In a world of fabulously expensive telepresence and high-end teleconferencing systems, iLinc (www.ilinc.com) has mastered the other end of the market, providing remarkably cost effective Web and audio conferencing solutions for “the rest of us” that are secure, reliable, and surprisingly easy to use. Professionals in many types of industries employ iLinc for Web meetings, virtual classroom technology, Webinars, remote technical support, and more. iLinc facilitates online collaboration while avoiding the expense, environmental damage, and productivity losses associated with travel.

 

The latest incarnation of iLinc software, iLinc 10, was released on May 31, 2008. Yours truly got a live demo of it at ITEXPO (News - Alert) West 2008 in Los Angeles by iLinc’s Chairman, President and CEO, James M. Powers, Jr. and Vice President, Product & Technology, Frank Gartland.

 

The first thing you notice about iLinc 10 is that is has a terrific, friendly interface. In an age where appearances can be important, iLinc 10 looks like a piece of software costing thousands of dollars.

 

The next thing that impresses you is the number of high-quality images of conference attendees appearing on the laptop (on which I saw the demo).

 

“The number of participants is limited only by bandwidth, says Powers. “Each image defaults to a 96 Kbps stream, though that is configurable. We’ve had up to 28 people appearing on this particular machine.”

 

iLinc 10 can be deployed by an enterprise or it can be delivered as a service by a provider or network operator. No administrative rights are necessary to get iLinc up and running. Unlike competing collaborative technology, you can invoke partitioning and share just a section of your desktop with others.

 

Additionally, for carbon footprint-minded companies, iLinc has devised the iLinc Green Meter, a unique calculator inside the iLinc Web conferencing software that tracks CO2, cost, and travel reductions accrued by meeting online rather than traveling. Moreover, it gives you the ability to measure whatever metrics you find important: CO2, distance, or just the money. This shouldn’t sound too strange, since many companies, schools, and other forward-looking organizations have instituted Green initiatives that include reduced travel policies and mandatory telework. Accurate tracking of such programs proved to be rather difficult, until the release of the iLinc.