Open source web conferencing is a trend in the field of e-collaboration. Speakers, consultants and those who are having projects related to web conferencing, those who have been trying to spread awareness on web conferencing technology have been looking for the latest information on the open source web conferencing movement. This makes one to find information on what’s happening in this important field as well as what needs to be worked upon so that the idea of open source web conferencing becomes more real in time to come.
Open Source Web Conferencing has changed the way we communicate online, letting us quickly collaborate together without the need to schedule a meeting. Meetings are an important part of our everyday lives, at work or school or just with your family and friends. If you’ve ever had to schedule a meeting, you know how time consuming it can be. Having to find a common day, time and place is often a lengthy process. Not only that, but often enough, people will even forget about it and not show up! If you’d been able to communicate through Open Source Web Conferencing Program , you’d have been saving time and you would have probably gotten a better turnout.
You will find several video conferencing tools available online. Some are tailored for professional use and some for daily casual conversations.
However, with hundreds of options to choose from, security and privacy is often a concern when picking a video conferencing app or service. Among the list of options, what’s usually the best and the most secure service?
Well, all (or most of them) claim to provide the best possible security and privacy. But you know that this cannot be taken at face value.
1. Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet is an impressive open-source video conferencing service. You can easily find out more about it on our separate coverage on Jitsi Meet.
To give you a head start, it offers you free official public instance to test it and use it for free as long as you need it.https://7c5365dcfcf4bc94994bfdcd38b13c09.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
If you need to host Jitsi Meet on your server while customizing some options for your requirements, you can download it from its official website for your server.
Even though they offer an electron-based app on Linux, you don’t need to download an app on your desktop to set it up. All you need is a browser and you’re good to host a group video call. For mobile, you will find apps for both Android and iOS.Jitsi Meet
2. OpenMeetings
OpenMeetings, the open source software, is used for online training, presenting, web conferencing, document editing, user desktop sharing, and collaborative whiteboard drawing. Its Red5 media server-based software works on HTML5 and Flash. This MySQL supported, and Apache License 2.0 based software got its stable version 4.07, and is available in 31 languages.
Highlights:
- OpenMeetings software has been downloaded over 250,000 times.
- It facilitates four options for audio/video functions: audio + video, audio-only, video-only, and picture-only.
- It supports recording meeting sessions and downloading them as AVI/FLV files.
- It provides a screen sharing facility as well.
- Advanced file explorer and the moderating system facilitate in all meeting rooms.
- Multi-Whiteboard and Chat facility is available with a full range of tools and documents inside.
(Source: OpenMeetings)
3. ezTalks Cloud Meeting
The cloud-based video conferencing system ezTalks offers small & medium-sized businesses and large enterprises an exceptional platform to communicate as well as collaborate online. This best video conferencing software support Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, and iPad applications. It facilitates HD video conferencing with different plans and packages.
Highlights:
- The ezTalks software provides free software hosting up to 100 participants.
- The software incorporates HD video and audio, an innovative whiteboard, and a cross-platform chatting system.
- It supports playback, recording, and scheduling features to allow the users to share video and audio recordings and send them reminders about upcoming meetings or webinars.
- An unlimited number of live webinars, multiple presenters, webinar cloud storage, custom registration page, and screen sharing with co-annotation are some additional features the software supports.
(Source: ezTalks Cloud Meeting)
4. Jitsi
The multi-platform video conferencing platform – Jitsi is 100% free and open source. It supports web platforms, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Android platforms and hosts Jitsi Meet and Jitsi Videobridge as its most aspiring video conferencing projects.
Highlights:
- Jitsi software supports attended and blind call transfer facility.
- Auto re-connect, auto-answer, auto-forward call recording facility makes it very usable software.
- The software provides instant messaging encryption with OTR, Direct media connection establishment with the ICE protocol, File transfer for XMPP, AIM/ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, YIM, IPv6 support for SIP and XMPP, and many other features.
- Jitsi Videobridge provides group video support.
(Source: Jitsi)
5. Mconf
Mconf is an open-source and free web conferencing system that is an advanced and more customized version of BigBlueButton. It holds GNU’s General Public Licensing 3.0. Mconf-Live, Mconf-Web, and Mconf-Mobile are the three most crucial components of the Mconf project.
Highlights:
- Mconf supports a document sharing procedure where users are free to share any document materials, and any member of the community can access these documents.
- The users can also tag and version the documents so that one can easily search for them later on.
- The software lets you create an account, join a meeting, share your meeting session, customize the things, and access your meeting room.
- The software enables the users to download the presentation and copy the chat to the clipboard.
- Here, users can share multiple cameras.
(Source: Mconf)
6. Jami
Jami is a free and open source web conferencing and instant messaging software for individuals as well as the industries. This universal communication tool works on Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android platforms and holds GNU General Public License.
Highlights:
- Jami software is SIP-compatible software with OpenDHT support.
- It facilitates instant messaging and an unlimited number of calls.
- It provides multi-channel audio support, ‘Flac’ and ‘Vorbis’ ringtone support, multiple audio codecs support, TLS and SRTP support, and DTMF support.
- Locale settings are available in the following languages: French, English, Russian, German, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Vietnamese.
- It offers end-to-end encryption used for chat, video, and voice facility.
(Source: Jami)
7. Linphone:
GNU (GPL) General Public Licensed – Linphone is a free voice over IP softphone widely used for Voice over IP, instant messaging, video conferencing. Initially, Linux was the base for developing Linphone, but now it also works on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and mobile phones running Windows Phone, iOS, or Android.
Highlights:
- Linphone software offers an easy-to-use graphical interface.
- It provides advanced calling features like HD video calls with video preview, audio conference call, and call transfer & multi-call management (pause and resume).
- The software facilitates enhanced audio and video quality.
- It provides an enhanced instant messaging experience.
- It assures absolute security with audio and video encryption and end-to-end encryption for messaging.
(Source: Linphone)
8. Riot:
Riot is an open source and free instant messaging and a top conferencing software relying on Matrix protocol. It is licensed as per Apache License 2.0 and is available as a web application and desktop apps for all the major operating systems and as a mobile app for Android and iOS.
Highlights:
- Riot software’s design associates with the Matrix React SDK, i.e., a React-based software development kit for easy and secure development of the Matrix client.
- It facilitates custom communication that is more than just a simple chat.
- It lets the users configure servers quickly, and they are extendable with advanced features like anti-virus and custom behaviour.
- The ability of the software of bridging up other communications into the app through the Matrix, such as IRC, Slack, and Telegram, etc., is excellent.
- The Google Play Downloads record of the app is over 100,000 times.
(Source: Riot)
ClickMeeting, Join.me, Gotowebinar, Bigmarker, HighFive, MyOwnConference, UberConferences, Dead Simple Screen Sharing, and Readytalk are other popular video and web conferencing software programs that are highly attracting the web and video users for their personal and business usage. You can also go through the complete video conferencing software list for more options. Users are required to investigate about the best software program and utilize it to meet their purpose.
If you are not satisfied with the free software options you have, you try the commercial ones for more advanced features and usability. Zoom is one of the most recognized commercial software solutions that meet a business’s web conferencing requirements to the best. Now, let us explore more about it.
Zoom
Founded in 2011, Zoom is one of the most sought after video conferencing portals that focuses on flawless video, clear audio, and instant sharing. Here you get the options for both i.e., to join a meeting or host a meeting with video on/off and screen sharing facility. Zoom conferencing solutions include HD video, collaboration for chats, meetings, and video webinars.
(Source: Zoom)
Features:
- Zoom software system is capable of hosting video conferences with up to 100 video participants.
- It is a cloud-hosted and open-API based software that supports Mac, web-based, Android, and iPhone/iPad devices.
- The stable version 2.5 of the software is available for free with basic features, and the premium version can be obtained with some extended features.
- The software allows the developers to create their own stack solutions using voice, video, and screen sharing APIs.
- 323/SIP Connectors allows the users to communicate with their tablets, mobiles, and desktop devices with a single touch.
Conclusion
Open source web conferencing is a concept where the video conferencing equipment and software are completely free, and can be used in real time to connect people from all around the globe. This amazing technology has made it possible to communicate with people from other countries in a better way.