ClickMeeting begins at $25 per month (when billed annually for its MyWebinars tier), and focuses most of its product development on webinars, though it can serve as a general video conferencing solution.
The webinar focus actually lends some additional quality to the video conferencing by boosting your audio-visual experience and incorporating a lot of meeting controls for the host.
Still, it's slightly pricier than Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice, even though that solution provides a whole business Voice-over-IP (VoIP) calling suite while ClickMeeting focuses mostly on webinars.
Still, for smalll business operators seeking solely a video conferencing solution, ClickMeeting excels enough to earn an Editors' Choice designation of its own.
Getting Started With ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting offers several plans, which begin at $25 per month for two presenters and 25 attendees, and top out at $165 per month for four presenters and 5,000 attendees.
If you opt to pay annually for any plan, then you can save up to 20 percent.
A free 30-day trial is also available.
To sign up, you first choose a page name, which will be part of your custom URL for meetings, and then you provide your name and email address.
You can activate your account via email or by pairing your account with Facebook, which seems odd considering this is business-focused software.
The Welcome email includes instructions to get up and running; you can also sign up for a Get Started webinar.
Like many newer web services, ClickMeeting has a progress bar that encourages you to complete your account profile which, after activation, is at 25 percent.
You can choose to complete your profile via Facebook or add your details manually.
You can represent yourself with an avatar, upload a profile photo, or take a photo with your webcam.
ClickMeeting prompts you to create a meeting right away, which adds to your progress.
The user interface (UI) is friendly, colorful, non-cluttered, and not terribly corporate-looking or dated.
ClickMeeting is also easy to navigate, and it guides you step by step when setting up a meeting and handling other tasks.
From your Account panel, you can see events you have created and statistics, such as meeting length, attendee numbers, and more.
You don't get a personalized dial-in number, but you can choose from a list of numbers for cities in the United States and abroad, including London and Sao Paulo.
You can also purchase add-on, toll-free numbers.
A full list of keyboard shortcuts is available on ClickMeeting's website, including how to mute yourself, turn off and on hold music, and more.
Presenters and participants can also use ClickMeeting's VoIP service to join a call.
You can customize your meeting space with a choice of background skins, and enable features such as a Thank You page redirect URL, automatic Thank You emails for participants, auto recording, and reminders.
Setting Up a Meeting
To set up a meeting, create an event directly from your dashboard.
Then, give it a name and create a unique URL.
For example, my custom URL is pcmag2019biz.clickmeeting.com, and I can add to that when I create a meeting by appending something such as "/weeklystatus" to the end of the URL.
From the "Start a Meeting" page, you can test your connection, which is helpful, since video conferencing can go very wrong if the Wi-Fi or network connection is faulty.
When creating meetings, you can choose between a scheduled event or a permanent event.
A permanent event is always accessible and has no start or end date, which is ideal for recurring or on-the-fly meetings.
Next, add an agenda if you wish.
Finally, invite participant and presenters, either manually or by choosing from saved contacts or past sessions.
When inviting people, you're able to add them to your contacts as well and also link up your Facebook and Twitter contacts.
To send invites, you can use one of ClickMeeting's email templates or copy the meeting details and paste those into your own email client.
Then you're ready to go.
Helpfully, you can either start the meeting right away or enter the meeting room and prepare first and start the meeting later, which is a nice touch.
A virtual waiting room is available for other participants; the meeting won't start until a presenter arrives.
As a presenter, files can be uploaded for sharing, either from your computer or from Dropbox ($12.50 Per User Per Month at Dropbox Business) .
If you want to share your desktop, then you have to download an application.
From the Meeting dashboard, there's access to YouTube, which is prepopulated with ClickMeeting how-to videos, but you can search for any video you want.
You can also create polls.
Additional attendees can be invited right from the meeting room.
If you're invited to a ClickMeeting as a participant, then simply click on the meeting URL in your email invite.
Next, input your name and email address, and then test your connection.
Check for plug-ins, and set up your camera and microphone.
I had some trouble the first time I tried to join a meeting.
I saw a "This site uses a plug-in that's not supported" message, and ClickMeeting didn't detect my camera and microphone.
On my second attempt, everything went smoothly, and I was sent to the waiting room since the presenter had not yet arrived.
The waiting room includes "hold" music but you can disable it.
The Meeting Experience
Once a presenter has joined, the meeting can begin.
Features available include a lock option, which denies access to participants who show up late.
Presenters can record the meeting; a blinking red light indicates recording is active.
You can't record audio separately; everything in the conference window is captured as well.
Attendees can either use their computer's mic and speakers or dial-in by telephone.
The presenter can choose between Audio modes.
In Presenter mode, only presenters are allowed in for meeting prep.
Q&A mode lets attendees, all of whom are muted, ask questions by pressing a button; presenters can then grant voice privileges.
Once the question has been asked and answered, the presenter can then mute that participant again.
Listen-Only mode mutes all attendees for the duration of the meeting.
While in Discussion mode, everyone can hear and speak to one other.
In Drawing mode, presenters can highlight text, draw arrows, sketch, type, and erase.
When you click the End Meeting button as a presenter, you can either exit yourself or end the session and log everyone out.
All attendees can enable audio and webcam, raise their hand, post icons indicating agreement or disagreement, and speak louder or softer.
Chat is available to all and can be translated into several languages.
Participants can't request desktop control of other attendees or share their screen.
Video conferencing is built into every meeting, so you can choose on the fly whether to use it or not.
What's nice is that you can use webcams at the same time you're sharing your screen or using whiteboard tools; up to four webcams can be active per meeting.
However, this was not without its challenges.
If you happen to be in the unfortunate situation of having multiple cameras, then you may run into issues.
Since the entire meeting relies on Adobe Flash to work, your camera has to be compatible, and Flash needs to pick it up properly.
I was unable to get my secondary camera to work at all with click meeting, but it's not necessarily the typical case.
Features and Getting the 411
You can manage access to meetings by setting a password or a token or simply leave it open to anyone who has the meeting URL.
For token-protected meetings, each participant receives a unique token that only one person can use to enter the meeting.
The software is available in 11 languages and the chat text can be translated into 52 different languages.
Both the original text and the translation text can be seen at the same time.
This is thanks to the tight integration with Google Translate, which adds an additional level of trust to ensure that international attendees will be able to understand what you are trying to say.
ClickMeeting is compatible with PCs and Macs and with all the major browsers: Internet Explorer 8 (to access the meeting room) or 9 (32-bit only, to use the account panel); Mozilla Firefox (Free at Apple.com) 3 or higher; Google Chrome, and Apple Safari 4 or 5.
An Office plug-in integrates your account with Outlook and other Microsoft programs, while a Chrome plug-in hooks into your Google calendar.
Apps for Android and Apple devices are also available, and let you schedule meetings, stream audio and video, share your screen, and record your events.
When you need help, ClickMeeting offers support by email and live chat seven days a week.
You can also consult the knowledge base, which includes PDF guides to get you started as well as video tutorials covering subjects such as Audio and Video, Presentation and Whiteboard, Room Layouts, and Desktop Sharing.
I used the live chat feature to ask about plan features and was answered promptly, in a friendly manner.
Phone support is not available.
One of the more interesting features is Youtube integration.
If you want to be able to show a video as part of the webinar, then you can link your account.
Then it's a simple matter to show a video in place of a desktop share as an introduction or as an explanatory piece.
This is useful if you don't want to cover something live, and instead, want to show a prepared clip.
In June 2018, ClickMeeting added the ability to charge for webinars by incorporating PayPal functionality.
Users can also monitor statistics on which webinars are most successful and bring the most revenue.
In addition, businesses can create a brand experience in their webinar room by adding their logo and brand colors.
ClickMeeting Makes Meetings Fun
With a variety of presentation tools, video chat with up to four participants, and both dial-in and VoIP calling options, ClickMeeting helps you create engaging meetings, whether you're looking for lively participation, a training seminar, or a brainstorming session.
Its UI is appealing and easy to use, and its plans are just the right size and price for a small company.
Thus, ClickMeeting is our Editors' Choice for video conferencing services for small businesses.
Those with more than four team members that need to see each other should consider Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice.
Cons
Lacks phone support.
A little pricey for a solution that delivers only video conferencing.
Still utilizes Adobe Flash, which is scheduled for deprecation in 2020.
Limited number of video participants.
View More
The Bottom Line
ClickMeeting is a competent video conferencing solution for small businesses that's simple to use and nicely priced.
It could stand to beef up its customer support, though.
ClickMeeting begins at $25 per month (when billed annually for its MyWebinars tier), and focuses most of its product development on webinars, though it can serve as a general video conferencing solution.
The webinar focus actually lends some additional quality to the video conferencing by boosting your audio-visual experience and incorporating a lot of meeting controls for the host.
Still, it's slightly pricier than Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice, even though that solution provides a whole business Voice-over-IP (VoIP) calling suite while ClickMeeting focuses mostly on webinars.
Still, for smalll business operators seeking solely a video conferencing solution, ClickMeeting excels enough to earn an Editors' Choice designation of its own.
Getting Started With ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting offers several plans, which begin at $25 per month for two presenters and 25 attendees, and top out at $165 per month for four presenters and 5,000 attendees.
If you opt to pay annually for any plan, then you can save up to 20 percent.
A free 30-day trial is also available.
To sign up, you first choose a page name, which will be part of your custom URL for meetings, and then you provide your name and email address.
You can activate your account via email or by pairing your account with Facebook, which seems odd considering this is business-focused software.
The Welcome email includes instructions to get up and running; you can also sign up for a Get Started webinar.
Like many newer web services, ClickMeeting has a progress bar that encourages you to complete your account profile which, after activation, is at 25 percent.
You can choose to complete your profile via Facebook or add your details manually.
You can represent yourself with an avatar, upload a profile photo, or take a photo with your webcam.
ClickMeeting prompts you to create a meeting right away, which adds to your progress.
The user interface (UI) is friendly, colorful, non-cluttered, and not terribly corporate-looking or dated.
ClickMeeting is also easy to navigate, and it guides you step by step when setting up a meeting and handling other tasks.
From your Account panel, you can see events you have created and statistics, such as meeting length, attendee numbers, and more.
You don't get a personalized dial-in number, but you can choose from a list of numbers for cities in the United States and abroad, including London and Sao Paulo.
You can also purchase add-on, toll-free numbers.
A full list of keyboard shortcuts is available on ClickMeeting's website, including how to mute yourself, turn off and on hold music, and more.
Presenters and participants can also use ClickMeeting's VoIP service to join a call.
You can customize your meeting space with a choice of background skins, and enable features such as a Thank You page redirect URL, automatic Thank You emails for participants, auto recording, and reminders.
Setting Up a Meeting
To set up a meeting, create an event directly from your dashboard.
Then, give it a name and create a unique URL.
For example, my custom URL is pcmag2019biz.clickmeeting.com, and I can add to that when I create a meeting by appending something such as "/weeklystatus" to the end of the URL.
From the "Start a Meeting" page, you can test your connection, which is helpful, since video conferencing can go very wrong if the Wi-Fi or network connection is faulty.
When creating meetings, you can choose between a scheduled event or a permanent event.
A permanent event is always accessible and has no start or end date, which is ideal for recurring or on-the-fly meetings.
Next, add an agenda if you wish.
Finally, invite participant and presenters, either manually or by choosing from saved contacts or past sessions.
When inviting people, you're able to add them to your contacts as well and also link up your Facebook and Twitter contacts.
To send invites, you can use one of ClickMeeting's email templates or copy the meeting details and paste those into your own email client.
Then you're ready to go.
Helpfully, you can either start the meeting right away or enter the meeting room and prepare first and start the meeting later, which is a nice touch.
A virtual waiting room is available for other participants; the meeting won't start until a presenter arrives.
As a presenter, files can be uploaded for sharing, either from your computer or from Dropbox ($12.50 Per User Per Month at Dropbox Business) .
If you want to share your desktop, then you have to download an application.
From the Meeting dashboard, there's access to YouTube, which is prepopulated with ClickMeeting how-to videos, but you can search for any video you want.
You can also create polls.
Additional attendees can be invited right from the meeting room.
If you're invited to a ClickMeeting as a participant, then simply click on the meeting URL in your email invite.
Next, input your name and email address, and then test your connection.
Check for plug-ins, and set up your camera and microphone.
I had some trouble the first time I tried to join a meeting.
I saw a "This site uses a plug-in that's not supported" message, and ClickMeeting didn't detect my camera and microphone.
On my second attempt, everything went smoothly, and I was sent to the waiting room since the presenter had not yet arrived.
The waiting room includes "hold" music but you can disable it.
The Meeting Experience
Once a presenter has joined, the meeting can begin.
Features available include a lock option, which denies access to participants who show up late.
Presenters can record the meeting; a blinking red light indicates recording is active.
You can't record audio separately; everything in the conference window is captured as well.
Attendees can either use their computer's mic and speakers or dial-in by telephone.
The presenter can choose between Audio modes.
In Presenter mode, only presenters are allowed in for meeting prep.
Q&A mode lets attendees, all of whom are muted, ask questions by pressing a button; presenters can then grant voice privileges.
Once the question has been asked and answered, the presenter can then mute that participant again.
Listen-Only mode mutes all attendees for the duration of the meeting.
While in Discussion mode, everyone can hear and speak to one other.
In Drawing mode, presenters can highlight text, draw arrows, sketch, type, and erase.
When you click the End Meeting button as a presenter, you can either exit yourself or end the session and log everyone out.
All attendees can enable audio and webcam, raise their hand, post icons indicating agreement or disagreement, and speak louder or softer.
Chat is available to all and can be translated into several languages.
Participants can't request desktop control of other attendees or share their screen.
Video conferencing is built into every meeting, so you can choose on the fly whether to use it or not.
What's nice is that you can use webcams at the same time you're sharing your screen or using whiteboard tools; up to four webcams can be active per meeting.
However, this was not without its challenges.
If you happen to be in the unfortunate situation of having multiple cameras, then you may run into issues.
Since the entire meeting relies on Adobe Flash to work, your camera has to be compatible, and Flash needs to pick it up properly.
I was unable to get my secondary camera to work at all with click meeting, but it's not necessarily the typical case.
Features and Getting the 411
You can manage access to meetings by setting a password or a token or simply leave it open to anyone who has the meeting URL.
For token-protected meetings, each participant receives a unique token that only one person can use to enter the meeting.
The software is available in 11 languages and the chat text can be translated into 52 different languages.
Both the original text and the translation text can be seen at the same time.
This is thanks to the tight integration with Google Translate, which adds an additional level of trust to ensure that international attendees will be able to understand what you are trying to say.
ClickMeeting is compatible with PCs and Macs and with all the major browsers: Internet Explorer 8 (to access the meeting room) or 9 (32-bit only, to use the account panel); Mozilla Firefox (Free at Apple.com) 3 or higher; Google Chrome, and Apple Safari 4 or 5.
An Office plug-in integrates your account with Outlook and other Microsoft programs, while a Chrome plug-in hooks into your Google calendar.
Apps for Android and Apple devices are also available, and let you schedule meetings, stream audio and video, share your screen, and record your events.
When you need help, ClickMeeting offers support by email and live chat seven days a week.
You can also consult the knowledge base, which includes PDF guides to get you started as well as video tutorials covering subjects such as Audio and Video, Presentation and Whiteboard, Room Layouts, and Desktop Sharing.
I used the live chat feature to ask about plan features and was answered promptly, in a friendly manner.
Phone support is not available.
One of the more interesting features is Youtube integration.
If you want to be able to show a video as part of the webinar, then you can link your account.
Then it's a simple matter to show a video in place of a desktop share as an introduction or as an explanatory piece.
This is useful if you don't want to cover something live, and instead, want to show a prepared clip.
In June 2018, ClickMeeting added the ability to charge for webinars by incorporating PayPal functionality.
Users can also monitor statistics on which webinars are most successful and bring the most revenue.
In addition, businesses can create a brand experience in their webinar room by adding their logo and brand colors.
ClickMeeting Makes Meetings Fun
With a variety of presentation tools, video chat with up to four participants, and both dial-in and VoIP calling options, ClickMeeting helps you create engaging meetings, whether you're looking for lively participation, a training seminar, or a brainstorming session.
Its UI is appealing and easy to use, and its plans are just the right size and price for a small company.
Thus, ClickMeeting is our Editors' Choice for video conferencing services for small businesses.
Those with more than four team members that need to see each other should consider Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice.
Cons
Lacks phone support.
A little pricey for a solution that delivers only video conferencing.
Still utilizes Adobe Flash, which is scheduled for deprecation in 2020.
Limited number of video participants.
View More
The Bottom Line
ClickMeeting is a competent video conferencing solution for small businesses that's simple to use and nicely priced.
It could stand to beef up its customer support, though.
