Whether you're working with remote colleagues or coordinating with clients, you need a video conference and meeting app that's reliable and easy to use. You don't have time to deal with dropped calls, choppy audio and video, stream lags, annoying downloads and plugins, or other frustrating technical issues.
Between our weekly webinars and daily meetings with our remote colleagues around the globe, the Wrike team has tried just about every top video conference and meeting app available. Here's a list of our 5 favorites:
Top Video Conference & Meeting Apps
1. Zoom With HD video conferencing, screen sharing from desktop or mobile, recording features, and the ability to choose full screen or gallery views for video streams (or choose different views for multiple monitors), Zoom is quickly emerging as one of the top video meeting apps available.
What we like best: Zoom boasts a slew of cool features like a collaborative whiteboard and the ability to send group texts, images, and audio files during meetings. Plus, the ability to join meetings from mobile via wifi or cellular networks makes it a great option for teams that are constantly on the go.
Pricing: The free version includes an unlimited number of meetings with up to 25 people, up to 40 minutes per meeting, and unlimited one-on-one calls. Paid plans with advanced features start at $10/month for unlimited meeting durations and calls with up to 200 participants.
2. GoToMeeting GoToMeeting has established itself as the "go-to" solution for video conferencing and virtual meetings, and with good reason: HD-quality video, screen sharing, personalized meeting URLs, and the ability to connect to meetings via desktop or mobile make it a popular choice. Teams can also collaborate by using the whiteboard feature to annotate and highlight the presenter's screen.
What we like best: International toll-free numbers and options to translate control settings make GoToMeeting a convenient option for global teams, plus it's easy to change presenters for meetings with multiple hosts.
Pricing: The Pro version starts at $39/month per organizer and includes 25 participants. The Plus version starts at $56/month per organizer for up to 100 participants. GoToMeeting also offers a free plan for 3 attendees.
3. Join.me Join.me offers all the essentials you're looking for, in a lightweight, no-muss-no-fuss package. Attendees can call in via VoIP or telephone, and with numbers in over 40 countries, it's an easy solution for international teams. Record meetings, join from your preferred mobile device, share your screen, transfer files, and easily change presenters. You can also personalize your meeting space with custom URLs and screen backgrounds.
What we like best: Ease of use. We can set up a meeting and be connected with colleagues in a matter of minutes, with no technical confusion or cumbersome downloads.
Pricing: The free Basic plan includes up to 10 participants and instant screen sharing. Pro and Enterprise plans include up to 250 attendees with advanced features like Outlook and Google Calendar plugins, built-in cloud storage, recording, and reporting tools.
4. ReadyTalk With ReadyTalk's suite of web conferencing, mobile conferencing, video conferencing, and webinar tools, you can find the perfect solution for your needs. Hand over controls to a participant to let them take over the discussion, use the interactive real-time polling feature to make group decisions right then and there, and stream up to 4 video feeds simultaneously. ReadyTalk also conveniently integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, Lync, Salesforce, Marketo, and more popular tools.
What we like best: Support. At your request, a ReadyTalk customer support rep will join your meeting to provide instant technical assistance. Stop worrying about glitches and instead just focus on hosting a great meeting.
Pricing: Meeting plans start at $24 for 10 participants, $34 for 25 participants, and $59 for 100 participants.
5. Onstream Meetings Onstream offers the usual features like screen sharing, document sharing, group or private chats, polling, shared controls, and a collaborative whiteboard. What sets Onstream apart is the ability to add up to 1,000 attendees, which is great for companies hosting all-hands meetings for more than 250 people. The toolbar at the top of the screen keeps controls for screen sharing, file sharing, drawing tools, and polling easily accessible. Also convenient: you can send files to all attendees or just to select people, or make documents available for download after the meeting concludes.
What we like best: You can edit your meeting recordings without downloading the video file. Highlight key discussions or add chapter markers so viewers can easily skip to important points — all within the Onstream application.
Emily is a former Content Marketer of Wrike. She specializes in leadership, collaboration, and productivity. Her brain is stuffed with obscure grammar rules, an embarrassing amount of Star Wars trivia, and her grandmother’s pie recipes.
Marketers are a busy bunch. Every day they manage a slew of projects, campaigns, and clients, all while coordinating efforts with other teams and immediately reacting to change. The right tools can make a marketer's life a lot easier, but with the overwhelming number of options, where do you start?
Take a look at our list of top marketing tools and marketing project management software that will help you build leads, opportunities, and revenue.
Inbound & Content Marketing
Inbound & content marketers work to attract, nurture, inform, and entertain potential customers to earn their business and loyalty. They examine how today’s consumers make buying decisions and place helpful, interesting content at each stage of that process.
Hubspot's inbound marketing platform
Up Close & Persona to help generate marketing personas
A/B testing tools like Optimizely to analyze and tweak your current inbound strategy
Google Analytics to examine where your traffic is coming from and how customers are interacting with your website
Content discovery tools like ContentGems, Scoop.it, Triberr, or Trapit
Collaboration tools like Wrike for brainstorming, writing, peer editing, and task delegation
Online publication tools like Paper.li, Flipboard or Kuratur to organize and distribute your content
Disqus to respond to readers who comment on your blog
Tools to help recruit and recognize brand advocates, like Influitive
Graphics & Multimedia
Did you know that YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18-34 than any cable network? As the content landscape grows increasingly crowded, more marketers are turning to engaging visuals and videos to grab customers' fleeting attention and stand out from the competition.
Video platforms like Brightcove or Vidyard
Webinar platform like GoToMeeting or BrightTALK
Piktochart to create infographics
Canva to make instant graphics for web or print
Slideshare, List.ly, YouTube, and Pinterest accounts for distributing and curating content
AdWords for Video and YouTube TrueView for creating video ads
Search Engine Marketing & SEO
Search engine marketers increase a site’s visibility in search results pages, either through search engine optimization (SEO) or paid advertising. SEO experts determine the top keywords that people are searching for about your topic or market and then include those keywords in strategic spots on the website and blog.
Google Keyword Planner to find top keywords, as well as long-tail and niche keywords
Yahoo Search Marketing or Bing Ads to post ads on search results pages, blogs and websites
Optimization, reporting and link building tools like Moz, Raven SEO Tools or SEMRush
Social Media Marketing & Social Advertising
Social media networks help marketers increase brand awareness, engage with customers, and direct traffic to the company website. Marketers package and post updates readers will want to share, manage online communities, and run paid advertising campaigns to reach new customers.
Social media accounts or pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. for sharing internal and curated content
Sprout, Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule social media posts, determine the best times to publish, and discover the most popular types of posts
Followerwonk breaks down followers into specific demographics
Mention and Social Mention track where brands — or certain keywords — get mentioned across the web, including social media sites, discussion forums, and blogs
NinjaOutreach identifies influencers based on keyword. Filter by tags to find bloggers, influencers, and companies to refine your search
Sprinklr or SocialBakers analytics tools to determine click-through rates, cost-per-click, and overall reach and engagement
Viral Content Buzz account to share stories that interest you, and earn tweets and likes on your own content
Mobile Marketing
Mobile is overtaking desktop internet usage, as more customers are defaulting to digesting content on smartphones and tablets. And because people carry their devices with them, marketers can send personalized messages directly to them via SMS, push notifications, in-app ads, QR codes, and more.
Digital Advertising Alliance Principles to check opt-in and privacy guidelines
MailChimp Mobile to manage your MailChimp email campaigns while on the go
Mogreet Express or Textus.biz to exchange SMS messages with customers
Mobile ad creation and distribution tools, like Huzzah Media and Adagogo
Location-specific mobile marketing tools like MobSav and Thumbvista
Mobile app creation and testing tools, like BuildFire and TestFlight
Email Marketing & Marketing Automation
82% of consumers open marketing emails, and 66% of them have made a purchase as a direct result of an email. In order to attain that success, email marketers must send helpful, relevant messages to recipients and respect customers’ inboxes by not sending spammy emails.
AWeber, MailChimp and Constant Contact are popular tools to manage email marketing
Hubspot, Marketo, ExactTarget, Eloqua, and Customer.io are marketing automation tools to help with email campaigns as well as other marketing channels
MailChimp's subject line suggestion tool to refine your all-important subject line copy
Email Spam Test checks to make sure messages are compliant with applicable SPAM laws
See how the email looks on various clients and devices with Litmus
The marketing landscape is constantly shifting as new strategies and tools arise. Stay ahead of the curve with these 6 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch.
Productivity
7 min read
54 Seriously Cool Apps to Make Everyone's Life Easier
When we need the answer to a quick question like, "What time is it in Beijing?" we immediately jump on Google or ask Siri. We’ve grown accustomed to having answers and resources instantly available. But as efficient and effective as these tools are, Siri can’t tell you when that new gadget you’ve had your eye on is likely to go on sale, and Googling can only get you so far when it comes to finding the word that’s been stuck on the tip of your tongue. That’s where these handy online shortcuts come in. Save money, time, and effort with this list of convenient web tools.
Money-Saving Tools
Camelizer Chrome Extension - Displays the pricing history of an item and lets you set up notification alerts for when the price drops.
Honey Chrome Extension - Automatically searches for and applies coupon codes for you during checkout.
10-minute mail - Set up a temporary email address to receive discount code emails, and the address will self-destruct after 10 minutes.
FaxZero - If you need to send the occasional fax, use this site to upload documents straight from your computer and send them within the US and Canada for free.
Productivity Boosters
StayFocusd Chrome Extension - Set limits for the amount of time you can spend on distracting websites you specify.
AutoPatchWork - Load websites with multiple pages as a single continuous page, so there's no need to click “Next."
OneTab Chrome Extension - Suddenly find yourself with a zillion tabs open? Click this browser extension to consolidate them all into a single list. Restore them individually or all at once.
SleepyTi.me - Calculate exactly when you should go to bed based on natural sleep cycles so you wake up refreshed.
OhDon’tForget - Send yourself text message reminders for important or time-sensitive tasks.
Unrollme - Unsubscribe from unwanted emails en masse, then combine what you want to keep into a single daily digest email.
WhichDateWorks.com - Planning a meeting or event? Quickly find a date/time that works for everyone.
Dictation.io - Online voice recognition and dictation software in your web browser.
TabCloud Chrome Extension - Save your current browser tabs and open them at a later date, on any computer.
AvoidHumans.com - Find a quiet public space to get out of the office, without getting stuck in a noisy crowd.
Flux - Combat eye strain and get your brain ready to sleep by customizing the brightness and hue of your computer screen.
MailboxMap.com - Quickly locate the closest USPS mailbox.
Klip.me - Send any article you find on the web directly to your Kindle to read later.
Ctrql.rss - Search engine for RSS feeds.
ManualsLib.com - Lost the manual to a malfunctioning device? Look it up in this database of pdf manuals for all sorts of products.
iReader - Removes ads and displays articles in one continuous page, with clean formatting.
LastPass - Save your usernames and passwords to LastPass, and access them wherever you need to.
Creative Timesavers
WhatTheFont - Find the name of the font used in a particular image.
Mondrian.io - Create vector drawings right in your browser window.
MyScriptFont.com - Create a vector font from your own handwriting.
Popcorn Maker - Add interactive elements to videos like maps, links, pop-ups, Tweets, and images.
Adobe Kuler - Find complementary color palettes.
TipofMyTongue - Pinpoint that elusive word stuck on the tip of your brain.
Rhymer.com - Find the perfect word with this online rhyming dictionary.
Expresso-App.org - Analyze your writing to find areas for improvement.
XMind - Organize your thoughts, brainstorm new ideas, and visualize complex relationships with this mind mapping tool.
Script Timer - Find out exactly how long it will take to read your written script.
Quick Tools for Everyday Tasks
Scr.im - Converts your email address into a short, custom URL you can share on public sites without getting picked up by spam bots and email harvesters.
ShareLinkGenerator.com - Create Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Pinterest share links that work anywhere — even in emails.
qClock - Find the local time of any city by hovering over it on Google Maps.
Chrome Currency Converter - Automatically convert prices displayed on the web to your selected currency, using current exchange rates.
Random.org - Choose a random number, flip a coin, etc.
Date to Date Calculator - Find out exactly how many days, hours, minutes, or seconds have passed between two events.
iRuler - Automatically reads the dimensions of your display to show an accurate ruler.
How Secure Is My Password? - Find out exactly how long it would take to hack your password with this secure website.
Strong Password Generator - Spits out a random, strong password to protect your online accounts, along with a mnemonic device to help you remember.
FreeWifiFinder - Find the closest free WiFi hotspot based on your current location.
CopyPasteCharacter.com - Copy special characters & symbols that don’t appear on your keyboard.
DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com - Is that website down for everyone or just you?
Jotti.org - Scan suspicious files or attachments for viruses or malware.
PrintWhatYouLike.com - Print web pages without ads or other clutter.
Lazarus Form Recovery - Autosaves everything you type so you can easily recover from timeouts, crashes, and network errors.
Google Voice Extension - Send and receive texts, calls, and voicemails on your computer.
DisposableWebpage.com - Create a temporary web page that will automatically self-destruct.
Just for Fun
NowIKnow - Emails you an interesting story or tidbit every day to keep life (and your daily conversations) interesting.
DailyLit - Want to read more books, but can’t find the time? Select a book on DailyLit and it’ll send you bite-sized snippets via email or RSS every day until you finish.
UnplugtheTV - Presents short YouTube videos that entertain and educate so you can learn something new while you scarf down dinner.
The Nicest Place on the Internet - Bad day? Check out the nicest place on the internet for a quick mood booster.
Memrise - Learn new skills in small, bite-sized pieces during quick breaks or while waiting in line.
Skyscanner - Want to get away for the weekend, but unsure where to go? Check out the "Cheap Flights" widget to browse available flights by price.
What are your favorite apps?
Share your favorite free online apps in the comments below! Let us know what we're missing.
Productivity
3 min read
Conversations with the Work Apps You Love (& Hate)
When you think about it, today’s technology is pretty incredible. We can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world within seconds. We can access a near infinite amount of information in the blink of an eye. We can store countless documents without filing a single sheet of paper and access them instantly. But that doesn’t mean these apps solve all of our problems—in fact, they sometimes create new ones.
These imaginary conversations exemplify the love/hate relationship we have with our favorite work apps. And while they can cause quite a few headaches, our fixes can help provide some relief!
1. Organization
FIX IT: Finding the file you need shouldn’t be such an endeavor, but when attachments get buried in lengthy email threads or duplicated into multiple conflicting versions, trying to find the right one gets frustrating fast. Attaching work files directly to the related task in a work management tool keeps information organized and easily accessible.
2. Tracking & Reporting Work Progress
FIX IT: Managing work through spreadsheets is time-consuming, overly-complicated, and needs constant attention. Use a tool designed for managing projects that updates in real time, so you don’t have to input changes manually or risk making decisions based on outdated, incomplete information.
FIX IT: Use work management software that automatically creates visual reports you can easily share with execs, clients, and stakeholders, without messing with finicky tables and graphs.
3. Communication
FIX IT: Clear communication is key to preventing misunderstandings, wasted time, and work that needs to be redone. Technical glitches and assumed intentions just lead to greater frustrations, so establish a formal channel for work conversations and feedback, and leave the informal chats and "watercooler" conversations to your instant messaging apps.
4. Remote Collaboration
FIX IT: Anything involving live cameras and microphones is a recipe for awkward moments, which are not only embarrassing, but distract your team and derail productive meetings. A collaboration app keeps all team members aligned and up to date on work status and top priorities no matter where they're located, so you can skip the time-consuming video calls and status meetings.
Fix Your Work Tool Frustrations for Good
Know any great workarounds for these annoyances? Share them with us in the comments below! Then start a free Wrike trial to easily communicate, collaborate, organize, and track work progress with your team.
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