IBM Lotus Web Conferencing Service is available in a "pay as you go" mode. It taps into computer systems in IBM data centers to provide software application management. Because it uses IBM infrastructure, personnel, and management expertise, businesses can avoid the complexity of deploying software in-house, IBM says.

The service aims to deliver the benefits of face-to-face meetings without the expense and inconvenience of travel, lost productivity, and other costs. Capabilities include:

• Meeting participants can view shared presentations and applications and participate in impromptu white-board sessions.
• Visual cues indicate who's on the audio portion of the conference and when they're speaking.
• Moderators can control participants' volume, mute lines, or even dial out to new participants.
• Embedded instant messaging enables back-channel communications between participants.
• A meeting-specific chat room supports group conversations.