Meet Now??. Review on Microsoft Netmeeting 3.0

Hey I just read all the available reviews on Net Meeting and thought would pen some of the facts not mentioned in any of the reviews. I am not going into the part where you log on to a Directory Server and watch funny people doing funny stuff though, its only about communication.

What is NetMeeting

Windows NetMeeting can be termed as a on-line collaboration tool. You can share you resources, namely an application running on you PC or you PC itself with someone sitting at a remote location.

Alternative for Yahoo and MSN Messenger?

I think when we use Yahoo or MSN, it connects to the corresponding server and the server routes our voice chat and video to respective person. The good thing is you don't have to worry about the IP(Internet Protocol) address of the person with whom you have to chat.

In case of NetMeeting, if you have to chat with a person on the Internet directly w/o logging on to a directory server, you need to have the IP address of the person. How to find it out its simple. After connecting to the service provider, go to the DOS prompt and type IPCONFIG which will return 3 sets of values which may be of the form:

IP Address. . . . . . . . : 169.39.44.103

Default Gateway . . . . . . : 169.39.44.1

The first value shown is the IP address. The way I do is after I log in, I find my IP and sent it to the friend with whom I have to talk chat thru SMS :-). The friend initiates the call and I accept the call. And then we are ready!! Do try it out, it establishes a connection directly to the remote PC and performance may be in fact better then the normal chat services.

Alternatively, you can go into

Settings-->ControlPanel-->Network-->Protocols-->TCP/IP-->Proper
ties which will show you your IP address.

Features

There are many features in NetMeeting, am listing some of them out here. The normal chat (text) is available and am not mentioning it separately.

1.Voice chat

By default this is enabled if you have a sound card and a MIC on your PC. We can use it as Yahoo voice chat.

2.Video

NetMeeting supports video as well. The clarity and the refresh rate were much better then the one got with Yahoo or MSN messenger.

Note: For audio and video, tuning wizards are available which helps you to arrive at an optimal configuration

3.File Transfer

File transfer, supports even huge files and are saved automatically in a folder called Received Files which can be viewed later.

4.Desktop Sharing

This is a feature that is not available in other chat software. I can share my desktop or an application so that other person can take control of my PC. I sat in Chennai and helped out my Friend at Budapest with some PC configuration. It’s really efficient.

5.Whiteboard

Clicking on Whiteboard invokes the MS Paint. You can draw a picture or a map which the other person can see and modify. This is truly collaboration :-)

6.PC Anywhere

I am not talking about the Application available with the same name used for PC sharing, in fact, NetMeeting can be also used for this purpose. Select the options - Accept calls automatically, Automatically accept requests for control and share your desktop. Go home and log on to Internet and type in the IP of the machine (provided the machine is not behind a firewall) and voila! Your m/c is available for you.

The response got may not be instantaneous but livable and this feature is used by me a lot.

Online Help and Others

The online help for NetMeeting is quite comprehensive. They have a FAQ section and if you are new to NetMeeting go to https://microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/features/default.asp for more details. You will find everything you need to know about NetMeeting in this page.

Conclusion

NetMeeting is a very versatile piece of S/W which does many things provided you know what to do!! The latest version of Microsoft NetMeeting is 3.01 and is available under the following link https://microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/

Do try NetMeeting out, I would recommend this to people who are using MSN or Yahoo for Video and Voice over IP. And, its free.

Peace

Ranjith

What I use it for - Customer Services(W.R.T Software Support)

Imagine a customer of yours faces with a problem with a piece of software or application you have supplied. You know the error and all that stuff you are not able to replicate the same. What do you do?? Ask them to share their desktop using NetMeeting, Take control of the desktop, invoke the problematic application and give your remedy online! Its a great help.