Collaboration with Mikogo Desktop Sharing
One of the folks over at Mikogo suggested that I check their product out after they read my post on DimDIm. So, being the curious sort that I am, I gave it the old “Sniffy Sniff” as Gary Vaynerchuk would say.
I am always glad to get tips on new productivity apps, but also a little apprehensive. It’s fun when you can write a positive post on a new piece of software or offer tips for improvement, but there are also those cases where the product just doesn’t cut it– that’s when the fun ends. Fortunately that was not the case with Mikogo.
I think it is a very useful and relatively easy to use application. Mikogo is a desktop sharing application for Windows, and it has one of my favorite characteristics: ohh yaa baby, its FREE.
Some of the things I liked best about the app:
- The chair can create his/her own participant ID
- The chair can pick which applications and aspects of the environment are shared
- Proxy settings are automatically detected
- It has Skype integration with “Skype Extra”
- Works well in Safari (Windows version)
- 256-AES end-to-end encryption
- Feature rich
- Supports up to ten participants
- And ohh, did I mention its Free
So, let me give you a quick rundown of the Session features:
- Pause Transmission- you can temporarily stop sending data to the participants. The participants continue to see the last data sent until the connection becomes active again.
- Switch Presenter- this is pretty slick, you can switch control between the participants so as one presenter completes, control can be moved to the next.
- Remote Control- The chair can grand control of his/her keyboard and mouse to a participant.
- Send Files- this is similar to the way files are exchanged in IM applications.
- Application Selection- Determines what applications are shared with the participants.
- Lock Meeting Room- prevents any participants from joining the meeting after being set.
Mikogo makes it easy for geographically separated teams to collaborate. Documents, applications, and presentations can be displayed on a common canvas. With the “Switch Presenter” feature participants can take turns leading the activity.
Now some of the things that I was not so fond of:
- Both the presenter and participant are required to download software. This is not a big issue with workgroups, but if you are sharing with customers it can be a real hassle.
- The product supports only Windows today. Being an avid Mac user this is kind of annoying, but I found that it worked just fine in VMWare Fusion, and I would assume it would work just as well in Parallels, and VMServer on Linux.
- The application should start without anything shared by default. Instead, it starts up with whatever was shared during the previous session. This could become a problematic security issue. If folks don’t check what is shared prior to starting each session, items could be accidently displayed that shouldn’t be.
Overall this is a great application. The price is right, and I think you will be happy with the performance. For more information or to download the application go to the Mikogo website.
 FriendFeed
|
Twitter
GTD Software List
Flickr
Sreamin Monkey 
