Archive for the ‘Conference Call’ Category

Fewer Conference Call Interruptions

Tuesday, 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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A Conference Call Makes More Sense All The Time

Wednesday, 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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Enjoy Summer While You Can

Tuesday, 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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Conference Call Quality

Monday, July 18th, 2011

What are the factors that make up conference call quality? After all, isn’t the ability to interact with the other participants like they are in the same room the most important factor in any conference call service? At Zip Conferencing the quality and reliability of the conference call is the top priority. Here are some of the steps we have taken to insure you have a quality conference call.

Network Quality – The most important factor in determining the quality of a conference call is the network it is connected through. Just like any other long distance call if you have a bad connection it doesn’t matter how good the equipment is on the end of the call. To insure our conference call quality is the best we have direct digital connections to our long distance provider’s networks. Eliminating other switches eliminates additional trouble areas and pieces of equipment that can introduce noise as well. We also only use top tier long distance providers for our conference call services. We may be able to save a little money by using a smaller provider but since their networks are not as large as a top tier provider it introduces other networks to the equation further introduces trouble points. We also use multiple carriers so that our network has a back up in place in the event of a major outage with one of the carriers.
New Equipment – Since our conference call company is fairly new, we have put the latest equipment in place to process the conference calls. The newer equipment delivers a higher quality conference call and also is less prone to outages itself. In addition, our conference call equipment has the latest features incorporated into it. We also employ back ups of our conference call equipment so that we have full back ups in the case of an outage with the equipment.
Back Up Systems – Now that we have built out a network that delivers high quality conference calls we have also installed measures to insure the reliability of the network. We have battery and generator back up systems in place to make sure that our network has power in the event of an outage. As mentioned, we have back up long distance provider connections in the event of a major outage at the network level. And we have back up equipment in the vent of an equipment outage.

When you do a conference call you just assume it will work, but as you can see, it is up to the conference call service provider to make sure there is conference call quality.

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Is an Online Conference Call a Good Thing?

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

The telephone conference call has been around for a long time, but now with the advent of the Internet and phone calls over the Internet what about the online conference call? There are services that promise to be able to give you cheap or even free conference call services online. So, is an online conference call a good thing? Here are some of the things you should consider if you are thinking about trying an online conference call.

Quality- The first thing you need to consider when thinking about an online conference call is the quality. It used to be you would n0t even consider doing a phone call over the Internet let alone a conference call. But the Internet network improved and then people started to get high speed access and the option started to make some sense to people. VOIP (Voice Over IP) technology has come a long way but it is still not of the same quality as a regular telephone call. There are traffic issues with the Internet and the connections to it that cause irregularities that you do not notice when surfing the Internet but will surely notice when you try to make a phone call over it. And with an online conference call you don’t have just one call going on but you will have any number of participants on an online conference call and that uses even more bandwidth.

Reliability- Reliability of an online conference call is much the same as the quality in its issues. Everyone has experienced hits on their Internet connection that cause loss of data and even outages altogether on their Internet connection. It is bothersome if you are on your PC when this happens but if you are on an online conference call when this happens it can be disastrous.

Accessibility – Probably the biggest argument against an online conference call is the issue of accessibility. When you do an online conference call all of the participants need to have access to a PC and an Internet connection. This defeats the whole concept and convenience of a conference call. With a regular conference call you can join the conference call from anywhere you have a telephone. And with mobile phones that is virtually anywhere. And even if everyone is sitting at their desk to attend your online conference call not everyone has the equipment on their PC to be able to participate because you also need a microphone or a headset.

I do believe that someday the network will be ubiquitous and we will be communicating through our PC or similar device but for now the best place for a conference call is on the plain old telephone network.

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Conference Call and Web Conferencing Free Trial

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

They say that nothing in life is free and I usually agree. But here at Zip Conferencing we truly let you try our conference calls and web conferencing for free. There is no better way to convince you about the quality, service and features we offer for our conference call service than to let you try it yourself. Let me explain how the free trials work and what is included.

Conference Call Free Trial – The conference call free trial provides of 60 minutes of conferencing free to people who sign up for our monthly minute plans. That way since you are making a commitment to use the service regularly you can first try it for free to make sure it suits your needs. When you sign up for the free trial you will have access to the full set of features and options as any regular customer of Zip Conferencing. You can log into your online account and explore the conference options, see how easy it is to add Moderators and conferences and explore the reporting options available online. Then you can conduct a conference call and test out the quality of the service and the see what Host controls are available during the conference call. If you are not completely satisfied with the service you can simply cancel your account and you will not be charged anything.

Web Conferencing Free Trial – The web conferencing free trial is available to all subscribers to the Zip Conferencing service and lets you use the web conferencing service for 30 days for free. When you sign up for the web conferencing free trial you will have access to all of the features we offer including desktop video, chat and application sharing. The web conferencing service is so easy to use you will be amazed at what you can do during a meeting. At the end of the 30 days if you are not completely satisfied you can simply cancel the service and you will not be charged.

Zip Conferencing lets you try our services for free and has no contracts because we are confident that if you try our services you will become a customer like the thousands of loyal customers who already enjoy all of the features, service and value that Zip Conferencing offers.

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Conference Call Basics

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Since I have been in the conference call business for over 15 years I regularly forget that most people don't understand the conference call service business. Conference calls have become such an integral part of businesses these days it is difficult to find someone who has not been on a conference call. But the fact is that there are a lot of people who have not been on a conference call and an even larger number who have never hosted one. So, for these people I would like to offer some basics about how a conference call works.



Automated Dial In - The type of conference call that most people are familiar with these days is the automated dial in call.  With this type of call you connect to the call by dialing an access number and then entering a passcode on your telephone to enter the conference.  Basically anyone who dials the access number and passcode at the same time will be put into the same conference call.
Reservationless - Another popular feature of conference calls today is called a reservationless conference call because once the conference call company provides you with the information for the call you can use it at any time without having to make a reservation.  This feature made conference calls much easier to use and is in big part the reason for the growth of conference calls over the past 15 years.
Hosting a Conference Call - So, maybe you have been on a reservationless automated dial in conference call but you have never hosted a call.  To host a conference call is not much more difficult than joining one as a participant.  As Host of the call you simply need to inform your participants when the conference call is going to take place and distribute the information.  Usually the Host will simply email their participants with the date, time and dial in information.  As Host you also simply need to dial in at the same time and enter a passcode to join the conference call.  That's it.
Host Controls - With Zip Conferencing, the Host is supplied with a different passcode than the participants.  The Host passcode enables the Host to access special features that the participants cannot access.  Host controls include the ability to mute/unmute all participants, control volume and record the conference call.  The Host is also able to control a number of aspects of the conference call through their online account management system.  Those options will be discussed in other posts here.

If you have never hosted a conference call have no fear as it is just as easy as joining one hosted by someone else.

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Go International with an International Conference Call

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

The worldwide marketplace has really opened up with the Internet and many small businesses are finding themselves with the prospect of being able to sell their goods and services internationally. But many of these businesses hesitate because of the expense of trying to sell to companies overseas. With an International Conference Call you begin to forge relationships with companies overseas without ever leaving your office. An international conference call can bring you together with customers and prospects around the world at a minimal cost. Zip Conferencing offers several ways to have your international participants connect to your international conference call. You can choose the method based on where your participants are located and the cost of the connection.

US Local Number - The least costly way for you to have participants connect to your international conference call is to have them dial the local number here in the United States that comes with your conference call reservation. The local number is reachable from anywhere in the world. The only drawback to this method is that your participants will have to pay for the long distance call to reach the number here in the United States.
International Local Number- The next best option from a price perspective for your international conference call is to give your participants a phone number located in their country. Zip Conferencing has local access numbers in over 40 countries around the world. Participants in Paris, France, fro instance, would dial a number in Paris and be connected to your international conference call here in the United States. Your participant will only pay whatever it costs them to dial a local number in their country.
International Toll Free Number – The most convenient way for international participants to connect to your international conference call is to dial a toll free number in their country. That way they do not incur any charges associated with your conference call. This is also the most expensive way to connect to your international conference call. Zip Conferencing has toll free access numbers in over 40 countries around the world.

With Zip Conferencing’s International Conference Call service you can take your company global without much expense to you or your customers. So what are you waiting for? Go global with an international conference call.

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The Conference Call Company makes a Difference

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Conference calls have gone the way of long distance with ever decreasing prices and a seemingly endless list of providers. But there is a lot more to a conference call than you think and the right conference call company can make a big difference in the quality of the call and the features available that can greatly enhance your experience. Zip Conferencing has taken great care in creating a network that can deliver the highest quality conference calls to its customers and built a platform that provides an extraordinary amount of features that make our conference call service easy to use but feature rich. Here are a few of the things we have done to ensure that we are the best conference call company in the industry.

Reliable Network – Like the foundation of a building, a conference call company needs to build their business on a network that can support the traffic they generate and be able to avoid outages at all costs. But not all conference call companies have taken all of the steps that Zip Conferencing has because a solid network can be expensive. Zip Conferencing has multiple telecommunications carriers installed in cae one of the companies has an outage. We only will accept companies that can provide a direct digital connection to their network so we can have the clearest connections possible. Our equipment is powered by a back up battery and generator supported power grid to avoid any power outages.
State of the Art Equipment – Our conference call company uses the latest conference call equipment that is more reliable than older equipment. It also offers features many conference call companies don’t have because their equipment is out of date. We also have spare conference call equipment that is powered up and connected to the network available to take the place of any piece of equipment that experiences any issues. Most conference call companies don’t do this because it is expensive.
Feature Rich Services – Our conference call company has built features that enable our customers and make it easier to do business with us. As a customer of Zip Conferencing you have access to your account online that enables you to access your account and see usage, add/edit moderators and conferences and order additional services. But we also give you the ability to customize your conference call experience by being able to control many aspects of the conference call. For instance, you can decide whether a tone should play when a participant joins or exits the conference call.
Superior Customer Support – If there is one area many conference call companies will try to save money it is in the area of customer service. Our conference call company still provides personal service to its customers 24/7 and you can even get support while on a conference call by hitting *0 on your telephone.

A conference call is not just a telephone call and many times the conference calls your company does are some of the most important communications you will have. So, shouldn’t you deal with a conference call company that takes their role in your business communications seriously?

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Conference Call Features are Fabulous

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

For anyone who has done a conference call you probably just think that there is nothing much to it. You dial an access number to get tot he conference call and then put in a passcode and you are in the meeting. Don’t get me wrong, a conference call doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, the reason conference calls are so popular is the fact that they are affordable and easy to use. But that doesn’t mean that having conference call features needs to be complicated or cumbersome either. Once you try some of the conference call features out there you may not know how you lived without them. Here is a list of just some of the conference call features available with Zip Conferencing.

Mute/UnMute Lines – If you are the moderator of the conference call you can mute all of the participants in the meeting. This is especially helpful if you are having a large conference call. If you have 50 people in the conference call there would be too much noise if all their lines were open. You and your participants can also mute and unmute their own line which helps if you are on a cell phone in your car for instance and you would impart noise into the conference call.
Volume Control – You and you participants can control the volume of the conference call coming into your phone and also the volume of your line into the conference call. So if you find yourself in a situation where participants are having a hard time hearing you then you can turn up the volume of your line.
Roll Call – You can have participants record their name when they enter the conference call and then if you are the moderator you can play back a roll call when you join the conference call and hear everyone who is on the call. That way you know exactly who is on the conference call without having to take a live conference call after you join the meeting.
SubConferencing - If you have something you want to discuss with some of the people on the conference call but not all then you can have a subconference with those participants and then rejoin the conference call. This is used extensively by the legal community when they need to have a discussion with a client during a conference call between both sides of a case.
Conference Call Introduction – You can personalize your conference call by recording an introduction. That way participants will hear your personal greeting when they join the conference call.
Post Conference Call Report – Would you like to know how many people were on your conference call? When did they join the call? How many minutes did the conference call generate? You can receive an email containing all of the essential information of the conference call when it has ended.

All of these conference call features are free and part of the service at Zip Conferencing. So why just have a conference call when you can have a fabulous conference call?

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Prepare for Disasters with Audio Conferencing Services

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

First of all, all of us at Zip Conferencing want to convey to all of our friends in Japan our sympathies over the recent disaster in your country and our thoughts and prayers are with you. It has made all of us think again about how prepared or in many cases unprepared for a similar disaster we are here in the United States. The key to surviving any disaster is preparedness and having audio conferencing services in your disaster kit will help you communicate quickly and effectively. And the fact is that many of us may never experience a disaster on the scale that the Japanese people are going through right now. But having audio conferencing services for even a small disaster will really help you in any situation.

Earthquakes – Audio Conferencing Services come in handy in the case of a large natural disaster like an earthquake because you can quickly assemble a team of people and communicate the same message all at once. If you have a location in the disaster zone and you have prearranged audio conferencing services people would know to call in and you can quickly assess the situation. Instructions can be given to multiple people at once and discussions can be made on the best course of action.
Flooding – Flooding can occur at any time in many places in the country and audio conferencing services allow people to communicate that are unable to get to your office for instance. Here in New Jersey the recent flooding prevented a customer from getting to their office building. Audio conferencing services allowed the company to communicate an effective approach to the situation and keep their business going.
Storm Damage – Whether it is a large snow storm or wind damage that affects power or worse yet a tornado having audio conferencing services will allow you to meet with a group of people even if your building is without power or you are somehow unable to get to that location.
Technical Outages – Even without external damage from weather or other natural disasters having audio conferencing services and a plan to meet with a team ahead of time can shorten a major technical issue affecting your business. Your technical staff may be scattered across the country or around the globe and audio conferencing services will allow you to meet at a moments notice from anywhere to resolve the issue.

A conference call is convenient because you can meet from any phone anywhere in the world. Audio conferencing services are also inexpensive in that you do not need an equipment or even pay for anything. You can simply have an account with Zip Conferencing and use the service whenever you need it. No need to schedule ahead of time or pay for a service you are not using. Setting up an account for audio conferencing services is free and you will not be charged for our Pay As You Go service unless you use it. So get set up with audio conferencing services now just in case you ever need it.

Family Emergencies

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A Phone Conference Call is Still the Way to Go

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

The phone conference call has been around for quite some time. And over the past 15 years that I have been in the industry there have been a lot of changes in technology but the phone conference call continues to thrive. Why is that? Certainly there must be a new phone app or PC program that would make a phone conference call disappear. I mean today you can have a video conference on your cell phone with another person. You can hook your PC up and use the Internet to call thousands of miles for nothing more than the price of your Internet connection. So a plain old phone conference call? Really? Let’s look at some of the competing technologies that have come about in the past 15 and some of the reasons they have not had the same success as the plain old phone conference call.

Video Conferencing – The phone conference call has survived 15 years of advancements in video conferencing. The equipment you need to do a video conference call used to be very expensive and require a huge amount of bandwidth. So the telecommunications expense to have the ability to do a video conference was also huge. The video conference now can be done at home using your Internet connection and equipment that can be purchased just about anywhere. Businesses can purchase a small video conference system and have it installed on existing telecommunications infrastructure. So video conferencing is now easy and cheap. Why isn’t everyone talking to each other on a video phone like the Jetsons? A number of reasons have slowed the growth of video conferencing while the phone conference call continues to grow. You must go to where the system is and that means you need to be in the office. The home systems are not really business capable and the mobile application is not there yet either and universally available as you need a certain type of phone. A phone conference call can be done from anywhere and today business people are very mobile so having to be in a central location to do all your conference calls is not really practical. And the biggest reason I think is that people are just not comfortable with themselves on TV. Maybe the next generation, the YouTube generation will be more comfortable with it but most people I know do not like being in front of a video camera.
VOIP Conferencing – Everyone now has a good Internet connection so why aren’t we talking to our PCs yet? One reason is you need to be in front of your PC in order to talk through it and again people are now mobile. Quality is much better than it used to be but VOIP quality is still only as good as the connection and some people still have bandwidth issues. And a lot of people don’t even have a microphone connected to their PC. It is just not what we are used to doing. A phone conference call only requires the same device everyone is familiar with, the phone.
In House Systems – Over the years every phone system manufacturer has developed a way to do a phone conference call through their system. But the quality of the connection is limited and so are the number of people you can connect to the conference call. And it also requires the moderator to dial out to people and connect them to the conference call. The in-house conference call systems you can buy are hard to justify from an expense point of view and require someone to maintain. A conference call service can do the job better and cheaper than an in-house system.

So, you can see that a phone conference call continues to grow because none of the other options are as universally known, easy to use and inexpensive.

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An Audio Conferencing Service Can Save the Snow Day

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Not sure where you are, but here in the frozen Northeast having an audio conferencing service is saving an otherwise dreadful winter. We just can’t seem to catch a break with the winter weather and getting to work has become downright impossible on at least one day a week. But with an audio conferencing service, businesses are able to continue to hold meetings and remain productive throughout the winter. An audio conferencing service can really save the day in case of an emergency or like we have seen lately, a snow day.

The Zip Conferencing audio conferencing service is easy to use, reliable and offers features you will not find everywhere. And within a few minutes after signing up for the service you can be holding your first conference call. Here are some of the features that the Zip Conferencing audio conferencing service offers.

Up to 300 Participants- Our audio conferencing service allows you to have up to 300 participants on a conference call at any time. Many other audio conferencing service providers limit the number of participants you can have on the conference call to a just a few. And you may think you will never need 300 participants on a call but isn’t it nice that it is there if yoiu need it?
No Reservations Needed – Our audio conferencing service does not require any reservations. Whenever you need to hold a conference call you simply provide your participants with the dial in access number and pass code. There is no need to reserve time for your call.
Host Controls- As host or moderator you will have access to a number of controls within the conference call with our audio conferencing service. You can mute and unmute all participants, adjust the volume of the conference call and your line into the call, record the conference call, conduct a subconference and lock the conference to new participants. In order to personalize your conference call you can also record your own conference introduction that will be heard by your participants when they join the conference call.
Customized Options – Our audio conferencing service also provides the administrator the ability to change a number of options for the conference call so that you can truly customize the way the conference call works. You can decide whether you would like to have tones in the conference call when participants enter and exit. You can also control whether the participants can speak to each other before you join the conference call and after you leave. You can have them listen to music on hold and wait for you to join the conference call and then have the call breakdown when you leave the call. You can even make it so that the participants on the conference call are required to record their name in order to join the call. This recording can be used to announce their entry into the conference call and to provide you with a roll call of participants after you join.

So don’t let a snow day slow you down. Our audio conferencing service can turn an otherwise unproductive day into a productive one quickly and easily.

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A Business Conference Call can make all the Difference

Friday, January 14th, 2011

A business conference call can make all the difference in the success of your business. Yet, today it is estimated that the market for conference calls has only been penetrated 58% which means that 42% of the businesses that should be doing business conference calls are not. That is a pretty amazing statistic when you think of it. And I bet many of you are thinking that there is no way people don’t know about using a business conference call to get people together on issues for their business. But I can tell you from experience that a lot of businesses still are not using a business conference call yet. I can tell through the conversation I have with potential customers that there are still a lot of people out there who are not using a business conference call for their business. And it is hard to believe. Especially in this economy and the number of new businesses being started up. A business conference call offers so many benefits to your business without a large expenditure. Large businesses are big users of business conference calls because they have long understood the benefits they get from conducting regular conference calls with their staff and customers. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from incorporating a business conference call into your regular business processes.

A Business Conference Call Saves Time- When you are a small or medium business or better yet, a brand new business, the one thing you will never have enough of is time. By utilizing a business conference call when you can you will find yourself saving valuable time that otherwise would have been spent travelling to an in person meeting. Travel time is very unproductive even with all of today’s gadgets that help keep you informed and allow you to do work away from the office. You can hardly be working on a document when you are walking through an airport or driving your car. The more time you can find yourself at your desk the better you will be in the long run. A business conference call can be used for the initial contact with the customer especially if you need to pull multiple people from your company into the discussion or if the customer has several contacts that need to hear your pitch. And during the implementation process a business conference call can keep your project on time and make sure that everyone gets the same message all the time.
A Business Conference Call Saves Money – The other thing you can’t get enough of is money. Especially if you are starting out your capital is a precious commodity. A business conference call is much less expensive than any in person meeting you can have with your staff or customers. Many small businesses have staff scattered throughout the country or the world and the expense to travel to visit these people on a consistent basis is just too much. A business conference call allows you to stay in touch with everyone for a fraction of the cost of travelling to them in person. And the cost of the travel is one thing. What about the cost of the hotel, meals, rental car and everything else that goes along with it? A business conference call can save you thousands of dollars on one trip.
A Business Conference Call Increases Productivity – And usually if you own a small business or are just starting a new on you will never have as many people on the job as you would like. So you need every person as productive as they can be in order to get the job done. A business conference call allows you to stay at your desk for the meeting and return to work immediately following the conference call. Aside from the time saving productivity you gain with a business conference call you also benefit by working together to accomplish the task and keep all informed along the way. A business conference call can prevent a lot of back and forth communication between you and the other parties.

The bottom line is a business conference call can make all the difference in the world for your business.

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Aren’t all Conference Call Providers the Same?

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

As prices have fallen for conference call services over the past 15 years, conference call providers offering a discount price were able to grab market share from price alone. Now that the prices for conference call services have reached the bottom there is a renewed need to look closer at conference call providers. Because conference call providers are not all the same. If you should line up 10 conference call providers and actually look at what is going on behind the scenes you will find some pretty big differences in the services they offer, the quality and reliability of those services and the level of support you can expect. Here are some of the things you should be looking at in conference call providers after you look at the price and before you decide.

Services – Not all conference call providers offer the same set of services. Make sure that the conference call providers you are looking at have the services you are used to and also services you may need in the future. You don’t want to select a conference call provider and then have to switch later down the road. Capacity is an important area to consider. Zip Conferencing enables you to have up to 300 participants on a conference call at one time. Many conference call providers limit the number of attendees. Do they offer web conferencing? You may not use web conferencing today but more than likely you will want to use this services in the future.
Features – Did you know that not all conference call providers offer the same set of features? Many discount conference call providers use inferior equipment that has a limited set of features. You may not want to record your conference call every time you use the service but you may want to use this valuable feature at some point so you should make sure they offer it. Zip Conferencing is a full feature provider and even provides you the ability to customize the features on your conference call through your online account interface.
Quality – Many discount conference call providers cut corners on the equipment and network they place the conference call equipment on to save money. Zip Conferencing has used the latest equipment available and connected it directly to major telecommunications providers to ensure a high quality connection for our customers every time.
Reliability – Conference call providers will also cut corners on their back up systems in order to save money. Zip Conferencing has back up conference call equipment connected to its network in order to provide seamless service in the event of an equipment failure. In addition, we have generator and battery back ups for power insurance and redundant network connections to multiple providers for consistent network connectivity.
Support – Not all conference call providers have a full service and support process in place. You will find limited support and in many cases no help from within your conference call. Zip Conferencing has 24/7 service and will even join you on your conference call if you need assistance. Whenever you reach out for assistance you will find us ready and eager to help with your conference call needs.

So no, all conference call providers are not the same. If you look closely you can see the differences and you will see Zip Conferencing looking better than ever.

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Conference Call Pricing Made Easy

Monday, November 8th, 2010

For something like conference calls you would not think that you could have so many way to price the service. Conference call pricing does not need to be so mysterious. There are just a few things to keep in mind when shopping for conference calls so you can be sure you are looking at an apples to apples comparison of conference call pricing.

Toll vs. Toll Free – The first thing to verify is whether the conference call pricing you are looking at is for toll or toll free access. Toll access means that you and your participants have to dial a local number somewhere in the country to connect to the conference call. You and your participants will be charged by your long distance phone company for calling that number the entire time you are on the conference call. Depending on what kind of rate plan you may have this can be substantially more than getting a toll free plan. These hidden charges can be costly and embarrassing. Do you want your customer to get a bill to join your conference call? All of the rates quoted for Zip Conferencing are for toll free access. No hidden charges.
Number of Participants – One of the ways that some conference call service companies reduce their conference call pricing is by reducing the number of participants that can join a conference call at any one time. And you may not need 300 participants at a time like Zip Conferencing offers. But the reason that other companies limit the number of participants is that they have limited capacity and they are trying to get by with less equipment. The real problem here is whether any capacity will be available when you need it. Zip Conferencing maintains an abundance of capacity and is constantly adding to insure the capacity will be there when you need it.
Billing – Companies that offer discounts in conference call pricing will limit the choices you have for invoicing as well. Many of these providers will require you to sign a long term contract or buy a prepaid amount of minutes. Most will not offer corporate billing where you can pay by company check. Zip Conferencing has no contracts and also has a pay by company check option for corporate accounts.
Features – One if the biggest places where conference call service providers will cut corners is with features. Conference call pricing with these companies is low but you can’t record the conference call or access many of the features you may be used to. With Zip Conferencing you can customize your conference call and access a myriad of features just like premium priced conference call services.
Customer Service – And of course, if you need customer service with many of the companies with low conference call pricing, you may be out of luck. With Zip Conferencing we offer customer service 24/7 including operator assistance during the conference call itself.

So if you are looking for good honest conference call pricing made easy try Zip Conferencing. You will not be disappointed in the quality, reliability or service you receive.

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Why a Regular Telephone Conference Call still makes Sense

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

When I tell people what I do for a living I am still amazed that people don’t know that companies like Zip Conferencing exist. Most people do a telephone conference call on a regular basis or have certainly been on one recently but don’t know where they come from. I guess many of these people are in a company where the buying decision for conference call services is made by someone else and they just know how easy it is to get on a telephone conference call. And that is why a regular telephone conference call still makes the most sense.

Let’s face it, technology has come a long way in the past 15 years since I started my career in teleconferencing so why is the regular telephone conference call still growing in use? Well, in the past 15 years I have heard the prediction of the demise of the telephone conference call with the invention of every new group communication technology that has come along. But there are several reasons why the regular telephone conference call is still the easiest, most convenient and least expensive way for a group of people to get together.

Universal Connectivity- A telephone conference call uses a device that everyone is familiar with, the telephone. You don’t have to teach people how to use a telephone and these days most people know how to connect to a conference call as well. And with a telephone conference call all you need is a telephone. And any telephone will do. When I started in 1995 we still had to help people who had rotary phones onto conference calls that require you to enter a pass code but that is no longer the case. And cell phones were not as reliable as they are today and would cause issues on conference calls as well. But today any telephone can connect to a conference call with ease.
Easy to Use- With the invention of reservationless pass code entry telephone conference calls the usage in conference calls skyrocketed. That’s because the industry made the service easy to use. And over the years it has exposed just about everyone to a universal method of joining a telephone conference call. Everyone pretty much knows that you have to dial an access number and then put in a pass code to connect to a conference call. There is no need to get participants to learn a new technology or download something onto their computers.
Convenient- Today you can access a telephone conference call from anywhere in the world from any telephone. You don’t have to worry if you can get an Internet connection or anything. All you need to do is make a telephone call and you can connect to a telephone conference call. So, you can be travelling, at home or in the office and connect to the conference call. So it is convenient to the host and participants alike.

So, despite all of the predictions about its early death, telephone conference calls still make the most sense if you want to hold a group meeting with people in disparate locations. And until they replace the telephone it will continue to be the group meeting method of choice.

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A good Conference Call Rate is just the Beginning

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

I know. The way the economy has been the last couple of years the price is very important. And I agree. Even with something as important as a conference call the rate is an important factor in deciding who to choose for a conference call service provider. With Zip Conferencing the conference call rate is just the beginning.

At Zip Conferencing we believe that you should be able to get a quality conference call service and a good conference call rate. In fact, our company was designed from the ground up to do just that. First, we installed nothing but the latest equipment and connected it to the best phone networks available. The quality of the conference call itself is the single most important factor in providing our customers a quality experience. We also made sure that the equipment and network were fully backed up with hot stand by equipment and power back up to make sure the service is available 100% of the time. Next, we designed our systems around the customer experience to provide a better way for our customers to maintain their accounts. For this, we installed an online account interface that allows our customers to access their accounts themselves. In addition, we gave our customers the ability to customize their own experience by giving them access to many of the popular conference options and letting them decide how their conference call should run. For all of these features a conference call rate was not considered because we believe you need to have a quality experience above all else.

To mkae sure you get a conference call rate we did, however, design our company differently than other conference call service providers. The main difference you will find is that we have automated all of the back office processes to keep costs down. We also do not have expensive offices or field sales people. Do you really need to see a salesperson in order to get your conference call service? I think not. We do not print paper bills which is not just environmentally friendly but saves money as well. But none of the changes we have made to give you a good conference call rate diminish your experience. We still provide 24/7 customer service and the highest quality conference calls and web conferences available in the market today. But with our lower overhead we can also give you the best conference call rate available today.

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A Conference Call for a Company Announcement

Monday, October 18th, 2010

A customer recently called and needed to speak to all of their employees quickly in order to make an announcement about the acquisition of the company. They are not a regular conference call user but thought that it may suit their needs. Well, needless to say, this company was so impressed by the capabilities of our service they have since become a regular user of conference calls for more applications within their business. Why are conference calls so well suited to making a company announcement?

Many times a company announcement is necessary to quickly get the word out to employees about an important milestone in your company’s history. A conference call is best suited for these types of announcements because it would otherwise be impossible in most cases to get the employees together quickly. Many times the employees are scattered around the country or around the world and just can’t physically get together that easily. Then there is the cost of getting everyone together. Even if you have the time to pull everyone together the cost of getting a group of employees together can be exorbitant. A conference call allows you to get the employees together quickly and easily for a relatively small amount of money.

Depending on the size of the group you may want to customize your conference call with some features that will make the call a success. With Zip Conferencing you can do this yourself by selecting the conference options you want on the conference call through your own interface. A couple of options I would recommend would be the Music on Hold option and silence entry and exit. Music on Hold makes it so your participants will listen to music until the moderator joins the conference call. Otherwise a large group of participants will be making noise and your audience will wonder when the conference call will begin. Entry and exit tones silenced for the conference call will also reduce distracting noises for the participants and the moderator alike. Another conference call option you may want use is muting all participants. As moderator of the call you have the ability to mute all participants on the conference call. That way your audience will not hear any distracting noises while you make your announcement. After you have made your announcement you can then open up the lines for questions or comments.

With Zip Conferencing you can host up to 300 participants on a conference call and do a company announcement without having to pull all of the employees together.

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Conference Call Provider

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

The simple definition of a conference call provider is a company that owns and maintains conference call service equipment and provides access for its customers to the equipment for a fee. But what are all of the responsibilities of a conference call provider? Is simply providing access to the conference call equipment enough?

Conference calls have become an important piece of business services that is now used around the world to help people communicate. A conference call provider plays a role in each of its customers’ businesses that it cannot ignore. Vital communications are being done everyday via conference calls and the responsibility to provide a reliable, high quality conference call service cannot be taken lightly. There are many different options for conference call equipment and the way the telecommunications network that is set up on the equipment. The level of service provided its customers is as varied as the equipment and the pricing options available can be confusing as well. When selecting a conference call provider you should consider the following points.

Conference Call Equipment – Is the equipment the latest equipment available? Are there back up systems available in case of an outage? How much capacity does the conference call provider have?
Service Availability – Does the conference call provider have personnel available 24/7 to assist you in case there is a question or issue? Can you easily reach someone from within the conference call?
Features – Does the conference call provider have the features you expect? Can you customize the way your conference call works?
Support – Does the conference call provider have adequate support documentation? Do they offer personal service representatives?

A conference call provider should be considered your partner in your business and provide a service that you are proud of because the conference calls you hold for your business are a reflection on you. You cannot afford to have an issue in the middle of an important business discussion. The conference call service needs to be available and provide a clear reliable connection. And if there is ever any kind of an issue you need to be able to get assistance easily from the provider. So, taking a little time up front to investigate the provider will pay dividends for a long time to come.

Zip Conferencing provides reliable, high quality conference calls for less. If you spend the time to compare Zip Conferencing to other conference call providers you will see that Zip Conferencing is hard to beat. The latest conference call equipment, installed directly on carrier networks provide feature rich conference calls. Dedicated 24/7 support insures that you will be supported regardless of your needs.

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Conference Call Bridge

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

A conference call bridge is the name for the piece of telecommunications equipment that enables multiple participants from various telephone connections to be placed into the same call to create a conference call. If you do a significant amount of conference calling you may think that buying your own conference call bridge would end up being a good investment because you could reduce your costs for conference calls. Here are a few things that you will need to consider if you think about buying a conference call bridge yourself.

Equipment Cost – First thing is the cost of the equipment. The cost of conference call bridges has come down over the years but the cost of a conference call bridge like the ones used by conference call service companies is still hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Telecommunications Connections – You will need to dedicate telecommunications connections to the conference call bridge. There is a cost to just maintain the connections to the conference call bridge.
Equipment Maintenance- You will need to pay the manufacturer of the conference call bridge equipment a maintenance fee to keep the hardware and software up to date.
Support Cost – You will need to pay for support on the conference call bridge equipment in case there is an issue. Typically this may be included for the first year in your maintenance cost.
Internal Support – You will need someone in your organization to maintain the conference call bridge. No matter how self serving the equipment is you will need someone to play administrator for the conference call bridge.
Long Distance Cost – There is a variable telecommunications cost for having toll free access and you will need to pay the long distance connection per minute charges for your participants to get to the conference call bridge.

So when you add up all of the cost to run your own conference call bridge you may find that the cost per minute to operate your own equipment may be higher than if you use a conference call service. Especially now that the conference call rates are as low as they are it really is hard to justify having your own conference call bridge.

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Audio Conferencing Services

Monday, March 15th, 2010

A term used in the teleconferencing industry to describe telephone conference calls is audio conferencing. We adopted this term to distinguish the normal conference call from a web conference. And truth be told the term “audio” is used to describe something you listen to so it makes sense. It is just not a word that people use everyday so many times people are confused when I talk about audio conferencing.

Audio conferencing is just another way of saying conference call and specifically is describing a conference call on a telephone whose main communication method is using sound/speech over the telephone. An audio conference today has become a fairly standard offering as far as the way it works and many of its features. Generally, an audio conference is held by dialing an access number and then putting in a pass code when you are connected to the conference call service equipment. The conference call service equipment then places you in the appropriate conference call based on the pass code you input. Basically all of the participants that enter that code will be placed into the same conference call. Most conference call services will provide a separate pass code for the Host of the call so they can access certain features within the conference call.

The most common features available to the Host on a conference call are the ability to mute all participants, raise and lower the volume and disconnect some or all of the participants. Some conference call service companies will offer additional features like the ability to conduct a roll call and even record the conference call. Zip Conferencing offers these features and more.

So, if you hear of someone referring to an Audio Conference you know it is just a plain old conference call.

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Conference Call Price Comparison

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

It would be very easy to offer a conference call price comparison if conference calling prices were like long distance calling. Long distance calling is all pretty much the same and priced the same. A long distance call simply connects you to another location and every company prices that connection on a per minute basis, or used to anyway. But the point is there is not a lot of difference in the service or price of the service. For a conference call price comparison you need to understand the differences in the services so you can understand the pricing. Only then can you do an apples to apples price comparison. Here are the main areas where you need to investigate a conference call service companies offer.

Toll or Toll Free – One of the ways many conference call service companies offer a low rate is by providing a low rate for Toll Access to the conference call. The problem with this type of access is that you and your participants are incurring hidden charges in the form of long distance charges for connecting to this local or toll number which is not local to you. Especially if you are inviting customers to the call you do not want them to incur any toll charges to connect to your conference call.
Flat Rate – Some conference call service companies offer a flat monthly rate for unlimited conference calls. There are two issues with this type of conference call access. The first is you are usually limited in the number of participants who can join the call. The second is you are going to access the conference call via a toll or local number and incur those long distance charges. Toll free access is like a long distance call and costs the conference call service company so you will not see it offered for a flat rate.
Monthly Subscription Plans – Some conference call service companies offer a discount if you subscribe to a monthly plan. You should take advantage of these plans if you can but make sure to select a plan that fits your usage pattern and calculate the rate based on the minutes you will do for comparison purposes.
Volume Discounts – Some conference call service companies offer a volume discount based on reaching a certain amount of volume. This is good, but make sure your price comparison is based on your usage pattern as many people do not generate as much conference call volume as they think.

The best way to do a conference call price comparison is to first determine what your usage is or is going to be and then boil down offers to a per minute rate. I would recommend you only use the toll free rate for comparison purposes as this is the way that most people will use the service. Conference call service companies offer a wide variety of features so you should also make sure they have the features you are looking for as well.

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How to Participate on a Conference Call

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

I have spent a lot of time talking about how to host an effective conference call. But what should you do if you are a participant? In order to have a godd conference call it takes a well prepared host and it also takes participants who know how to behave on a conference call. Here are a few tips if you are a participant on a conference call that will help you get the most out of the conference call.

Be On Time – The first thing you can do as a participant is show up for the conference call on time. When you don’t show up on time you are showing a lack of consideration for the Host and the other participants alike. Because even if the Host starts the conference call on time wihtout you or not you are causing a delay and/or an interruption to the meeting. And you have to assume you were invited to the conference call because you are recognized as a valuable contributor to the conference call. Given that assumption you need to be on time to the meeting and ready to participate.
Be Prepared – Hopefully the Host sent out an agenda for the conference call ahead of time. At the very least you should have an idea of what the conference call is meant to address and you have a responsibility to be prepared for the meeting. That could mean reviewing related documents or actually being prepared to present during the conference call.
Mute Your Phone – This is not always necessary, but all participants should be aware that even if you are being quiet the other people on the conference call can hear you. Our conference call service equipment produces a very clear audio connection so even just the typing on your computer is easily picked up by the microphone on your phone and is transmitted across the conference call to all participants. It is always the best idea to simply mute your phone unless you are speaking. Most phones these days have a mute button and if not the conference call service should have a way to enter a command through the phone to mute your line.
Identify Yourself – On a conference call there is no way for the Host or other participants to identify you unless you do it. The best practice is to state your name when you are going to speak so people know who is spoeaking.
Participate – It is easy to get distracted on a conference cll because you are usually at your desk and still have access to computers, papers, etc. But you were invited to the meeting because your participation was deemed important and if you were in a face to face meeting you would not even consider answering emails while in the meeting. So on a conference call participate just like you would in a face to face meeting.

If you treat your participation on a conference call just like you would an in person meeting then your conference call participation will be a success.

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