Adobe Connect connects us to our members in new and better ways
February 11, 2014
Adobe Connect connects us to our members in new and better ways
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Version 9.1 Hosted Edition
Overall Satisfaction
We host numerous webinars throughout the year for groups ranging from small committees of 5 or 6 people on up to audiences of 100-200. It is managed by the communications department for the entire organization. We also host webinars for our chapters across the country, providing them with a platform and level of expertise so that they don't have to research a product, make a selection, learn to use it, etc.
- The interface is very clean, well-designed and free from distractions.
- Recordings are of very high quality and can be stored on the server indefinitely. They can be easily accessed via a web link (and can now be password protected). Recordings can be exported in mobile-compatible format as an MP4.
- Meeting rooms persist from one login to another, so the host and the participants can always have a familiar interface to work with.
- It's easy to add polls and use them throughout a session.
- Because of the large user base, there are a number of add-ins you can use to enhance your webinars.
- Recordings default to Flash which can't be viewed on many mobile devices. They offer the ability to export recordings as MP4s, but it would be nice if you could set this as the default.
- Some useful features are not provided with the hosted model, such as Adobe Presenter, which allows you to upload content directly from PowerPoint, preserving settings and fonts.
- We turned what was formerly an annual mini-conference into a series of webinars, allowing us and our members to save on meeting and travel expenses.
- We have added value to our members' experience, because we can now offer many virtual opportunities year-round as opposed to only during live events throughout the year. The visual and interactive elements of a webinar make them more attractive as a learning experience than a simple teleconference. And because the webinars are recorded, members can view them at their leisure.
- We've been able to expand what we offer to our chapters in terms of support from the national office, and we've given them an additional means of delivering professional development opportunities to their local members.
We looked at GoToMeeting and WebEx, and for our size and the number of sessions we do, they did not make as much sense financially. Although Adobe Connect may seem like it requires a lot of money up front, the others make up for it in the end because of additional charges for meetings over a certain size, etc. We also preferred the interface of Adobe Connect as well as the high-quality recordings and server storage.
Implementation
- Professional services company
The hosted model is licensed through authorized resellers, and we use GetConnect.
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - Changes that resulted from our implementation were minimal and primarily internal, since we used Adobe Connect to eliminate an annual mini-conference. Staff and members were affected but in the end everyone agreed that moving to a webinar model was a good move for the organization. We did transition from one reseller to another, and as a result, previously recorded webinars had to be recorded for offline use and re-uploaded - there was no automatic transition from one account to another. Doing this takes away some of the features available in original recordings; they change from being a somewhat interactive Flash file to a flat file, like a regular screencast.
- Problems with recordings done under the previous vendor were the only issue encountered.