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Dimdim, which provides open source Web conferencing software users access through their browser, Sept. 2 released an application that lets businesses host webinars with up to 1,000 people.
Dimdim Webinar lets users attend a webinar with one click on a URL. This is a departure from Cisco’s WebEx and Citrix’ GotoWebinar online meeting applications, which require that customers install software locally to their computers to use them.
Dimdim’s Webinar Widget makes registering for the service easier. While Cisco and Citrix send attendees to their Web sites to register online, the Webinar Widget appears as a button that accepts registrations via the Web sites or blogs where the webinar will be conducted.
Marketers can also promote their webinar via the Webinar Widget on their Web site, blog, Twitter, Facebook or any social network Web site. To help webinar leaders track who attended or missed a particular webinar, the application also includes reporting and tracking analytics.
Dimdim Webinar also includes resources that help businesses make money from webinars. These include the ability to schedule and provide tickets to webinars for free or for a fee through online event ticketing provider Eventbrite; an affiliate program that pays up to $150 for each webinar signup, as well as help videos, guides, and a microsite and e-book on how to make money from webinars.
Beginning today, businesses can use Dimdim Webinar free for a 30-day trial. After the trial expires, users can host an unlimited number of webinars for $75 per month. This includes unlimited access to a 100 attendee version of Dimdim Pro. Businesses that choose not to purchase Dimdim Webinar can use Dimdim’s Web conferencing service free for up to 20 users.
Previously, Dimdim user support maxxed out at up to 100 people with its Dimdim Pro Web conferencing platform. Dimdim Chief Marketing Officer Steve Chazin told eWEEK said Dimdim launched a Webinar service because some of its three million users were “having bigger events and they wanted more people to show up” via their computers.
This is a sign of the growing reliance on the Web to enable virtual meetings, particularly during the current recession; businesses are loath to stretch travel budgets.
That is also why companies such as Dimdim, Yuuguu and Yugma are trying to provide customers with less expensive, browser-based Web conferencing services as alternatives to Cisco, Citrix and.