Raindance's software offers Web conferencing ease
Jan Immel
Denver Business Journal


The best venue for scheduling a business meeting might be as close as your desktop. So says Raindance Communications, which recently released Raindance Meeting Edition, a software application designed to make meeting across cyberspace as simple as shaking hands.

The software is the winner of the Denver Business Journal's Most Innovative New Product Award. The company said Raindance Meeting Edition integrates Web, audio and desktop videoconferencing to a higher level of sophistication than previous industry offerings but with a lower level of anxiety and frustration for users.

"To be frank, in the past Web conferencing has been hard to use," said Todd Vernon, co-founder of Raindance and chief technology officer. "You'd be instructed to go to a Web site and enter an ID and then dial another number on the phone and enter another ID. It would take 10 minutes to pull the technology together to have a meeting."

Vernon and his team weren't going to wait for another company to create the current industry standards.

"The onus was on us to make it easier for everyone to use," said Scott Chalfant, Raindance director of product management.

Turning the onus into a bonus resulted in the creation of Raindance Meeting Edition.

"This is a much different model in that it's completely integrated with your desktop," Vernon said. "You double-click an icon on your computer and in less than 20 seconds, you're in your meeting."

Other attendees may have to click only on a link from an invitation delivered by Outlook to join the meeting instantaneously. No phone dialups. No multiple ID numbers. In fact, the guiding principle during development was to create a meeting platform that closely replicated a one-on-one conversation with the person in the next cubicle.

Raindance Meeting Edition allows full access of shared documents, everything from Excel spreadsheets to PowerPoint presentations, and project collaboration. A $30 Webcam provides the video connect for participants.

"It's a complete interactive session, very media rich," Vernon said.

Technical requirements are fairly conventional. Users need a PC with a Pentium III processor and 128 MB RAM that operates on Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. A Macintosh version is in the works.

 Raindance Meeting Edition also is designed to mesh with a company's IT security systems. That seamless application convinced CenterStone Technologies, a local company that uses Web conferencing extensively, to drop its previous service and pick up the new Raindance product.

"We had a product that forced us to ask clients to download a plug-in," said Tarrel Pierson, CenterStone's director of client support. "Their system wouldn't let us do that, so we'd have to go through an approval process."

The goal of saving time and providing a higher level of customer service was lost in a maze of firewalls, security devices and company policy. CenterStone had to make a change.

"The way Raindance Meeting Edition communicates is less obtrusive. We haven't had a problem since switching," Pierson said. "And the way it's integrated with Outlook makes it really easy to schedule meetings."

CenterStone's sales department uses Raindance Meeting Edition extensively for pitching products to potential clients. It's also been used successfully for training and working with existing clients to customize CenterStone's line of products, all without ever leaving the office.

"It save us a lot of time and money because we can quickly show clients what we're developing for them," Pierson said.

The cost of using Raindance Meeting Edition is another attractive feature.

"It's a much better dollar value," Pierson said. "[It's] less expensive than what we were paying with far more uses."

Costs for purchasing Raindance Meeting Edition vary depending on meeting sizes and usage needs. Online purchase options include a five-user pack for $275 and a 10-user pack for $400. The price is reasonable, Chalfant said, for the small- to medium-sized businesses that represent the product's primary target market.

"We're also making inroads with the larger organizations," he said, with the availability of custom pricing options.

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