Sick and Tired of Hosting Webinars the Old Way? Try On24!
Updated November 08, 2018
Sick and Tired of Hosting Webinars the Old Way? Try On24!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with ON24
Webinars provided by my organization are primarily a member benefit. We do use the On24 platform across departments, but it is primarily used for education purposes offered by the Programs Team. The On24 platform helps us to offer a new look at research/white papers our Research Team puts out, as well as other relevant, and educational content our members request.
Our membership team also uses the platform for our annual membership meetings to reach our large member audience.
Our membership team also uses the platform for our annual membership meetings to reach our large member audience.
- Lead generation
- Advanced Technology - console is not clunky or boring
- Efficient Use of Staff Time - automated emails, ability to clone templates, surveys, and formats, allows me more time to work on the content, and less on set-up and outreach
- Fun - we have received several compliments from attendees who have said how much they enjoy the widget/apps we have at their disposal. Whether it's having access to the PDF version of the slide deck right away, or simply being able to customize the screen, attendees are staying on the platform longer and remaining engaged.
- There is still no integration from SalesForce into On24. I am wasting time manually uploading registrants from SalesForce into the On24 platform. Having this seamless registration process would greatly enhance On24.
- There are a few functions fellow On24 users have been requesting, and I back them completely: being able to organize webinars into folders (right now things are listed in one format), and the ability to edit videos from within.
- On24 has moved away from Adobe Flash, but Flash is still a fail-safe option if a users browser isn't up-to-date. We have consistently had attendees who have trouble viewing or hearing the webinar has a result of this technology discrepancy, a problem we rarely had with other webinar service providers
- Having a dial-in number would greatly enhance the audio quality of webinars! Many of our attendees request this function, especially since computer audio isn't always the most dependable. GoToWebinar has a dial-in, and they are a much less advance webinar service provider, so why can't on24 have one as well?
We are able to push information from On24 into Salesforce, but are unable to push information received from Salesforce into On24. Honestly, the push of information from On24 into Salesforce has been messy and duplicative of our efforts. Since people have already registered via Salesforce, when the registration list is uploaded into On24, that information gets pushed back to Salesforce and captures the information we have already gathered.
- Positive: higher user satisfaction - more people have said they will engage in our company more and find the look of the webinar console to be sleek and professional
- Negative: time efficiency - while On24 has helped remove time spent on emails and sending PDFs to attendees, I am still finding myself wasting time uploading registrations from Salesforce to On24 - seamless registration with Salesforce and On24 would reduce this stress and time wasted.
- GoToWebinar, Webinato, ReadyTalk, ClickMeeting, Zoom, OnStream Webinars, iLinc, AnyMeeting and WebEx Meetings
Reasons we went with On24 over the other researched options:* No downloads or plugins - especially now that On24 has finally moved away from Flash. 24/7 customer support Team chat with presenters during webinar Can jump around to see different slides - presenters have control of their own slides without having to hand-off control Can upload up to 10 slide deck presentations 30 different widgets including social media which can be accessed at any time Less than 5 minutes of downtime for maintenance in a year - meaning the site is live and available 99.9999% of the time throughout the year. The registration page is customizable and movable Analytics can be exported into Excel format Webinars can be cloned Offers polling and surveys Can have up to 10 presenters online at once Can upload PPT into console ahead of webinar Integration with SalesForce - information from On24 can be pushed and captured in Salesforce NO NEED TO SCREEN SHARE! *Note, some of the options listed above did provide some or most of these options but did not satisfy ALL of the options. On24 satisfied ALL options listed
ON24 Feature Ratings
Using ON24
3 - On24 is predominately used for our programs department delivery of educational content.
We turn reports and blogs into webinars all the time, or if there is a hot new topic, we use webinars as a way for people to more easily digest the information and hear directly from the experts themselves as soon as the news breaks - rather than having to read an 48-page document that takes months to write, research, and publish.
We turn reports and blogs into webinars all the time, or if there is a hot new topic, we use webinars as a way for people to more easily digest the information and hear directly from the experts themselves as soon as the news breaks - rather than having to read an 48-page document that takes months to write, research, and publish.
3 - We have a few individuals from our research and IT departments, in addition to our programs department.
This platform is so user friendly that really anyone can use it to create events, but you do need a person who is dedicated and has the time to really explore all the unique features this platform has to offer. We have been using On24 for almost 2 years and I am STILL learning about things I can do to enhance the attendees webinar experience.
This platform is so user friendly that really anyone can use it to create events, but you do need a person who is dedicated and has the time to really explore all the unique features this platform has to offer. We have been using On24 for almost 2 years and I am STILL learning about things I can do to enhance the attendees webinar experience.
- With webinars, we are able to tackle topics immediately so that the information is current and relevant
- The on demand feature allows attendees to experience the webinar as it was during the live event, and remain active, allowing us to capture data we might have missed if attendees did not register earlier
- The sleek look and extensive customization features of this platform make our organization look like we are on the cutting edge since we are using a high caliber product, and not clunky software
- We have been able to promote our webinar sponsors better by adding their company logo to the webinar page, and linking directly to their website
- The polling and engagement opportunities with this platform has kept attendees on our webinars longer
- Our efficiency has improved since we no longer need to spend our time sending out reminder emails with the join link to all attendees, or post webinar resources such as the recording or slides as On24 has automated emails we pre-program to do this for us
- I would love to be able to use this for a conference session, since there is a great video feature for a remote speaker to call in. So it would almost be like they were in the room. We have yet to utilize the video portion of our webinars
- We are looking into creating a podcast channel, and being able to pre-record with the simu-live feature and later download the audio would make this a definite possibility
- With On24's certification feature, I would like us to be able to offer our webinars as credits for individuals in our industry.
Evaluating ON24 and Competitors
Yes - We were using GoToWebinar and WebEx prior to On24. GoToWebinar was extremely unreliable and we did not like that attendees had to download software every time in order to access the webinar. We also found it difficult to get in touch with someone when we needed help or had a question. The software also was a bit clunky and outdated. WebEx we used for a few months and decided to stop using this product after we experienced terrible customer service repeatedly. When we notified our sales rep that we were not going to move forward with a contract extension, they canceled our service early AND on a day we were hosting a webinar which had several people already registered. This complicated things greatly since we had to immediately transition to a different webinar service provider with only minutes to spare. We have always had exceptional customer service with On24.
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
- Third-party Reviews
Our organization was looking to catapult our webinars to the next level. We wanted a product with more features that was reliable and more efficient with our time, and we didn't want to sacrifice quality customer service in order to have those options. We had never had a relationship with On24 before and came across this platform by attending a webinar which used On24.
There is really nothing I would change. We did a thorough research analysis which vetted several webinar service providers.
The only thing I would wish to happen would be a free 3-month trial of our top 3 options to really compare. All top 3 service providers required payment in advance and we do not have the funds to gamble with 2 webinar service providers we might not choose.
The only thing I would wish to happen would be a free 3-month trial of our top 3 options to really compare. All top 3 service providers required payment in advance and we do not have the funds to gamble with 2 webinar service providers we might not choose.
ON24 Implementation
- Implemented in-house
- We are still working on having On24 integrate with our SalesForce software. Once we resolve this issue, I cannot see us ever leaving On24- but the lack of integration with SalesForce has been a sticking point
- When we first joined, On24 was still using Adobe Flash which was a problem for the majority of our attendees. However, since On24 has moved over to HTML, we have had a significant drop in the number of complaints from attendees who lack audio/visual of the webinar during the live event
- It was more about learning and utilizing all the features to the maximum benefit. I am still learning more.
ON24 Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - Prior to the platform's switch to HTML, many of our attendees had issues viewing the slides and hearing the audio. This was due to Adobe Flash being the primary requirement, and many of our attendees had extensive fire wall protections that would block FLASH.
Since moving to HTML we have had a significant decrease in the amount of comments left by our attendees related to not having audio/visual for the webinar.
Since moving to HTML we have had a significant decrease in the amount of comments left by our attendees related to not having audio/visual for the webinar.
Our audio was cutting in and out during the start of a live webinar presentation. It.Was.BAD! I contacted support and they provided me with the emergency number to talk with a representative immediately. This person was able to log in and correct the problem and stayed on for a bit to make sure there were no other issues.
With past webinar platforms, we couldn't find a person to talk to, let alone any significant support feature we could use to find what we were looking for.
With past webinar platforms, we couldn't find a person to talk to, let alone any significant support feature we could use to find what we were looking for.
Using ON24
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using | Requires technical support Lots to learn |
- Once we went through a 3-hour training exercise, I found webinar set-up and creation to be extremely easy. Once I was able to create the format and template i wanted, I could clone and adjust title and images as needed.
- Adding, customizing, and deleting widgets/apps is super easy on this console. All you really need to understand is what each individual widget does in order to figure out if you need it or not.
- Email notifications! This is by far one of my favorite functions. You have the option to send email notifications whenever! Literally, a week before, 2 weeks before, 5 days before, 2 days before, an hour before 30 minutes before - you get the idea - and each template is customizable. You can also select how many emails you want to send out.
- Webinar Analytics - all information obtained from the webinar: attendee information and engagement, Q&A responses, survey responses, can be exported to excel - extremely easy and convenient.
- Changing text colors. We have certain color branding, and when I put in the color code, it doesn't always save. Hitting enter only erases what I have done, or reverts back to white. That has been particularly tedious to navigate with this platform.
- Downloading the recording. I will receive automated emails from On24 telling me the audio is complete (usually 30 minutes after the webinar), but after creating the Single File Archive - which usually takes an hour or more, sometimes I receive an error message saying the audio isn't ready or didn't download properly. Usually, I wait until the next day to edit the webcast and create the file, but it still takes an awfully long time to download.
- I still have trouble with the Chapters widget. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but it never goes according to plan when I have it on the on-demand recording console
- Having to manually upload registrants is extremely cumbersome and can be alleviated by seamless registration with SalesForce
Yes, but I don't use it - I have never used it personally, but we have had a few attendees who said they were unable to access the webinar via their computer, but apparently they could view and hear the webinar through their mobile device.