Yugma Launches: Free Web Conferencing

Minnesota-based Yugma has officially launched with their free Web conferencing software. If you are actively online and using any of the collaboration, social or other participatory Web applications — or hold meetings where any participants need to see what you’re doing and may not have your applications — there have been few, Web 2.0-ish ways of connecting with others quickly, seamlessly and for free.

I’ve extensively used Webex , Go-to-Meeting, Placeware (now Microsoft Live Meeting) and other solutions over the years. They’re expensive and few are truly cross-platform. As a Mac user, it’s always bugged me that I could watch Web conferences but had to grab my PC in order to host them (disclaimer: I acted as a consultant for Yugma for four months this year).

Since all of we full internet participants are using wiki’s, collaboration apps like Foldera, Basecamp or Central Desktop — or many of us are active Skype users and REALLY would like to show stuff from our computer to others while on a Skype conference call — Yugma adds a robust, fast, seamless and easy way to share your desktop with others.

Much to my delight they’ve executed on an idea to build and deliver a Yugma widget! If you have a blog, are on a collaboration site, have a company intranet or your own Web site, you can now grab and add a button to allow anyone you’re collaborating with to leap onto a Yugma session with you in about a minute.

Their Java application ensures that Windows, Mac and soon Linux users will be able to collaborate and share whatever each type of user happens to have on their respective desktops or are running as applications. The user interface is solid, they’ve incorporated all the tools you’ll need, and have a premium version if you need lots of participants, scheduling or other premium features.

As more of us globally are connected via the ‘net and collaborating or interacting with people increasingly geographically disbursed (or, God forbid, these folks aren’t coming to the office due to pandemic flu, terrorist attack or natural disasters), solutions like Yugma will be absolutely critical to our ability to work and communicate.

The Yugma team is one of the most dedicated and hard working I’ve worked with for a long time and this application has been several years in the making. Do yourself a favor and check it out…it’s free and I’ll bet you’ll find a need to use it in the next several days.