They could do this with Google+ Hangout

I can see possibility with this but also issues - like everyone has to be
on google.
Im checking this out today

But this cant merge two live streams into one.

Why is it important to merge the streams?

Its like this: You and I are giving a talk to say 100 people.
We are usually in the same room working together but now
we are in different states and thus, still want this to workout
like it would be if we were side by side.

They dont have to be 'merged' but they do want to appear
as if they are side by side, so they can play off each other
and continue their work.

I don't know if you have the budget for a Tricaster, but it is probably the
best solution. It's a TV studio in a box. The base model, perhaps
refurbished on ebay, should come in at well under $1,000.

I was hoping not to go external to their OS's but, I'll check this out.

Whatever you us has to be compatible at both ends of the connection
and doing some digging there are plenty of ones that use browsers but
tend to be one-to-one and not what you are looking for.

Would help if we knew the name of the Windows Only software that was
tried out on Ubuntu.