Item: GoTo Webinar
Rating: 10
Author: Adria Moskowitz

Overall Satisfaction with GoTo Webinar

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a small non-profit with state-wide reach. I inherited our GoTo Webinar when I started working at Washington Health Alliance almost 7 years ago. GoTo Webinar includes a free version of GoTo Meeting as well so, theoretically, we can have 2 events going on simultaneously. When the Covid emergency began we increased both the number of administrating staff and meeting participants. We lost our building conference room for which we needed the 800 number so we just cancelled that. We had meetings twice a week that included health care, health plan, government, pharmaceutical and research organizations. One of our member organizations created for another member organization a live dashboard. We were the venue for these organizations to connect so made all these meetings happen using GoTo Webinar. After we got the vaccines developed and distributed, the need for such big meetings (200-500) decreased and GoTo let us change our contract to reduce our staffing and attending needs. They have an amazing video library to host recordings of all these meetings, as well as our member-only All-Alliance meetings (going back 10 years). I do not see an end to our relationship with GoTo Webinar.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Responsive to customers changing needs
Maintenance of video library
Not raising prices or trying to upsell with every communication

Cons

Social usage like Zoom did so that Zoom became more accepted because it was pushed on the individual sale with a "free" option until it became the normalized product
Having 1 login for billing, Meetings and webinar and being able to select the product after login rather than having 3 different sites

Return on Investment

We were able to reach 8 different sectors of society and keep them all involved with no dropped calls or meetings for 10 years
This has enabled us to maintain a permanent member-only video library on our organizations website by linking to the GoTo video library links, and the same for the open community video library
Able to have our regular 7 monthly meetings with no conflict with the bigger community connections meetings

Usability

For an admin, there is a little bit of training needed. For participants, no training is needed - just click the link.

Alternatives Considered

GoTo Meeting

We needed more participant seats. Plus you can either buy a GoTo Meeting, or buy a GoTo Webinar and get a free GoTo Meeting with it. It is more cost effective that way.

Key Insights

Do you think GoTo Webinar delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with GoTo Webinar's feature set?

Yes

Did GoTo Webinar live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of GoTo Webinar go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy GoTo Webinar again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

It is more appropriate for businesses that have many virtual meetings with many individuals. The 800 number is most appropriate for verbal communication where an outside, or long distance number, is not available. It is great for maintaining a video library to send links to unlimited numbers of people. It is not appropriate for individuals. It did not get the social acceptance that Zoom did with their "free" service, which is now mostly gone.

GoTo Webinar Feature Ratings

Using GoTo Webinar

Users and Roles

9 - Communications, Medical Director, Membership, Executive Director

Support Headcount Required

1 - 8 years experience using it.

Business Processes Supported

Video library
Video sharing
Membership outreach

Innovative Uses

Video sharing
membership outreach

Future Planned Uses

Likelihood to Renew

Until we get 8 years of video posted elsewhere, we will continue using it.

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Excel

Evaluating GoTo Webinar and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Ease of Use

At the time we purchased it, nothing else existed like it. Then Zoom came along, then Teams. But GoToWebinar is the only place we can host all our meeting videos.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I don't get to make this decision. If another software existed at a better price for video storage and sharing, we might change it. So far, nothing does.

GoTo Webinar Implementation

Implementation Rating

It was before my time. I was hired into it and expected to be able to use it.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Issues

It was before my time with this organization so I don't know

GoTo Webinar Support

GoTo Webinar Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup	Problems left unsolved Not kept informed Escalation required Difficult to get immediate help Need to explain problems multiple times Support doesn't seem to care Slow Initial Response

Using GoTo Webinar

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Technical support not required Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Scheduling meetings
Recording meetings
Maintaining video library
Sending video links out

Difficult Tasks

Anything that requires changing billing or profile

Comments

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