DimDim web conferencing

For those WebEx and GoToMeeting users out there dreading your monthly bill, you might want to take a look at DimDim, an open source based web conferencing solution. DimDim has three versions, Free, Pro which is priced from $99 to $495 per year and Enterprise starting at $1995 per year. The pricing brackets are based on DimDim hosted software and concurrent users. Compare that to WebEx at a web published price of $69 per host per month, and you begin to see the savings. For 50 host users that would be $3,450 per month vs. DimDim Enterprise at $19 per user per month (hosted) or $950 per month, a savings of $2,500/mo., or $30,000 per year. What is unique about DimDim, besides the fact that it has an open source offering, is that you can host it in-house if you chose instead of subscribing to it as a service. For those companies with security concerns over using a hosted web conferencing solution, this is a definite plus.

Another big "plus" is DimDim's free API for creating integration and mashups. Currently there is DimDim integration into Moodle, the learning management system for schools, Yahoo's Zimbra email system, and SugarCRM just to name a few. There's even a Facebook application that is based on DimDim. So you can see that not only are there potential cost savings to using Dimdim, but also a great technology advantage in having an API to leverage for use in other applications. Since DimDim has a free version it would be very easy to take it for a spin, kick the tires, and see how it "rides" for use as your new web conferencing solution. Sphere: Related Content