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Plantronics InstantMeeting - New Conferencing Moble App

[December 08, 2010]

Plantronics InstantMeeting - New Conferencing Moble App

Originally posted on VoIP & Gadgets Blog, here: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/mobile-phones/plantronics-instant-meeting---new-conferencing-moble-app.asp.

Plantronics tomorrow officially launches their InstantMeeting mobile conferencing dialer app. The app automatically recognizes upcoming conference calls in your calendar and then when the time comes it can automatically dial the conference phone number and enter in the conference ID and PIN - essentially "one touch" conference bridge dialing. There is a free trial version that provides 20 free calls, and a premium version that costs $2.99 for unlimited calls.

Certainly useful if your a supreme multi-tasker who works until the last possible second before dialing the conference bridge - perhaps even dialing late. This app can shave off some seconds and reduce the stress. Plus, it is technically impossible on a mobile phone to see your Calendar and the phone's dialer at the same time. If you try toggling between the two to get the conference ID and PIN, the conference bridge could timeout waiting for your touch tone digits.

According to Plantronics, "In a single month, InstantMeeting users can save approximately 45 minutes in their schedules that are currently wasted trying to access audio conferences". Another benefit is that if a user gets disconnected from a conference call (e.g., poor reception), they can reenter the meeting with a single button press.

Here's a screenshot of it on a Blackberry:

Plantronics sent me the Android app to try on a HTC Incredible (2.2). I installed the app and then created a Calendar item with fake conference phone details (Conference call 203-852-6800 PIN: 155) in Outlook that sync to the Incredible using ActiveSync. Unfortunately, when I went into Instant Meeting, it didn't see my meeting. I then saw a screenshot they provided me which had the following format:

Call-in number:18005551212
Conference code:12345
Moderator PIN:1234

So I tried using this format and this time it detected the meeting.
I'm not sure how it can detect the various combinations of how conference information gets entered into a calendar invite, e.g. conference phone number, bridge number, conference ID, conference #, PIN, passcode, etc. It didn't detect my first very simple conference meeting. That could lead to more effort trying to change the format to Instant Meeting's liking. I'll have to test further to see how "forgiving" it is. I did notice that within Instant Meeting you can edit the call details before dialing, including changing/adding a meeting code. It wouldn't take less than 4 digits, so perhaps the fact I had 155 (3 digits) tripped it up causing it to not detect this meeting.

Supported devices include: Android & Blackberry, including Motorola Droid (2.2), Motorola Droid X (2.2), HTC Droid Incredible (2.2), HTC Nexus One (2.2), HTC MyTouch 3G (2.1), Samsung Galaxy S (2.1), Samsung Galaxy 3 (2.1), and HTC Vision (2.1.). An iPhone and Outlook PC version are coming soon.

Get it here.