June 4th, 2013
There are many reasons why people use a conference call provider like Zip Conferencing and the quality of the connection is certainly one of them. If you have ever tried doing a conference call using a phone system you know that as you add participants the quality of the connections gets worse the more you add. You really can’t talk like you are in the same room because most phone systems don’t allow what is called full duplex for multi-party calls and if someone is on a bad connection you can’t do anything about it. With Zip Conferencing you can adjust a number of things to improve the quality of the call if necessary. One of them is the volume.
Our system is sophisticated enough to work to even out the volume of all of the participants automatically but sometimes one person is on a particularly quiet connection. Or maybe the volume in your connection is actually too loud. With Zip Conferencing you can adjust the volume of your line into the conference call or the volume of the call itself. That way you can easily adjust the way the call sounds to you and to the other participants. You can accomplish this one of two ways. You can either use telephone commands to do it using touch tone commands on your telephone. Or you can use your PC to log into your audio conference and adjust the volume of callers using an interface. This comes in handy if you can’t tell who is causing noise into your conference. The interface has a talk icon that indicates the speaker so you can tell where the noise is coming from and adjust their volume or mute their line altogether. Many times with cell phones muting the line is the best thing to do.
So not only does our system provide a far superior experience in terms of call quality it also allows you to adjust things to make it even better. So instead of trying to manage conference calls with your phone system or using someone else’s service try Zip Conferencing and see why our quality and features are second to none.
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May 8th, 2013
Doing a presentation in front of an audience is scary enough for many people so the prospect of doing a large conference call and having to deal with the technical aspect as well as your presentation can be very scary. Well not to worry. Zip Conferencing has a couple of solutions that will give you the confidence to meet with hundreds or thousands of participants on a teleconference.
The first key to a successful large conference call is matching the right service to the situation. You can choose to go with an automated conference call or an operator assisted conference call and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Picking the right one will do a lot to ensuring a successful outcome. Here are the two types and some of their differences.
Automated Large Conference Call – With an automated large conference call the participants call into the system and enter a code and are placed in the meeting. You are probably familiar with this type of call as it is used with 3 or more participants. For a large number of participants there are a few settings that make this call different. The participants are placed on hold listening to music until the Host joins the call. And when the meeting begins the participants are in mute mode. Both of these features keep the noise out of the conference call. The advantages of this type of call is the participants are placed immediately into the conference so a large number of participants can join quickly. It is also less expensive than an operator assisted conference call. A disadvantage of this type of call is there is not an elegant way for the audience to interact with the Host through a Q & A session.
Operator Assisted Large Conference Call – With an Operator Assisted Large Conference Call participants are usually intercepted by an operator and joined into the meeting manually so that the operator can get information from the participant although an automated entry feature is available. The participants in this type of call are also placed on hold listening to music until the meeting starts and are in mute during the call. The difference is that the operator has the ability to conduct a Q & A session with the participants. Participants can raise their hand by pressing a button on their phone and the operator introduces them so they can ask their question. In fact the operator is there throughout the call to introduce speakers, close out the meeting and assist the Host if needed.
Either way, Zip Conferencing can take the worry out of the technology so you can concentrate on what is really important, your presentation.
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April 10th, 2013
I spend a lot of time telling you about all of the benefits of the conference calling service Zip Conferencing offers. It truly stands ahead of the pack when it comes to conference call value. But why would you listen to me? Now you don’t have to thanks to a positive review from Top Ten Reviews, a web site that reviews services available. Here is a link to the review for Zip Conferencing - TopTenReviews.
Here is an independent review of a number of conference call providers. It is always a little scary when someone reviews your service as you can never be sure if they were able to absorb all of the details of your service. And although this review is no different and a couple of details were missed they did a pretty good job of getting our information and rating our service. In the article they summarize our service and the availability of features and options. They also do a decent job trying to explain some of the features available from a conference call service.
Some of the things you should look for in any conferencing service are the availability of features with the service, the reliability and the ease of use. In this case the ease of use of our service was not tested which was unfortunate because I know that Zip Conferencing offers one of the easiest to use conference calling services available. And if that is important to you then I invite you to do what this tester has not done, test the service. Zip Conferencing offers a Free trial for anyone when you sign up for the service. So why not kick the tires yourself a little bit and see what all the fuss is about. And don’t just listen to me, go to the Top Ten Reviews site and read our review.
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March 27th, 2013
When people call into a conference call it is largely an impersonal experience. You dial into a machine that greets you with some sort of a standard greeting that says something like “Welcome to the Conference Center, please enter your pass code followed by the pound sign on your telephone.” And then you will hear “Your pass code has been confirmed. You will now join your conference. You will be the third person in the conference.” All very efficient and it certainly works to get people into a conference call. But how do people even know they are in the right call? And if you are trying to make a strong first impression on a customer or prospect how does it make them feel when they are not even sure if they are joining the right meeting. That’s where a customized greeting come in.
A customized greeting that plays when people join your call will really help in a number of ways. You can record a greeting that will play when people join your meeting. You can record anything you want and change it for each meeting if you like. It will put people at ease that they are joining the correct call. Or you can make people feel special since you took the time to welcome a particular guest into the meeting. Just like when you put a prospect’s logo on a presentation it helps welcome them and makes them feel special.
And getting a customized greeting into your meeting is really easy. It is simply one of the host controls that are available to you when you use the Moderator pass code to join a meeting. So before your meeting you just need to dial into your conference call as the moderator and press *32 on your telephone. The system will ask if you would like to record a personal greeting press 1 and then walk you through the rest of the process. When you are done you simply disconnect from the conference. Then whenever a participant joins your meeting they will hear the recording before they are placed into the call. If you create a new meeting you will have to record another personal greeting in that meeting if you want the recording to play into that meeting as well as the recording is associated with the pass code.
So why not make your conference call participants feel right at home and record a personal greeting for your next meeting.
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March 4th, 2013
That’s right, watch a conference call. And I don’t mean a video conference or even a web conference. With Zip Conferencing you can watch your audio conference. No secret cameras in your telephone either, just some cool technology that allows you to watch and control your plain old conference call from your PC. It makes it much easier to use the host controls available during the conference than using telephone keypad commands. There are no commands to remember as you can simply select your command from an intuitive interface displayed on your computer.
Not only is it easier to manipulate the conference call from your PC, you can also see the participants on the call so you always know how many participants are on and where they are calling from. This makes it easy to identify participants and gives you the security of knowing who is on the call at all times. You can even tell who is speaking as their is a talk icon on the screen as well.
From within the conference call you can mute participants and since you have a talk icon you can tell if one person is adding noise to your call and mute them. You can also lock the call which means no one can join the conference, not even one of our operators. The online application also makes it much easier to conduct a sub conference by marking participants and sending them to the sub conference. And if you need to add another participant you can even dial out to someone and add them to the call. When you are done with your meeting you can also end the conference call with the click of a button.
Conference calls are really convenient if you are on the road as you can dial into a meeting from anywhere. But if you are hosting a call and you are in front of your computer you should really try watching your call next time. You will find that there is no easier way to host a conference call.
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February 15th, 2013
Many times customers are interested in knowing how many participants were on their conference call or how long were they on the call. With Zip Conferencing you can get the details of your conference call emailed to you when the call has been completed. This is just one of many of the features you can control using the online tools supplied as part of the service. This particular feature is a conference option you can set up on a conference. And you can set it up so it only works on the one conference call or every one. Here are some of the options you can control accessing your account online.
Entry/Exit Tones – You can decide if you like to have a tone play when a participant joins or exits your conference call. You can set it so that the tones only play when someone enters the call. Or you can set it so they only play when someone exits. O r you can have it play for both entry and exit or not at all. You can even have the system record the participants name when the join the meeting and have that play instead of the tones.
Music on Hold – If you would prefer that participants not be able to talk to each other until you join the call you can set the system to play hold music before you join the meeting. And if you don’t want the participants to be able to talk with each other when the meeting is over you can also set the system to disconnect the call when you leave.
Post Conference Report – And if you want to have all the details of your conference call emailed to you upon completion of your meeting you can select the post conference report option. You will receive an email that shows the participants, their entry and exit times and even the number they were calling from when they joined the call.
To access these and other conference options you simply need to log into your account and go to your conferencing Hub where you can access the options for your conference.
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January 30th, 2013
Ever get on your conference call and had a difficult time getting everyone’s attention because they are already in a conversation? Maybe it is about the weather or the game last night but your time is valuable and all you want to do is start your meeting. The reason the participants are able to talk to each other before the start of the meeting is simply the way the conference call is set up. With some conference call service providers this is the way their system is set up and there is no other way. But with Zip Conferencing you have complete control over the options in the conference call including the feature you would use in this case, music on hold.
What music on hold does is that when participants join your conference call they listen to music until you, the host of the call, join the meeting. This prevents any discussion between participants before you join the meeting. That way when you join the meeting you are in control and can take the meeting in the direction you want from the very beginning. You can also set your conference call to disconnect all parties when you leave the call which prevents any discussion between the participants after you have left the meeting. From a control and security point of view this gives you the ultimate control over the meeting. This can be especially important if your participants are prospective customers for instance. You would not necessarily want your prospects talking before you get on the call. And it also helps keep meetings to their scheduled time as you can start and end a meeting on time every time.
With Zip Conferencing you can simply log onto your online account and access your conference call settings and select the options you prefer. For the music on hold feature you would select Music on Hold and to break up the conference call when you leave the meeting you would select End Conference when Moderator Exits in the conference options section. You can also control a number of other features that determine how your call operates. In addition you have access to Host Controls that are available during the call that enable you to perform several things such as mute all participants and record the conference.
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January 24th, 2013
It can be a bit intimidating for anyone who needs to speak in front of a large audience. And now add the need for them to deal with technology while they are trying to concentrate on the presentation and it can just be too much. With an Operator Assisted Conference Call you can stop worrying about the technology part as our operators will take care of everything. All you have to do is worry about your presentation and we will take care of the rest. A dedicated operator will do pre-conference planning with you and set up a communication line so you can speak to them during the call. They will even escort participants onto the call in an orderly fashion so you can conduct a Question and Answer session. All you have to do is get yourself to the meeting and speak. And the operator assisted conference call can be customized to support your specific needs. Here are just some of the options available on an operator assisted conference call with Zip Conferencing.
- Pre-Conference Support – A dedicated operator will meet with you before your meeting to go through all of the aspects of the call to make sure everyone is on the same page. Details will include any introductions, cues and instructions for how the meeting will be run.
- Customized Meeting Introduction – Our dedicated operator can start the meeting by introducing the hosts and topic of the meeting to the audience. They can also conclude the meeting with a customized exit script.
- Communication Line – A communication line during the operator assisted conference call enables the operator to speak to the host of the meeting during the call privately to confer on any instructions needed during the call. We can even establish a communication line to multiple hosts if necessary.
- Muted Participants – All participants will be muted during an operator assisted conference call while the host is speaking. This eliminates any noise the participants may otherwise introduce onto the call. An operator assisted conference call can support thousands of participants and have no issues with outside noise interfering with the presentation.
- Question & Answer Session – At the end of the leader’s presentation you can conduct a Question and Answer session. Participants will be instructed by the operator to press a command on their telephones if they wish to ask a question. The operator will then escort these participants onto the call one at a time so that they may ask their question.
- Polling Session – Using telephone keypad commands the operator can conduct a poll among the participants if instructed by the host of the call. The results of the poll can be announced on the call and retained for further study later.
- Attendance Report – You can have the participants register as they enter the meeting and then receive an attendance report after the meeting. In addition to their name, our operators can gather additional information like the company they are with so you know who attended your presentation.
- Recordings – The operator assisted conference call can be recorded and made available for people to dial into it later in case they missed the live meeting. You can also download a recording of the event for your archive or to post on your own web site for people to listen to.
So if you have a large event scheduled but are intimidated by the technology aspect, let our operators handle your call for a more professional presentation and peace of mind!
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December 13th, 2012
You have an important conference call scheduled with participants that are difficult to get together but all mandatory for the meeting to be successful and last minute one of the participants declines the meeting. Should you try to reschedule when you know it will be tough to get everyone together again soon? Why not use a conference call recording to allow the missing participant to stay informed without having to reschedule the entire meeting?
Conference call recordings with Zip Conferencing are easy to do, just hit the record button from within the meeting if you are logged in or touch *22 on your telephone keypad to initiate the recording. The recording will continue until the meeting is completed or you can pause the conference call recording by simply pressing *22 again. Once your meeting has completed you will receive an email with the information necessary to dial in and access the recording. You can send this to the participant who missed the meeting and they can dial into our system to listen to the call at their convenience. While they listen to the call they can pause, rewind and fast forward the recording. And the recording is accessible 24 hours a day so they can listen to the call when it is most convenient for them. The recording is stored for 30 days in our system and that storage can also be extended if necessary.
Another thing you can do with conference call recordings is get a copy of the conference call. You can download a copy by logging into your online access portal and downloading a copy to your computer. The recordings are available in multiple formats and you can also order a CD copy of the recording to be delivered to you.
With Zip Conferencing there is no cost to record your conference call so there is no reason not to record all your conference calls in case a participant misses the call or you want to recall a conversation later. If you then dial in to access the recording you are charged just as if you dialed into the live meeting. So why not use conference call recording to save the day?
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November 8th, 2012
Zip Conferencing is a New Jersey based business and up until last week I thought I had seen bad weather. The pictures of what the Hurricane Sandy did to New Jersey do not come close to describing the damage done. I do not know anyone that was not impacted by the hurricane. Whether it was wind damage or flood damage the storm did not leave a piece of New Jersey untouched. Despite the untold damage the storm caused and the power outages that still linger, our conference call services were never affected. That is because we have taken many steps to make sure our services remain available in the worst conditions and even though we designed it that way it was very satisfying to see that every disaster plan worked impeccably. As a conference call services provider we take our role in your business seriously and know that especially during disasters like Sandy you need our services more than ever. Over the past week our services have played an important role in communications. Here are some of the ways that people have used our services during the hurricane.
Disaster Planning Coordination – Conference calls provide the ability to bring many departments together to coordinate efforts in preparation for a disaster like a hurricane. The preparation period can make the difference between business continuity and not. A conference call makes sure everyone is on the same page and all departments know what everyone else is doing.
Employee Communication – After something like a hurricane hits a conference call with all employees can provide them the information they need like whether the office will be open. By making sure that all employees get the same message you will alleviate a lot of anxiety.
Department Meetings – If your office can’t open then conference calls provide the means to continue to hold meetings and conduct your business. With Web Conferencing services you can conduct meetings just like you are in the office.
Make sure you are ready for the next disaster like Hurricane Sandy. Sign up for our conference call services today. You will not be charged unless you use the service so why not have the service ready in case you need it?
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October 4th, 2012
Many of us who have done conference calls have also experienced the problem of leaving a line connected to the call for an extended period of time. This issue becomes apparent when you look at a usage report or invoice. It is usually quite apparent when there is one line connected for hours after the end of the call. It usually happens when people are in a conference room with a speaker phone and no one remembers to hang up the phone when they leave the room. Unlike many providers, Zip Conferencing has a system in place to look out for these issues. Our conferencing system will actually call out to a single line conference and require that line to press a command on their phone or it will disconnect the line after a period of time to prevent extended single line connections. This fail safe will certainly work but an even better way to prevent this from happening is using the host controls to disconnect the conference call.
As host of the call you can disconnect all participant lines with the *93 command. This is usually used to make sure all connections are hung up at the end of the call. But it can also be used to disconnect all participants if you are doing back to back conference calls and you want to get the current participants off the call. That way you know that the participants on the first call do not linger onto the next call. When you use the *93 command you disconnect all participants but retain your connection to the conference call. That way you don’t have to dial back into the call as the host. This additional security measure is reassuring to hosts who are concerned about the participants who attend their calls.
Explore all of the host controls available with Zip Conferencing on our web site.
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September 21st, 2012
It wasn’t that long ago that we used to tell people not to use their cell phone on a conference call because there was too high a risk for noise in the meeting. Many times people would tell us there was static or noise on the call and when we joined the call we usually tracked down someone on a cell phone introducing noise into the call. And the coverage for cell phones was so bad the participant on the cell phone would miss most of the call anyway. Well today there is little chance that someone will not be on a cell phone during a conference call but many of the same challenges to noise on the call exist. So what can you do to reduce noise in your conference call?
- Mute your Line – The best thing to do if you are using a cell phone is to mute your line unless you are speaking. Conference call bridges have technology that makes sure that all participant’s lines are loud and clear and if there is noise around you all participants will hear it. With the conference call service from Zip Conferencing it is simple to mute your line using our system. This is handy if you don’t know where the mute control is on your phone and our system confirms that your line is muted. That way there are no mistakes with thinking your line is muted when it isn’t. All you have to do is hit *6 on your telephone and your line is muted. To unmute your line simply hit *6 again.
- Mute all Participants – If you are the host of the conference call you can mute all participants on a conference. This comes in handy if there is a large number of participants. With more than 10 participants even if no one is on a cell phone there will be noise on the call as participants shuffle papers on their desk, etc. To mute all participants just touch *96 on your phone and to unmute them touch *97. You can control the noise and just open up the lines when you want people to be able to interact.
Don’t let noise take away from the content of your next meeting. Control the noise and you will have a more effective meeting.
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August 24th, 2012
Conference calls can be very impersonal. Everyone calls into a system that tells you to put in a pass code and then joins you to a conference call. How do you even know you are on the right conference call? For all you know you entered the wrong pass code and you are sitting there waiting for the wrong host to join the call. With some luck you might not be the first one on the call and someone is there you know. But what if this is a new meeting and the participants don’t even know each other? As the host of the meeting what can you do to greet the callers in case they join before you do? Or maybe you have the participants listening to music before you join the call how do you let them know they are in the right place. If the participants are sitting there for a few minutes just listening to music they will get restless not know if they are in the right meeting. Or maybe you know you are going to be a few minutes late for the meeting. How do you tell the participants you are running late?
The answer to all of these situations is to record a quick greeting for your participants. That way when they join the conference call they will know they are in the right meeting. And if you are running late they will know to wait on the call until you are able to join. With Zip Confernecing it is easy to record a customized greeting for your conference. When participants enter the conferencing pass code they will be joined to the meeting and your personalized greeting will play for them. If you have a regular meeting you can record a greeting once and it will play every time you join the call. That way everyone will know they are in the right meeting. If you hold meetings with prospects you can record a greeting specific to their meeting which will make a very professional introduction to your company.
To enable this feature you simply need to call into the conference call as the Moderator and enter *32 after you join the call. The prompts will guide you through the process of recording a personalized greeting for your meeting. In no time at all your meeting will be personalized with whatever greeting you want. Just one more way the features with Zip Conferencing allow you to customize the way your conference calls work.
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August 17th, 2012
Thanks to our easy to use technology, recording a conference call with Zip Conferencing is easy and its free. That’s right even if you never do anything with it why not record every conference call just in case. We store them for 30 days and if you need it its there. There could be any number of reasons to record a call and all you have to do is enter a simple command using your telephone when you join your meeting. The recording will stop automatically when the conference ends. You will receive an email from the system when the recording is ready. Then you can access the recording if you need to a few different ways.
- The easiest thing to do is simply dial into our system and listen to the recording. This is especially helpful if someone misses the conference call. You can provide them with the dial in and access information for the recording and they can dial in when it is convenient for them and listen to the call. Commands allow the listener to start, stop, pause, forward and reverse the recording. In accessing the recording you simply pay the same as if the person dialed into the conference call when it was live.
- You can also download a copy of the recording. If you want to retain a copy of the call or post a file on your web site you can download a copy of the recording from your online account. The recordings come in a variety of formats and will simply save as a file on your computer. A fee of $25 is charged if you download a recording of your call.
- Or you can order a CD of the recording. We will download the recording for you and place it on a CD and send to you. The recording is available in a variety of formats. The fee for a CD recording of your conference call is $25 plus shipping and handling.
So why not record your next conference call just in case you need it.
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August 10th, 2012
We get asked all the time if our service is like Go to Meeting web conferencing. And the answer is yes and no. Web Conferencing is a generic term that relates to meeting online using the web to share presentations and files with participants on a conference call. And we have not put a special name to our service because that simply is what it is, web conferencing. And so is Go to Meeting. But when you compare the two there are some pretty dramatic differences between the our services.
- Our price is the first thing you notice where our web conferencing service is only $39 a month for unlimited service with up to 125 participants and Go to Meeting is $49 for up to 15 participants.
- Our audio conferencing service is world class audio with access in 60+ countries where their service has access in only 17 countries.
- When guests use our service they do not have to download any software to participate but with Go to Meeting all users must download 18.2 MB of software to join a meeting. Sometimes this is problematic as companies sometimes limit the ability to download software for their employees.
- Our Web Conferencing service has a persistent, customizable URL that makes it convenient to meet. You can even customize the colors and insert your company logo onto the meeting page which makes the service integrate into your companies web experience.
- If you use the video conferencing feature you will notice that our service has an active talker mechanism that follow who is speaking and features their video on the screen for all to see.
- And lastly the platform our service is built on is Flash technology which 99.9% of all computers have installed since you need Flash to surf the internet effectively. The Go to Meeting service is built on Java which is not on all computers and if your computer has an out of date version you will need to download a current version in order to join the conference.
So bottom line, you and your guests will have an easier, richer experience with Web Conferencing than you would with Go to Meeting. If you want to see for yourself take our Free 30 day trial of the service and compare. I think you too will choose Web Conferencing.
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May 22nd, 2012
Given the fact that everyone these days has a mobile phone the chances are you or some of your participants are going to attend conference calls from you mobile phone. But if you have ever attended a conference call that has a mobile phone participant on it you know there may be some challenges to holding an effective meeting. So what are some of the things that can help if you know that you or your participants may attend an audio conference from a mobile phone? Here are a few things you can do to help have a productive meeting.
- Provide User Friendly Invitations – Just connecting to a conference call using a mobile phone can be a challenge, especially if you are in a moving vehicle. So the first thing you can do is provide an invitation that allows the participants to join with one click in the invitation. With Zip Conferencing you can provide the call information in the following format:
Be sure to include these sequences in the body of your meeting invitations via email or text.
Note: For Blackberry users, use this sequence:
000-111-2222×123456#
(your conference bridge number)x(passcode)#
For iPhone and other mobile devices, use this sequence:
000-111-2222,123456
(your conference bridge number),(passcode)
From your smart phone, simply highlight/click the conference dial-in number and passcode sequence and your mobile device will automatically dial and connect you to the meeting.
- Get Off the Road – I am sure you know that being on a call using your mobile phone while moving can introduce noise into the call. When on a conference call everyone will hear the noise. And you will be safer and be able to focus on the call if you simply pull over and attend the meeting without moving.
- Mute Yourself – Okay, everyone is not going to listen to that last piece of advice, so make sure to mute yourself if you are in a situation where you will be introducing noise into the conference call. You can use the mute function on your phone or with Zip Conferencing you can use our star commands to mute and unmute your line in the conference. Simply press *6 to mute and then *6 to unmute you line during the call.
- Be Aware as Host – As Host of the call if you know some participants are on mobile devices you should ask them to mute themselves. And when you call on a participant be aware that it may take a moment for them to unmute and respond to your request.
Mobile devices are a wonderful thing and work well with conference calls if you accommodate for the potential noise they can introduce into the call.
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March 30th, 2012
I have been in the teleconferencing industry since 1995 and like other forms of communication the conference call is now considered a simple commodity by most people. It is just a conference call, right? Aren’t they all the same? You dial in, enter a pass code and have your meeting and that’s it, right? Well, as an insider I have to tell you there are similarities today since all automated services work the same in a general sense. But there are a number of differences in conference call services and some are probably important to you. Here are some of the areas that you should look at if you are looking for a conference call service.
- Quality and Reliability – Most people take it for granted that the conference call service they use will work when they need it to but just like cell phone networks, not all networks are built the same. Let’s face it, if the service doesn’t work nothing else matters. So how do you know if a service is high quality and will be reliable? The quality can be tested usually as most conference call service providers offer some type of free trial. Take advantage of the trial and test drive the service before you buy it. As far as reliability is concerned you need to look under the covers a bit. Find out if the company has power back up systems, back up networks and multiple network carriers available. These are just some of the steps that Zip Conferencing has taken to ensure you get the highest quality, most reliable service available.
- Conference Call Features – Most people just want to have a dial in number and a pass code and be able to talk to a group on the telephone. The essence of a conference call. And that is what many conference call services offer. But what if you need to record the call or you decide to hold a call with 50 people on it or maybe you want to hold a sub-conference? It may happen and if your service is not full featured like Zip Conferencing you could find yourself looking for another service in a pinch.
- Options – The way a conference call behaves is usually set by the provider. Whether you get a tone when people join a call or participants listen to music is dependent on the whim of the person who set up the way the company’s equipment behaves. But some providers, like Zip Conferencing, allow you to change these options and be in control of the way the service works. Why not use a service where you choose how your conference call works?
- Support – Hopefully you don’t need a lot of support from your conferencing provider. But chances are at some point you will have a question, concern or need assistance while on a conference call. So make sure you have support when you need it. Zip Conferencing offers support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year including operator support on the calls themselves. Fully covered by support is the only way to go.
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March 14th, 2012
Conference calls have been replacing in person meetings for years now. In fact some estimates say that over the next 10 years remote meetings could constitute up to 70 percent of total meetings. It is simply too compelling a financial and productivity argument for business not to take teleconferencing seriously. But you have to be aware that even though today’s conference call and web conferencing services have done a lot to provide you with the tools to conduct a remote meeting the dynamics are different. Not being face to face presents a whole other set of challenges to holding an effective meeting. Some of the things to keep in mind are common to an in person meeting but knowing and practicing good conference call etiquette will make your remote meetings as effective as possible. Here are some of the things to keep in mind when you do a remote meeting.
- Provide participants with an agenda for the meeting ahead of time. This will get people ready for the meeting. Time will not be wasted as people get their thoughts around a subject.
- Define the goals for the meeting. It may just be a project status meeting but you always have a goal and letting people know that we are meeting to go through the project due dates will let everyone know that you are going to go through all of the dates for your project.
- Like any meeting, conference call etiquette means you respect the other participant’s time. Keep the meeting short as possible to meet your goals and have a defined end time so people can plan their day. Being consistent about starting and ending your meetings on time will help with your audience participation as people know what to expect.
- Avoiding interruptions is one of the biggest rules in conference call etiquette. It is very difficult when everyone is not in the same room to keep everyone’s attention. Instruct people in the use of the mute function on your conference call service in the front of the meeting. Much better to have participants muting themselves when they don’t need to speak than to hear the dog barking in the background when the doorbell rings or have the son or daughter make the unwanted entrance onto the call.
- Everyone should introduce themselves before they speak. It is difficult to know who is talking all the time unless they do since you cannot see the person.
- With no visual cues available to your audience make sure of what you say and how you say it. The tone of your voice says a lot and thoughtful comments are appreciated but too much emotion introduced into the call can cause issues.
So take advantage of the wonderful services that are available for remote meetings but mind your conference call etiquette and you will have a lot more success!
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February 28th, 2012
The high growth in conference calling over the past 15 years has been primarily because our industry made it easy to use and convenient by introducing pass code reservationless conferences. Also, in the same time frame, Microsoft introduced Outlook for email, calendar and contact information which has simplified the scheduling of meetings for companies allowing you to share calendar information with contacts via email. Now Zip Conferencing has added conference call Outlook integration with its system to allow you to easily incorporate your conference call meeting information into a meeting invite within Outlook. Here are some of the advantages of integrating these technologies.
- Ease of Scheduling – First and foremost is the ease with which you can now schedule a conference call with your contacts. Without conference call Outlook Integration you need to get your conference call access numbers and pass codes to your participants via an email where you are simply typing in or copying and pasting the information. The conference call information is not part of the system so you need to get it from somewhere and put it into an email. Now with out Outlook toolbar you simply press on the meeting button in your Outlook, select the time and day of the meeting and forward the meeting invitation to your participants. They receive a regular Outlook meeting invite with the conference call information already incorporated into the meeting request.
- Meeting Information Availability – By using conference call Outlook integration the conference call information is always part of the meeting invitation so when it comes time for the meeting you simply open it in Outlook and the dial in information is already there. No need to refer to another piece of information for the dial in access number or pass code.
- One Interface – Outlook becomes your single interface for scheduling meetings and conducting meetings as the tool also allows you to start your audio or web conference from within Outlook. All contacts that are in your contact database are available to invite to your meetings and all functions of scheduling meeting with your participants are at your disposal.
With the Outlook toolbar we have made scheduling a conference call as easy as scheduling any other meeting in Outlook with your conference call information always at your fingertips. For more information about the Outlook toolbar and other reasons why Zip Conferencing is the best choice for your conferencing needs visit www.zipconferencing.com
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February 20th, 2012
I have been in the teleconferencing industry over 17 years and despite all the new technologies that have come about in that time audio conferencing services remain in high demand. Why do conference call services continue to grow year after year? Here are several reasons why audio conferencing services are still growing faster than some of the newer services like web conferencing.
- Simplicity – Ever since the reservationless pass code conference call was invented audio conferencing services have grown at a rapid rate because it became easy to use. Before this type of conference call an operator had to call out to all of the participants and put them into a conference. It was difficult to get all of the participants because they had left their desk or wherever it was we were calling into. And you also had to schedule these calls in advance with the conferencing services company. It just was not an easy to use service. Once that changed it became simple for everyone to do a conference call. And as more and more people participated on an automated conference call and experienced how easy it was to do the more the service grew. There has not been a new teleconferencing service invented that is easier to use than regular phone conferencing.
- Convenience – These days with the widespread use of cell phones people can be just about anywhere and use audio conferencing services. If you are trying to use a web conferencing service you need to be at your computer in order to see the presentation or manipulate the conference. With regular conference calls you just need to be on a telephone. And despite the power of the visual element in a meeting many times all you really need to do with people is talk over issues, project statuses etc. and there is no need to share a presentation or anything else as part of the call.
- Cost – Audio conferencing services have come down in price to where any business can afford to use them. In fact, the smaller the business the more imperative it is to use conferencing services to save time and money. You really can’t afford to not use conference call services. Even people in their personal lives are discovering that a conference call can come in very handy to bring families and groups together.
So it really is no surprise that audio conferencing services are still growing rapidly despite all of the new services available it is tough to beat what works.
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January 31st, 2012
It is fantastic that companies are trying to go green these days and conference calls offer an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint and increase your productivity. So how do you use conference calls to go green? Some areas may may seem obvious but here are a few of the ways that using conferencing can help your company go green.
- Reduce Car Travel – Naturally the use of travel to attend a meeting is one of the biggest ways to reduce your use of resources through the use of conference calls. Usually if there is a meeting there will also be a number of attendees so the reduction in car travel is compounded by the number of attendees. And not everyone drives a Eco-friendly vehicle so the amount of emissions saved can be astounding.
- Reduce Air Travel – Now take that reduction in car travel and multiply by ten. If you have to travel by plane to a meeting you are not just taking part in the emissions from the air plane but the car resources to get to the airport and then to the meeting and everything in between. Audio conferencing eliminates the need to travel to your meeting.
- Reduce Office Resource Use – Even though the office your business is in is probably open whether you show up or not you won’t be contributing to the use of resources in the office when you are there. Just your body heat requires that much more air conditioning or heating. The lights in your office if you are in a private office can be turned off and so forth.
- Reduce Use of Office Supplies – If you do more meeting remotely you will find yourself doing more electronically. When you do a presentation using web conferencing you can still have hand outs but doing them electronically saves the paper, ink and electricity to print them. In offices there are also a lot of non-renewable waste like a coffee cup you get on the way to the office for instance. If you are home you are apt to use a coffee mug that will simply be washed and reused.
The reality is that conferencing technology has gotten to where you can hold a remote meeting with all of the resources you would use in an in person meeting including a video connection for much less than than the cost of a regular meeting. So if you simply think twice about whether your meeting is necessary to be attended in person or not you can really reduce the resources you use and save money and increase productivity while you do it.
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January 26th, 2012
Audio Conferencing is one of those things that I wonder what we did without it. And not just because I am in the business. Conference calls are so wide spread that I just can’t imagine life without them. Especially if you are a road warrior or even just someone who finds themselves out of the office on a regular basis. After all let’s face it there is a lot of down time when you are on the road and there is no reason you can’t remain productive. Because audio conferencing can really save a road trip. There are any number of ways that conferencing can save the day on the road.
- Attend Regular Meetings – When you are out of the office there is no need to miss the regular meetings that keep you in touch. Simply get an audio conference set up and hold the meeting from the road.
- Impromptu Meetings – You get the email and need to pull a group together but you are hundreds of miles away. No problem, just use audio conferencing to pull together the people you need to discuss whatever situation is thrown at you.
- Handle Emergencies – Every business gets hit with an emergency from time to time and customers know that as well. It is how you handle the emergencies that will distinguish you. Pulling together the people necessary to deal with the emergency and making sure everyone is on the same page will do a lot to contain any issues the emergency will uncover. Audio conferencing allows you to pull together the emergency team in a moments notice no matter where you are at the time.
- Personal Use – Yes, personal use. I bet you have not used a conference call for your personal use before but for all the same reasons it can really help. If there is a personal emergency or even if you just want to congratulate a son or daughter on a big accomplishment why not get everyone on the phone at the same time?
So the next time you are getting ready to go on the road and you are packing make sure you bring along audio conferencing. You never know when you might need it and it can really save your road trip.
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January 18th, 2012
Everyone likes to save money but can you trust low cost conference calls to be high quality? The answer is yes, but you still need to be careful to choose a low cost conference call provider that has taken the steps necessary to provide high quality conference calls. So what are the things you should look for if you are looking for a conference call company? Here are a few of things to look for when you are shopping for a conference call service provider.
Direct Digital Connections – One of the most important areas to ensure a high quality conference call is where the equipment is connected to the telephone network. It may sound like a simple idea but having a direct digital connection to the long distance carrier’s network is not always available or provided depending on the location of the conferencing equipment and the carrier and other factors. Zip Conferencing maintains direct digital connections with its long distance carriers that enables us to provide the clearest connections possible.
New Equipment – Conferencing bridges are the pieces of equipment that make conference calls possible and having the latest equipment ensures that you are getting the best quality and latest features available. Zip Conferencing has the latest conference bridges available and provides its customers more features than most other conferencing companies.
Back Up Systems – A big part of providing high quality low cost conference calls is making sure the service is reliable and available when you need it. After all, no matter how good the service is if it is out of service it is no good. Zip Conferencing maintains back up conferencing equipment that is available without interruption of service in the event of an equipment failure.
Back up Power – Just like the equipment, if there is a power outage your conferencing service will be out of service unless they maintain back up power. Zip Conferencing has battery and generator back up power that ensures the equipment will remain in service indefinitely in the event of a power outage.
Support – Many low cost conference call providers have limited support for their customers which certainly helps maintain low cost but also leaves you in the dark if you need assistance. Zip Conferencing has support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and is even available to join you on your conference call if you need assistance.
Zip Conferencing shows that you can have high quality low cost conference calls. Make sure the conferencing provider you use can say the same thing.
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January 11th, 2012
Conference calls are used by businesses in every industry because they are still the most convenient and cost effective way to meet with people across distances large and small. And because of this conference calls are used by a variety of people. And luckily, people are different and have different tastes in things so why not conference calls too? You should not have to eat the same flavor of conferencing options as everyone else in the world and not even in the same company. So Zip Conferencing has designed a system that allows every conference moderator to customize their calls with a variety of options. Here are just some of the things you can control on your conference calls.
Entry/Exit Tones – The system will play a tone across the conference when a participant joins or exits a call. You can control if the tone plays only when someone joins or only when someone exits are not at all.
Music on Hold – Many times people will want their participants to be able to talk to each other when they join the conference call even if the moderator of the call has not yet joined. But if you would like you can make it so the participants listen to music on hold until the moderator joins the call.
Name Announce – Instead of just playing a tone when someone joins your conference call you can have the system record their names when they join the call and play it across the conference. You can even conduct a roll call when you join the call as the moderator and have all of the names played.
Post Conference Report – Ever wonder how long your conference call was and how many participants were on it? Our system allows you to receive a post conference report by email following your call that details the number of participants, the time they joined the call and even the number they dialed in from.
So why settle for the vanilla of conference calls when you can have any flavor you want? Customize your conference calls today with Zip Conferencing.
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January 3rd, 2012
Happy New Year! I hope you had a good 2011 and you have an even better 2012. It looks like the economy could be on its way for better year which means we will all be that much busier. If you are still on the side lines it is time to use conference call services to help you get the most out of your time in 2012. Let’s face it, the past couple of years have meant downsizing and ultimately more work for those that still have a job. And management expects everyone to do more with less. So if you are looking for ways to save some money and increase productivity for yourself or those around you a quality conference call service is just the ticket for you in 2012. Although there are many benefits to using conference calls for your business there are none more powerful than saving time and money.
Save Money – Conference call services have enjoyed extraordinary growth over the past 15 years partly due to all the money a conference call saves compared to an in person meeting. Even if your meeting is fairly local it still costs money to get everyone together. When you start traveling the cost really adds up. If you are traveling by car there is the gas, tolls and mileage you are going to incur when you go to the meeting. And if the meeting is across the country the costs are even greater with airline, rental car, hotels and restaurants all figured into the mix. And I am sure you have noticed that none of these costs have gone down over the past few years. But remarkably the costs of conference call services have declined over the past few years to all time lows. For a combined cost of just a few dollars a group of people can get together and hold a meeting even if the participants are spread across the country. And if you use a web conference along with the conference call you can have all the same tools at your disposal as if you were in a meeting room.
Save Time – If you are one of the many companies trying to do more with less resources you know how important your productivity is. Wasting time in traffic or airports and airplanes can really cost you. If you never had to travel to a customer again as a salesperson how many more customers could you sell? I am certainly not advocating you never see a customer again but reducing the number of in person meetings increases the time you can spend acquiring new customers or dealing with the ones you already have. A quality conference call service gives you everything you need to meet with people over great distances and be as productive as possible.
So I am sure when you look back on 2011 like me you will wonder where it went. Time flies and there really is no time to waste. So make 2012 the year you embrace conference call services and use our services to your advantage. You will be glad you did.
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December 19th, 2011
If you are looking for a new conference call services provider you should ask for an audio conferencing demo before you choose your provider. After all companies can claim quality and reliability but how do you know what you are buying unless you try it first? Especially if you are going to make a commitment with all of your company’s conference call business. An Audio Conferencing Demo will let you try all of the features that come with audio conferencing so you can decide if the features fit your needs as well. With Zip Conferencing every customer that signs up for a Monthly Minute Plan gets their first 60 minutes FREE so they can try the service out and also access all of their account features. Here are just some of the things that you can do with the Zip Conferencing Audio Conferencing Demo.
- Online Account Access – With every audio conferencing demo you have access to all of your online account management tools. You can access conference options where you are able to control many aspects of the conference call like the entry and exit tones, music on hold and post conference reporting. You can even control your conference call from your PC where you can adjust volume, mute participants and record the conference call.
- Conference Call Features – During the audio conferencing demo itself you can try out the many features available using a touch tone phone. Like the online controls you can also control the volume, muting, conduct sub-conferences and record the conference call using commands on your telephone.
- Conference Call Quality – And probably the most important thing you can experience during your audio conferencing demo is the call quality. The only way to really test a conference call for its quality is to do a call and see for yourself. Join with as many participants as you like and see if you aren’t impressed with the quality of the call.
Zip Conferencing is proud of the network we have built for our conference calls and is happy to provide every Monthly Plan customer with the opportunity to try the service and see for the themselves just how good the call sounds. And the online features available to users means that you will be able to control virtually every aspect of the conference call so you can have it just the way you want it. There is no need to settle for a conference call service that only provides one flavor when you can decide exactly what you want. Try Zip Conferencing’s audio conferencing demo today!
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December 12th, 2011
I remember when large companies that did a lot of conference calls would naturally think about getting a conference call bridge of their own because they could save a lot of money over time instead of using a service. This made a lot of sense 15 years ago when the average rate for a conference call service was 50 cents per minute. Companies that were spending literally millions of dollars a year on a conference call service could buy a conference call bridge for $100,000+ and make up the amount spent in capital dollars rather quickly. But now that the rates have come down for a conference call service does it still make any sense to look for a conference call bridge? Here are a few things to think about if you are shopping for a conference call bridge.
- Cost of the Equipment – The cost of a conference call bridge has also come down just like the rates for conference calls. But as I point out, the cost of the conference call bridge is just the first cost you will need to pay. The cost of the equipment varies greatly as well depending on the type of equipment you get and whether you are going to connect it to an IP connection or regular phone circuits. But even if someone gives you a conference call bridge you may want to think again before you accept it because the cost of the equipment is a one time cost but the other costs will be with you forever.
- Telecommunications Cost- Once you have a conference call bridge you need to conenct it to the network so people can talk to each other. No matter what type of connection you have for the equipment you will need to dedicate circuits to the bridge. The cost of the circuits is a monthly constant and then you need to pay for the usage on the circuits because even with an IP type connection you still have to have telephone numbers come into the circuits and if you want a toll free connection that is another factor.
- Maintenance Cost – The equipment, like any PC or similar piece of equipment will need to be maintained. The company that sold you the equipment may discount the equipment itself but they will always get you with the maintenance. You really can’t let maintenance lapse as you will want support if somethings goes wrong.
- Personnel Cost – Even an automated type conference call bridge is going to eat up personnel resources in your company. Someone needs to maintain the equipment, add users, troubleshoot, etc. So you need to make sure you have someone in your company that is technically savvy enough to deal with all of the elements involved.
As you can see, buying and maintaining your own conference call bridge is not an easy proposition. It is easy to see why the conference call services industry continues to grow. You are generally much better concentrating on what you do best and leaving the conference calls to the experts like Zip Conferencing.
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December 6th, 2011
It is the time of year for holiday parties but today many businesses have remote employees scattered around the country so why not include all of your employees with a virtual holiday party using a conference call service? For most businesses it is just too costly to bring all of your employees in for a holiday party but there is no reason not to include them in the festivities. Using a conference call service you can connect all of your remote employees into the party and have them still participate and interact with the rest of your employees. Today you can host a virtual party easily using conference call services like audio conferencing and web conferencing. The technology today allows you to share the audio, any presentation materials you may use and even video of the event while it is taking place. And the cost of the event will not break your budget.
Audio Conferencing – The simplest way to connect your remote participants to your virtual holiday party using a conference call service is by using a conference call. You certainly may not keep a conference call up for the full duration of the party but usually management likes to take a minute in the beginning or end of the vent to thank and recognize employees for the past year’s accomplishments. So if you establish a conference call for the beginning of the party you can include the remote participants easily in the festivities. After announcements you can end the conference call portion and continue with the party but at least your remote employees were included at the beginning.
Web Conferencing – With Web Conferencing you can provide a visual aspect to your virtual holiday party. If you do any employee recognition you can provide a presentation that includes the names and their achievements and a picture of the recipient so all participants can be included. Most conference call services that provide web conferencing have desktop video included as well. So if you have a desktop video camera you can have the remote employees see the venue and be seen as well. If you want to get real elaborate you can have your A/V source provide a large screen to enhance this interaction. The remote participants can also interact using web conferencing tools so they feel like a part of the party.
Zip Conferencing is a conference call service provider that has all the tools you need to do virtual meetings for any event including your virtual holiday party. Speak to a representative today who can assist you in planning your next remote event.
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December 1st, 2011
I have been in the teleconferencing industry since 1995 and since then there have been technologies come along that were going to eliminate audio conferencing several times. But every time the new technology has helped augment audio conferencing but never really threatened to eliminate what is still the most cost effective and easiest way to meet with a group of people. That is why when I started Zip Conferencing I decided to make sure I built the best audio conferencing company first. After that whether it is web conferencing or video conferencing or whatever the latest technology is the company would have the foundation of being a really great audio conferencing company and could easily adopt and layer other technologies on top of that. Over the years the two technologies that were going to replace audio conferencing but instead have only helped grow audio conferencing usage are web conferencing and video conferencing. Here are some reasons why these are complimentary services and will never eliminate the need for audio conferencing.
- Video Conferencing – Video conferencing has been around for along time and in my 16 years in the industry I have heard lots of reasons why this technology has not been widely adopted. I have also seen efforts over the years to “fix” these problems with video conferencing only to see the adoption rate remain sluggish at best. At first it was very expensive so it was not widely available. Only very large companies had access to the technology necessary to conduct an effective video conference. Today you can conduct a video conference from your desktop for very little money. The technology and network bandwidth is basically universally available. But people simply do not use video conferencing all that much except maybe for personal use to speak to loved ones from great distances. I think the biggest hurdle to wide adoption of this technology is the aversion of the participants to being in front of the camera. Most people I know do not like being in front of a video camera and looking at their own image on a screen. As an audio conferencing company this is music to my ears.
- Web Conferencing – Web conferencing has seen tremendous growth since its introduction in the late 1990s because it has become easy to use, inexpensive and it mimics the way we meet with others. You can literally do anything on a web conference today that you can do in a conference room. It even has video conferencing built in if you want it but most people simply want to share their desktop or do a remote presentation. And the audio portion of the call is still done over a conference call system through an audio conferencing company. This means that the audio quality is just as good as a normal conference call. And as an audio conferencing company I am happy because we can provide both services and people tend to meet longer because they can have more effective meetings.
So, first and foremost, Zip Conferencing will always be an audio conferencing company first.
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November 17th, 2011
Okay, I am going to date myself a little with this post but what the heck. I spoke to someone the other day and he mentioned how he used to work for MShow and it brought back lots of fond memories. MShow was one of the first web conferencing providers and like the others at the time the way it all worked was with web conferencing software. You see back then, sounds like a long time ago but it was only the late 1990s, the Internet was still in its infancy and everyone didn’t have a broadband connection. Many of the things we now take for granted just did not exist. And in this environment someone had the brilliant idea that it would be great if people could share their computer screens across a network or do presentations and so web conferencing software was invented. And MShow was one of the leaders.
The way web conferencing software worked back then was every computer that you wanted to do a web conference with had to have the software installed prior to the conference call. And at the time downloading software on the Internet was not commonplace either. So you literally had to have the CD ahead of time and install web conferencing software. Once you had the web conferencing software installed you still needed a little help doing a web conference with more than one other computer. The company I worked for at the time actually built one of the first web conferencing bridges we had ever heard about. We rigged up a computer with a network hub attached to it because you literally needed a network connection for each participant. Pretty laughable now but we were able to get 5 computers on a web conference at a time, amazing! MShow ended up being acquired by a large conferencing service provider and Webex came along and the rest as they say is history.
Today, conferencing service providers like Zip Conferencing provide web conferencing services that accomodate over 100 participants and there is not even a need to download any web conferencing software. Zip Conferencing uses Flash which is already installed in everyone’s PC to enable the web conference. Everyone has a broadband connection to the Internet and it is easier than ever to do a web conference where you can share your computer screen, do a presentation and even share video from your desktop. Amazing. Like I said I am going to date myself a little bit but it was only 14 years ago that we were trying to figure out how to get 5 computers on a web conference at the same time. I wonder what the next 14 years will hold.
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November 15th, 2011
Most people use the basics audio conference call and never access any of the features available. It could just be that people are busy and learning anything new is more of a chore than they would like to deal with when they are simply trying to do a conference call. I certainly understand that. Every time I get a new cell phone it takes until I am ready to turn it in for a new one to learn all of the things you can do with it. But the audio conference call features that Zip Conferencing offers can make your life easier in the end. So instead of making you go somewhere to learn the audio conference call features yourself I thought I would list a few here and explain how they work. All of these features are accessible during the conference call by using commands on your telephone keypad.
- Volume Control – How many times have you been on a conference call and had a hard time hearing a participant? Our audio conference call features enable you to increase and decrease the volume of the conference call. You can also control the volume of your line into the conference call. That way if you are too loud or soft you can also adjust the volume of your line.
- Mute Control – As leader of the audio conference call you can mute all participants. This is especially helpful if you have a large number of participants and you need to make a presentation or announcement. You can also un-mute all participants to allow them to provide feedback. Also, you and your participants can mute and un-mute yourselves during the conference call.
- Dial Out Capability – Did someone forget to dial in to the conference call? Instead of calling them and reminding them to join the audio conference call you can simply dial out to them and add them to the call.
- Sub-Conferences – Many times during the conference call you may want to have a side conversation with one or more participants. You can quickly and easily establish a sub-conference and have a private conversation with one or more participants and then rejoin the conference call.
- Conference Call Recording – If you would like to retain a copy of your conference call or have a participant who missed the call be able to dial in later to listen to it you can easily record the call. You can start and stop the recording during the conference call as well.
You may not use the audio conference call features all the time but it is good to know they are there if you need them.
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November 8th, 2011
If you have been shopping for an audio conference calling service you may think that the only difference is price. But there are actually some big differences between audio conference calling service companies. And if you are not careful you may not get what you thought you were getting. Here are some of the things you should think about when you are looking for audio conference calling services.
- Quality – The most important aspect of a audio conference calling service is the quality. What good is a cheap conference call service if you have static on the line or can’t even get your parties on the call? The best conference call service companies have direct connections to the telecommunications network and use the latest in conference call equipment. It is difficult, however, to know what companies do this. Thankfully, there is one way to tell if the call quality is good. Do a test call. Any conference call company out there should be willing to give a trial to see if the quality is good before you hire them. Zip Conferencing uses direct digital connections and the latest equipment and also offers a free trial of its service to prove the quality of the conference calls.
- Reliability- Some of the reliability of an audio conference calling service is the telecommunications connection and quality of the equipment used. But one major area that matters is power availability. Without back up power the network and equipment will not work. So a conference call service company should have adequate back up power systems that can run indefinitely to support their systems. Another thing that can be done is having back up conference call equipment available in case of a failure. Many companies do not take this step because it is costly to have back up systems sitting around. Zip Conferencing has taken every step possible including back up systems on standby to insure our audio conference calling services are available.
- Features – If you look closely you will see that the features offered by conference call companies are not the same. If you hire a full feature service you will never miss some of the features that enhance your conference call experience. Zip Conferencing is a full feature provider that also offers some capabilities like customizable conference calls that other companies do not offer.
- Support- Another area that some conference call companies will shortcut is in the area of support. Some companies only offer support during certain times of the day or by email only. Zip Conferencing offers support 24/7/365 and will even provide support on your conference call if you like to assist with features or issues.
So look closely and you will see that all audio conference calling services are not the same.
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November 3rd, 2011
If you are looking at getting a conference call service provider for your business and you have looked at some of the long distance carriers and other providers that still charge 10 cents or more a minute you may be a little skeptical of discounted conference calling services. But just because the service is less expensive does not necessarily mean that the service is of a lower quality or less reliable. You do still need to be careful as some of the conference call providers have not taken the same steps to ensure quality and reliability like Zip Conferencing has done. Here are some of the areas that any discounted conference calling services company needs to pay attention to in order to maintain high quality and reliability.
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- Back Up Power - All of the equipment for conference calling services should be connected to to battery and generator back up power. This makes sure that no matter what power outages are experienced at their place of business your conference calls will not be impacted. Zip Conferencing uses back up power systems on all of its equipment and can maintain power to these systems for an indefinite amount of time.
- Back Up Systems – A key component for conference calling services is the conference call bridge. This is the equipment that creates the conference calls from independent callers into the system. It is an expensive proposition to maintain back up equipment so many discounted conference calling services companies do not take this step. But if something happens to this equipment your conference call will be affected. Zip Conferencing has designed their conference calling services with back up conference call bridges so that if there is ever an issue the traffic can be redirected to the back up system.
- Telecommunications Redundancy – What happens if the long distance carrier used by the discounted conference calling services company has an outage? If they do not have another carrier as back up you will not be able to get to your conference call. Zip Conferencing uses multiple telecommunications carriers that insures that if one of the carriers experiences a disastrous outage they can still perform your conference call.
- Support – One of the areas that discounted conference calling services will differ is with support. You may not need support very often but when you do you need it to be there for you. Zip Conferencing offers conference calling services with an award winning support team. Our operators are monitoring our conference calling services 24/7 and can even join on your conference call if you need assistance. No mater what time of day you can access support and get the help you need.
So, discounted conference calling services can be reliable but you need to investigate and make sure that discounted doesn’t mean your conference call quality or reliability will suffer.
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November 1st, 2011
Web Conferencing Services have helped companies save millions of dollars and are here to stay. The use of web conferencing services is expected to continue to grow rapidly over the next 5 years as more and more people adopt them for their own use. And the inclination of many of the web conferencing services providers is to add more and more features to try and attract customers. But the one thing that you really need to have in your web conferencing services is their ease of use. Zip Conferencing has gone to great lengths to create a web conferencing service that is powerful and yet easy to use. Here are some of the features that make our web conferencing service one of the easiest to use services in the market.
- Outlook Integrated Invitations- One of the complications of getting a web conference meeting going is inviting your participants. Different web conferencing services do this in a variety of ways but all offer some type of email confirmation or a web page you can send your participants to in order to join the meeting. These methods certainly work but why should you have to cut and paste and try to pull together the information for your participants. With Zip Conferencing you can use our Outlook scheduling tool and integrate your web conference details right within Outlook. That way you are able to put out a meeting request just like you would any other meeting, from within Outlook. Invite participants and have them accept the meeting and have the meeting appear on your calendar all using the same steps you would take to schedule any meeting. Now that is Easy!
- Intuitive Control Panel – The actual functionality of a web conference is not that different across providers but what is different is that way that you access the functions from within the service. With all of the different features now packed within the web conferencing services out there you sometimes have to navigate a maze of controls to find what you are looking for. Zip Conferencing has put the most widely used features front and center using intuitive controls available with the touch of a button.
- No Software Downloads – One of the hardest things to overcome with a web conference is getting on the meeting. Many times participants who have not used the web conferencing services before will have to download software in order to join the meeting. Many times adding software to a computer is prohibited by companies and participants are unable to join. With Zip Conferencing there are no software downloads for the participants. Our web conference service uses Flash which is already widely installed on people’s computers so there is no waiting for participants to download software.
If it isn’t easy to use you probably won’t use it. So if you are just starting out doing web meetings or you have struggled in the past to have a successful web conference give Zip Conferencing a try.
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October 27th, 2011
Conference call services all look very similar to one another these days. They all provide a dial in number and a pass code and allow you to access the service without a reservation. So how do you distinguish between different providers? You will find, maybe the hard way, that with a Conference Call Provider Service makes all the difference. With a conference call provider service means the quality and reliability of the conference call itself as well as the kind of support they offer their customers. Here are some of the areas where conference call provider services are different.
- Conference Call Quality – The quality of the conference call provider service is determined by a number of factors. First the connection to the worldwide telephone network should be as direct as possible. Where the conference call provider is located helps determine the kind of connection they can get to these networks. And the telecommunication providers they utilize will also determine the quality of the conference call. With Zip Conferencing we use only top tier telecommunications providers and use direct digital connections to their networks to ensure the highest quality connections possible. The second factor is the type of conference call equipment being used by the conference call provider service. If the equipment is older or of inferior quality it will impact the quality of the conference call. Zip Conferencing uses the latest conference call equipment to help ensure the highest quality of the conference calls.
- Conference Call Reliability – The reliability of the conference call provider service is determined by the steps the provider has taken to provide back ups to its conference call network. Has the provider gone to the expense necessary to back up all of their systems in the case of an outage or emergency? Zip Conferencing has battery and generator power back ups on all of its systems to ensure consistent power availability. We have also installed back up conference call equipment that can be immediately deployed in the case of an outage. We also use more than one telecommunications provider so that our services will remain available even in the event that the telecommunications provider has an outage. These steps add up to our ability to have our conference call systems available over 99.9% of the time.
- Conference Call Support- If you need support from your conference call provider will they be able to deliver? Zip Conferencing has support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We even provide support while you are on your conference call by pressing *0 on your telephone while in the call. Conference call support is not something you may need all the time but when you need it you will want it to be available.
So if you are looking for a conference call provider service is what makes all the difference.
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October 25th, 2011
So here you are searching for a conference call service provider and there are companies advertising a free telephone conference call service. Free is good, right? Why shouldn’t you use a free telephone conference call ervice? Let’s examine how a free telephone conference call service works and see if you are still interested in trusting your business to a free conference call service.
- A Free telephone conference call service is not really Free – The Free conference call service companies are advertising on the internet and other places so if they are truly free how are they making money? These companies make money by working out a deal with a local phone company to terminate calls within their equipment. That’s because the local phone company makes money when a long distance call terminates on their equipment. It doesn’t pay a lot but when you consider the volume of calls that can be generated it does add up to enough money to pay for the equipment over time. The problem is they don’t make enough to provide all of the services a regular conference call service provider does and they are usually a little thin in other areas of their business as well. The main problem is that you are the one paying the bill. Because you and your participants are dialing a long distance number to join the conference call. So it appears free until you get your long distance bill or cell bill and see all the minutes on it. And if the local number connection was so good why do all of the “Free” conference call companies offer toll free access?
- Quality – A Free telephone conference call service is not concerned with providing a reliable and quality service to its customers. It doesn’t have to because it is free. It is hard to argue with free so people put up with capacity issues, unavailability and noisy connections. Do you want to trust your important business calls to a free service where quality and reliability are not assured? Also you will find that many of the features you expect to have on a conference call service are not there on a free telephone conference call service. They can’t afford the best equipment with the latest features.
- Support – Lastly, probably the biggest hole in the services for a free telephone conference call service is the support you will receive. You will find that support is given to their customers that pay for the upgrade to toll free service but little is provided to the free conference call customers. Its free so who can complain.
If you will look at the free telephone conference call service companies you will see they all offer a toll free service option but at rates higher than Zip Conferencing. So why fool around with a service that will cost you anyway when you can get a toll free service that is highly reliable and high quality from the start for less money?
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October 21st, 2011
There is a reason that everyone doesn’t drive the same car and audio conference calling services are no different. Different people like different options, colors and equipment no matter what you are talking about. So why do so many people put up with the same audio conference calling service options? Even in the same company why would the President of the company want to have the same options for their audio conference calling services as everyone else in the company? With Zip Conferencing we allow you to customize the options within your audio conference calling so it is just the way you like it. Here are some of the audio conference calling options that you can control with Zip Conferencing.
- Entry and Exit Tones – One of the main things people like to alter with our audio conference calling services are the entry and exit tones in the conference call. With most conference call service providers you either get entry and exit tones, which are the tones that sound when participants enter and exit the conference call, or you do not. With Zip Conferencing you decide if you want a tone to sound when a participant joins the conference call or when they exit. You can also have their name announced when they enter the conference call.
- Music on Hold – With our audio conference calling services you can allow participants to speak to each other before the Moderator or Host of the conference call joins or you can make it so the participants listen to music on hold until the Host joins the call.
- PIN number entry – For additional security with our audio conference calling services you can require participants to enter a PIN, Personal Identification Number, when they join the conference call. This will also identify for you who has joined the call.
- Record Name/Roll Call – As Host of the conference call you can require participants to record their name when they join the conference call. As Host of the call you can then listen to a roll call of participants when you join the call or have their names announced when they enter and exit the conference call.
- End conference when Moderator exits – As a Host of our audio conference calling services you are also in control of when the conference call ends. You can let the participants keep talking, enter a command on your phone to end the call or set the call up ahead of time to end when you exit the call.
- Post Conference Report – As host of the conference call you can also get a post conference report that shows the detail of the call via email. On the report you will see the participants, the number they dialed in from and the duration they were on the call as well as the total duration of the conference call.
In addition to the options listed here, as a Host, you also have commands you can access while on a conference call. You can mute lines, control volume and even record the conference call by using touch tone commands on your telephone. So why settle for whatever the conference call provider wants to give you when flexible conference calling services are so much better.
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October 10th, 2011
Happy Columbus Day! If you are like me and don’t work for the government or a bank or one of the other establishments that has today off you are working. But your kids are off so whether your company is off or not you might be home anyway. But thanks to technology working from home is now more the norm and you can still attend those meetings with Columbus Day conference calls. A conference call service for your business allows you to continue to have meetings no matter what comes your way, including holidays that require your business to keep on going.
Columbus Day is one of the holidays where you just might find yourself working from home and you still need to attend meetings with co-workers and customers. Conference calls mean you can attend those meetings no matter where you are and when the calls take place. Conference calling is taken for granted by many businesses because it ultimately saves them time and money. But there are still a lot of companies out there that have not incorporated conference calls into there standard way of doing business. And no better time to kick off using a conference call service than on a holiday or other time when you find yourself out of the office but you still need to attend meetings with co-workers like you are still in the office.
Conference calls not only help your business save time and money but they allow you to still participate in work meetings without being at work. Time with family, vacations and commitments at home can be saved with the use of conference calls. And with Zip Conferencing you can have a conference call service with no cost until you use the service. So there is no excuse not to sign up for conference calls with Zip Conferencing because sign up is free and you will pay nothing until you use the service. That way you can have the conference call service information at your disposal for those times when you need it.
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October 4th, 2011
Anyone who has been on a conference call has experienced interruptions during the call. I am going to provide some recommendations to keeping these interruptions to a minimum so you can have the most productive meeting possible. Here are some of the ways that conference calls suffer interruptions and the ways to avoid those interruptions.
- Sounds when people enter/exit the call – There is a feature used by most conference call service providers that has a tone play when a participant enters or exits the conference call. Some people like this feature because they are able to know when a new person has joined a conference call. But if you are less concerned about keeping track of people joining then you are about the noise this introduces into the call with Zip Conferencing you can turn these tones off. In fact with our customizable conference options you can have a tone play only when participants enter the call or when they exit the call or none at all. You can even have their name play instead of just a tone.
- Background noise from participants- Many times people will multi-task when they are on a conference call. The sound of typing is a very common noise heard on conference calls as participants do work while they listen to a call. And today many people work from home and introduce all the sounds of their home into the conference call as well. Kids, dogs and doorbells are all noises you are likely to hear on a conference call. And then there is the cell phone which can make it easy to participate in a conference call from anywhere but introduce the noises from anywhere onto the call. The best way to combat all of the exterior noises is to make sure all of the participants use the mute feature whenever they are not speaking. With Zip Conferencing it is a simple *6 command on your telephone to mute and unmute yourself. So as the Host simply make people aware at the start of the call to use mute whenever they are not adding anything to the discussion and you will save yourself a lot of noise interruptions.
- Unidentified speakers- You may find yourself on a call with a number of people you are not completely familiar with so when someone speaks you may not recognize their voice. It is good conference call etiquette to introduce yourself when you are speaking. A simple introduction will avoid any mistaken identity issues and keep everyone on the same page. With Zip Conferencing you can also log into the conference call using your PC and see who is speaking by observing the talk icon on the screen.
- Participants joining late – As a host it is important to start conference calls on time so people get used to the fact that your meetings will start on time. As a further enforcement you can lock the conference call after you start your call so that no one else can join. The *94 command will lock the call and not allow additional participants. This may be a bit harsh but people will remember to join on time the next time.
Zip Conferencing has a number of tools to assist you with keeping the noise on a conference call to a dull roar.
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September 28th, 2011
A conference call has been a good option for businesses for many years because of the expense savings and increased productivity. And as time has gone on the lowly conference call just keeps making more sense than ever. In fact I can not think of a time since I have been in the business that a conference call has made more sense than right now. Here are just a few thoughts on why a conference call should be the preferred method of communication for any business.
- Travel Costs – Okay, so you have to meet with a customer or internally and they are in Texas and you are in New Jersey. The natural reaction is to schedule a trip to Texas for the meeting. Have you seen the cost of air travel these days? If you book 30 days in advance you might be able to get there for less than $500 but if it is in the next 2 weeks it will cost you over $1,000. And that doesn’t include all the crazy fees they charge these days. Once you get to Texas you will need a car, a room, dinners…you get the idea. It is so expensive to travel these days you can save enough in travel costs to hold a conference call every day with the participants and still save money.
- Travel Hassle – On top of the costs to go to Texas you get to put up with all the convenience of air travel these days. Travel to and from the airport, the security lines, baggage checks and on and on. I have had more fun on days I was sick than what they are putting you through these days.
- Lost Productivity – How many hours of useful work are you going to lose by travelling to Texas. The flight time is only a few hours but you need to get to the airport and then to the office on the other end. And what are the chances the plane takes off and lands on time. That conference call keeps getting more and more attractive.
I know you can’t do away with all in person meetings for conference calls. It is just not possible. But if I were you I would think long and hard about using conference call services whenever you can. You will be happier and so will your budget.
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September 8th, 2011
If you live in the Northeast you can certainly relate to the title of my blog today. I have barely been out of the house it seems in the past two weeks as I have been on conference calls dodging the rain drops. A hurricane followed by a tropical storm have spurred people to contemplate building an Ark. My home and our conference call service offices have been spared any damage but many people have not. And to them I send my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery from what is some of the worst flooding ever. Especially my friends and customers in Vermont who really had no warning for some of the worst damage the storms could impart.
As devastating as the weather has been over the past couple of weeks, our customers have had the advantage of continuous communications throughout with our conference call service. I have suggested many times on this blog to have conference call information at the ready in case of emergency and it has certainly come in handy for our customers. We have customers in Vermont who literally could not get to their place of business if they wanted to and were ostensibly cut off. But conference calls with their employees enabled them to maintain lines of communication and continue their businesses without interruption. And with the Zip Conferencing Pay As You Go service there isn’t even any cost unless you use the service so there is no excuse not to have conference call information in case of emergency.
And the hurricane season is not over. Another named storm is brewing in the Atlantic and could once again threaten the East coast with wind and rain. We were lucky that Irene did not have the damaging winds that were possible but the rain certainly did its damage. Next time we may not be so lucky so be prepared. Also, when the hurricane season ends the next thing we get to deal with is the snow. And if last year was any indication we can’t wait for global warming to get us out of trouble any time soon. Several times in the Northeast last year we were paralyzed and could not get to office buildings. Our business was not affecting thanks to careful planning, is yours? Make sure you have a back up communication plan in place with conference calls and web conferencing just in case you need them.
So anyway, rain, rain, go away and help poor Texas anyway.
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September 6th, 2011
If you are like most companies you are trying to get more done with fewer resources than ever before. It is simply the nature of business these days. There is no easier more cost effective way to increase your productivity than by using conference calls as part of your company’s communications plan. Here are some ideas on how conference calls increase your productivity.
- Save Travel Time – One of the biggest wastes of time for anyone in business is travel time. Going to and from meetings can eat up a large amount of time. Even when the meeting is in your own office you still have to get to a conference room and wait for the meeting to start and then get back to your desk when the meeting is over. With conference calls you can sit at your desk and continue to be productive until the meeting starts and then get right back to the work at end when the conference call is over.
- Multi-Task – Depending on your role in the meeting you may be able to get other work done during the meeting while on a conference call. As long as you put your phone on mute you can continue to work on other things without disturbing the meeting. Many people who host meeting don’t like this about conference calls but the fact is you get more participation from attendees that don’t have the time to attend an in person meeting and all you have to do is engage people when necessary and you can have a productive meeting.
- Collaborate – Certainly one of the benefits of conference calls is the same with an in person meeting. You get people to collaborate on a project. Ultimately bringing additional participants into the process will help move the project along and improve over all communications.
And in case you aren’t sure what activities you can do with conference calls here are a few common applications that you can easily do with a conference call.
- Sales Meetings – Sales teams are famous for getting together on conference calls. Many times the sales team is spread over a great distance and it would not only cost a great deal to pull everyone together but think of all the lost productivity. It is just not practical to get together physically so a conference call is a natural.
- Company Announcements – If you need to make a company announcement you can easily do it on a conference call without having to pull everyone off their jobs to do it. Depending on your business you are also saving any travel involved and at the same time making sure everyone gets the message timely and first hand.
- Project updates – Project management would be difficult without conference calls. Keeping vendors and employees up to date on a project and making sure dates are met can only be done with regular communication and many times would be impossible without conference calls.
With the low cost of conference calls these days there is no excuse not to incorporate conference calls into your communications plan and you will find your productivity increase along the way.
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August 26th, 2011
As I sit here in New Jersey and wait for the arrival of Hurricane Irene I am inundated with news reports on how to prepare for a hurricane. You are supposed to get batteries, water, gas for your car and non-perishable food among other items. But for a business the most important thing you should make sure you get in place is a good communication plan in the event of a disaster that includes a conference call service. If you don’t have a conference call service yet now would be a great time to get a service and be ready to conduct business remotely. If you can’t travel the roads and get to the office you can still do a conference call and keep your business going. These days most businesses are national if not global in nature and your customers don’t really care if your office is in harms way. If you are supposed to have a meeting on Monday they expect you to have the meeting. A conference call service can give you the tool you need to continue to have meetings without leaving your home. Here are some of the reasons to line up a conference call service.
- Natural Disaster – Like Hurricane Irene you just don’t know when a natural disaster is going to prevent you from getting to your office or your customers as well. Having a conference call service as part of your business communications will allow you to schedule meetings and be able to attend the meetings no matter what the circumstances. In addition to being able to attend customer meetings you can also have conference calls with your employees to prepare your response to the disaster and continue to plan in its aftermath.
- Technical Issues – If your business experiences technical issues and needs to hold emergency meetings you can have a conference call at the ready and participants informed in an instant. Everyone gets the same message and your technical issues are dealt with more expeditiously.
- Company Announcements – If you need to communicate with your entire employee base all at once you can use a conference call. Our conference calls hold up to 300 participants so capacity is not an issue. You can instantly communicate with everyone at the same time to inform them of personnel changes, acquisitions and any other issues that may arise.
- Planning – And if you know that the disaster is coming , like hurricane Irene, you can plan for it with groups of people who are otherwise separated my geography.
So if you have a conference call service in your tool box you can simply pull it out and plan or respond to a disaster. With Zip Conferencing’s Pay As You Go service there are no charges unless you use the service so why not be prepared all the time?
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August 23rd, 2011
I was on a conference call the other day and the first topic of conversation was the fact that it is the middle of August and where did the summer go. It is hard to believe it is the last two weeks of unofficial summer! Amazing. I can still vividly remember being stuck in last winter and all the bad weather and long periods of cold. I could not wait until the spring and so looked forward to the summer. And don’t get me wrong I have really enjoyed this summer. I think we have had pretty good weather here in New Jersey and I have no complaints. But where does the time go?
The conference calls have kept going as people try to maintain their businesses during the summer but I can already sense the conference call traffic growing in anticipation of people gearing up for after labor day. Kids get back to school and people get back to business. The fall is a time to catch up from the vacations and gear up for the end of the year. I have mentioned before that conference calls are a good economic indicator and I think the economy is definitely doing better. I have seen existing customers doing more conference calls and many new customers signing up and getting positioned to move forward in this economy. Certainly nothing like it was in the fall of 2008 when there was a lot of contraction in the economy.
Anyway, the title of this blog was Enjoy Summer While you Can and that is what I would like to end this with. There are basically two weeks left to summer before we have to really get back to business. And before you know it we are in the throes of the holidays and the year is over. So sit back and enjoy these last two weeks. I hope you have nice weather where you are located and get a chance to enjoy it. Life is short and you need to take advantage of every chance you get to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
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August 18th, 2011
I have been in the teleconferencing industry since 1995 and have seen the services availability grow from a boutique industry to where it is today. Teleconferencing services are virtually everywhere. Here is a quick take on the different services and where you can find them.
- Audio Conferencing – Teleconferencing services leading type of service is audio conferencing. Since audio conferencing became an automated service that was so easy to use it has grown exponentially. It is hard to find anyone in business these days that has not been on a conference call using a dial in number and pass code. Audio conferencing still has other types of calls but the automated conference call is the most prevalent. Other types of audio teleconferencing services include the operator assisted conference call where an operator greets the participants, gather information and then facilitates the call by assisting the leader and performing a question and answer period. Teleconferencing services like this are primarily used for large calls. One of the most widely used applications for this type of call is the investor relations call used by public companies to speak quarterly to the investment community.
- Video Conferencing – Some people think that teleconferencing is actually referring to video conferencing alone but again it really refers to a number of types of conferencing. Video conferencing has been around for a long time and the industry keeps thinking the latest iteration is the one that is going to crack the code and make this form of teleconferencing services explode. It just doesn’t seem to matter if it is the big room systems, desktop video, home phone video or video on a PDA now it just doesn’t seem to appeal to people as widely as audio conferencing. I think it is more a social issue than a technical issue as most people are simply uncomfortable in front of a camera. Maybe the kids today who are growing up with all of this technology and YouTube will finally find video conferencing comfortable.
- Web Conferencing – Teleconferencing services newest addition is web conferencing. The ability to share your desktop and do presentation remotely has given people the ability to add a visual element to a regular conference call without much effort and has been widely accepted. As more and more people attend these kinds of webinars and be exposed as a participant the more they will become hosts of future web conferences. Web conferencing will continue to grow and become a part of regular phone conference calls.
Teleconferencing services are now widely available and companies like Zip Conferencing offer all types of teleconferencing services at very reasonable rates.
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August 12th, 2011
I would not describe myself as a political activist, but like many people the latest display of ineptitude of our elected officials in Washington, DC I find myself wondering how these people can afford to take a 5 week vacation when their business (our country) is struggling like it is today. Maybe they need some time back in their home states but haven’t they heard of conference calling services? At least make it look like you are attempting to do something about the mess we are in by working a little while you are on vacation like the rest of us. Seems like conference calling services would enable these people to keep things moving and maybe get something done. After all I have never been able to take a 5 week vacation and I don’t know anyone who has in my lifetime. I have been working since I was 14 years old and I have not had 5 weeks off ever. In fact I took a two week vacation once and it felt like I was retired. It was tough to get back into things when I returned and I have not taken a vacation that long since then. Now when I am even out for a few days I use conference calling services to stay in touch with things at work. It helps me to relax to know that things are running smoothly and I won’t be blindsided when I return. If things at work need to be addressed I won’t even go on vacation let alone for 5 weeks!
Conference calling services are one thing but these people work for the government after all and have every means of communication imaginable available to them. They could absolutely work from home and continue to accomplish things. Many businesses now rely on a good portion of their employees working from their homes and it doesn’t slow them down. Conference calling services and web conferencing services allow people to work from anywhere and still hold meetings and collaborate on projects. So how about it Mr Congressman? What do you say? Can you possibly cut your vacation down to 2 – 3 weeks and get back to getting this country put back together? We working stiffs who pay your salaries would surely appreciate it.
Zip Conferencing would be happy to provide conference calling services and web conferencing services to any elected officials who would like to keep working. Drop us an email and we will set you up.
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August 11th, 2011
Web conference software has been around since the beginning of web conferencing. In fact in the beginning everyone needed the same web conference software on their PCs in order to have a web conference. Not really practical when you think about inviting people who are new participants to a web conference. What are you supposed to do send them the software ahead of time? It is easy to see how a service provider that made it easy could gain so much ground in the providing of web conferencing. But even service providers of web conferencing require that you download web conference software in order to use their service. Zip Conferencing has a web conferencing service that requires no web conference software for the participants which makes it easier on everyone. Here are some of the advantages of using a service provider and not using web conference software.
- No Up Front Cost – If you buy web conference software there is going to be the up front cost associated with buying the software. You then need to spend valuable time installing the software on the PCs you intend to conduct your web conferences with as well.
- No Maintenance Cost – In order to keep your web conference software up to date you will need to buy regular maintenance updates on the software.
- Any Participants can Join – If you use a service provider instead of web conference software the participants can join a web conference without having to install software. Participants generally are going to join your web conference last minute and you don’t want any delays while your participants are downloading software.
- Full Support – If you purchase web conference software you are not going to get the kind of support you get with a service provider. With Zip Conferencing you get support 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You can even get support while in your conference call by simply pressing the star key followed by zero on your telephone.
These days with any number of web conferencing service providers out there that provide services at very reasonable rates you really have no reason to go out and purchase web conference software. And the way that the service works with Zip Conferencing you and your participants don’t even have to download any software. Since our service was built on a Flash platform you just need to have Flash on your PC. These days anyone that surfs the Internet has Flash on their PC. So anyone can join our web conferencing service without having to download any web conference software.
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August 2nd, 2011
I still talk to people all the time that have not hosted a conference call before so it does not come as a shock to know that most people have not tried a web conference yet. Let’s face it, you have to learn a new thing on your PC and who has the time for that? Besides a web conference is hard to do and everyone joining the call has to learn something new too, right? Well I am hear to tell you that I don’t like having to learn new things either but today’s web conference is so easy to use there really isn’t anything to learn. You can literally sign in to the Zip Conferencing web conference for the first time and be up on a web conference with your participants in just a couple of minutes. And as easy as it is for the host of the web conference it is even easier for the participants. There is no software to install and all they have to do is click on a link you send them and they are on the web conference. In case you did not know here are some of the things you can do on a web conference.
- Share Your Desktop – By far the most popular thing that people do on a web conference is share their desktop or an application with their participants. Basically what you are doing is allowing your participants to see whatever you have on your PC. If you want to show your participants a web site your are browsing or a application on your computer you can on a web conference. That way you and your participants are literally on the same page when you are talking on a conference call.
- Collaborate on a Document – Not only can you share an application during a web conference but you can also allow your participants to provide input on a document or spreadsheet by giving them control of an application. If a participant has an idea for updating a formula in Excel, for instance, you can give them control and let them put the new formula in on the spreadsheet on your PC.
- Do a Q&A session – If you are conducting a seminar or training session the hardest thing is keeping your audience engaged. With a web conference you can conduct a Q&A session and poll your audience. You can then share the results with your audience. Interaction like this will keep your audience on their toes and involved in your discussion.
And the best thing is you can try a web conference for free with a FREE demo from Zip Conferencing. That’s right, the first 30 days are free! So what are you waiting for? Try a web conference today!
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July 26th, 2011
A conference calling company takes on a role in your company’s business that you may not realize. When you think about what is discussed on conference calls in your company and who is on the calls you start to understand why the decision on which conference calling company to use is so important. Many times a company’s most important and sensitive discussions are on conference calls. And many times the top executives in a company use conference calling services extensively. So, in today’s environment where there are a lot of conference calling companies and they all seem like they offer the same services how do you choose the right conference calling company? Actually the most important attribute to look for in a conference calling company are hard if not impossible to see. But here are some of things you should look for if you are looking for a high quality, reliable conference calling company.
- Reliable Network – Since you and your participants need to call into any conference calling company to connect to your conference call you should make sure they are connected to a high quality network. Zip Conferencing, for instance, using only top tier long distance providers and has direct connections into their networks. Also, the reason we have multiple carriers is to make sure that if one of the carriers has an outage we have a back up network in place to carry our traffic. The direct connections make sure that we have the highest quality connection possible.
- Back Up Systems – For a conference calling company, back up systems are expensive. But I have been in the teleconferencing industry for over 15 years and I can tell you first hand that occasionally the technology will rear its head and you will have issues. It is inevitable. The only way to avoid an outage is to put back up systems in place that can take over when the primary systems fail. At Zip Conferencing we have back up conference call equipment that is live and ready to handle traffic in the case of an outage. We also have power back up systems to keep all of our equipment powered up in the case of a power outage. If an issue arises our customers will not be affected.
- Full Featured – Some conference calling companies will cut corners on the services that they offer. This makes it easier to manage and the equipment they use does not need to be as sophisticated. But the customer experience is not as good. At Zip Conferencing we use the latest conference calling equipment with all of the features you should expect from a conference calling company. In fact, our equipment and online account management allow you to customize your conference calls unlike most other conference calling companies.
- Support – And when you have an issue you need your partner to be able to support your needs. A conference calling company that takes their partnership in your company seriously will back it up with the kind of support you would expect from such an important service provider for your company. Zip Conferencing offer support 24/7 365 days a year and can even join you on your conference call to assist if you need assistance.
If you are looking for a true partner to provide conference calls to your company you need to look closer than the rates they offer. Once you look “under the hood” you will see that Zip Conferencing is the best value in conference calls today.
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July 21st, 2011
I have been in the teleconferencing industry for over 15 years and audio conference calling just keeps getting easier and easier. You can’t argue with the fact that audio conference calling is the simplest way to have a meeting whether you are across the hall or around the wall. And no one makes it simpler than Zip Conferencing.
When I first started in this industry it was mostly dial out conference calls. That means that to do audio conference calling an operator would contact you at a pre-designated phone number and connect you to the conference call. Needless to say this was not a very convenient method of getting on a conference call. Especially since most people did not have cell phones back then. The biggest development in audio conference calling came with the invention of the dial in reservationless conference call. This is the type of conference call most people are familiar with at this point. You are given an access number and a pass code. At the time you choose to do audio conference calling you dial the access number and input the pass code. Everyone that does that will end up on the same conference call together. After this audio conference calling boomed. That is because the industry made it super simple to get on a conference call.
As time has gone on there have been many developments in audio conference calling. None of which have had the kind of impact that development has had but things have continued to get easier. And the proliferation of cell phones has helped as well. Now to get on a conference call you can dial in from anywhere there is a signal to your mobile phone. I am sure people have attended a conference call from some pretty bizarre places. And you can too! Because audio conference calling can be done from virtually anywhere.
When you compare audio conference calling to other ways to meet it is easy to understand why conference calling continues to grow faster than any other way to meet. At this point everyone pretty much has been on a conference call. So there is no need to train your participants on how to get on a conference call. And no one needs any special equipment. All you need is a phone and everyone has or has access to a telephone. Dial a number and input a code and you are on your conference call. No need to drive to a meeting. No need to fly to a meeting. Just pick up your telephone.
Zip Conferencing makes audio conference calling as easy as it can be. From the process before the conference call to looking at reports after the call you can not find a simpler way to meet.
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