NoteBookCast is a free online whiteboard with real-time collaboration. This is a free Multi-user online whiteboard. You can use to this to share your creations and ideas online by drawing. All you have to do is send a link of the whiteboard to people you want to invite. To use this, you do not need any special software. All you need is the latest version of the Chrome, Internet explorer, Firefox, or Safari.
A very good use of this multi-user whiteboard can be to use it for online meetings. Its chat feature will enable you to chat and you can draw figures to make your teammates understand your vision. Casually, you can also use it to play various drawing based games.
The whiteboard comes with a lot of options. You can choose the color of the pen. Choose the tools to draw, point, erase, etc. As mentioned earlier, its interface also has the option for you to chat with the people on the whiteboard. A really awesome feature is that you can add unlimited collaborators on your Whiteboard.
You need to make an account with this service so you can manage your created whiteboards, send links and make templates. You can also join another whiteboard, provided you have a link to it.
Make a new Multi-User Whiteboard
After you have registered and logged onto NoteBookCast, the dashboard of your account will provide you the option to ‘Create an online whiteboard’. After clicking that, you will be asked to enter the dimension of the board, title and a description. Following that, the whiteboard will be generated.
Invite People to Collaborate on Your Whiteboard
To invite people on your whiteboard, send the URL of your whiteboard to the people you want to invite. They will be required to enter a nickname to join. Alternatively, if the person you are inviting is already a NoteBookCast user, you can click on ‘invite’ on the whiteboard and send them the link provided there.
You can join a whiteboard if you have the code to it. On the dashboard, click on ‘Join a Whiteboard’ and enter that code to do so.
Use the Whiteboard
You can use various tools and toggles to shape up your collaborated work on NoteBookCast. You can change the color of your pencil, change the paper type, add text, add images, etc. You can also capture the board image and send it to people. If you don’t want any changes to happen, you can click on the ‘pointy hand’ on the menu bar to lock the whiteboard. The chat feature is definitely a plus since most collaboration whiteboards out there don’t have this feature.
Create a Template
You can create a template which can be used by others to create a new real-time whiteboard. Click on ‘Templates’ on top of the interface and click ’Create a template’. You’ll be asked to enter the name, size, and description of the template. Just edit the template to your liking and click on ‘Share’. The URL will be provided which you can send to people for them to build around the template.
My Analysis
I think NoteBookCast is a really good free online whiteboard loaded with features. I think the developers could have provided more features for drawing onto the whiteboard. For example, adding layers can enable users to move and edit their expressions more easily. Also this service lacks security. Anyone who has the code or URL of your whiteboard can enter without verification. I award this software 4/5.
Try NoteBookCast here.
