All Macintosh users should be aware of iChat AV which I regard highly. Mac users should also be aware that iChat AV can also web conference with AOL users on Windows machines. As good as iChat can be. There are other solutions. iChat is not the only show across the web to see and communicate.

Marratech offers a more robust solution for online meetings than iChat can offer. Plus, it is cross-platform with clients for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Marratech, offers a complete collaboration and conferencing environment on the Internet that is fully encrypted. It creates a true virtual office. Multi-point conferences, that is meetings with two, three, ten or more simultaneous participants are possible. Participants use high voice quality audio, share information, pictures, documents, applications and can see each other via inexpensive webcams. The iSight camera works fine. Headsets are highly recommended.

Marratech provides outstanding quality audio utilizing technology from Global IP Sound, the same company that provides audio for Skype. It has an easy to use interactive whiteboard, document and application sharing, real-time video of all participants and instant messaging on every participant’s computer.
Plus…
• You can have a private ‘one-to-one’ conversation with any participant
• You can share any application including desktop
• All participants can record and playback the entire meeting including voice, video and whiteboard
• It’s easy to include office group meetings in an e-meeting
• It does all this over the Internet without the need to use a telephone
• It includes end-to-end encryption ensures security for your entire meeting including voice, video and documents
• You can present or ‘broadcast’ to an unlimited audience
• Connect to remote people even if they are away from an Internet connection via SIP by calling their cell phone or plain old telephone as an audio only add on to meeting (need a VoIP account)
• Virtual rooms can be locked for privacy and stray visitors can be “kicked” out by moderators
• Marratech can be easily integrated using LDAP into existing networks

Working from home has new meaning and is much more productive when connecting using Marratech. You can just send an invite email to another party. By simply clicking the URL contained in the email they can join you in a virtual meeting room. If they do not have the Marratech client it will be downloaded in the background using JavaWebStart technology called by Marratech MeetNow (server needs to have this enabled).

Well what does all this cost? That is what you want to know I am sure. Well the client-side software is available to Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux users for free download. You will be free to try Marratech’s public emeeting rooms with groups of your friends, family, and colleagues. You can also do point-to-point direct connections between two sites without any cost. All you need to do this is public IP addresses on a broadband connection. You can then connect to each other and collaborate fully. In order to have multi-point meetings with more then two participants, enable SIP phone dialing, and also work behind NAT (Network Address Translation) you would either lease or buy licensing from Marratech to run on your own Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux server. Since Marratech uses Java, even the server side is cross-platform, Unlike WebEX you can buy this solution and put it behind your firewall in a company. Audio is not needed over the telephone. But that is not all…

Marratech now offers the Marratech-Free version. This is a free version that allows for a maximum of five users of Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux, multiparty video/audio and an interactive whiteboard. Marratech-Free will run on any compatible computer. It is a server application, and is best placed on a server where upload and download bandwidth is readily available.

By licensing Marratech Time-To-Meet or the full Marratech License more features are available to users. This makes for a nice system to grow with for your company or office. Nice way to collaborate with clients. Save gas, airtravel, money, the environment, and travel time from the safety of your own office or home.

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