Audio Video Conferencing

Like most audio video conferencing programs, NetMeeting's shared application support attempts to limit the amount of information sent to update remote screens. Information is cached at the remote site so items used repeatedly can be used without resending their entire contents. A technique called smart spoiling tracks screen updates. If information in the outgoing queue will be over- written by newer information being added to the queue, then NetMeeting will toss out the older information.

Still, like any remote control program, there is a delay between what occurs on the host PC and what is seen on the remote clients. Applications that per- form complex screen updates (like CAD programs) might operate more slowly because of the amount of information being sent to remote clients. The whiteboard is a multiple-page drawing pad. It supports drawing objects and text using any available fonts. You can even use highlighters. It is possible to create presentations and present them during a conference, allowing participants to annotate your work.

How well application sharing and whiteboarding perform depends on the number of participants in a call. NetMeeting does not support multicast IP, so information must be sent to all participants individually. Non-audio and -video conference operations use varying amounts of network bandwidth based on the kinds of operations being performed. For example, pasting bitmap graphics into the whiteboard uses more bandwidth than drawing a circle; this is because the whiteboard is object-oriented, not bitmap-oriented. File transfer lets you send and receive files without having to give others direct access to your local disks. You set up an incoming folder to accept files, and you can selectively send files to individual people.

Typical LAN throughput for NetMeeting video conferencing is 493Kbits/sec (with FCIF), which is well above a modem's 28.8Kbits/sec or 33.6Kbits/sec.

What's missing? NetMeeting lacks many features found on telephone systems. An answering machine-like feature would be handy for times when you're away from your desk, and for handling calls while you're hosting a closed conference. It would also be nice to have call waiting, call forwarding, and a rotary system to distribute incoming calls to different workstations.

Chat mode is handy, but all parties must activate chat mode to use it. There is no way to use Chat to send a simple message like "Turn on Chat." NetMeeting also lacks other useful features found in competing products, like the automatic business card exchange found in Intel's ProShare.

While this version of NetMeeting does adhere to the standards, it does not implement all possible features. For example, it does not support H.323 gatekeepers. H.323 gatekeeper sup- port may be a prerequisite for use in many networks requiring strict bandwidth control. Many competing products such as PictureTel's LiveLAN 3.0 work with gatekeepers.