
				Facilities			Products

VoiceCafe OfficeMaster

Web Conferencing is now available to everyone!
http://www.VoiceCafe.org/

VoiceCafe is a Web conferencing product line engineered and developed by Optecs, Opportunity Technologies and launched on January 26 2001. Optecs is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.

VoiceCafe offers eight different Web conferencing products ranging from a basic audio and chat conferencing tool to the sophisticated Office Master, which adds application sharing, video feeds (up to four), whiteboard and annotation functions, file broadcasting and much more. You can see the list of Voicecafe products under the Cost section at the end of this review.

VoiceCafe products are reliable and cost-effective. VoiceCafe products have an important position among this new breed of SOHO Web communication tools that are designed and targeted at individuals, professionals and small groups.

The basic functionalities available in all VoiceCafe web conferencing products include Web touring, Audio over IP and an integrated text chat module. Video is integrated in only some of the advanced products (SupportMaster, VideoMaster, TourMaster, ClassMaster, OfficeMaster). Additional features such as the whiteboard, application sharing and remote control features are offered by integrating state-of-the-art third-party technologies (e.g.: Whiteboarding by Groupboard.com, WebDemo by Linktivity.com - see detailed review in this report).

Please note that well-integratedVoiceCafe integrated technologies cannot be purchased from their original manufacturers at more competitive prices.

In this respect VoiceCafe provides today (March 2003) a unique opportunity to Web conferencing customers to tap into the Linktivity WebDemo technology (normally sold at USD $ 1,199 for 5 users) through a hosted, cost-effective solution charged on a monthly basis.

The OfficeMaster, Voicecafe flagship product, combines and integrates state-of-the-art application sharing and remote control functionalities developed by Spartacom technologies. In this respect VoiceCafe breaks new and highly beneficial ground for the end user by making this powerful tool accessible to many of us at a monthly rate that can be as low as $125 (for unlimited meetings). Presently the OfficeMaster is offered for a 60-day period at a 50% discounted rate ($65/month for 10 users). The pricing will remain in place after the special offer expires for all new subscribers.

VoiceCafe has taken a wise and smart approach to marketing its technology by highly differentiating its product line while leveraging one basic unique set of core technologies. Its set of tools covers all price ranges from 12.50/month (MyCom - 5 users) to $3750/month (OfficeMaster - 500 users) depending on the type of functionalities needed and the size of the conference room.

VoiceCafe underlying technology utilizes an effective audio streaming codec that works well with low-bandwidth connections, down to 28.8 Kbps and below. The Web touring functionality is also well developed and offers an easy to use vehicle to show online content including Web sites, presentations or interactive materials.

There is a growing community of members promoting and supporting VoiceCafe. This group is very tight and supportive of new users and it goes the "extra mile" to provide "transparent" answers and information on any of the products being sold. I found extreme friendliness and support in this community and, to be honest, I found the best customer support I could ever ask for. Fast, responsive, generous, informal, and highly networked. Any question I posed was answered within a few hours in a kind and exhaustive fashion.

The VoiceCafe product line, like many others in this niche market (VCOM, Orbitalk, etc.), is mostly marketed through affiliate members in an effective MLM (multi-level marketing) scheme.

While this does not apparently help the company achieve strong identity and credibility at first sight, it allows for a fast and highly distributed network of agents who work very hard at demonstrating and showcasing to their friends and colleagues the effective quality features available through this set of useful tools.

VoiceCafe is working hard at separating the two "universes" of those interested in the tool itself, and those that instead wish also to make a personal business out of it.