When Microsoft NetMeeting Saved the Day
09 February 2026 • by Bob • Microsoft, Technology
In the late 1990s, I was delivering training for a large group of external business leaders in downtown Dallas that was organized by Microsoft's marketing team, and my presentation was supposed to be broadcast to remote Microsoft learning centers across the country using Cisco's video teleconferencing hardware.
As the time for the training to begin drew near, it was clear that the Cisco hardware was failing completely, and techs were scrambling to fix the problem, lest the expensive training session be canceled.
While the Cisco techs worked feverishly, I placed a Polycom conference phone on the speaker podium and used it to call the other learning centers. I told the people running the show at each location that I was firing up Microsoft's NetMeeting, then I gave them all my IP address and asked them to connect to me. I shared my desktop through NetMeeting, then I suspended a microphone over the Polycom phone so that everyone in the Dallas location could hear anything that was said at the remote locations. After a quick sound and video check with all the remote locations, we were in business.
As soon as I had everything ready-to-go through my unorthodox workaround, I turned to the Dallas audience and said, "You've just witnessed the successful deployment of a Microsoft software solution for a third-party hardware failure in real time." The audience erupted with applause, and the marketing folks at the back of the room who had organized the event were beaming with pride.
The rest of my presentation went off without a hitch, although the Cisco techs never got their hardware to work.
Of course, Microsoft NetMeeting is long gone, but in it's day - it was a handy, little piece of software that did amazing things.
Tags: Microsoft, Technology