Best way to have a conference with 6 people?
 

Hi

I need advice on how to have a conference with at least 6 people when they all are in different places (I'm talking about in another state).
I can either buy expensive video conference equipment that suppors multi-video streaming or think of another way.

Can you guys help me out?
I don't know about web-conference and if it would work. Giving each of the six person a laptop doesn't seem to be so effectively. Or...?
Have anybody solved this kind of problem/situation before?

Skype supports conference calls. Don't know about video though. MSN?

Go with the classic phone conference. You can't see each others expressions but thats the same with you too!

The problem with the classic phone conference is that you have to recognize the voice to know who's talking.

You can use NetMeeting. While you won't be able to see each other's faces if you don't have video equipment, you can use the Whiteboard feature to get ideas across which requires no additional hardware, and you can use the Chat feature where people can obviously be identified by their handles.

Anybody familiar with Microsoft's Live Chat Center or something?
Or is it called Vista Live Center? Any support for group video?

It's actually called Windows Meeting Space. It's pretty much the next version of NetMeeting for Windows Vista. It will serve you the same as NetMeeting.

I would recommend on premise web video conferencing appliances from RHUB Web Conferencing, Remote Support - RHUB Appliances. It can be used to conduct web as well as video conference.