Tuning In Free Videoconferencing - Talk Up with TokBox
(
Page 4 of 6 )
TokBox.com
TokBox differs in many ways from Skype and ooVoo. The service is a Web-based
application that integrates with popular IM clients and requires no
installation. Users simply create an account on the TokBox.com site and then
use a Web 2.0 application to launch their IM session. Users can log in to AIM,
Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and MSN
Messenger.
For video and audio communications, TokBox uses a custom Flash application,
which can access the PC's Webcam and microphone. Users can launch one-on-one
video chats or start videoconferences and invite multiple users.
One nifty feature of the product is the use of Adobe AIR,
which works like a Web-based application for those without TokBox accounts. A
TokBox user can invite non-users to videoconferences by sending a URL, which
the invitee launches in their browser. That user then becomes part of the videoconference.
As with the other videoconferencing products, users will need a Webcam,
microphone and a PC that meets TokBox’s minimum specifications.
TokBox video quality is pretty good, although frame rates tend to drop off
quickly when more attendees are added to a conference. Audio quality proved to
be very poor—there was substantial echo and background noise. Those problems
are solved by using a quality headset.
TokBox doesn’t offer many collaboration features, as users are not able to
share desktops, run slide shows or use a common whiteboard. That said, there
are plenty of third-party tools and services that can add those features using
a mashup style of implementation. TokBox is definitely worth a look, but users
should expect to use it like a multi-participant video chat service and not
much more.
/ 30 
Messaging and Collaboration 
