Yugma is a new screen sharing software solution that offers access to unlimited meetings for groups of to 10 users at absolutely no cost at all.
Additional key traits that characterize this recent newcomer to the increasingly crowded screen-sharing marketplace, are full support for both Windows and Mac (with Linux promised as next), full screen-sharing with the ability to pass presenter control to any of the attendees (both Mac and PC), text chat, integrated tele-conferencing (for US-based customers) and a live markup and annotation toolset.
That's enough to go and give it a try.
And so I did.
This is what I have found out:
The Yugma free version, which, as I have mentioned above, includes basic screen sharing and annotation capabilities for up to 10 participants, is a very tough offer to beat.
Yugma, formerly known as LetsPowWow, is in fact, the first web conferencing company to adopt such a bold and innovative marketing strategy. Commoditize the service and sell premium paid services to those needing them.
To those with greater needs Yugma offers three premium versions, which include advanced functionalities such as "file sharing" and "session recording".
Overall Yugma presents a simple interface that picks up on many of the good ideas pioneered by GoToMeeting with its sliding and inobtrusive vertical side panel. Unfortunately, and nonetheless the evident resemblance, there is an ocean of difference between the interface design quality of GoToMeeting tool and Yugma. GoToMeeting has gone to much greater depth into designing an interface that is truly usable, easy-to-use and intuitive. Those of you who are truly familar with different collaboration tools will have no hesitation in noticing the difference.
Installation, setup, access
Yugma installation and setup is rather straightforward requiring you to download a 3.5 MB application that is automatically extracted and installed in your computer without any direct required interaction with the user, except granting the rights to Yugma's scripts to proceed with their installation procedure.
If you don't keep changing computers, this is a one-time procedure after which your access time to a Yugma session becomes much shorter. In fact, on this 2-year old backup laptop I am using today, overall access time from my initial double-click is less than 30 seconds.
Key requirements for everything to run smoothly is having the right Java modules installed on your computer. When these are not the ones Yugma accepts, a simple installation operation may turn into a small nightmare. The best solution if you are having any trouble on the first Yugma install, is to go to the Yugma home page and click on the Support link that appears at the bottom. From the Support page, go and click on the link that reads:
"Is your system Yugma-ready?". Yugma will run all of its battery of diagnostics to tell you whether your PC or Mac is ready to go into a Yugma session.
Some other little annoyances in the logistics of the system:
a) Users already logged into Yugma's home page are forced to relog again when they want to start a new screen-sharing session. (Update on March 3rd 2007: Users already logged in to Yugma's home page are no longer required to relog again when new session begins.)
b) exiting a Yugma session launches automatically the default browser and the Yugma page without any request or intervention from me.
Obviously, Yugma is working hard to fix all these little problems but it is only my duty to report them as some of them remain uncorrected even after several days of having reported them to the Yugma development team.
Invitation management
Yugma provides the user with two ways to invite a new guest: you either click on the "Action" menu in the main window and select "Invite" (the invitation will be emailed to the person you want to invite) or you tell your guest to go to Yugma's homepage, click on the "Join a session" button and enter the session ID number that you will have previously given to him/her. The session ID appears always on top of the Yugma window inside a small orange box.
Unfortunately the session ID number cannot be easily copied and pasted and having to memorize it visually is one of the points where the difference with key competitors Glance and GoToMeeting fully shows. (Update on March 3rd 2007: Session ID and Seesion URL can now be easily copied and pasted)
Screen sharing
The host/presenter of a Yugma screen-sharing session can easily show his/her screen by clicking on the first button on top of the Yugma main window, where it says "Show my desktop". Within a few seconds, all the attendees are able to watch the host/presenter screen.
The host has also the power to give the presenter role to anyone of the attendees (Mac or PC).
However, it is important to note that the free Yugma version does not allow the host to give mouse and keyboard controls to other attendees.
When the screen sharing session starts, attendees see the presenter's screen in a new window and the initial image window may appear not to be able to display all of the presenter's screen contents. That is because Yugma supports multiple image resolutions but by default it displays initially the lowest one available. The user can intervene manually and enlarge the view according to his needs.
In fact, in order to see the presenter's screen in full resolution you simply need to click on the "Options" button on the top left corner of the Yugma screen-sharing window and select "Viewing options"; then, select "Full resolution".
Overall screen sharing performance is quite acceptable though no as fast and "zippy" as some of the competitors. Quality of image display is also rather good.
One feature which I didn't appreciate was Yugma default screen-sharing setting which has the system start any session with your screen being showed right away. I think the presenter should retain full control for when that takes place.
Annotation tools
The live annotation tools are accessible through a dedicated vertical toolbar that is displayed when you click on the annotation tools icon on the Yugma vertical sidebar.
Though there seems to have been some effort on the part of Yugma in trying to improve some of the existing idiosyncrasies that most whiteboarding and live annotation systems have, the annotation toolset leaves lot to be desired both in terms of effectiveness, features and usability. Yes, we have feature and usability parity with many other web conferencing tools, but that is really nothing to go telling about.
The shapes tool doesn't work as smoothly and intuitively as one would expect, and I didn't find an easy way to switch from annotation mode to non-annotation mode without erasing all the markups done.
Overall the annotation facility offers mediocre value and it is certainly not on a par with key competitor GoToMeeting.
Text Chat
Yugma attendees and presenters can easily dialogue through a fully functioning integrated text chat facility which integrates private conversations. Yugma chat does not support more advanced features like "auto-URL", optional date-time stamps or the ability to save a text transcript of a chat session.
Premium Accounts features
Premium paying Yugma users can also share keyboard and mouse controls with other attendees both on PCs and Macs. This, along with the ability to make anyone a presenter is a very useful feature indeed.
Among other key features available only to Premium users are the ability to schedule sessions in advance, record a full screen-sharing session as well as having the benefit of a dedicated screen-sharing facility with a capacity of 100 MB. This last feature, though I would like to see a larger capacity being made available to end users, is a unique competitive advantage of Yugma relative to its other direct competitors.
Finally, customer service is available via web and phone during north-American office hours to all paying customers.
Editor's comments
Yugma is a new interesting entry into the screen-sharing arena. Similar to Glance and GoToMeeting in terms of basic features, it stands out on paper for having full Mac and PC support (only Glance does better, GoToMeeting allows attendees on Mac but they can't be made into presenters), and for offering an "unheard of" basic free account that offers screen sharing for up to 10 people at basically zero cost.
While I agree that this is an offer that it is hard to refuse, there are indeed differences and limitations that you should consider before cancelling your existing screen-sharing or web conferencing contract.
These include:
- Interface and usability issues - While not everything here is as clear-cut, professionally designed and unambiguous as in key competing tools like Glance and GoToMeeting, the Yugma interface remains highly usable.
- Annotation and markup - Here is a major missed opportunity. Annotation and live markup tools remain one of the worst designed facilities in most conferencing and collaboration systems showing by developers and system designers no appreciation for the true needs of a presenter, both in terms of usability as well as in terms of tools required. Yugma does not fare any better than most in this area and while Glance provides no annotation tools, GoToMeeting has definitely a point in its favour on this front too.
- Invitation management - Not as smooth as it should be. I am forced to call up my email application to invite someone, when it would be much easier for me to simply copy and paste the meeting URL code via my instant messenger. Yugma does not provide me with an easy way to grab the code to access the meeting, nor does it generate a specific URL for it that can I easily copy and paste somewhere else.
- US-focus - Nonetheless several language versions of Yugma are being released, all customer service, information and even the integrated tele-conferencing facility are all focused around a US-based audience. If you are an international, non-US customer you may want to take this element into account.
Among the many new web-based services providing screen sharing and web conferencing solutions (like Vyew and DimDim), Yugma presents itself as an interesting and potentially very promising alternative.
Yugma's most direct competitor is Glance v2 which sports the same basic features in a much more spartan and essential interface. Glance does not have text chat or annotation capabilities and it offers only a meager 7-day trial compared to the unlimited free basic Yugma plan. Glance costs otherwise $49.95/month for up to 15 users and works also, out of the box on Mac, PCs and Linux boxes too.
Overall Yugma is a promising entry into this market though its disruptive marketing approach may bring more harm than good to this new company.
In fact, marketing-wise, Yugma may have overdone itself, expecting that the drastic lowering of the price barrier to entry would help skyrocket its adoption rate and commercial success. While I don't have number in my hands I strongly feel that this may not turn out to be the case for Yugma in the near-term.
Why?
To conquer loyal customers, whether free or paid, you need to offer competitive value and tangible benefits, well beyond what the competitions already does. Fighting on pricing terms alone is a short-term, losing battle.
Ease of use is really at the heart of it all.
In this respect Yugma has STILL everything to gain by doing better than what its best competitors have already done. That is in my humble opinion, the only way in which Yugma can consolidate a growing loyal user base and a significant number of premium account paying users.
We also know that most online group collaboration takes places in small groups. Three to five people at the most in most any collaborative meeting online are the norm.
Therefore, while a company like Yugma may indeed need to attack adoption with individuals and small groups in brave and smart ways to get traction, it should not sell out its assets and opportunity for reaching sustainability by leaving out the opportunity to monetize, even marginally larger account needs (e.g.: groups of more than 5 people).
Furthermore, Yugma should transfer its key resources and upcoming investments on the UI, usability and accessibility fronts as these are the only ones, in my humble opinion, where one can conquer user deep appreciation and loyalty over the long-term.
Whether the company has enough fuel to last for enough time to create a paying user base that compensates for the cost that these extra investments will require is, for now, all to be seen.
System requirements
Although Yugma is a web-based service, it requires its users to install the Java runtime environment 1.4.2_07 or later on their computer. If you don't have it you can download it here.
Yugma runs on Windows 2000 and later, and Mac OSX 10.3 or later. Linux will be soon compatible with Yugma - developers say.
Pricing and features list
Yugma provides a free version and three premium version. Here is the list of features and prices for each one of the available plans:
Learn more
Watch the demo of Yugma.
Pricing info.
Read the FAQs on Yugma's website.
Visit the Forum and the Blog of Yugma.
Sign up for the free version of Yugma.
Read other reviews of Yugma
(Disclosure: GoToMeeting has been Kolabora.com top corporate advertiser during 2006 - At the time of this writing Citrix/GoToMeeting has no advertising dollars being spent on any of my sites sites) - Notwithstanding the above, at all times I have openly written about GoToMeeting strengths and weaknesses without any restrictions or impositions. Also this review reflects my uncompromising, independent analysis of the tools and it reflects my sincere impressions gathered during the use of these technologies.
