Although many of you may have participated in a GoToMeeting, some have been missing out on this great "remote" conferencing tool. It's hard not to hear about it these days, as I understand they are now advertising on national TV. With gas at a premium and rising, here's to becoming an early adopter!

GoToMeeting is an electronic conference room. To participate in a meeting requires you to do two steps: log onto the site, so you can see the screen display of the presenter; and call into the site, either with your computer-attached mic and headphone or a standard telephone. Once you have completed both of these steps, you will be a full participant in the meeting.

When you are invited to a GoToMeeting (GTM), you will received a link--just click it--and dial-in information. The first time you participate in a GoToMeeting, or if updates are available, a small applet (piece of software) will be downloaded to your PC to make sure you are able to see the presenter's screen. This software is safe and small. A web-only version is in beta at the time of this writing.

If you are "calling" in with your headset and microphone that are attached to your computer, no need to dial, after you have logged onto the meeting, simply click the radio button "Use Mic & Speakers", in the Audio portion of the GTM control panel that pops up on your screen. If you are dialing in with a standard telephone, use the numbers from the invitation to call (it will generally be a far-off area code), enter the access code (also from your invitation), and then enter the audio pin that shows on the GTM control panel.

If you are having audio difficulties or excessive latency in screen displays, we have found that performance is better if you log in to view the screens, but dial in for audio.

As a courtesy to other participants, please make sure that your phone or computer mic is mutable. If you are not speaking, please keep your phone muted in order to reduce background noise.

We have other tips and tricks that might be of interest in our Frequently Asked Questions.