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The Web conferencing component in the initial version of Convoqs ASAP server was limited to ad hoc use, but the latest revision provides a better range of conferencing options and broader presence capabilities.
Updated last month, ASAP Pro 2.0 has a new price scheme in addition to the original plan of $250 per named user per year for meetings with as many as 15 attendees. This version now supports conference room pricing thats more amenable to large organizations, with 50- and 100-attendee rooms priced at $2,495 and $4,995 per year, respectively.
Although I found several much-needed additions to the conferencing capabilities in this release, the most intriguing is the Presence Tools. These tools allowed me to easily publish my presence information in Web pages and documents.
I also liked the Lifelines addition in this release, which routes instant messaging requests across groups. When combined with the services Stand-Ins for routing IM communications to specific users, companies could use ASAP to build a ready-made IM and Web conferencing support application.
On the Web conferencing side, the addition of meeting rooms augments the ad hoc nature of the initial release with scheduling tools. The service still sticks with the basics—for example, I could not e-mail invitations from the same screen I used to schedule the meeting, but the service does send the presenter an invitation he or she can forward. I also like the fact that Convoq added the ability to upload presentations prior to the meeting. Although the service requires Windows to initiate a meeting, ASAPs Flash-based attendee application works on Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Solaris. More information is at www.convoq.com.
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