Achieve collaboration without transportation with the help of these services.

After the free bagels and the extra staff who come by to take care of the plants, the next thing to go in most recession-minded companies is the travel budget. But business simply doesn’t get done in a vacuum: Meeting with colleagues and clients is still of paramount importance in just about any ongoing project. When funds are tight, here are seven Web-based ways to present your sales pitch, work with far-flung teams and collaborate on just about any kind of assignment—without ever stepping foot out of your office.


1. WebEx


EASE OF USE: 4 (out of 5; see scale below)

Prices vary; webex.com

USE IT FOR: Web conferencing and online presentations

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Products and pricing levels are available for just about any kind of user, from pay-as-you-go plans for 33 cents per minute per user, to unlimited access for up to 25 people, to the WebEx Meeting Center for $69 a month. A simplified service called MeetMeNow lets you share your desktop online, which is perfect for canned PowerPoint presentations or a live demo of a program you have running on your PC. Best of all, everything is accessible via a Web browser, so attendees don’t need to install extra software to attend meetings.

BOTTOM LINE: WebEx is the gold standard of Web conferencing systems.


2. GoToMeeting


EASE OF USE: 3

$49 per month, gotomeeting.com

USE IT FOR: Web conferencing and online presentations

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Share your screen with up to 15 other people while offering live VoIP features for real-time audio. Hosts can opt to share mouse and keyboard control with other people on the call, and meetings can be recorded for later playback to those who missed the event. Plus, a sophisticated chat system allows for public and private queries to the host via text.

BOTTOM LINE: At $49 a month for unlimited meetings, it’s more affordable than WebEx and almost as capable.


3. Google Docs


EASE OF USE: 4

Free (large businesses pay $50 per user per year), docs.google.com

USE IT FOR: Collaboration

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: This is a streamlined and simple way to let everyone contribute to a word processing, spreadsheet or presentation file. Upload HTML or Microsoft Office–compatible files to the service, then start editing. A new feature added in 2008 allows you to access your documents when you’re disconnected from the Internet.

BOTTOM LINE: Google Docs is rapidly becoming the go-to app for file collaboration.


4. Zoho


EASE OF USE: 3

Prices vary, zoho.com

USE IT FOR: File collaboration, chat, meetings and presentations

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Zoho’s collection of Web-based applications runs the gamut from document and spreadsheet creation to a shareable calendar system to online invoicing. You can even use it to track job applications through a human resources module or keep track of large-scale projects with an online project management tool. Chat, meetings and presentations are all part of the core offering, too. Pricing varies widely depending on which services you need and how many users you require, but all services are free for individual use.

BOTTOM LINE: For one-stop shopping in hosted conferencing and collaboration services, Zoho may just have it all.


5. Empressr


EASE OF USE: 3

Free, empressr.com

USE IT FOR: Video presentations

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Sort of a cross between WebEx and YouTube, Empressr is based on the premise of creating a presentation—out of video, still images and audio—then saving it online for later viewing. Just drag all the components of your presentation to the simple online editor and put them in order (complete with PowerPoint-style transitions), or use a Webcam to capture talking-head footage on the fly. Unlike a YouTube video, Empressr videos can be printed out in slide format for offline use.

BOTTOM LINE: Presentations can be replayed without your intervention, which makes them ideal for training materials that don’t need to be delivered live.


6. Preezo

EASE OF USE: 5

Free, preezo.com

USE IT FOR: Presentations

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Preezo is more limited than software like PowerPoint and doesn’t have all the same features, such as a clip-art library—but it’s fast and free, and other users can collaborate on the document as you build it. All you need to do is share the URL of the presentation, and your colleagues will be ready to start tweaking.

BOTTOM LINE: If you want nothing more than an online clone of PowerPoint, look no further than Preezo.


7. Scriblink

EASE OF USE: 5

Free, scriblink.com

USE IT FOR: A white board to augment online or phone conferences

FEATURES YOU’LL LIKE: Visiting the site gets you a blank white slate (no registration or login required), and a toolbar across the top lets you select your pen of choice. Most users choose to work freehand, but other drawing options—basic shapes, typeable text and uploadable graphics—are also available. When you want to share the screen with others, just email the URL of your board to your collaborators.

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Ease of use scale:

5.Simple enough for a five-year-old
4. 30 minutes of practice and you’re a pro
3. Prepare to invest some research and training time
2. Could be a month or more before you’re an expert
1. Get your computer science degree before embarking
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CHRISTOPHER NULL is a freelance technology writer in San Francisco.