If you follow @GANConferencing tweets, then you know by now that Salesforce has purchased dimdim (http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/06/salesforce-buys-web-conferencing-platform-dimdim-for-31-million-in-cash/). This means that if you were looking to sign up for a dimdim account, they are no longer setting up new accounts. It also means that if you are a current dimdim user, your account will expire on March 15th, 2011 unless you have a contract that expires after March 15th.
Of course a lot of people have been asking themselves "Where should I go now"? Quite a few people tweet about it, but most probably just start looking for a new alternative. There are a variety of alternatives out there, and we will look at some of them in a round-up blog tomorrow. Dimdim offered three levels of service: Free, Pro and Enterprise - much like the majority of free conferencing services out there.
Dimdim was a great service - no downloads, easy to use, integrated webcams, screen sharing, chat, easily share videos, etc. This service is actually very similarly to GAN Conferencing's own QuickVisuals web conferencing service. Our service is Flash based, so there are no downloads required. In addition, you can do all of the same things that dimdim can, and even the layout is extremely similar! The picture at the top of this article shows QuickVisuals on the left, and dimdim on the right (actual screen shots). QuickVisuals is an incredibly easy service to transition to for dimdim users. Couple that with the fact that we offer complimentary live training and live support for paid users, and you cannot go wrong. Let's look at how the pricing stacks up.
A variety of web conferencing providers have been tweeting about "Free" service for dimdim users. We'll take a more detailed look into this tomorrow, but suffice to say none of them are free. Most will sign you up for a free trial, which will begin billing on March 15th. Here at GAN Conferencing, we are offering unlimited use of our free 1 on 1 60 minute max. trial account to dimdim users as a fully usable version of QuickVisuals. In addition, we are lowering the cost of our licensing as a special for dimdim users. These prices will be in effect until March 15th, and will be good for the life of the account. We will offer our 100 seat license for $25 a month, $250 a year. This is similar to dimdim's pro offering in capacity, feature set and price. As far as Enterprise customers are concerned, we will perform an apples to apples cost analysis for you and I'm sure that we will save you at least 20% off of your current cost.
That said, stay tuned for more information on our blog, via twitter and our website. We will be adding pricing, promotions and tons of usefull information for dimdim users looking for a solid, easy to use permanent solution.
Daniel Ripperden, Strategic Account Executive
Great America Networks Conferencing, LLC
15700 103rd Street, Suite 110
Lemont, Illinois 60439
Office: (312) 432-5328
Fax: (630) 633-0390
E-Mail: dripperden@ganconference.com
Website: http://www.ganconference.com
Blog: blog.ganconference.com
Twitter: twitter.com/ganconferencing
Facebook: facebook.com/ganconferencing
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