The web-based, online meeting system by Web Conferencing Central

Performance Review of Web Conferencing System by:

outsourcetesting.com

WebConCentral Overall Ratings in Independent Tests

Inspector's Summary

Outsource Testing Inc.'s overall view of the WebConCentral application is an extremely positive one. To put it in the most basic of terms, the WebConCentral application simply works. Everything from the installation, to the actual meeting space works surprisingly well. The application is very intuitive to the point where just about any user can run it independently with a high level of confidence. The meeting space is designed in such a way that each function offered with the application is available to you and in plain sight. Many other web conferencing applications are much more confusing to use. With WebConCentral, conducting an online meeting is not only an easy process, but the visual quality and speed of the application is not compromised. This is a rare combination. Its overall architecture provides the user with the front end functionality you need, as well as the peace of mind that the application is in fact stable. When compared to its competition, WebConCentral ranks amongst the elite.

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WebConCentral

A Comprehensive Review

By Anthony M. Caraza, Senior Quality Assurance Consultant
Outsource Testing Inc. Covina, CA. 27 Oct 2009.

Background

Based in Southern California, Outsource Testing Inc. has provided first rate software and systems testing services for a variety of industry leading corporations. Founded in 1996 by CEO Brian Pinkus, Outsource Testing takes pride on helping each organization develop quality products in a timely manner. For more than a decade, we have offered the most comprehensive range of services that only continues to grow as time progresses. Our goal is to assist each company with the deployment and management of top notch software, hardware, systems, and devices that you can be proud to call your own! We take pride in developing a long lasting partnership with our clients and treat each of our customers exactly the way they disserve to be treated; with first class service! Our proven methodology creates a seamless transition into each client’s organizational schema. This process ultimately creates a feeling as if we were part of your family for years. Because of the bond we create with each of our partners, we are able to leverage our expertise, equipment, and leadership attributes to generate a much more solid product all while saving you money. We do exactly what our motto says we do; “We help you get it right!”

Project Synopsis

On October 19, 2009, Outsource Testing Inc. completed a performance analysis of the WebConCentral web conferencing application with CrystalShare Technology. The total quality assurance (QA) effort consisted of validating the application’s functionality with the most commonly used operating system configurations used in business today. More specifically, the WebConCentral application was validated against the following configurations:

A multitude of items were inspected throughout the QA effort; however, a general Adhoc test provided the greatest amount of feedback in regards to the applications overall quality from an end user’s perspective. The Adhoc method tests the system from the point of view of a standard user. It provides immediate feedback to the QA consultant, and quickly identifies any obvious content, grammatical, and functional defects that are evident in the software. Additional items that were inspected include the following:

1. Initial setup and configuration (overall installation process)
2. The Meeting Space to include the “Appshare” responsiveness
3. Overall visual quality
4. System response time based on various bandwidth availability

Test Results

Initial Setup and Configuration

The installation and setup of the WebConCentral application is a simple process that any normal everyday user can complete successfully and without issue. The installation process consists of the user clicking on a hyperlink that downloads and installs the application automatically. One aspect of the installation procedure and the overall functionality of the WebConCentral application that is unique, but comparable to full versions of products such as “Microsoft Office Live Meeting” and “GoToMeeting”, is that WebConCentral is a standalone product that does not require the use of the “Java Engine”. Since this unique feature eliminates the need for Java it is far more compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating systems than the majority of its competition. The WebConCentral application was also validated against various firewall configurations. Below is a list of the firewall configurations that have been verified to work with the application.

Meeting Space

The “Appsharing” feature encapsulated in the WebConCentral application works completely as designed. Its smooth transition from application to application functions as if the remote user were sitting in front of the computer that has the applications installed on it. The meeting presenter can easily maintain control over the conference by sharing applications on the fly with a seamless transition and negligible lag time. The presenter has the option to share one program, automatically share each application that is opened (without sharing the desktop), or share the entire desktop. Presenter and sharing controls can actually be passed from the initial presenter to anyone in the meeting space instantaneously. Many of these features are in fact available with other similar web-based meeting applications; however WebConCentral is the only one that highlights the active shared application. The overall functionality, speed, and intuitiveness of WebConCentral are at par or better than other web conferencing solutions such as “Microsoft Office Live Meeting”, “GoToMeeting”, and “WebEx” etc. The core of the application, the meeting room, is a solid tool that performed well above expectations. No major defects were found in this area of inspection; it is architecturally sound and most definitely stable on Windows based systems. WebConCentral’s “CrystalShare” technology works; the application’s meeting room is direct evidence of this.

Visual Quality

The visual quality of the WebConCentral application was comparable to that of “Microsoft Office Live Meeting” and “GoToMeeting”. There was no quality degradation throughout the entire QA effort in any configuration or platform under test. We found no broken or distorted images of any kind. Even remotely shared applications and desktops maintained their original quality attributes. A built in feature of WebConCentral allows the presenter to shrink the viewable presentation area to a lower resolution which allows the application to enhance the overall experience for attendees on a low bandwidth connection. This feature worked as designed and did not create a substantial lag time for attendees on the low bandwidth connection. Attendees on a high bandwidth connection experienced an instantaneous transition of data with optimal results, even on the maximum resolution setting. A variety of Internet Service Providers were used to test the WebConCentral application. Connection speeds varied greatly between slower DSL/T1 connections and high end fiber optic connections; however, the overall visual quality of the WebConCentral application was not affected.

System Response Time

Overall system performance was positive with system resources leveraged similar to that of a standard web browser. There was no noticeable degradation between each system regardless of the actual hardware configuration used to validate the WebConCentral application. The following hardware configurations were used during the QA effort:

Performance remained the same across all operating systems and browsers. The WebConCentral application performed consistently well in regards to utilizing available system resources. When matched against other web conferencing applications, WebConCentral performed just as well as its competition, and in some cases, even faster. Overall speed and system resource allocation will certainly not become a concern when utilizing this product. WebConCentral is capable of running on both low end computer systems and cutting edge high end machines; it is a very versatile application that can run on just about anything.

Additional Product Features

Forms and Survey Feature- This feature allows the presenter to create forms and surveys on the fly to present to attendees. The forms can be included in the initial meeting invitation to gather information such as the invitee’s name, e-mail, company, phone number, etc. The survey can automatically be served to all attendees following the closure of each meeting or presentation instantaneously. Basic functionality of these features appeared to be well intact with no evident issues occurring throughout the testing effort.

Polling Feature- A polling feature is included in the WebConCentral application which allows the presenter to instantaneously create custom polling questions for all attendees. The results of the polling questions are then returned to the presenter for review. No defects were found regarding this feature.

Automatic Webpage Redirect- After the completion of each web-meeting, the presenter has the option to automatically load a webpage of his or her choice to each attendee of the meeting. This feature worked well and no issues were found. The comparable products did not offer this feature with their applications.

File Transfers- This feature allows the presenter to upload and store up to a total of 50MB worth of data. Files that are uploaded can be downloaded via a hyperlink that is provided to the user by the system. Upload time is considerably faster than attaching files to an e-mail. Uploaded files are immediately ready for download as soon as they are uploaded. There is no restriction as to what type of file can be uploaded.

Application Compatibility

The WebConCentral application has been validated by Outsource Testing Inc. to be compatible with the following configurations:

Inspector's Summary

Outsource Testing Inc.'s overall view of the WebConCentral application is an extremely positive one. To put it in the most basic of terms, the WebConCentral application simply works. Everything from the installation, to the actual meeting space works surprisingly well. The application is very intuitive to the point where just about any user can run it independently with a high level of confidence. The meeting space is designed in such a way that each function offered with the application is available to you and in plain sight. Many other web conferencing applications are much more confusing to use. With WebConCentral, conducting an online meeting is not only an easy process, but the visual quality and speed of the application is not compromised. This is a rare combination. Its overall architecture provides the user with the front end functionality you need, as well as the peace of mind that the application is in fact stable. When compared to its competition, WebConCentral ranks amongst the elite.

Copyright 2008 Web Conferencing Central