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Review: GotoMeeting for iPad

With pinch and zoom and no keyboard in the way, the iPad brings a whole new experience to an online meeting.
Written by Joel Evans, Contributor

This weekend I received a call that suddenly required a full-blown meeting. Since it was a Sunday, I really didn't want to be sitting at my computer so instead I figured I'd try to see how well the iPad could handle a GotoMeeting.

When I purchased the iPad, one of the first apps I had downloaded for it was GotoMeeting. I think at the time it was wishful thinking, in that I was hoping that I could attend online meetings from anywhere, instead of being tethered to my computer chair. Well, Sunday presented the opportunity.

The first thing I did was launch the app. At that point I was greeted with a screen that simply wanted the meeting number and my name.

After entering in the appropriate information, my screen refreshed and immediately showed the presenter's screen. This is a drastically different experience than any I've ever had with GotoMeeting. Normally I have to click to accept a bunch of times, and depending on the machine I'm running, and the browser I launched, the experience varies widely from painless to insanely painful.

The meeting itself went flawlessly, and the iPad offered me the opportunity to zoom in and get a closer look, as needed. I was also able to hear the other attendees through the iPad's speaker, and even see an indicator of who was talking at the time. Unfortunately, I found that my microphone came in a bit too soft, probably due to the background noise in the room I took the meeting in. In the end, I dialed up using a landline, but still enjoyed the meeting from the comfort of my couch.

Thanks to the iPad's ability to let me pinch the screen, I was able to focus in on a specific area of the screen, without having to disturb the presenter.

Above is just an example of that functionality, since I didn't want to post confidential information from the meeting.

The best part about this experience was that I was able to participate in an online meeting, without having to lock myself down with a laptop or desktop in front of me. Online meetings with tablets is definitely going to be welcome in the future. The iPad is the first one to get it right, but I'm sure other tablets will soon follow suit.

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