Adobe Connect Review
We use Adobe Connect to develop eLearning modules and move them over to our LMS.
Starting at $50 per host/per month
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What is Adobe Connect?
Adobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that enables users to create presentations, online training materials, and learning modules. The product is entirely Adobe Flash-based and has several add-ons for customizing its software to suit each users’ unique needs.
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Popular Features
- Live chat (62)9.494%
- High quality audio (64)8.787%
- Desktop sharing (64)8.080%
- High quality video (64)7.272%
Pricing
Meetings
$50
On Premise
per host/per month
Webinars & Learning
$130
On Premise
per host/per month
Small Meetings
Free
On Premise
Forever free for up to 3 participants
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
Adobe Connect Pro iPhone App
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Adobe Connect Demo
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Adobe Connect Demo
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Adobe Connect HTML5 Demo
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Virtual Classroom Demo (UOIT)
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Adobe Connect - Demo
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Features
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Product Details
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- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Adobe Connect?
Adobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that provides standard features like video, audio, screen-sharing, polls, chat, Q&A, and document transfers, as well as the ability for users to create presentations, online training materials, and learning modules.
The product is entirely Adobe Flash-based and has several add-ons for customizing its software to suit each users’ unique needs. Some extensions that are available include, but are not limited to, Closed Captioning support, Word Cloud (for visualizing live discussions), and MP3 player for adding music to users’ meeting rooms.
Users can create or style their own meeting room layouts which can be saved. They can also add multiple chat pods, polls, quizzes, simulations, breakout rooms, HD video, and games to make meetings and online conferencing more interactive. Additionally, Adobe Connect allows for presenters and hosts to utilize a “virtual backstage” to chat and collaborate outside of the main meeting or conference. It also allows for users to go into a “preparation mode” to make adjustments right before or during a session.
Pricing for Adobe Connect Meetings ranges from $50/mo up to $370/mo. Additional webinar capabilities through Adobe Connect Webinar ranges $140/mo to $580/mo, from a webinar with 100 participants to one with up to 1000 participants.
Adobe Connect Video
#AdobeConnect enables you with the real power of virtual to tell unforgettable stories!. Discover more about the latest release here: https://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html
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Adobe Connect Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Adobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that enables users to create presentations, online training materials, and learning modules. The product is entirely Adobe Flash-based and has several add-ons for customizing its software to suit each users’ unique needs.
GoTo Meeting, Webinato, and Cisco Webex Support (discontinued) are common alternatives for Adobe Connect.
Reviewers rate Live chat and Confidential attendee list highest, with a score of 9.4.
The most common users of Adobe Connect are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Reviews
(51-75 of 92)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
We use Adobe Connect for meetings where some of our participants are offsite. Our whole organization uses it. It solves the problem of access to remote members.
- Provides access to materials
- Inclusivity
- Option to receive commentary
- It's a little clunky to set up an event.
- I wish you could view more comments at once in the chat box.
June 18, 2018
Adobe Connect - Training NOT just meeting
Adobe Connect is being used by the companies that I consult with to deliver virtual training programs. It is replacing other options to provide more interaction and engagement.
- Provides several options for participant interaction
- Manages and maintains content and room layouts
- Customizable and flexible set up and delivery
- Multiple Hosts
- True Breakout room capabilities
- Still too difficult to get participants up and running on connection to a meeting
- Still uses flash which blocks access to content or to access to a meeting
- Steep learning curve
- A few glitches and idiosyncrasies that need experience to address
June 18, 2018
Adobe Connects the Dots--Mostly
Adobe Connect is used for recorded meetings of individuals who are in all parts of the country at the time of the meeting. We also use it to store recorded webinars that we can link viewers too. It supports the regular meetings of the Executive Board, provides recordings for minutes, and allows us to host Live Webinars or archive webinars for distribution.
- Provides a recorded archive of meetings and training webinars. This fact is important as we need a record of the events and redistribute archived training.
- Allows many participants to attend the Live Webinars or meetings without issue. As the number of participants is not the same each time, having the ability to invite as many as possible is a real plus.
- Provides a log in the email with a link and connection information for people to join the meeting or webinar. This step is important as without it, people could not actually enjoy the benefits of the meeting or webinar.
- Although it is a necessity to have the login email information shared with participants, we have had occasions when the link did not work properly or--more often--the Meeting ID did not allow the participant to enter the meeting room. As this is an issue that is only discovered at the meeting time (you cannot "try it" before the meeting time), it is problematic when it does not work.
- Adobe Connect does not have the ability to SHARE SCREENS. There is one presenter who can put up documents for the participants to view, but there is no ability to change the Presenter so that multiple screens could be shared. In a roundtable discussion, it would be helpful if different people could share or trade control during the same meeting.
- There is no ability to see the participants. Although I am sometimes in my lounge clothes when I attend an Adobe Connect meeting, face-to-face contact is helpful for engaging with an audience or for nonverbal communication. Although I think each participant should have control over the ability to use or not use video, I think it should be an option.
June 15, 2018
Function and Form with a Learning Curve
Adobe has allowed us to keep our training headcount limited while still providing training to individuals around the country. Adobe allows a team of 8 to support 200+ individuals on each new hire week, in 50+ offices in 36 states. Adobe being used for training has also allowed us to refocus some other individuals away from training and into other projects because of the reach the program now allows us to have.
The product allows us to provide live customer-facing demonstrations of new technology. We're able to send a quick link and easily screencast and conference with customers across the country.
The product allows us to provide live customer-facing demonstrations of new technology. We're able to send a quick link and easily screencast and conference with customers across the country.
- All of my Adobe presentations look extremely professional. The ability to import files that I've created in other programs allows me to utilize different design tools and bring their best elements with me.
- Breakout rooms are excellent for taking a large class and separating them into smaller groups where they can collaborate and then come back to the large group experience. This is vital for us in building a virtual learning space that people are actively engaged in.
- Simple interface for starting cameras and microphones. We've used some other products that needed their own manual for turning on a webcam. This is a simple click and even provides a preview before anything goes live. This is in addition to a splash screen when you enter a meeting that will walk all new users through the process, saving the presenters time.
- Our biggest complaint is always the lag in VoIP conferencing. It seems to fluctuate, but we can have as much as 5-7 seconds of delay at times. This can be a quick way to stifle any discussion that might be taking place. This ends up with a lot of people talking over one another.
- First-time users sometimes have issues getting the program to open. There is an initial download to get the meeting rooms open and if it doesn't happen automatically, we need to instruct users to try and rejoin the meeting. This isn't a difficult step, but it can prove to be annoying when working with 30-50 new users at one time.
March 18, 2018
A one stop shop with very mediocre products
Our team is located in 3 different cities. So it mainly helps us to have virtual meetings together and make sure that everyone sees content that we want to discuss.
- I like the many options the program offers such as chatbox, share screen, record meetings (to generate on-demand content for those who cannot attend a meeting).
- The quality (resolution) of webcam and screen share is very poor, other programs such as Workplace have a better webcam resolution
- Live streaming has a lot of lag (this might be a network issue)
February 28, 2018
One of the best
We use it for client education purposes. It allows us to have live and interactive online classes with our clients that are learning about markets and our products. We can share our screens with them; they can see us with the camera and the quality is amazing.
- Share screens with good quality resolution.
- Interactive since you can have quality live interaction with clients.
- Not heavy on the system. It is not demanding on your PC.
- No comment at this time here. I feel it offers the complete package.
February 16, 2017
Great webinar software!
Currently, we are using adobe connect for virtual meetings and instructor led training. It addresses the issues of travel costs and time. Additionally, it offers up the flexibility to hold meetings and share documents on demand.
- Adobe Connect does a good job of making your organization look professional once configured correctly.
- The built in features are typically more robust than other webinar software.
- The database that stores content as well as webinar recordings is extremely useful.
- The content area allows for SCORM content which makes this easily distributed without having a server.
- User management is a breeze.
- The training module (LMS) is not designed for instructor led training. If you are trying to use this as an LMS, keep in mind that you will have to create workarounds for ILT training (or at least we did.)
- The application is currently not in HTML 5. Once this is updated, this will be a huge upgrade.
- Screen sharing requires a plugin download.
- Email and event management can be cumbersome.
December 09, 2016
Good for my class environment
We utilize Adobe Connect for our online BSSW and MSW programs and I find that it is the perfect platform for my online teaching environment.
- Ability to stream videos.
- Ability to use Chat for engagement.
- Need to allow for interactive PowerPoint presentations without having to do a screen share.
- Ability to record individual breakout rooms.
July 11, 2016
Adobe Captivate - Connecting Colleagues
We used Adobe Connect to train, conduct meetings and generally interact with colleagues around the world. It was used, by varying degrees, by many of our organization's colleagues across the organization/world. It allowed us to conduct business and provide training to employees in remote locations. Communication was faster, in real-time and cheap. Conducting training, meetings and other communication with this tool allowed us to save on the cost of travel and bypass miscommunication that may occur in email and instant messaging.
- It allows you to conduct meetings with multiple parties in various locations, simultaneously.
- It allows you to share files wth participants. They can download documents you upload to the "meeting" space.
- It provides the capability to share the "hosting" role, so others can take over virtual control of the meeting while the meeting is still in progress.
- The interface is practical, but could be more aesthetically pleasing. Other, similar software has a more modern, slick look.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Our clients participate in a year-long consultant engagement. Clients are all across the US and Canada so we needed a reliable, dynamic meeting software that allowed us to cumulatively build on the clients' knowledge all year, not just a 1-off meeting room. Just our small, 5 person team uses it for our client work as other service engagements don't require cumulative meeting room knowledge.
- Design flexibility, moving "pods" of information around, hiding them, changing the look of the meeting room to best keep the attention of the attendees.
- Completely audio conference agnostic.
- Stores info from meeting to meeting so clients can access info from past sessions easily.
- Difficult to track down support; once you do they are helpful but their website is far too vast and getting a person on chat or phone is tricky.
- Reporting is lacking.
May 04, 2016
A love hate relationship with Adobe Connect.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
There are essential two uses of this tool within our organisation, with these departments being our customer care and marketing. It's used to conduct training sessions and also to host our webinars; where for the later, we'll select a hot topic that is of interest to both clients and leads alike, and host an inspirational session with the chance to answer questions at the end. This facilitates the need to either hold a Q&A session, inspiration session, workshop, or for presentations regarding a hot topic.
- Rearranging of room: When hosting a large presentation (of more than 300), the room can easily be converted into a customized-room or break-out session for example with ease.
- Preparation of Rooms: You are able to prepare a presentation before hand, where all questions can be created for a poll, notes are created for yourself, presentations uploaded and tested, and also a test of the sound. This helps to ensure that all facets are in working order and ready-to-go!
- Switch & Assigning of roles: It is very easy to switch between presenters, assign new presenters, upgrade viewers, and so forth.
- Multi-cam views: It is great that there can be multiple web-cams from presenters used at once. I believe the limit is 4, or at least this is the most that we have tried.
- Emailing of Chat transcript: You can easily send yourself a copy of the chat, which goes to the registered admin of the room.
- Upload of Presentations: There seems to be a problem with the uploading of PowerPoint presentations at times. This results in multiple test, converting into PDFs, changing it up for the best results. This is because there are times when the images are lost, slides are missing or other small things.
- Sound Issues: There have been instances where our out-of-house guest speaker has not been able to hear us (being the host). This resulted in a lot of typing back and forth between people. Also, there are times when there the is a lot of echoing in the room, so testing is absolutely recommended.
- Reporting on Attendees: There should be a way to ensure that all email address are collected to show to the host who attended. At times, participants use fake name, abbreviations, and so forth. So this means that it can be very time consuming to review at the end. Plus, we use Marketo for the follow-up activities and Adobe does not transmit the right statuses, so this requires a manual fix at times. More time being taken.
- New release of product features: It has taken a long time to get video recordings to be converted into MP4, which now can be done.
Connect was used to provide just-in-time training to global employees in three topic areas - technical support, sales support and international sales support. Connect Meeting was used to webcast SME presentations which were recorded for later viewing and connecting to Adobe Events with short quiz/evaluation objects. Connect Training was also used for asynchronous lessons on product features and support.
- At that time, Connect was the most accessible webcasting tool available due to the ubiquity of Adobe Flash. All other webcasting tools were very difficult for participants.
- The ability for web hosts to customize the screen layout.
- Meeting rooms persist and can be prepared in advanced and reused for webcasting a series of events.
- I am concerned but also unaware of the future of Connect with regards to web browsers banning Adobe Flash.
- Connect Training in version 8 would have been better if there were a way to identify employee/supervisor relationships so that supervisors could monitor employee learning.
- Connect Training in version 8 could have used a better training summary for users to understand what training they needed to complete.
October 09, 2015
Real-time solution for cross functional presentations.
Presently Adobe Connect is used both to support cross functional marketing efforts and as a training tool. It is not an enterprise based solutions at the present time.
- Sharing applications, presentation and desktops in hi res.
- Surveying the audience for real-time feedback.
- Switching between presenters and sharing the admin role.
- The VOIP function does not have the quality provided by an audio conference bridge.
- Local bandwidth issues make connections difficult or result in lost connections. Connect uses a lot of bandwidth.
- Sometime the recorded events are not readily available for replay.
October 06, 2015
Adobe Connect is great for education
Our organization uses Adobe Connect for two main purposes:
For our educators, Adobe Connect allows multiple layouts so we can switch from one screen layout with certain information to another screen layout with entirely different information flawlessly. We also utilize the Presenter Only area to allow a private chat between presenters and hosts to communicate event management issues (i.e. time keeping) and any other updates while the course is progressing that are invisible to participants. We have also utilized the breakout room feature that allows educators to break the group into smaller facilitated groups and then report back to the main room - just like what is done in an in-person workshop or course.
- delivering interactive educational webinars
- hosting meetings (internal and external to the organization)
For our educators, Adobe Connect allows multiple layouts so we can switch from one screen layout with certain information to another screen layout with entirely different information flawlessly. We also utilize the Presenter Only area to allow a private chat between presenters and hosts to communicate event management issues (i.e. time keeping) and any other updates while the course is progressing that are invisible to participants. We have also utilized the breakout room feature that allows educators to break the group into smaller facilitated groups and then report back to the main room - just like what is done in an in-person workshop or course.
- Adobe Connect handles streaming multiple videos (e.g. many different webcams or streaming a pre-recorded video) quite well with minimal issues.
- Adobe Connect allows for creation and switching between multiple screen layouts so that you can plan a course flow ahead of time and implement it flawlessly for participants. There is another key feature called Prepare Mode which allows the host to modify or prepare a different screen layout while everyone else remains in the last layout.
- Adobe Connect allows for breakout rooms. This feature is useful for classroom delivery webinars which require the users to break into smaller groups for working on a problem or brainstorming.
- Adobe Connect allows the host to email themselves a copy of the chat history. The history is often useful for other educators not present in that session who wish to review the types of questions/answers come up in a past session.
- The steps to connect to the Adobe Connect meeting room are clunky. There are many things that - if not completed ahead of time - cause problems for users who click on the meeting room link thinking they can just login and go in (like other platforms). The login and connection experience seems to be different on different operating systems and web browsers.
- Troubleshooting is incredibly challenging for issues such as having trouble connecting, not hearing what is presented, not seeing content, microphone works in the audio test but not when you're actually going to use it, webcams showing just black screens.
- Adobe Connect still uses Flash. There are apps for connecting to the meeting room from Apple and Android portable devices and they work ok but it isn't the same as the desktop web platform.
October 02, 2015
Adobe Connect - A Highly Interactive Platform
RVIBE uses Adobe Connect to assist our clients in holding meetings and broadcasting messages to their distributed workforce. Since RVIBE is the technical consultant and operator of Adobe Connect and and Adobe Connect is our preferred platform we use it company wide. Adobe Connect solves the problem of having a unified message delivered during a highly interactive virtual meeting while keeping a distributed work force in the field.
- The main reason we chose Adobe Connect over other platforms is the robust Breakout Room option. Using Breakout Rooms in a class of 20-30 participants really drives interactivity in a virtual session. Participants love the design of small group activities RVIBE brings to a meeting and Adobe Connect is the tool of choice.
- Polling is another great feature. The addition of Short answer polls let's our clients gain real insight into what their participants want. To be able to use polls in the event and not have to email them out our clients receive instant feedback and higher participation rating.
- Custom pods. Adobe allows company's like RVIBE to create custom pods. RVIBE has created a GameShow Pod that helps drive gamification within an event. All RVIBE clients get to use this Pod free of charge and we have received great feedback . Its a simple pod that amplifies interactivity past what you can do in a live non virtual setting. RVIBE also has what we call our Vusion Pod. This brings HD quality video to the Adobe Connect environment. RVIBE is able to run multiple Adobe Connect sessions at the same time and with the Vusion Pod we can broadcast a live unified message to all sessions simultaneously. Think of a conference Town Hall then everyone goes to their small breakout sessions. With Adobe Connect and RVIBE Vusion you can conduct a Virtual Conference with a unified Town Hall!
- The ability to Bridge TC systems and still conduct Breakout sessions is a great add for clients that are afraid to move to VoIP or just prefer TC over VoIP.
- RVIBE is a company that helps produce events in Adobe Connect. We like to control the content being broadcasted to the end user. In the desktop version of Adobe Connect we have learned to do that very well by hiding Pods that need to be hidden and changing Layouts on the fly to keep a streamlined smooth event. Unfortunately the mobile app for some reason allows participants to see all pods and gives them the ability to view pods that are normally hidden from desktop users. A participant can basically click away from what you are presenting and get distracted by other things.
- When a meeting is on hold a host is unable to promote potential presenters from the participant list so that person can join the pre-event meeting.
- Because RVIBE is usually controlling the meeting for our clients the lack of bandwidth control is a bit upsetting. Version 8 had clear and separate controls for Video Bandwidth, Audio Bandwidth and Video resolution. in AC9.x those controls have been condensed.
October 02, 2015
Adobe Connect in Higher Learning
We use Adobe Connect in several ways including for holding online courses, meeting with remote employees, offering remote tech support to people in the field and also to conduct trainings and webinars. Most recently we have begun using the Vantage Point extension by Refined Data (pay) which help us manage our participants cameras and mics to improve the quality of the sessions.
PROS
Fairly easy to use, great mobile/tablet app and they host all your recordings
CONS
It's flash based which seems a bit of a concern to me - we've had issues in the past with conference line integrations to the point I advise people not to even bother with a conference line (it's an antiquated technology anyway). We're still pushing to get the ability to save our session recordings locally as MP4 files. I believe this feature is coming soon but ADOBE Is taking way too long. It should have been a basic feature from day 1.
Setting up meetings is particularly complicated compared to other tools. The UI could use an update too. It looks like late 90's version of Windows.
ALTERNATIVES
We looked at other options such as Zoom Meeting, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Skype, Collaborate etc. But they were all either missing key features or the pricing structure was just insane.
PROS
Fairly easy to use, great mobile/tablet app and they host all your recordings
CONS
It's flash based which seems a bit of a concern to me - we've had issues in the past with conference line integrations to the point I advise people not to even bother with a conference line (it's an antiquated technology anyway). We're still pushing to get the ability to save our session recordings locally as MP4 files. I believe this feature is coming soon but ADOBE Is taking way too long. It should have been a basic feature from day 1.
Setting up meetings is particularly complicated compared to other tools. The UI could use an update too. It looks like late 90's version of Windows.
ALTERNATIVES
We looked at other options such as Zoom Meeting, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Skype, Collaborate etc. But they were all either missing key features or the pricing structure was just insane.
- Polling
- Lots of 3rd party add ons available
- desktop sharing
- User Interface is dated
- Setting up meeting is cumbersome, many of our instructors get confused by it
- Being able to download recording to local computer is way over due
September 30, 2015
Adobe Connect - The Luxury Car of Collaboration Tools
Adobe Connect is being used across my entire organization to deliver dozens of webinars every week, facilitate meetings, and deliver training. As a sales and marketing organization it allows us to meet with vendors, partners and other colleagues to conduct business. Internally, we use it for training purposes to get new hires up to speed quickly and to keep the experienced employees aware of product changes and upgrades. Our Marketing team uses the webinar module to produce high quality events that reach a large number of customers. Adobe Connect allows us to meet more often and to reach a globally dispersed customer base.
- Adobe Connect doesn't require a download for participants, so getting customers, partners, vendors and other users into our meetings, webinars and virtual classrooms is easy. We deal with a lot of locked down, security conscious, agencies and company's so this is huge for us. We don't have to worry if someone is on a MAC or a PC, or what browser they are using, they just click a link and get in.
- The meeting rooms we create are persistent, so we can use the same virtual meeting space over and over. We can customize the URL's so that the people we invite come to the same place every time we meet. And the room is always how we last left it which is nice when you have a weekly recurring meeting.
- Security is important to our company, so having SSL encryption and the ability to turn on/off certain features is essential. We can also set permissions as to who and how users can access our meeting rooms.
- The campaign tracking and lead qualification features of the webinar module allow us to see how well we are driving leads from different sources. We can analyze how user view our events and where they exit the registration process to help us improve our marketing content and verbiage.
- The training module is great and provides a lot of analytics, but the reporting could be updated to a fresher look, especially when exporting data into a spreadsheet.
- The webinar module can do a lot of great things, but it does have a learning curve. Streamlining the process to make it more intuitive would be a nice change.
- There is a ton of cutomization that can be done from a branding perspective, but there are a few places where you are locked into Adobe's verbiage and it would be nice if everything could be branded the way we want it.
August 19, 2015
Connect with Adobe
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Over the past two years, Rasmussen College has moved to more real-time virtual teaching opportunities to connect students, primarily in the online format or through live office hours to their instructors. The college moved towards implementing Adobe Connect in Live Lectures and also in virtual meetings connecting students from across the world and campuses across 22 campuses and online. This has allowed us to make personal connections through face to face interactions. It has increased personal relationships and developed stronger bonds between students and faculty as well as across departments.
- Adobe Connect allows the opportunity for students to truly get to know their instructors who may not be available in person.
- File sharing and uploading; ease of sharing materials.
- Polling abilities to keep students actively involved in the discussions and engaged in the online forum.
- Easy to use including screen sharing, video options and methods for engaging participants.
- Faculty meetings and department meetings across all campuses are more easily facilitated with more people in attendance.
- Adobe Connect takes time to get comfortable with (as does anything!)
- At times, the uploading of files and the formats acceptable can be a challenge.
- Audio on playbacks can be off. This might be a bandwidth issue.
April 29, 2015
Adobe cannot Connect
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
This was used as an eLearning tool but I found that when more than 4 people attended, the system was bogged down and latency was quite large. It ended up that the meeting had to be muted by the participants and then only one person at a time could actually speak without it dropping other people. I wasn't impressed. I think WebEx is better suited for a large group.
- Good for small groups (under five people)
- Allows for collaboration
- Allows for sharing of multimedia
- Fix the system so more than 5 people can be on at one time.
March 11, 2015
Adobe Connect forefront of webinar
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Adobe Connect is mostly used for the online courses and any online workshops that the department offers. It addresses being able to reach a larger audience, as well as a recording function that allows those who missed the initial presentation to watch/observe it.
- Adobe Connect is typically easy to load up and use. Rarely are there complaints about being able to access Adobe Connect.
- Adobe Connect has a good recording functionality - the quality is pretty good.
- I like that Adobe Connect is easily accessible with a mobile device.
- The course reporting and ability to access engagement is one of the best developed that I have ever seen.
- I would like to see a better option to preload polling and able to conduct that throughout the presentation.
- It would be nice for the viewers of the recording to be able to submit their name, contact and also a way for the presenter to see if the recording was watched in its complete capacity (or how long the viewer actually sat through the recording).
- A cheaper version for nonprofit entities would also be appreciated!
December 12, 2014
Adobe- You cannot go wrong!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Adobe Connect across the organization for Meetings and Training purposes. It solves the travel gap for training and allows for audio/video to deliver information in a seamless way.
- Connect ability - no downloading like GoToMeeting
- Ease of use for presenters - archive and sharing connect is great
- Communication Styles- It is great to have audio, visual, chat, and poll functions
- Break out rooms - when training we can present a topic, then give an exercise and have group break out remotely to complete the exercise.
- Graphic Display- It does not support all graphics (WordArt). All graphics must be saved as objects
- Screen Share and Presentation Window can sometimes be small, when you are using Chat/Webcam
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Our department uses Adobe Connect to deliver highly interactive live online training. We deliver over 100 training programs every month and utilize Adobe Connect to help us put on several training sessions each day. With this program, we can keep things interactive and give participants a chance to experience something beyond a standard lecture or webinar. By using the status tools, whiteboards, breakout rooms, and other tools, we get attendees involved and give them a unique experience where we are able to address their individual needs.
- Very flexible and customizable. We deliver many different types of sessions with a number of layouts. Setting these up is quick and painless.
- Reliable performance. I have used many different live online event programs and this is the most reliable in my opinion.
- The template feature allows us to create a series of layouts for one type of session and easily duplicate them when we are ready to run another session of the same program.
- Breakout rooms and whiteboard tools allow us to replicate the feel and interactivity of a face to face classroom.
- The customer service could be better. Whenever a problem arises it can be difficult to quickly resolve.
- It could be more customizable in terms of aesthetics. A bit boring looking.
- Our needs are fairly unique for Adobe Connect as we deliver so many programs each week. It would be nice to be able to work with a representative to further customize the program for our unique needs.
November 26, 2014
Adobe Connect for Education and Training
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Adobe Connect to
- Deliver and track HR/Compliance Training
- Support Online Meetings for employees
- Support Online Meetings for students in their classes
- Deliver and Track content
- Provides direct and seamless integration with desktop development tools like Adobe Presenter and Adobe Captivate
- Granular access control features for content, content folders
- Granular quiz reporting options
- Robust meeting and training platform
- Direct integration with our Learning Management System, BlueQuill
- Self-service for meeting Hosts
- It is difficult to get resolutions to issues from Adobe directly
- The automatic reminders and email functions work inconsistently - known issue
- Reporting features work inconsistently - known issue
- Although there is a high-level of granularity with the configuration and permissions, there are a number of permissions that are locked down that we would like to have been able to configure.
February 20, 2014
Adobe Connect: what "grown ups" choose
I consult with organizations that are selecting solutions for e-learning, webinar, and collaboration use cases. These are often point needs within particular departments, but are occasionally enterprise wide needs. Typical problems that compel people to consider Adobe Connect, include a desire for greater engagement, ease of use, and higher levels of impact -- to address use cases that have in the past required travel or been met by other solutions that didn't work well. What this means is that Adobe Connect is often a product the people "trade up" to when they've used something "flatter" or a product with low cost but lower levels of performance in the past. With Connect, use cases, such as classrooms, can be completely put on-line -- allowing for break-out sessions, mobile user involvement, multiple facilitator situations, and webinar use cases can keep higher percentage of audiences engaged with content for the full event. This, typically, has a very high ROI and is considered desirable.
- Hands down, the best Virtual Classroom - Connect is unparalleled in its use here. From breakout rooms, to an unlimited selection of audio providers, to multiple presenters and hosts, to tools that you need as a professional facilitator -- Connect is the "grown ups' choice" for virtual classroom. If your use case involves live Virtual Classroom, you should be using Adobe Connect.
- Product openness and extensibility -- Competing products are "walled gardens": they only let you use the features that the product manager wants you to have. Adobe Connect, because it is built using an open architecture, lets you create your own components that you can easily create and integrate. Whether these are high end simulations that mimic operational equipment, high definition videos you want to play, or applications that provide interactive experiences for your audience, anything you can conceive, you can create and use as part of your Adobe Connect rooms.
- Ubiquitous performance - Adobe Connect runs everywhere without painful port opening, extension enabling, or other IT issues. Desktop users don't have to do any big client downloads, and mobile support is enabled through free app-store downloads -- allowing folks to lead and participate from wherever they are. As a facilitator, I can prepare my content in my Adobe Connect room, then travel on vacation next week -- without taking a laptop with me -- and deliver my content using a hotel computer across the world. Or, perhaps I am stuck in an airport -- I can lead my entire session from my iPhone or Android tablet. This freedom to lead and participate from anywhere on any device is extraordinary.
- Easy -- Ease of use is huge. Participants get links they click on -- and immediately enter rooms - no downloads, no muss, no fuss. Hosts build meeting rooms -- which they can use over and over and refine. For those of us who do presentations, webinars, and classes professionally, this is an enormous benefit. We can build rooms that are specific to what we wish to communicate and hone them to be profoundly effective. Moreover, we can template these and build fresh ones using that content, and we can simply re-use our rooms with no further preparation time, over and over again. In contrast -- competing products make you enter your meeting area right before your meeting and prepare your content at that time. This usually means that if you are using a competing product, you end up wasting loads of time and, frankly, you are not building much interactivity and impact into your sessions because you have to do so every time you want to conduct a session.
- Integration -- There is no product that plays better with others than Adobe Connect. This makes the product so useful and flexible that you might say that Connect is the "swiss army knife" in the space. Connect has a super easy to use interface for people who just want to get in and do something. It also has a fully exposed set of Application Programming Interfaces (API) that let you build whatever you want on top of connect (some organizations have completely built their own context appropriate front end on top of Connect, using the raw Connect functionality underneath to power their application.) This means you can have Connect fully integrated with your enterprise IT infrastructure -- using Single Signon, customization of user experience, and branding -- and if you are technical, you can do this all yourself. These are huge differentiators compared to the flatter products on the market that want you to use the service only in the primary delivery modality their product manager conceived.
- Many Deployment Options -- You can deploy Connect any way you want. Most people just want a low cost, reliable-enough platform to use. Adobe Connect's multi-tenant hosted service fits there. Others want high levels of integration with their own LMS systems, Salesforce, Marketo, other enterprise systems, reporting systems, etc. Adobe Connect on Premise or Adobe Connect Managed Service deployments fit there. yet other clients require FEDRAMP and HIPAA levels of security. Adobe Connect Managed Service and other Adobe Connect Private Cloud deployment strategies meet those requirements. Try taking the above list to any competing vendor and watch the expression on their face. Most deploy their products only in one way -- take it or leave it. With Adobe Connect, you have the full range of choices available to you.
- High touch resellers-Unlike most other products in the market, Adobe Connect is sold through resellers. This means that there are real people, located on the same continent as you, who speak your language who can help you select and implement your product. When I used competing, flatter products -- the service side was flatter, too. I bought those competing products on the web, I had to figure everything out myself, and God help me if I actually wanted to talk to a human being to get help. Because Adobe Connect is sold regionally by resellers like GetConnect with long history and deeply experienced people, this means that you get a successful program, not just a product.
- Adobe Connect is very deep and very broad. It is not for someone who is looking for a simple chat client. Occasionally I will find someone who wants just one button to push to make the product go. Adobe Connect isn't like that. It is the "grown ups' product" and it has very deep capabilities.
- Adobe Connect is modular -- each module has a specific function that maps to use case business needs. This depth is often a little confusing at first, because each module has its own learning curve. At the end of the day, it is a very good thing, but you need to plan a little time to get familiar with what the modules you have purchased do, because they are deep.
- Adobe Connect has the ability to do quite advanced, powerful things. The flip side of this is that you need to be an adult about choosing what you are going to inflict on your audience. For example, you can conduct very highly engaging sessions with interactive elements that are respectful of your audience's bandwidth. Or you can be an absolute boor and force your audience to need a 1 Meg internet connection to have a good experience. But you need to be an adult and make good choices. In a way, this is the flip side of power -- you have to use it responsibly. Other products that don't do very much solve this problem quite differently -- they prevent you from doing anything substantive that could consume too much bandwidth. Of course, that is a primary reason people move up to Adobe Connect -- because they want something better.
February 11, 2014
Using Adobe Connect for Enterprise-Wide Training
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We have used Adobe Connect for years to supplement conference calls and project meetings. In the past year, we have started leveraging Adobe Connect as an enterprise-wide delivery method for virtual instructor-led training. Recently, we needed to train over 1800 employees all across the country on a new approach to sales and customer service. The project would have likely taken us 6-12 months using traditional instructor-led classrooms and would have required extensive travel for most participants and trainers. With Adobe Connect we were able to deploy 20 hours of training to all employees in under two months with little to no travel required.
- Shared Templates in Adobe Connect help package content for convenient and consistent delivery of project and training materials.
- Chat pods, poll pods, whiteboards and other features encourage interactivity beyond traditional lecture format.
- Adobe Connect supports many file types, which enables you to pre-load several forms of multimedia for presentations, such as slides, images and video.
- Breakout Rooms enable a project lead or trainer to engage with participants on an individual or small group basis.
- Slides and images can be pre-loaded and deployed easily, but we have noticed some buffering issues when attempting to show video as a pre-loaded file.
- Shared Templates offer a great way to set up and save multiple pods and layouts, however, we have encountered some issues when attempting to set up and save Breakout Rooms in a Shared Template.
- When demonstrating screen-share tutorials for software, some parts of the application do not always render correctly for the viewer. In our experience, this problem typically occurs with more complex, multi-window applications.