Visualise your ideas
Skype
Skype lets you communicate with colleagues or customers via your webcam, free of charge. To set up a fully-fledged video conference with several people simultaneously, use Skype Group Video Calling (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/features/allfeatures/group-video-calls), for £6/month or £36/year (excl. VAT). During video calls, you can share your screen with others and thus show, e.g. a presentation, document, spreadsheet or a design. IDroo (http://www.idroo.com - for Windows) aims to make this even easier. This plug-in lets you use a whiteboard during your Skype sessions.
How does it work?
After installing IDroo, launch Skype and then IDroo. On your first use, you will be asked to confirm the access of this plug-in to Skype via Allow Access. If all goes well, you will now see a virtual board on which you can make sketches or drawings and write text; it also lets you insert objects such as illustrations. You can create and save multiple boards - they are shown in separate tabs - and each board can consist of several pages. On the left, you will see various tools for drawing, creating figures, adding text, showing formulas and importing photos. You can also change the font and the thickness of your drawing pen.
Sharing with others
The idea is that you can share this whiteboard with others. On the right of each board, there’s the Participants menu: this is where you can invite your colleagues - you will automatically see your Skype contacts listed.
Tip. You can compose a separate list of participants for each board. The guests will receive an invitation which gives them access to the whiteboard. Note. Participants need to install IDroo too. Conveniently, the other users can also make notes on the whiteboard. This turns IDroo into a fully-fledged collaboration tool which is also suitable for remote training or tutorials. IDroo is free for non-commercial use.
Alternatives: online services
FlockDraw (http://www.flockdraw.com) is not a Skype plug-in, but you can use this free webtool whilst Skyping. You don’t even need to sign up: after clicking on Create your session, you can get started straightaway. You’ll see a whiteboard with a couple of tools (pen, text etc.) and your colleagues can participate via the unique URL of your whiteboard. You don’t have many options though: e.g. it’s not possible to upload graphics files.
Dabbleboard (http://www.dabbleboard.com) is also free and doesn’t require registration either. Just click on Get Started. You can draw freehand, but if you disable this option, Dabbleboard will try to improve your sketches, e.g. if you draw a rough round shape, it will automatically be turned into a perfect circle. It is also possible to import files and you can invite others via a unique URL.
Vyew (http://www.vyew.com - free as well) goes one step further: it combines web conferencing with a virtual workspace to which you can invite others. Via the “permission status” you can configure exactly what each participant is allowed to do. The free version lets you collaborate with up to ten people in real time.
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