Web-Conferencing by Small Businesses in the U.S.

Use of web-conferencing solutions such as GoToMeeting, WebEx, and LiveMeeting are being used by small businesses in the U.S. A challenge is provided for many web-conferencing providers. A report made by the AMI-partners in 2010, found that about half of the small businesses in the U.S. were using web-conferencing solutions. It was expected that the usage would grow to 80 percent in 2011. AMI reported a forecast that there would be a significant displacement to free web-conferencing offers.

Cost management among the small businesses in the U.S. is a matter of concern after the economic downturn. A viable and affordable alternative for traveling is by implementing web-conferencing. A balance should be maintained for potential revenue growth by the web-conferencing vendors. The displacement of current budget allocation of small businesses may limit the growth.

Robust and new features are being added to the services by free web-conferencing providers. This is done in order to compete for market share. This resulted in the reduction of gap between the free and paid solutions and a challenge is posed for the paid solution providers. Various features such as video-conferencing and desktop sharing are offered by free service providers. So there is a need for provision of enhanced web-conferencing solutions by the paid solutions. Certain solution providers are interested to get revenue from usage but not through advertising. A protection of revenue erosion for such providers can be given by specialization in targeted industry verticals.