After writing my last post, I was contacted by Andrew Donnelly of Mikogo. He brought to my attention another FREE Desktop Sharing Tool by the name of Mikogo. I have to admit that I had not heard of this company before and was again surprised that this tool was available for not only the general public but also to anyone in business for free.
After reviewing this product, the company has made its case for superiority. However, I am not willing to give them the full prize at this point even though they do not lock up the user for using it for business like TeamViewer. When I reviewed this product, I found that the product did not connect to the server well and in some cases was spotty in its connection with the server at Mikogo. Quite simply, similar to what I have experienced with using Zoho Meeting.
Just to rule out my connection, I tested some of the other applications I discussed previously in my blog and I did not have the same issues. Bottom line, my experience demonstrates either a highly successful company is experiencing volume which is slowing their servers down or plain and simple that it is not reliable enough yet. Please note the reader’s situation, connection times and use may yield different results and my disclaimer is that the review is from my point of view.
All in all though, I think this company is on to something. Let’s see, free use for personal or business with not locking up the computer if being used for business, a user guide available for learning on its web site, support for both PC and Mac which was reviewed by both platform machines and cross platforms, and file transfer. Additionally, the base of product features is here among the remote keyboard/mouse control, meeting scheduler, switch presenter, etc.
Please be advised that the user needs to download the application to run off the user’s computer. This may be one disadvantage for business companies who limit their assets from downloading applications to their lap and desktops. Usually this bothers me and I try to keep unneeded software off my computers. However, if the reader chooses to experiment with this program further, one might be able to make a good case to have it added to the approved software list.
My experience with this review was overall more positive than negative. I found that the user interface was set-up well and it was easy to use. So easy, I would feel comfortable giving these directions to a Baby Boomer with limited experience on a computer and feel confident that he or she would be able to utilize the program with ease.
Company information:
Mikogo started in 2007 and is an offshoot of “BeamYourScreen”. Founded by Erik Boos and Mark Zondler of Germany, Mikogo is a free application allowing users to share desktops among a slew of other free features for the common user.
BeamYourScreen GmbH
Mikogo
R 3, 4-5
68161 Mannheim
Germany
Lastly, from an entrepreneurial standpoint for smaller firms this might be a good route to check out for a Zero Cost tool.
