[TYPO3-doc] What tool for our meetings?

[Michael]

On 24/07/12 06:18, François Suter wrote:

> As far as I can see the alternatives are Skype and Google Hangout. Both
> work well but have the following disadvantages:
> 
> - people need some kind of account (Skype or Google+) and even an extra
> piece of software (for Skype).
> - the meeting is not so open anymore, as people cannot just go to the
> BBB server and connect to it. Although still open to everyone people
> still need to get in touch with the meeting organizer and share their
> account information.
> 
> Do any of you have an opinion on the topic? Better ideas? And - should
> it boil down to that - a preference between Skype and Google Hangout?

I can not participate the online meetings regularly due to the time
difference. However, my personal opinion: should we clarify what the
*requirements* are, before asking for a solution? :-)

For example: BBB, OpenMeetings and Google Hangout are all nice, but has
the DocTeam ever used things such as video conferencing, video chat,
live broadcasts, etc? I assume our meetings are more audio-based, not video.

Interesting features (so maybe requirements) would be from my perspective:

- audio conferencing (video not required)
- free and open source (e.g. GPL?)
- real time notes (creating minutes) - such as: http://piratepad.net
- calendar for planning meetings (low priority)
- up to ??? participants at the same time (e.g. 16)
- client freely available on Windows, Mac, Linux
- conference server should fit in current IT infrastructure
- no Flash client if possible (bad experience with BBB)

I also think it is not a problem if people cannot just go to the server
and connect to it - as long as the URL (and other access details) can be
made public prior the meeting (e.g. in the announcements).

It would be "nice-to-have" to have a phone number to join the meeting. I
would not have a problem to call an international phone number for 30,
45 or even 60 minutes but I suspect not everyone shares this opinion :-)

Personally, I would vote *against* Google Hangout. BBB did the job for
me in the past (used Ubuntu Linux as the client) but I am not a Flash
supporter in general. I understand OpenMeeting uses Flash, too, but I
have not worked with it yet, so happy to have a crack at this. Skype
would be ok for me, too (as long as Microsoft supports Mac and Linux
clients :-)

There are other online conferencing solutions available, such as
gotomeeting.com but most of them are commercial and should be similar as
OpenMeeting.

Anyway... we should identify the requirements before looking for a
solution - or what do you think?


Cheers
Michael