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Streamlined communication app that has video conferencing, screen sharing, and document sharing tools

Streamlined communication app that has video conferencing, screen sharing, and document sharing tools

Vote: (2 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Adobe

Version: 12.1.5

Works under: Windows

Also available for Mac Android

Vote:

Program license

(2 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Adobe

12.1.5

Works under:

Also available for

Windows

Mac Android

Pros

  • A flexible platform for online classrooms
  • Simple drag and drop room design
  • Plenty of templates for inspiration

Cons

  • Fairly steep associated overhead costs
  • Feature-rich but complicated user interface

Adobe Connect is a quality video conferencing platform, but it has the distinct disadvantage of operating in a very saturated marketplace. While there's plenty to love about the deep set of tools and the expansive features, it commits the sin that many Adobe programs do: being sometimes too complicated for its own good. The result is a product that will understandably scare off more novice users but prove its value to power users who want full control over how their presentations look and sound.

Adobe has spent the past few years making the transition to a subscription-based model for all of their software, and that applies to Adobe Connect as much as it does to any of their other products. The subscription plan starts at $50 a month, making it a reasonable choice only for people who need a serious and business-oriented video conferencing solution. But if you're in that demographic, the cost could very much be worth your time.

For the majority of users, lightweight platforms like Zoom will be the ideal choice for video conferencing. Not only is the software free, but it's easy to understand and can be operated without the need for a standalone client. Adobe Connect is built a little different. While a new user can figure out the basic functionality pretty quickly, the more advanced features will have a little bit of a learning curve. If all you're looking to do is set up conferences with your office, that price tag can seem like a rip-off.

That monthly cost isn't the only expense either. Adobe Connect is designed to work exclusively with Voice Over IP (VoIP) services, adding another layer of both overhead and monthly expenses to account for. That's not necessarily a negative reflection on Adobe Connect so much as it is a recognition of its niche user base. Fortunately, those costs don't need to be shared with your users. Once you have everything set up on your end, you can share the meeting room with all participants through the use of a simple meeting URL. Anyone with the appropriate permissions and access to a web browser can conceivably access your seminar or conference.

But the unique capabilities of Adobe Connect is making it a popular choice among educators creating virtual lectures. As more and more schools and businesses transition to remote operations, these kinds of tools will be more critical. And Adobe Connect shines like a diamond when it comes to customizing a user experience. The level of engagement that Adobe Connect supports is flat-out fantastic. You can set up polls, convey information more easily through a virtual whiteboard, and communicate directly to students or meeting participants through a built-in chat interface.

What really distinguishes Adobe Connect from other video conferencing apps is the ability to customize the experience for everyone involved. In that respect, it's as much a video conference creation tool as it is a video conferencing platform. Room owners have full control over administrative privileges and can assign sharing options for assigning polls or controlling the whiteboard. And a number of different templates are available right out of the box so you don't have to build your virtual classroom from scratch. With a little care and attention, you can create a fully-featured video conferencing suite that offers all the bells and whistles you'd hope to find in a virtual classroom. Just keep in mind that it will take a little bit of learning to get everything perfectly tailored to your needs.

But once you do learn the fundamentals, the process of designing a virtual learning space is pretty elegant. Any widget or element in your meeting is defined as a "pod", and creating a chat interface is as simple as locking these pods into place. The number of options can be overwhelming at first, but the versatility is unmatched once you start to wrap your head around what the software can accomplish.

Adobe Connect is the type of software that gives consistently better results the more you invest your time and energy into it, but it also automates many of the more painstaking issues that can limit the accessibility of your lectures. The drag and drop pod interface simplifies the process of embedding subtitles for hearing impaired participants, and there's extensive support for a broad array of different file types and formats. If there's data you need to convey, chances are good that Adobe Connect offers at least one clever way to present it. And they've already done the hard work of considering accessibility issues.

A lot of the apparent complexity of this software starts to bleed away once you realize that Adobe Connect has been built around through central pillars: webinars, meetings, and classrooms. While the features for each have a lot of overlap, each comes with targeted menus that are designed for the specific needs of your presentation style. As an added bonus, Adobe Connect scales well to the needs of any group size.

Up to 100 participants can attend a meeting per host, and companies willing to pay for more host rights can expand their chat size to include as many as a thousand participants. Your reach will extend beyond live viewers as well. Screen recording is as simple as pressing a button, and you have a number of tools outside the classroom as well. There are tools to create a syllabus for the classroom and tools to help you track student participation and grade assignments. You can even create your own dedicated learning database to hold in-class materials and saved recordings of earlier classes.

On the surface, Adobe Connect may look like an overpriced and over-featured alternative to Zoom, but that's underestimating the fundamental strengths of the platform. For corporate presentations and virtual classrooms, it ranks among the best resources available. And for companies with the appropriate scaling demands and capital, the overhead and monthly costs will pay dividends in the long term.

Pros

  • A flexible platform for online classrooms
  • Simple drag and drop room design
  • Plenty of templates for inspiration

Cons

  • Fairly steep associated overhead costs
  • Feature-rich but complicated user interface