GoTo Meeting: Is It A Solid Web Conferencing Tool?

Video conferencing became the default means of communication for companies during the pandemic. In fact, it is very much preferred as 90% of employees are more comfortable communicating via video. Interestingly, during the first months of the Covid outbreak, there was a surge of 500% in search impressions regarding video and web conferencing tools.

Many such tools sprouted to meet the demand. Of course, the veteran players were already there to absorb the suddenly expanding market. One such established entity and long-time innovator in online video communication and collaboration is GoTo Meeting. The question – is it a solid web conferencing tool?

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What is GoTo Meeting?

GoTo Meeting was first launched in July 2004, making it an early tech solution provider for real-time, internet-based video conferencing, online meetings, and desktop sharing. Its success during the early years led later to the launch of sibling software Goto Webinar and GoTo Training targeted at larger audiences.

With its capabilities and features, GoTo Meeting is a tool used by different industries. It has found useful applications in sales, healthcare, education, and professional services. While it is cloud-based, it can be accessed not only through a web browser but also with dedicated desktop and mobile apps.

Anyone can join a GoTo Meeting without having to open an account but a host or organizer needs to sign up and log into the platform in order to invite participants and manage the online meeting. Up to 250 persons can join a meeting, making it ideal for remote business gatherings and virtual conferences. If you need bigger capacities, you can opt for the GoTo Webinar which can accommodate up to 3,000 attendees.

With GoTo Meeting you can undertake collaboration, presentations, and face-to-face meetings in real time. The impression and experience are remarkable – you get crisp audio and a clear video interface, almost like a physical meeting. There are features for making chats and calls, recording the session, sharing your screen, and dialing in on the conference line, among others.

Key Features

• Breakout rooms
• Commuter mode
• Conference calling
• Crystal clear audio
• Encrypted sessions
• HD video
• In-session chat
• Meeting transcriptions
• Mobile conferencing
• One-click meetings
• Screen sharing
• Seamless integrations

Pricing

GoTo Meeting is free for up to 4 participants. If you’d like to further explore the platform, you can do so with a free trial with access to full features.

• Professional – $12/organizer/month (billed annually), for 150 participants
• Business – $16/organizer/month (billed annually), for 250 participants
• Enterprise – Custom pricing

Highlights

* All images in this article are from goto.com

Industry-grade security

GoTo Meeting utilizes secure industry standards like AES-256 bit encryption, protected socket layer encryption, and SOC2-certified data centers. It is also compliant with essential privacy and security regulations such as HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR.

Furthermore, it carries risk-based authentication and user sign-in protection to ensure that only you can access your account. Meeting rooms are password protected to keep out unauthorized attendees.

A robust security environment allows you to safely send and share sensitive documents, record conversations, and conduct private meetings without the worry of anyone snooping in on the proceedings.

Ideal for business meetings

GoTo Meeting is designed to address the challenges of remote meetings, especially in a business setting. Such instances require reliability like clear audio and video, VoIP integration, multi-platform capability (browser, desktop, and mobile), and attendance capacity (up to 250 participants joining in) without system glitches. GoTo Meeting gives you capabilities that enable virtually duplicating an actual physical session.

Multi-device capable

GoTo Meeting is fully cloud-hosted, making it flexible, scalable, and accessible through all types of browsers. But it also offers desktop and mobile apps so you can join meetings through your computers, tablets, and smartphones whether you’re in the office or outside. You never miss a meeting or have the excuse to miss one with the software’s multi-platform and device capability.

All the features that matter

The video conferencing solution brings with it all the important tools expected of such software, and even more. It has a screen share feature for real-time presentations a Smart Assistant that auto transcribes recorded sessions, a commuter mode for those joining conference calls while commuting, and drawing/annotation tools.

You can also preview and test your webcam before joining a meeting to make sure you have the proper connection, and you can select custom backgrounds. It even allows you to share your keyboard and mouse and give control to guest presenters or hosts.

Integration with popular tools

GoTo Meeting integrates with over 60 apps that give you extended functionality of the platform. Further efficiency and convenience are made possible when you can smoothly launch a GoTo Meeting directly from Chrome, Slack, Salesforce, or Outlook.

Low Points

Internet connection is required

As with any cloud-hosted, web-based software, you need an internet connection. And not just any kind of connection but a stable one since you’ll be communicating with audio, video, or both. Add to that the use of screen sharing or VoIP and you’re sure to consume a lot of bandwidth.

Good thing there’s a Commuter Mode that reduces bandwidth use and you can even opt for a data connection with enough quality to join a meeting wherever you are.

No free plan

This comes as a drawback when other top competitors offer adequate free plans. A very limited video conferencing option for 4 persons is available as well as a 14-day free trial to enable you to put the platform in its paces.

Top Alternatives

If GoTo Meeting still lacks what you need in a video conferencing app, there are several alternatives in this software category. Check out the following:

• Zoom – Widely-used video communication tool for the modern workforce with a free version and 3 paid plans starting at $149.90/user/year.
• Zoho Meeting – Online meeting, webinar, and video conferencing app with a free plan and paid options starting at $1/host/month.
• Skype – Multi-device audio and HD video calling platform with a free version and various subscription plans.
• Livestorm – Video confab software for virtual meetings and webinars; offers a free app and 3 premium packages starting at 99€/month.
• Easymeeting – Free video conferencing and webinar app offering a custom-
• Willo – Digital workplace video conferencing and online meetings platform that starts at $9.99/host/month.

Going back to GoTo Meeting – is it a solid choice despite the presence of powerful, popular, and some even free video conferencing alternatives?

The Verdict

Yes, GoTo Meeting is a solid, all-around performer. Despite the lack of a free version, it more than compensates with relatively budget-friendly pricing, a host of useful tools, and top-of-the-line capabilities. Remember, this is not for casual or personal meetings.

The platform is built for high-demand business meetings; hence, you’ll not expect crashes and hiccups from a premium system.

GoTo Meeting is quite robust and secure enough to handle the capacity and connection to give you the clarity and smoothness sometimes not found in premiere video conferencing solutions. It will easily take in what you throw at it, including a couple of hundred participants.