later in the year through Skype, since Citrix will be powering Skype’s upcoming web conferencing service.

HDFaces is available to existing GoToMeeting customers and trial users at no additional cost over the service’s standard pricing, which begins at $49/month or $468/year. A 30-day free online trial is available at the service’s website.

Do you use GoToMeeting? Will the addition of video capabilities make the service more attractive?

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CrunchConnect’s web conferencing and screen-sharing system has some useful features, including:

• Dedicated web addresses and phone conference numbers (users can also have the service call them directly)
• Option for participants to sign in via LinkedIn, so others can see their profiles; the system also displays participants’ Twitter profiles
• A “waiting room,” where participants can communicate before an event begins
• Ability for hosts to upload presentations in advance
• Ability to record meetings
• Analytics tools, to track what parts of presentations are viewed and for how long.

CrunchConnect was developed with sales in mind, so it has some SlideRocket-like features, such as being able to update presentations even after they’ve been shared. A “company” function will shortly be added, for creating libraries of slides that can be shared and updated centrally. CrunchConnect doesn’t have the sophisticated online editing functions of SlideRocket, though; you’ll need to create your presentations offline and upload them. The service supports PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) formats, as well as JPG, PNG, and GIF images. PDF support will be added soon.

I experimented a little with CrunchConnect as a presenter and as a meeting participant, and so far, I’ve found the web-based system works pretty smoothly. It doesn’t require any software to be downloaded, which is helpful. There’s not much documentation yet, although I haven’t really felt the need for it.

CrunchConnect is currently in private beta, but the developer has provided 500 WebWorkerDaily readers with access. You can sign up here. The service is free for now; after the beta period has ended, users will be able to choose from free and paid plans.

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TeamViewer can be set up in different ways. If you want to share your screen for presentations or training, you can install the software on your machine, and then share your ID with your audience, who can view your desktop in a web browser. The software is not intended to support large numbers of viewers, so it would not be suitable for webinars.

TeamViewer can also be used for troubleshooting remote computers, similar to CrossLoop, LogMeIn Rescue, or the “remote assistance” functions built into Windows and Mac OS X. In this configuration, you ask the client to download and run the TeamViewer QuickSupport module (it doesn’t need to be installed). The client gives you the ID and password that the QuickSupport module creates, which you can enter into your copy of the software or use the web version.

The TeamViewer software, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, can also be used to connect remotely to unattended computers. It’s also possible to connect on the go via iOS and Android apps.

One nice feature of TeamViewer is that (as with LogMeIn and similar products) it can create connections behind firewalls, meaning that it doesn’t take the sort of setup that VNC does. A chat and file transfer system is included.

All in all, TeamViewer is a well-developed product that can be used for many needs faced by those of us with remote workforces. I confess, though, that I got a bit of sticker shock from TeamViewer’s pricing structure, which starts at $729 for one workstation. But since TeamViewer is priced as a one-time payment with no monthly subscription fees, it may be a good buy for some organizations. Note that TeamViewer is free for non-commercial use, and also offers free trials.

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Once installed, Adobe Connect meeting hosts can access chat rooms (“text conferences”) hosted on an XMPP server by launching the extension in the “Share” pod during the meeting, then connecting to the server and choosing a  conference room to join.

It means Connect hosts can now meet with users of many other XMPP-compatible chat clients, such as Jabber, iChat, Miranda-IM and Adium. Once a chat room is joined, the meeting participants can simply view the chat as guests without logging in (guest viewing can be disabled by the host), or participants can each log into the XMPP server with their own credentials to participate. Chat can continue seamlessly with other meeting activities such as video, audio and screen sharing.

Being able to access chat rooms with users of other software may sound like it’s no big deal  — after all, most Connect users will already have an XMPP chat client installed on their machines, or could always download one — but this extension should enhance Connect’s potential as a collaborative tool, as it can now integrate with a much wider ecosystem of apps. Additionally, meetings can now start out as simple chats rather than full-blown web conferences, and can then quickly be escalated to a full conference, if required.

The free XMPP Multi-User Chat extension can be downloaded here; documentation is included.

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The web conferencing market has changed considerably since our 2007 WWD roundup, but here are a few options that we’ve covered in the past.

• Fuze Meeting. This service is entirely browser-based, and offers many features, although it doesn’t have a free option.
• Skype. Simon reminded us that this is a good alternative for small meetings, and it has both video and screen-sharing capabilities.
• Yugma. This app includes some sophisticated features, but still offers a free version.
• Yuuguu. Doriano liked this IM-based service because it doesn’t require those you’re sharing screens with to download or install anything.

Here are some of the other solutions available. Prices, features and usability vary greatly.

• Adobe Web Conferencing
• Live Meeting
• GoToMeeting
• WebEx
• Zoho Meeting

What will you use to replace Dimdim?

Image courtesy Flickr user vivevans

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Connect’s UI was probably due for an overhaul. The product has actually been around for quite a while now — it was originally called Macromedia Breeze, which was introduced in 2003. Over the years, new features have been added to it, which led to a UI that, while not exactly difficult to use, perhaps wasn’t laid out in the most logical fashion. The new UI is greatly streamlined and groups related features, meaning that it should be quicker to carry out common tasks, and should make it easier for new users to get to grips with the app.

There have also been enhancements to Connect’s existing built-in collaboration tools, such as the the notes, Q&A and whiteboard “pods,” which should make them simpler to use, while also adding useful new functionality.

Another feature that should make Connect 8 easier to use is the new AIR-based desktop client, Adobe Connect Desktop. It enables users to manage their meetings from their desktop, as well as providing a tool to search for recorded meetings that can be watched online or offline (useful for catching up on webinars while in the air, for example).

As well as the improvements to the UI, Connect also has some useful new features. The new two-way Universal Voice (VoIP) system means that attendees can now choose to use either a telephone or their computer’s microphone and speakers to communicate. It also allows presenters to bridge the audio from any audio conferencing provider into an Adobe Connect room; handy if attendees are based in locations where dialing into the conference would be expensive.

Connect’s video capabilities have been enhanced, too; it now supports video with a resolution of up to 640 x 480. It it can also interface with existing SIP/H.264 corporate telepresence systems; the presenter can now choose to bring a live audio/video broadcast stream from an existing telepresence system directly into a meeting room.

Adobe Connect 8 is available from late November as a hosted, on premise or managed solution; there’s no upgrade cost to existing customers.

Let us know what you think of Adobe Connect 8 in the comments.

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The enhanced screensharing tools mean a presenter can now opt to share the whole screen, a region of the screen or just a single application window. Sharing just an application window (completely ignoring everything else on the user’s screen) should be particularly useful for product demos where the presenter doesn’t want attendees to be distracted by anything else on the screen.

Here’s a video of Dimdim’s Steve Chazin showing off the latest version of the myScreen plugin:

Previously, Dimdim allowed only two cameras in video chat in paid accounts; that’s now been upped to four. The application interface allows for one large video window and three smaller ones, and the presenter can select which video feed is displayed in the largest window. Video chat can now also be run in full-screen mode. (Note: Free accounts still only have access to one camera.)

Additionally, Dimdim 6.0 has added free secure file hosting to enable presenters and attendees to share files both during and after conferences (2 Gb for paid accounts, 20 Mb for free accounts), and the ability to create polls on the fly.

The company showed me a demo of the new version of the software last week, and I have to say it looked very slick and easy to use for both presenters and attendees, although there were still a few bugs in the in-development parts of the software.

Dimdim offers a range of competitively priced plans, from Dimdim Free (basic features, up to 10 attendees, free) up to Dimdim Business (advanced features, up to 100 attendees and optionally scalable to 1,000 participants, $33 per user per month).

Let us know what you think of the new features in Dimdim 6.0 in the comments.
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I recently wrapped up my first project with a client where we used Google Wave for document collaboration and wrote about the lessons I learned along the way. In this post I am going to look forward to some of the tasks that I see Wave being used for.

• Document Collaboration. This is probably the first “out of the box” solution for Google Wave that many organizations can think of. In my experience, there were some rough edges in my collaboration efforts using the app that will need to be ironed, out but we did complete our project successfully.
• Team Chats. While there a number of IM, corporate microblogging and web chat solutions available, Google Wave can help consolidate such online conversations to a single medium.
• Writing Feedback. While Darrell has a drastically different opinion than I do about Google Wave, he points out that it is an excellent tool for getting writing feedback because it offers a continuous dialogue via waves and blips.
• Web Conferencing. With a few tweaks, you can easily turn Google Wave into an impromptu web conferencing platform. The Ribbit Conference Gadget is the first extension out of the gate for adding web conferencing to the platform. As Wave gains enterprise adoption, you can expect to see more developers releasing web conferencing extensions for Google Wave.
• Event & Trip Planning. A wave can serve as a ready repository for event and trip planning information with you and other participants contributing blips with information about the event or trip. The Yes/No/Maybe extension can help you want to gather votes and opinions on event and trip decisions.
• Corporate Style Guide. As a technical writer, using a wave as a document style guide presents a lot of opportunities. It has been my experience that far too many organizations still rely on style guides that are hard to reference. Google Wave makes the document searchable and easy to update.
• Policies & Procedures. Google Wave also has potential as a publishing platform for an organization’s policies and procedures documents, because they put them online, searchable and accessible to users.
• Status Reporting. If you start a wave just for status reports, team members can contribute blips listing their status on the project, keeping everyone updated.

How are you using Google Wave?

Related GigaOM Pro Research: Google Wave Explained

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In my view, we all need a web conferencing platform with a light footprint that enables us to hop in and out of web conferences with ease, without having to fire up a complex client to initiate the session. Acrobat Connect Pro could certainly find a home in browser tab where it could be waiting, ready for you to jump into a new web conference.

Acrobat Connect Pro 7.5 includes the following new features:

Integrated Audio. Flexible audio integration is a must have in a web conferencing platform. Take a look at your own project team; it’s doubtful that every team member is using the same phone system. Acrobat Connect Pro’s integrated audio (which was recently covered by Simon) adds an important communications layer to this web conferencing platform, and means that it can support VoIP, landline and mobile telephones as well as a range of traditional teleconferencing systems. If needed, you can even have conference attendees in the web conference using their PC’s mic and speakers.

Native PDF Support. If you and your team use Adobe Acrobat PDFs as a standard working format then you should know that this version includes PDF support, with improved workflow and Adobe Acrobat integration. PDFs offer a secure publishing format especially if you, your team, and clients are having issues with document corruption, incompatibility and other problems that can sometimes ensue with passing Microsoft Office documents around via email.

Additionally, there are refinements to Acrobat Connect Pro’s secure desktop sharing and interface with whitelisting and more granular security controls, which could open up the prospect of secure desktop sharing to organizations that may have been wary of it in the past.

Acrobat Connect Pro Goes Mobile

This latest version of Acrobat Connect Pro is also promising an iPhone client to enable iPhone users to attend web conferences on the go. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test this feature out as yet.

This latest release of Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro is definitely worth a look if you’re seeking a flexible web conferencing system for your project team.

Have you used Acrobat Connect Pro for web conferencing? Share your experience below.

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