Archive for the ‘Conference Calls’ Category
Tuesday, 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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Wednesday, 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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Wednesday, 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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Monday, 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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Monday, 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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Thursday, 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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Tuesday, 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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Monday, July 11th, 2011
I still get people who ask me about the basics of an audio conference so I thought I would spend today describing just how easy and affordable a conference call can be.
- Ease of Use- An audio conference was not always as easy to use as they are today. It used to be that you had to get the names and numbers of the people you wanted on an audio conference to an operator who would schedule the conference call and when the time came call out to all the parties. There was work up front for the moderator to assemble this information and then call a conference call service and relay that information to them so the audio conference could begin. And then for the participants on the conference call you had to be at the phone number you supplied at the time of the call or you were not going to get on the audio conference. Of course this was before cell phones were real prevalent and most people had to stay at their desks a little more than today anyway but still I can tell you that many calls were missing participants because people just were not always where they were supposed to be when the audio conference began. As a conference call service provider we spent a lot of time chasing people down or putting them into the correct conference calls when they called back into our service center. Now it is much easier for everyone. Zip Conferencing provides you with a toll free dial in number that never changes and pass codes for you and your participants that never change. There is no need to schedule your audio conference now. You simply tell your participants when you want to meet and supply them with the toll free dial in number and pass code. At the time of the conference call you and your participants simply dial the access number and put in the pass code and you are joined in the conference call.
- Affordable- Over time just as the audio conference has gotten a lot easier to use it has also become more affordable. The average rate per minute of a toll free conference call in 1995 was $.50 per minute. Today Zip Conferencing has toll free conference call rates as low as $.024 per minute. The combination of ease of use and price has resulted in explosive growth for conference calls. You can meet with a large group of people for a small amount of money and it cost nothing for your participants to join.
An audio conference is the easiest and most affordable way to meet with a group of people.
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Friday, June 17th, 2011
Here it comes! Summertime. And we all look forward to spending time doing the things we love and spending time away from the office. So why would I want to talk about conference calls in the summertime? Well, when you thin about it getting on a conference call to stay in touch with things is sometimes a much better option than having to go into the office to meet with people. In fact, summertime conference calls can really save your summer vacation. How can a conference call be a good thing?
- Conference Calls can be attended from Anywhere- I have taken a conference call in some mighty strange places. But that is because I have not let the need to attend a conference call get in the way of a vacation day. But I will never complan if I have to leave my chair at the beach for a few minutes to go to the air conditioned car where it is not windy so I can get on a conference call. The alternative is I can’t go to the beach at all because I have to go to the office for a meeting. So take your conference call wherever you need to as they don’t care if you are at the beach, boat, camp or wherever. If your phone works so will your conference call.
- A Conference Call can happen Anytime – I have also been on a conference call at all times of the day. With people all around the world being able to join a conference call with Zip Conferencing I have been on calls all hours of the day. But wherever I am when the call happens I simply need to get on the telephone and can do that from the comfort of my home and go back to bed if necessary.
- A Web Conference is Just like being There- If you add a web conference to your conference call you can colloborate with others just like you are in the room with them. So if you really need to get some work done all you need is a PC and in internet connection and you can literally do whatever you need to do from a meeting standpoint from anywhere in the world.
So don’t think of a conference call as an interruption on your vacation but as simply a way you can do what needs to be done for work without the need to disrupt your summer. Enjoy the summer!
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Friday, January 7th, 2011
With Audio Conference Calls the one thing you should not have to think about is reliability. When you go to an in person meeting in a conference room you take it for granted that the lights in the conference room will work. A conference call should be no different. Audio conference calls have been around for a long time and at this point if the conference call service company has taken the proper precautions reliability should not be an issue. Here are some of the steps that Zip Conferencing has taken to ensure that our customers can quality and reliability with every conference call.
- Direct Digital Connections to the Public Telecommunications Network – The Public Telecommunications Network is the main network that all of us use to complete phone calls. Audio conference calls are no different than a regular phone call except our teleconferencing equipment is what you call into and makes it possible for multiple parties to speak together. So the better the connection to the network the better audio conference calls will sound. Zip Conferencing employs direct digital connections to ensure a high quality reliable connection.
- Multiple Telecommunications Carriers – What happens to audio conference calls if the telecommunications carrier has an issue? If there is a major outage on the carrier the ability to connect to the conference call will be compromised. Zip Conferencing uses multiple telecommunication carriers in case one has a major outage we can reroute the traffic to another carrier so that you can get to your conference call.
- Back Up Power Systems – Audio conference calls are dependent on the equipment that makes them possible and they need consistent power in order to operate. Zip Conferencing has a battery and generator power back up system in place that provides for uninterrupted power in case of emergency. The generator will continue to operate as long as is necessary making sure your conference calls are there when you need them.
- Back Up Conference Call Equipment – Audio conference calls are conducted on a piece of equipment referred to as a conference call bridge. It is basically a computer with thousands of connections for conference call participants. And like any computer, despite regular maintenance they sometimes fail. Zip Conferencing has constructed a network that includes back up live equipment so that if anything happens to a conference call bridge we can switch to a working piece of equipment without any loss in traffic.
If you are looking for a conference call service provider for your audio conference calls you should be looking for quality and reliability first. If you select Zip Conferencing you will get quality, reliability and the most affordable rates anywhere.
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Thursday, December 9th, 2010
It wasn’t too long ago that I was with a conference call services provider and we were offering low cost conference calls for 50 cents per minute. And at that rate we were saving customers of AT&T over 40%! Well, even at that rate conference calls were easily justified to large businesses because of the savings they recognized in travel and the increased productivity. But now, with toll free conference calls priced less than 10 cents per minute, this powerful business tool is available to businesses of all sizes.
There was a time when the majority of my customers had over 50 employees. But low cost conference calls has really changed that dynamic. Now there is a much wider mix of companies utlizing low cost conference calls. I have many 1 – 3 employee companies who have realized that conference calls can help them be more productive and provide a very important communication link to their customers. Small home construction companies are using conference calls to keep their customers up to speed on their home building developments and coordinating with building supply vendors to make selections for their home. Small Accounting firms and CPAs are using low cost conference calls to keep their customers informed and to have meetings with investment firms and attorneys with their customers. Small law firms are using low cost conference calls to hold conference calls with opposing council and their customers.
And not only have low cost conference calls now opened up the advantages of conference calling to businesses of all sizes but the service itself is richer than ever. Zip Conferencing allows its customers to customize their conference calls in such a way that they have full control over all of the facets of the conference call. With Zip Conferencing you can decide whether participants are announced into the conference call with a tone, their name or not at all. Customers can have their participants listen to music or provide them the ability to speak without the moderator present and engage a number of security measures to insure their privacy on the conference calls. And much more. So now companies of all sizes have the same high quality, feature rich conference call services available to them as large companies. And with small companies the ability to save money on travel and be more productive are no less important than to large companies.
Low cost conference calls have truly leveled the playing field for companies of all sizes in many ways.
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Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
They are reporting that 40 million people will travel for Thanksgiving, but many families just can’t get together for a variety of reasons which makes residential conference calls important around the holidays. No doubt you have been on a business conference call at one time or another. For businesses the conference call has become an essential tool that provides savings in time and money and makes meetings possible that otherwise would not be due to the location of the participants. Residential conference calls fill the same need for families that would like to get together but just can’t physically get in the same location.
There are a number of reasons that families need to get together like a family emergency, a birth or death in the family, a wedding or around the holidays. With Thanksgiving this week many family members will make the trek to be with their family despite all of the travel hassles and expense to get there. And there is no substitute for sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with your family. But just as many people who travel can’t make the trip for one reason or another.
Usually when a family member can’t make it we give them a call and pass the phone around the room so everyone can speak tot hem. Then when the call is over we try to piece together all that was spoken of to all the different people. Why not use a residential conference call and get everyone in the same place at the same time?
Residential conference calls can be very affordable because the number of participants is usually small since many members of the family are probably in one place and you are just trying to include the few people who couldn’t make it into your gathering. With only two or three participants total you can hold a residential conference call with Zip Conferencing for an hour for less than $10. You could even include the missing members at your table to enjoy the entire meal if you want for less than the cost of desert!
So, this holiday season if everyone can’t make it to your house why not try a residential conference call, the next best thing to being there.
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Friday, October 29th, 2010
Ever since we introduced easier ways to do international conference calls their usage has increased. But it seems like lately more and more people are doing international conference calls. When you look at the factors influencing the usage of international conference calls it is no wonder they are more popular.
- Businesses are more Global in Nature – Over the past twenty years businesses have been expanding and looking for new markets. So, naturally businesses have looked globally to expand their businesses. In order to stay in touch with these remote office international conference calls have become essential to managing their global footprint.
- Travel is more Expensive – Conference calls have always offered a way to save money on travel. If you have offices internationally and international conference call provides a great opportunity to save even more money since travel overseas can be very expensive.
- Time is more Valuable – Visiting your office in Europe or AsiaPac can be great but when you think about the time it takes to make the trip it can be a bit daunting. International conference calls provide a way to stay in touch with your international business right from your desk. No time wasted in airports and hotels.
- Budgets are Tight – In today’s economy more than ever we are all looking for ways to save money. International conference calls put money instantly on your bottom line that otherwise would go towards the travel expense of going to your international locations in person. And Zip Conferencing offers ways for the international participants to connect to the conference call inexpensively as well.
So it really is no wonder that international conference calls are becoming more popular with businesses today. And with Zip Conferencing you can provide your international participants a local number to dial into which is more convenient for them, less costly and will also save you money on your conference call bill. International conference calls with Zip Conferencing can be accessed through international toll free numbers as well for participants that are not located near a major city. Whatever your application Zip Conferencing has a solution that will fit for your international conference calls.
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Thursday, October 28th, 2010
Everyone likes to save money and conference calls are no different. There are a lot of cheap conference calls out there but make sure you get quality too or you will be disappointed. That’s right cheap conference calls are everywhere. You can even get free conference calls if you want. So what is the difference? Are all conference calls the same? If I buy cheap conference calls will the quality always be poor?
- Free Conference Calls – As you might suspect, free conference calls are not really free. The catch here is that you and your participants have to pay toll charges to connect to the conference call because they don’t provide a toll free number. And do you really think that someone who gives away their service is going to provide a high level of quality? Really?
- Are all conference calls the same? – The short answer to this question is no, all conference calls are not the same. The conference call service provider has everything to do with how the call sounds, how reliable the service is and what customer service they provide. In this case what you don’t know can hurt you. If the conference call service company cut corners setting up their network or used inferior equipment you could find yourself with an inferior connection.
- Cheap conference calls – You can find a high quality cheap conference call but you need to know what to look for. Zip Conferencing has taken steps to insure that the quality of the conference calls are as good as any conference call service available. You can for yourself and experience the quality of the calls. In addition, you should look for a service that offers as many conference call options and features as other services. You don’t want to find yourself without being able to access features like recordings and roll call because you wanted to save some money.
The bottom line is that you want to shop quality first in a conference call service. Cheap conference calls can be quite good but look for a reputable provider like Zip Conferencing that will give you all of the features and conference call options you need and the high quality and reliability you deserve.
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Friday, September 24th, 2010
I was speaking to someone yesterday and he asked me what I do and when I said that I run a conference call business he could not say enough about what a benefit conference calls have had on his business. I love talking to people about conference calls because it is usually a very positive conversation. I ended up talking to this gentleman for a while about how his company uses conference calls and I thought I would share some of his thoughts with you.
One of his first reactions was to tell me how much his company spends on conference calls which is not uncommon. But he quickly turned that part of the conversation into how much money his company was saving by doing conference calls instead of travelling. Like all companies, he is trying to keep his costs down and reducing the travel budget by using conference calls instead is a great way to do that. He did some quick calculations in his head and told me that his company was literally saving millions of dollars by doing conference calls. And then the conversation turned to how people in his company including himself are also using conference calls to increase productivity because it was so easy to pull a meeting together. A quick meeting with a conference call usually averted issues and kept projects moving forward that otherwise would get bogged down. And he said that many times they would hold a conference call as an adjunct to a physical meeting in a conference room and give people the choice of joining in person or on the conference call. And even though the physical meeting may only be down the hall many time the participants would join via conference call so that they could stay at their desk and be productive.
And finally he asked if I did video conferencing and I said no but we offer a service that allows you to share a presentation on your PC and he immediately knew what I was referring to, web conferencing. To this he said how web conferencing has really enhanced the way his company presents its services to new customers and ultimately has increased sales. And he said they also use web conferencing internally to collaborate and do training. At the end of the conversation I told him I could not have found a better pitch man for the benefits of conference calls. And he said he did not realize how much conference calls were intertwined with his business until he started talking about it but certainly did not know what he would do without it. Without a doubt, conference calls are the best option.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Friday, August 27th, 2010
Okay, I know its summertime and the last thing you want to do on vacation is work. And conference calls are usually about work in some way or another. So why would someone want to do a conference call while on vacation? Well some people have a hard time relaxing on vacation because their mind is on their work the whole time. Maybe you own your own business or you are in charge of a group or a large project that just happens to be in a critical phase while you are on vacation. You certainly don’t want to cancel your vacation or go into the office do you? A conference call is a way to stay in touch remotely and take a minimum amount of time out of your day.
Conference calls are easy to do and can be done from anywhere. These days it is hard to find a spot where your cell phone doesn’t work. To attend that critical meeting remotely you simply need to dial a toll free number and put in your pass code when prompted and you are on the conference call. I had a friend visiting us and needed to stay close to the implementation of a large customer he was responsible for in his business. Just being on vacation was not relaxing to him because this customer was very important to him. Once I explained how easy it was to set up a conference call, however, he was able to relax knowing he could still attend the meeting without missing out on too much fun. He did have to go to his car in the parking lot at the beach to dial into the conference call so he could participate in the conference call without any interruptinion, but it was much better than the alternative. He only missed about 45 minutes on the beach with his family and was able to truly relax once he was able to participate in the meeting. Without conference calls he would have been uncomfortable all vacation or had to stay home to attend the meeting.
So, I know conference calls are an extension of work and work on vacation is something we all try to avoid. But isn’t it better than having to attend the meeting in person? And in a lot of cases it is worth attending that meeting remotely while on vacation so that you can relax. So, relax. Go on vacation. And if you really need to, do a conference call.
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Monday, May 10th, 2010
Okay, I have been in the conference call industry since 1995 and I have seen a lot of applications for conference calls. There have also been events that have triggered the use of conference calls like 9/11, but I have to admit this is the first time I have seen an increase in conference calls because of a volcano. But then the volcano in Iceland obviously caused a lot more interruptions than any other volcano in recent history. And when travel is interrupted the use of conference calls goes up. And it always seems that when people are forced to use conference calls and web conferencing because of an event they realize how easy the services are to use and how effective they can be at allowing you to have a distance meeting.
And why wait for a volcanic eruption to discover how conference calls can save you time, money and increase your productivity? Businesses have discovered for a long time that using conference calls and web conferencing to replace some of your in person meetings is not just he practical thing to do but simply a good business decision. Let’s face it, most meetings we have are not necessary to have in person. You are simply communicating with people you know and sharing ideas, advancing a project or doing a presentation. Unless you need to do something physically with the participants or desire to shake hands all of this can be done remotely. And even as a staunch promoter of conference calls I understand that sometimes you need to get together with the other participants to build a relationship. And doing that remotely is difficult if not impossible. So, have your initial meeting in person, break some bread but then have the next meeting by way of a conference call or web conference. All of the participants will be thankful of the time saved in getting together physically.
So, don’t wait for the volcano to make you try a conference call or a web conference. It is time to incorporate distance meetings into your regular way of doing business. And then if something happens that prevents your next inperson meeting you will not feel the impact. You and your participants will be thankful for the conference calls!
Conference calls and web conferences can truly offer a reliable substitute for in person meetings. I certainly agree that there is no substitute for sitting around a conference table together
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Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Earth Day reminds us to do whatever we can to help save our environment because its resources are limited and fragile. And one of the things we now understand is reducing our “carbon footprint”. This means to reduce our emissions and use of resources and one of the easiest ways to do this is to reduce our travel whether it is by car, train or plane. There is no easier way to reduce your business travel then to replace your in person meetings with a conference call or a web conference.
In person meetings are great. You get to shake hands, look people in the eye and connect with others the way you can’t when you are on a remote meeting. But every meeting doesn’t need to be in person. If you know the people you are meeting with and have met before you don’t really need to meet in person every time. And by doing some of your meetings by way of conference calls and web conferencing you can hold just as effective a meeting as if you were in person without the travel expense and do your part to reduce your carbon footprint. Holding a conference call or web conference has never been easier. Services are widely available, affordable and very easy to use. At this point just about everyone has been on a conference call that utilizes a toll free number and a pass code. You simply dial the access number and put in your code and you are connected to the other people that did the same. You can meet with hundreds of people at once if you like and you can meet any time you like. A web conference is just as easy and allows you to share your desktop or do a presentation from your PC as easily as if the people were in the same room. You can even use a camera and send participants your own video feed if you really want to add that in person feeling. And while you are being a good steward of the Earth you also will be saving a good amount of money and time using conference call services as an alternative.
If only a fraction of meetings today were replaced with conference calls and web conferencing we would save millions of tons of carbon emissions. And lets face it, there are a lot of meetings that are not worth the gas to get there.
And using a conference call instead of driving to an appointment is many times just a matter of thinking to do it. So on Earth Day it gives us one more reason to think to do a conference call benefiting everyone concerned, even the Earth.
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Monday, March 29th, 2010
Just about everyone has done a conference call in their business life. Conference calls have become universally known for their convenience and ability to save people time and money compared to an in person meeting. But can you also use a conference call service for your residential conference call needs? Sure you can, here are some of the uses we have seen for residential conference calls.
- Family Party Planning – Many times you may want to have a party with your family and you need to work on logistics like during the holidays. If you have a dispersed family and you need to get everyone on the same page a conference call will allow you to get all of the family members on the same page.
- Family Emergencies- If you have a family emergency you need to deal with such as a death or hospitalization of a family member and you need to coordinate with the other family members you can do a conference call to get together more easily.
- Birth of a child – A new family member is a great excuse to get everyone on the phone so you can celebrate with everyone in the family.
- Local Organization – If you have a local club or organization that you organize you can use a conference call to coordinate your efforts with the other members of the organization.
Basically, anything you can think of where you need to get multiple parties together to discuss something you can coordinate with a conference call. Conference call rates have gotten low enough where even for residential conference calls it makes sense rather than an in person meeting if you would like to save money and time.
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Friday, March 12th, 2010
As US Businesses expand into international markets and the world continues to shrink we get more and more inquiries from people who want to do international conference calls. It used to be that we would get a company that had a participant in England or somewhere in Western Europe, but now participants are all over the world and it is only natural that companies would like to do an international conference call. So, what are the options if you have participants for a conference call in an international location? Well, there really are three options available from conference call service companies to do international conference calls.
- Local US Number – Since the international participant cannot dial a US toll free number, most conference call service companies also provide a local US number to dial in order to access the conference call. Since it is a local US number the international conference call participant can dial it from anywhere in the world and access the conference call. The only catch with this method of access is that the international participant is going to pay long distance toll charges to dial a US number and will pay those charges to their long distance phone company for the entire time they are on the conference call. If the participant is an employee and has a good calling plan to dial the US this may be the least expensive option. Usually the cost to the Host of the conference call is the same or less than the toll free access for US participants.
- Local In-Country Number – Some conference call service companies have set up local access in foreign countries where the international participant can dial in to a US conference call by dialing a local number where they are located. So, if the participant was in London, for example, they would dial a local London phone number and the conference call service company then transports the caller to the US conference call via their network. The international participant usually doesn’t have to pay any charges to access a local number and the Host of the conference call in the US usually pays a little more than the local US number access but less than an international toll free number.
- International Toll Free Number – An international toll free number is by the far the most convenient, but also the most expensive option for access to an international conference call. There is no universal toll free access available so you need to dial a specific toll free number from a particular country. But you can dial the number anywhere in that country and the participant will pay nothing to access the US conference call. But this type of access is the most expensive for the Host of the conference call. If the participant for the conference call is a customer or a prospective customer and you want to make sure they do not spend anything to access your conference call then this might be the best option for you.
International conference calls are now widely used and there are a variety of ways to connect to the call from around the world. Zip Conferencing offers all three types of access with over 40 local numbers and 40 toll free numbers around the world providing access throughout all major markets around the world.
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Friday, March 5th, 2010
I have never been a fan of the word cheap. I think in general the meaning I derive from the word is something of inferior quality not just inexpensive. But that is not how everyone views it. A lot of people think of cheap as simply the cost of an item. And there are some huge companies that have made a living at selling good stuff cheap. And in most cases the goods they sell are the same goods or services you may find in another store but they simply find a way to sell them cheaper than their competition. And that is the case with Zip Conferencing’s conference call service. I have proved to myself that you can sell cheap conference calls and still provide the same or better quality than other conference call service companies.
I am often asked, “How can you sell conference calls at such low rates?” People think that the calls themselves may be inferior in some way because cheap conference calls can’t be as good, right? Well, there certainly are some costs in providing a high quality conference call service that you can not escape but there are areas in the conference call service business where you can reduce costs and pass those saving on to your customers. And these areas have no impact on the number of features or quality of the service. Cheap conference calls can be as good as expensive conference calls and here are the areas where Zip Conferencing has been able to reduce their cost without affecting the quality of the conference call service.
- Self Service Ability- Although Zip Conferencing offers personal service 24/7 we also provide our customers the ability to service their own accounts. The interface is easy to use and available to our customers 24/7 so they can get immediate service whenever they want without having to contact our customer service department. Like an ATM machine is to banks, our online account management tool provides a way to do business with us that is more convenient to use and so the number of customer service agents we need is less than most conference call service companies.
- Online Marketing- Unlike many conference call service companies our marketing and advertising is strictly done online. Since we don’t have to pay a large number of salespeople to produce our sales, our sales cost is less.
- Reduced Office Space Requirements- The lower number of personnel needed means we don’t need as much office space as other conference call service companies.
- Fully Automated – Our provisioning, billing and other back office processes are highly automated which means we need fewer people to perform the normal business functions needed to run a conference call service company.
So, you see, you can get cheap conference calls that are as good as more costly conference calls, just use Zip Conferencing!
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Over the years the number of conference calls being held has exploded. It is not hard to imagine why since conference calling saves a company money and time. But can there be such a thing as too many conference calls?
Let’s face it. If you work for a company that has integrated conference calls into their culture then you have had those days. Days where you are jumping from one conference call to another with little break in between. Such is the nature of conference calling. You can simply sit at your desk and attend meeting after meeting without leaving your desk. A conference call saves you the travel time, even if it is down the hall to a conference room, so you can schedule an audio conference back to back with another audio conference and stay on schedule. One of the reasons companies have adopted conference calls is because they are increasing your productivity without you realizing it. You can attend more meetings in a day if they are via a conference call and you are saving any travel expenses as well. But for you the increase in productivity translates into more work. Not only can’t you get anything done while you are in a meeting whether it is a conference call or in person meeting, but inevitably you get more work to do while in the meeting as well.
So maybe conference calls are too convenient and too easy to use and too inexpensive because if you are on too many conference calls you can’t get anything done. So even though you have saved all this travel time you now are so loaded with work to do and no time to do it you are struggling and tomorrow there is another slate of conference calls to attend. Even as a conference call service provider I have to admit that you can have too many conference calls. But let’s face it. A conference call is easier to deal with than an in person meeting and after all you just need to say no. Time management is something everyone can improve on and using your time wisely is all about using all your time as effectively as possible. And without conference calls time spent travelling to meetings would be completely wasted. Conference calls are great, just try to tone it down a bit.
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Washington, DC has received a record amount of snowfall this winter and there is more on the way. Places like Boston and Chicago are used to getting lots of snow and dealing with it. Washington, DC not so much. The government and private businesses in the area have been forced to shut down their offices while they try to clean up after the storm. For most businesses, taking days off for a weather emergency is just not that practical. Conference calls provide the means to continue to conduct business during a weather emergency.
The benefits of conference calls are evident when the weather is good and people can travel to work and attend face to face meetings. You get the benefits of saving time, money and increasing your productivity whenever you do a conference call. But when you have no choice to do an in person meeting, a conference call can really save the day. I have no doubt that all conference call service companies have seen a rise in usage over the past week due to the weather emergencies experienced from the recent winter storms. Zip Conferencing certainly has seen more conference calls being conducted. Conference calls provide the much needed link for companies to continue to conduct regular business during these types of situations.
The best thing to do for your company is to be ready for a weather emergency by enlisting a conference call service and having conference call capability in case of emergency. Most conference call service companies like Zip Conferencing offer their services on a Pay As You Go basis which means that you will not pay for the service unless you use it. That way you can have the conference call information on hand and when the emergency happens you are ready. Certainly using conference calls in your every day business helps at all times and would help you be even more ready if an emergency happens, but even if you only use the conference call service during an emergency it is worth doing.
So, don’t worry about the weather. You can do a conference call even during the worst weather emergency mother nature has to offer. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
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Friday, January 22nd, 2010
There was a time when you would not even think about running an automated conference call for 20 or more participants. If you were going to run a conference call of that size you would run the conference call with the assistance of an operator. And even today, an Operator Assisted call might be the right conference call solution depending on your application, but the conference call technology has gotten to where running a large automated conference call is manageable if you know a few tricks.
The main problem with running a large conference call is the noise the audience can introduce during the call. It is bad enough when there are just 4 or 5 participants and one of them introduces noise because they are on a cell phone, rustling papers on their desk, talking to people in their room, etc. Just imagine having 100 people on the call. The odds that someone is going to make noise during the conference call are pretty good. In fact, virtually certain. So, what can you do to hold an orderly conference call with a large audience? Here are a few tips to make for a successful large conference call.
- Turn Off any Tones – Most conference call service companies provide tones on the conference clal so you know when a participant joins the call. This is fine when you have 5 people on the conference call, but can be more than a distraction when there are 20 or more.
- Mute All – The conference calling service should provide a way to mute all participants as the Moderator of the conference call.
- Use an online interface if offered – Some conference call service companies offer an online conference call interface that allows you to see the callers and control the audio portion of the conference call. This can be very helpful, especially if you intend to open up to questions from the audience. That way you can see the callers and manage the call easier.
- Use Web Conferencing – In addition to enhancing your conference call with visual presentations, a web conference can allow you to manage a Q&A session better than just using an audio conference. With a Web Conference you are giving your participants a way to raise their hand for questions and a way for you to open up an individual line to allow them to ask their question.
- Practice – The best thing you can do to insure your success with a large conference call is to run a practice session to make sure you are familiiar with all of the conference call controls and how to use them.
If you follow these tips you can run a large conference call successfully without the need to use an expensive Operator Assisted Conference Call.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Thursday, January 14th, 2010
First of all, let me offer my most sincere condolences to all in Haiti who have lost loved ones in this terrible earthquake. I know that the US and the rest of the world is working as fast as they can speed help to that country and I wish them all the best in this difficult time. Certainly in a disaster like this many resources have to be pulled together to muster the kind of support necessary to attack the problem. And a great deal of coordination needs to happen to have all of the resources work effectively together to speed the recovery process. Conference calls are an excellent way to pull together the various people and agencies to coordinate their efforts.
A major disaster like the one in Haiti does not happen every day, thankfully, but it is easy to see how communication is important to help provide the kind of coordination necessary between the various agencies. Conference calls allow people to connect without the need to be in person and in this case across the world. Since conference calls are accessible from around the world there is no limit to the where the people are located on the conference calls. Participants from various countries can even get together to help coordinate their efforts.
As a small business owner the ability to coordinate global efforts using conference calls probably won’t apply to you. But having a conference call service ready in case of a disaster for your company is a really good idea. Emergencies in your business could happen at any time and being able to communicate with the rest of your staff and do it quickly can sometimes mean the difference between a small inconvenience and a total disaster.
Take for example the case of the wrong price being put into a flyer for your business. You just figured out that the price that is about to be distributed says $9.99 when it should be $99.99. Pulling together the Marketing department, the printer and distributor on a conference call may give you an opportunity to head off the distribution before it goes out and determine a good course of action to rectify the situation. If you had to make separate phone calls instead of pulling together all the parties on a conference call you will lose valuable time. And in that time you might miss the window of opportunity to head off the distribution of the ad. This is but one example of an issue that could be dealt with more easily with a conference call.
Whatever business you are in you may at one point experience an emergency that you need to deal with. Being prepared for that emergency is key because time is short and dealing with the emergency expeditiously can mean the difference between a small issue and a huge emergency. It costs nothing to get a set of conference call information and keep it at hand for just such an emergency. Because when time is critical, a conference call can help reduce the time it takes to respond in an emergency situation.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Friday, January 8th, 2010
We are more connected than ever before. Between the email, voice mail and BlackBerry or other PDA it is difficult to escape the endless stream of information from your work and personal life. It just seems to me we are heading to where there is no escaping work and like many of the other modern day work convenience maybe conference calls are getting too convenient.
Let’s face it, you can do a conference call from anywhere. Just like you can talk to people from anywhere, I don’t even want to know all the places that calls are done from, conference calls are as convenient as your next cell phone call. When cell phones first came out the conference call service industry would discourage people from using them on a cell phone because they introduced a lot of noise and the networks were such that a dropped call during the conference call was pretty much a certainty. So, naturally our customers would call us and complain about the conference call service because they were losing participants during the call of there was a lot of noise on the call. And inevitably when our operators would join the conference call we would identify the culprit and most times it was a participant on the conference call on a cell phone. Well that has certainly changed. Now most of the participants on a conference call are probably on a cell phone. With the cell phone networks improvement and better equipment you can join and participate on a conference call from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. And that is just about anywhere.
And now that people can get you just about anywhere they can also get you just about anytime. People seem to expect that since you have a cell phone than I should be able to reach anytime, anywhere. So, before when you would schedule a conference call with Asia, for instance, the participants would schedule the conference call for a time that was good for all concerned, knowing that people needed to be in the office during normal work hours to conduct the call. But know it seems that people just assume you can get on a call anytime. My wife, for instance, is regularly asked to attend conference calls with other parts of the world at all hours of the night. The other night she had three conference calls from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at night with Australia and Asia. They just don’t seem to think that there are any boundaries since you are always accessible.
So, what do you think? Are conference calls too convenient?
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
The US Government is doing everything it can to help small businesses as they realize that this is the best way to grow the economy and create jobs. And even though the funding has loosened up a little, the biggest issue still is getting money from investors to the entrepreneurs so that they can get the businesses off the ground. But luckily, things have come back to where private investors are getting back into the market and businesses are finding funding sources. But one of the things I have heard is that the investors are still a little gun shy and want to get involved in their investments and get as much information as they can get. Conference calls are once again the best way to provide this much needed communication line for the investors and the most cost effective way for the entrepreneur to keep them informed.
Conference calls allow the small business owner to keep their investors informed without the need to hold a costly in person meeting. Everyone wins in this situation. The investors are able to stay informed regarding the business matters, the entrepreneur is able to communicate effectively and important to both, the business is able to conserve much needed capital. Without conference calls, the amount of information flow would be reduced and expenses would go up not helping anyone.
In addition, conference calls are an excellent way for the employees of the business to communicate regularly at a low cost. Many times a small business is spread out with few resources and simply can’t afford face to face meetings every time they need to communicate the many changes that their business inevitably goes through when it is young.
So, if you are thinking about starting a business these days and wondering what you may need to get started, you should definitely consider getting a conference call service account. Because conference calls and the entrepreneur are a perfect match.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
The ability to communicate with a widely dispersed audience quickly and easily using a conference call is helpful to many industries and the same principles of saving time and money benefit sports organizations both amateur and professionals alike. I have had the privilege of providing conference call services to many of the major sports teams and organizations and many amateur organizations as well. And although the content of their conference calls may be a little different the aim is the same, save time and money using conference calls.
Professional sports organizations have many applications for conference calls within their organizations. Internally they have staff scattered over the entire country and sometimes the world. The staff is focused on doing scouting missions for the organizations looking at the competition or looking for new talent. A conference call allows the entire staff to get together on a regular basis to share successes and insight and make sure they are on the same page. The teams are regularly on the road during the season so they also use conference calls to stay in touch with the staff travelling with the team. Staff meetings can continue using a conference call even while the team is on the road. Professional sports teams also have an obligation to communicate regularly with the press in their sport. Many times a face to face meeting is not possible with all of the interested press people so they will do a conference call to make sure they are getting their news out to all of the news outlets interested. And beyond the team itself, a conference call is used in many other capacities to aid in press communications. One example is when players were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame we would provide the conference call for the player to talk to the press which was done many times from their residence immediately following their notification of their election.
Amateur sports have many of the same challenges as the professional organizations. And many times the organizations are international in scope as they support their support in many countries. Given the geography and certainly the budget of these organizations the only realistic solution for them to communicate is a conference call. The leadership of the organization in the different countries will regular get together to discuss rule changes, tournaments and event planning for their sport. These meetings can take place from anywhere at anytime using a conference call and saves the organization a lot of money compared to trying to hold an in-person meeting.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Working in the conference call service business as long as I have has exposed me to many businesses and industries. And all of the businesses I have encountered and used my conference call services have benefited by saving time and money. One of the areas which really benefits using conference calls to save both is a non-profit company.
Sure, there are non-profit organizations out there that have a lot of money and their CEOs make more money than most of us, but that is not the norm. Most non-profit orgranizations have a very limited budget and need to squeeze every last penny from their budget in order to make ends meet. But they also need to have meetings, solicit donations and so forth. That is where the conference calls come in handy. In fact, in some cases the non-profit organization doesn’t even have an office to hold an in person meeting if they wanted to. A conference call is the only way to get their employees or volunteers together. And it does so less expensively than any other method.
The non-profit organizations need to solicit money from donors and sometime they will hold a seminar for a number of potential donors at the same time. They find that holding a conference call with multiple donors actually helps their overall success. Getting their entire team of employees and volunteers on the same page is done more efficiently with a conference call. And if they are a national organization, the ability to hold regular meetings with a widely dispersed team is easy to do and very cost effective using a conference call.
The cost of the conference calls is very important to a non-profit organization as they can use the money for other means if they save money. And being more productive by not travelling to a meeting and doing a conference call instead is also very helpful. Just like any for profit company, a non-profit can take the money they save by doing conference calls and put it right on their bottom line.
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Friday, November 20th, 2009
Just to help make the point that conference calls and now more than ever, web conferencing can help any business save money and be more productive I have decided to talk about another industry who you would not think uses conference calls. Certainly when you think of agriculture you think of a farmer who raises a crop or livestock and then sells to a market. What use could agriculture possibly have with conference calls and web conferencing?
Well you would be surprised. Agriculture is just another business, a big business in fact, that is always looking for ways to reduce cost and improve productivity so naturally they use conference calls. The market that buys the crops or livestock is having conference calls with the farmers it buys from to keep them informed of prices and stock levels and other market factors. By having one conference call with all of their suppliers they are saving time from calling each farmer individually. The farmers are able to speak amongst themselves and share tips on how to better manage their farms. If the farmers belong to a cooperative, the cooperative is using conference calls to better communicate between all of the farmers in the cooperative and share information. And up the supply chain the distributors are able to talk to all of the markets and give them information on demand and pricing and so forth. The level of communication in the entire supply chain has improved with the use of conference calls.
And all of the vendors that touch this industry have also found that conference calls and web conferencing are helping them communicate with their audience faster and more effectively. The companies that make farming equipment are holding regular seminars on the latest equipment and its uses. The companies that make the feed for the animals and the seed for the crops are holding conference calls with the farmers to discuss the availability of their goods, pricing and effective uses. And all of this communication via conference call and web conferences is saving everyone a lot of time and money. Farms by their nature are spread out over vast areas and it is very difficult and time consuming to have personal meetings with each farmer. The use of conference calls and web conferences in agriculture is a natural fit!
www.zipconferencing.com
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
There is a lot of talk surrounding healthcare these days, so I thought I would point out some of the many applications for conference calls in the Healthcare industry. Although healthcare is a largely one on one experience ina local surrounding, the healthcare industry is actually a large user of audio conferencing and web conferencing. Just like any other business, the Healthcare industry tackles many of the same issues on a daily basis as any other industry and is always looking for ways to reduce costs and improve productivity.
For physicians, using a conference call is mainly done as a participant. Doctors regularly are being trained on the latest techniques and therapies to assist their patients and many times these trainings are done remotely using audio conferencing and web conferencing. Not only are the doctors incented to attend these training seminars, but the companies that are vendors in this industry are also incented to conduct the training seminar. Pharmaceutical companies for instance need to promote their drugs and what better way then to hold a free seminar for doctors that describes the drug, its uses, efficacy and side effects. That way the doctors are getting the information first hand from the experts on the drug. And by conducting the training seminar using a conference call and a web conference, the drug company is able to reach more doctors in less time and much more cost effectively than if they attempted an in person meeting. In addition, the drug companies have found that getting a doctor to attend a remote meeting via a conference call is easier than trying to get them to take the time to meet at a location. Even as a participant, the doctors benefit from attending the seminar via a conference call by reducing their cost and increasing their productivity.
Another user of conference calls and web conferencing you may not expect are the hospitals. Many times hospitals are regional in nature and have affiliations with other hospital location in an area. The administration offices are often shared to reduce their overhead. So, you have a business that has multiple locations where employees need to share information and meet on a regular basis. The perfect scenario for the use of conference calls and web conferencing. Similarly, physician and nurse staffing organizations exist that supply personnel to hospitals and healthcare clinics across a regional area and also need to communicate with their employees via conference calls. And another maybe obvious example is when there is a company that owns multiple walk in healthcare clinics across an area. These are basically small outlets for healthcare that are part of the same company spread across a region. Like any other business, the managers of the locations are in need of regular communication with headquarters and are big users of conference calls and web conferencing.
Yes, like most industries, the Healthcare industry finds many benefits by using conference calls and web conferencing.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
I heard that it is a good thing that the Yankees won the World Series because the stock market has an average gain of 10% in the year following a win by them in the World Series. Well, as a Red Sox fan I have a hard time feeling good about them winning it all but at least there is a fringe benefit. And we can’t win it all every year after all. 
The point I wanted to talk about today was how you can get a read on the economy by the usage of conference calls as well. And it is probably a little more reliable than the connection between a baseball game and the economy too.
Over the eyars of being in the conference call industry I have noticed a couple of interesting things that can help indicate how my day is going to go. The first thing I notice is the traffic on the way to work. If it is a busy traffic morning there are going to be a lot of conference calls held that day. Now, in some respects you would think just the opposite. If people stay home they would need to hold meetings remotely and a conference call is a sure bet. But actually, most of the conference calls are being attended by people in their place of business and when people are staying home they are probably on holiday and are not doing conference calls. So, as business traffic picks up, so do the number of conference calls.
The other thing I notice is the type of businesses that sign up for a conference call service is a good indicator of the health of that segment of the business. And when I see a greater number of sign ups than business in that area is probably picking up. Lately I have seen a number of real estate offices and associations signing up for our service. And after speaking to some Realtors I know it appears that the real estate market is picking up some steam after a tough couple of years. That is good news for all of us since that is one of the leading indicators in the economy.
Beyond the signing up for a conference call service I also notice the amount of conference calling done by my customers in general is a good indicator of the economy. And certainly over the past year the financial sector has been especially hard hit. So, companies that do mortgages for instance, just aren’t writing as many mortgages so they are not doing as many conference calls with their offices and vendors to talk about mortgages. And so forth. But again the good news is that the volume of conference calls is starting to pick up in a number of industries that have suffered over the past year or two. It has a ways to go, but in general based on the number of conference calls being done it appears that the economy is on the mend. Maybe we can thank the Yankees and conference calls for the good market over the next year!
www.zipconferencing.com
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Friday, October 30th, 2009
I have addressed the money saving opportunities a number of times on this blog, but another great benefit that conference calls provide is the environmental benefits. Yes, conference calls can help you go green!
Conference calls do offer a number of benefits to it users in saving money and increasing productivity. Conference calls also give its users the ability to conduct their meetings without travel which is where the opportunity to help save the environment comes in. I am not aware of any study that has come up with but if you just use the numbers we know you come up with some staggering statistics. In 2009 it is estimated that there will be about 50 Billion minutes of audio conferencing alone done in just the US. If you use an average conference call of 5 people for 45 minutes you get approximately 225,000,000 conference calls being held with an average of 5 people. If the 5 participants in these conference calls only had to travel an average of five miles to get together face to face they would have to travel a total of 5.5 billion miles. And if you use an average of 18 miles per gallon of fuel you will see that they used a total of 300 million gallons of gasoline to travel to these meetings. That is the total amount of gasoline the US burns in a single day.
And I think if you think about the calculation you quickly realize that I used some pretty soft numbers, like the 5 miles average travel distance. I would bet that it is closer to 100 miles or more considering that people are doing conference calls on a global basis and most people would not even be able to drive to a meeting that has been replaced by a conference call. If you include flights and taxis and rental cars that would be involved in all these meetings I would not be surprised to hear that replacing 225 million conference calls with in-person meetings would save over a billion gallons of gasoline.
So, as you can see, using conference calls instead of doing in-person meetings doesn’t just save you money and time, but it also helps save the environment.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
According to a lot of the pundits out there, including President Obama, there is a surge in the number of new businesses that are getting started. This is because people have been laid off from their existing jobs and are starting out on their own instead of trying to find a job which is difficult at best right now. And with the start of all these businesses a lot of entrepreneurs are trying to figure out how to promote their businesses and stretch their precious capital. This is just another reason why conference calls continue to grow, because they are a great way to reduce expenses but still get the job done.
New small businesses need to get their ideas to new customers, investors and prospects without breaking the bank. One of the ways to do this is with a conference call instead of the expense of traveling. It has been well documented in this blog how companies are saving thousands of dollars by choosing to conduct a conference call or a web conference instead of travelling to an in-person meeting. Nowhere is it more important to save money than in a new small business. Most small businesses just don’t have the money to be travelling around the country. But with a conference call and a web conference a small business owner can present their product or service to potential customers around the country without leaving their office. And the cost of doing a conference call or web conference these days is very affordable to even the small business owner. In fact, with the advent of the Internet which has allowed small businesses to sell their products and services globally, the need to present to customers in remote locations has increased even more. The ability to present to people from great distances using conference calls has expanded the marketplace for small businesses. No longer are their goods and services limited to a local area. The technology now available has literally helped some small businesses survive where they otherwise would not. A conference call and web conferencing can also make a small business look bigger in the eyes of the customer by allowing them to present to anyone, anywhere. And their office is simply a PC and a telephone.
If you have a small business and you are not taking advantage of conference calls and web conferencing in your business I urge you to examine your processes and try using the technology available to help expand your business and reduce your costs. It may just make the difference in the life or death of your business.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Monday, October 26th, 2009
I guess the cold war has really officially ended. Zip Conferencing now offers local number access for participants of your conference calls from Moscow and St. Petersburg. That’s right, you can access our conference calls from Russia.
The world continues to shrink and businesses continue to expand so it is only normal to have enough demand for conference call services in places all over the world including Russia. In fact there are participants on our conference calls from all corners of the globe. That is why over time we have continues to expand the coverage of our network to include access from every major city in the world. There are a couple of ways to access conference calls from outside the United States.
Toll Number Access – The most common way to access a conference call from outside the United States has always been by using the toll or local number provided with a conference call. That is because the toll free number is not accessible from outside the Untied States, but you can call a local number in the United States from anywhere. The one drawback to this type of access is that the participants have to pay the long distance charges to access the call from outside the Untied States. Which if it is an internal company call this may not be a bad thing, but you certainly don’t want a customer or prospect to have to pay to join your call.
International Local Access – Zip Conferencing provides access through local numbers in a number of large cites internationally. That way if a participant is in that city they simply have to call a local number in their city to get on a conference call in the United States. Thay way they also don’t need to pay any long distacne charges to access the conference call. It is just like any other local call to them.
International Toll Free Access – For participants who are not located in a major city that has a local access number, they can dial into the conference call using an International Toll Free access number. No matter where they are in that country they can dial the toll free access number in their country and not incur any charges to access the conference call. The only drawback to this service is that it is the most expensive way to access an international conference call.
The bottom line is that there are now many options on how to access a conference call from an international location. And now with the addition of Moscow and St. Petersburg, there are very few locations that do not have an access number.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
There have been many predictions ofValue the conference calls’ demise over the years. First, the video conference was going to be on everyone’s desktop and people wouldn’t bother with regular conference calls anymore. Then services came along that purported to provide free conference calls. Then everyone was going to be speaking into their PCs and wouldn’t use a phone anymore. And on, and on. The fact that conference calls done over the telephone are not only still here but doing so well is the basic fact that there is no better value if you want to have a high quality connection and be able to speak to a group of people at a distance.
Video conferencing has been around for a long time. So why aren’t we all looking at each other during our calls already. There are probably many reasons. But first and foremost it is not as easy as a conference call and not necessarily available to everyone. I mean these days it is hard to buy a PC without a webcam attached, but many people don’t use them or know how to use them. And the quality of the connection still has a lot to be desired. If anything, the call can be more distracting than anything. And then you have the whole social aspect. The fact that most people don’t feel comfortable having their image in front of themselves and broadcast to many people. It will be quite a while before video conferencing is as easy to use as a telephone.
I’ve addressed the concept of the free conference call in other posts, but in short nothing is really free. You simply can’t get a high quality conference call with toll free access for nothing. And toll free access for your participants is simply the right thing to do. And if you want to make sure the call is there when you need it to be and want a good sound would you trust it to a free service?
And we are also still a long way away from having an integrated device on our desktop that does all of our phone tasks as well. Can you do it today? Of course, but the complexities of getting it done is worse than getting the video camera to work and if you still have to connect to people using a telephone you still have to connect to the telephone network to do a conference call so you really aren’t gaining anything unless you eliminate that aspect.
One of the big drivers for new technology is saving money. Today, the costs of conference calls have come down to the point where it is difficult to justify putting up with any inconvenience to try to save a little money. Let’s face it, everyone has a telephone and that is really all you need to have and know how to use in order to join a conference call. And you will get a clear, high quality connection without any issues.
So, given all the choices that are out there, conference calls continue to grow because they still deliver the best value for the money.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
Sitting here on Columbus Day and working, as I always have, has made me think about all the holidays I have had to work and how conference calls have helped make them happen. It seems over the past ten years especially, the pressure to produce more with less in the American work place has made it normal to work on holidays. And it seems there are fewer and fewer holidays that we celebrate. So how do you keep up with work expectations and still make time for family and friends on the holidays. It isn’t the only answer certainly, but conference calls have save more than one holiday for me.
Here you are, it is Columbus Day and you have planned to take a personal day or floating holiday to spend with your family because the company you work for doesn’t recognize Columbus Day as a paid company holiday. And just as you are heading out of the door on the Friday before the holiday you are asked to hold a meeting to discuss a very important topic that is time sensitive and must happen on Monday, your day off. How can you manage to keep everyone happy and still keep your day off? Why a conference call of course! The beauty of technology world we live in is the ability to conduct business from just about anywhere. As long as you can get a signal on your cell phone and an internet connection, most people can continue to do all of their job functions without missing a beat. And a conference call allows you to put that technology to work and conduct a group meeting from a distance without sacrificing anything. With a conference call you can meeting with your group just as you would in person and use a web conference to further enhance your meeting with pictures as well.
So, enjoy your holidays. Even when something comes up that requires you to meeting with a group of people you can still have your meeting without physically having the need to go to your office by using a conference call.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Its that time of year again. Back to School. And with everyone getting back to school come applications for conference calls within the educational system, because just like many other areas, education derives many benefits from using conference calls in place of in person meetings.
Conference calls in education applications come in many forms. Probably the first conference call application you can think of is in the teacher/student relationship. There are many teachers that teach in multiple campuses because they may have an expertise that is more rare than your standard English or geography discipline. So, in some cases, instead of being in person for all of the classes the teacher will use a conference call to teach a class instead of being in person for all of the classes. In fact, there are examples where a class is conducted completely virtual using conference calls and web conferencing to lecture to students from a distance. With the advent of conference call and web conferencing technology this is entirely possible and the students do not miss anything by attending the class remotely with the use of conference calls and web conferencing. Entire educational programs are now offered to students without attending any campus at all. An example of this is the programs of the University of Phoenix. Their curriculum is meant to be attended remotely by students.
Another area where conference calls are used in education is in the administration area. Colleges and Universities in particular are really just another form of business and have many of the same needs. The administration needs to stay in touch with its board of trustees so they do regular conference calls. Alumni associations need to organize events and solicit donations through conference calls. And faculty members need to stay in touch with their unions and associations via conference calls.
We also see a lot of use by the student body with the organization of events using conference calls, student organizations having remote meetings via conference calls and off campus organizations like fraternities staying in touch with national agendas by way of the conference call.
So, as you can see, education also is able to save time and money by using conference calls in place of in person meetings.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
In this blog I have spoken a lot about how businesses benefit from using conference calls to reduce their expenses and increase their profitability. Well, the benefits of conference calls is not exclusive to companies that make a profit, non-profit entities can benefit as well from the use of conference calls.
The inherent nature of a non-profit is that they are supposed to be trying to leave the bulk of their money for the use of the charity, whatever that is, but they still have activites that need to be performed to keep the non-profit going. One of the thise activities is soliciting donations and conference calls work well when you are trying to get a group together to get donations. Many of the non-profits have found that soliciting donations in a group setting is more effective than doing it one on one. There is a herd mentality when someone provides a donation and others are present. The other participants do not want ot be out done and are more willing to contribute. A conference call allows a non-profit to perform this type of activity without the need for an in person meeting. And just like a for profit company, they save time and money by performing it on a conference call. And the participants benefit as well since they do not have to leave their home or office to participate on a conference call.
Another activity that would be very costly for a non-profit without the help of conference calls is the regular board meetings that need to tak place to run their charity. Usually there is a benefactor and a board of trustees that needs to meet on a regular basis to help runa non-profit organization and many times they are spread around the country. Without the help of a conference call the participants would need to travel to a central location and incur the high cost of travel and so forth to attend the meeting. Not only is it more expensive, but many of the members would not be able to attend without the conference call.
And, in many cases the actual activities of the non-profit itself are assisted by the use of a conference call. Depending on what the charity provides, the use of conference calls allows them to perform their charity without the need to physically be present where they are doing their work. Sometimes this means they can assist more people across a wider geographic area because they can do it remotely. It also means they can perform more work because they are not incurring the high cost of travel, even within their local area to perform some of their activities.
So, don’t think that conference calls only help the bottom line of a for profit company, they help non-profits as well.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
I get asked all the time, “How is the conference call business doing?” and I always answer “Great! Because in the 14+ years I have been in the industry there has always been a good reason why more and more businesses are adopting conference calls. And in a tough economy there is all the more reason for businesses to be doing conference calls.
Let’s look at the recent events and see why the conference call service business continues to grow while other businesses are shrinking. The first thing that has hit many businesses is the reduction in force that they have taken to combat the reduction in business. In many cases the reduction in the numbers of personnel to run their business was not in direct relation to the reduction in business they felt. So, one of the things these businesses are facing is trying to do more business with fewer employees. This artificial need to increase productivity is a reality that the employees that are left to run the business have to face whether they like it or not. Conference calls are an easy way to help improve the productivity of your employees. When someone does a conference call it is usually in lieu of an in person meeting. And whether you would normally be meeting across town or across the country, the conference call eliminates the time you would spend to get to the meeting and return to work. In fact you don’t even have to leave your desk to attend a conference call so you have more time to do work thus increasing your productivity.
The next priority for businesses is reducing expenses so that they can remain profitable during times when sales may be lower than normal. And one of the big areas targeted for reducing expenses is the travel budget. So businesses are looking for ways to continue to meet with other employees, customers and prospects without having to travel to their location. A conference call provides an easy way to eliminate the travel expense without eliminating the meeting itself. Because let’s face it, you still have to have these meetings or the business can not continue to operate and grow. A web conference and a conference call combination gives you everything you need to meet with a prospect or customer and have the same fulfilling, engaging meeting you would have if they were in person. Don’t get me wrong, a conference call does not eliminate the need to get together with remote employees, customers and prospects,but the use of conference calls can eliminate some of the travel you may otherwise have taken. And with the expense of travelling these days, every trip you can eliminate can really add up to your bottom line.
Conference calls and web conferences provide businesses the ability to remain effective while reducing expenses and increasing productivity. So in a tough economy, the conference call service business continues to thrive and grow as more and more businesses realize the benefits that conference calls can offer.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
In the past 14 plus years I have seen conference calls used in a variety of applications that I would not have thought of myself. As people in different industries became familiar with conference calls and how they worked, they developed applications within their businesses themselves. One of the applications that uses conference calls very effectively is in the court system.
Many of you may have heard of or seen the application of video conferencing in the court system where a defendant is able to appear before a judge without the need to leave the jail and appear in person. Well, it seems there is a place for conference calls as well. Our company was approached by a court clerk about the possibility of using conference calls to allow attorneys, defendants and litigants to appear before a judge without the need to physically appear in the courtroom. With the very crowded legal system it was thought that this would save valuable court time and offer advantages to the participants as well. So, we designed a method of bringing people before the judge in an orderly fashion and it saved the judge the time and effort of getting in front of the participants. Because, in many areas of the country a judge appears in several court rooms across a wide area because they do not have a dedicated judge for the court. And many of the appearances are pre-trial non-evidentiary appearances that do not require an in person appearance. Thus the court conference call was born.
This practice still exists today and is widely used in many parts of the country. It has saved countless hours of time and energy for the courts, attorneys and their clients. The way it works is a conference call is set up for the participants on the date and time of their appearance. The attorneys and their clients dial into the conference call and the judge will go through the courts docket over the conference call just as if the participants were in the courtroom. Everyone agrees to appear on the telephone a head of time and the conference call can be attended from anywhere. The clients save money because the attorney does not take all day to go to the court to attend a minor proceeding that otherwise only takes a few minutes.
Sometimes the best conference call applications are the ones that the customers think up for themselves.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Clearly, one of the main missions for Human Resources departments is to clearly and concisely communicate with the employees in a company. And with the employees in a company becoming more and more spread out how does the Human Resources department continue to handle effective communications with these remote employees. Why through conference calls of course!
Conference calls enable the Human Resources department to do their job effectively without the need for extensive travel to remote employee locations. All of the necessary regulations can be satisfied by holding conference calls and providing information to the employees separately. Or you can hold a web conference and go through the information live with the employees. The need for signatures on any documents acknowledging receipt of the information can be accomplished through the mail. And all while the Human Resources personnel sit at their desk.
What about a new employee, especially one who is working remote? The Human Resources personnel can use conference calls to introduce multiple new employees to company policies and benefits. By doing several new employees at the same time the Human Resources department saves time and makes sure that all employees are getting the same materials at the same time. Questions that the new employees have can be shared which helps avoid answering the same question multiple times if handled on a separate phone call instead of a conference call.
And there is no more effective way to conduct training than using conference calls or a web conference. Many companies do not have the room necessary to pull employees into a central location and train them even if the cost to do so is not a barrier. Using conference calls for training allows you to share the same information across the employee base in a fast, efficient and affordable manner. Using a web conference combined with conference calls allows you to not just share information with the participants, but you can also insert questions into the presentation to encourage participation and increase retention. You can even upload files into the web conference that participants can download during the presentation if necessary.
Today with smaller numbers of staff in Human Resources shouldering an increasing responsibilty for disseminating information and training to remote employees, conference calls have become an essential tool.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
I have managed remote sales teams in the past and it is difficult to say the least. If you want your salespeople to be spread around geographically so that they can be close to your customers you probably have salespeople working out of their homes. So how do you make sure that the salespeople are being productive? How do you have these salespeople share in their successes with the other team members? Why conference calls of course!
Conference calls are a great way to manage a remote sales team. A conference call every morning sets the tone with the entire sales team. You can communicate up to the minute details about what good or services you are selling so that everyone is informed. A conference call also allows you to have sales team members share their winning strategies with the other salespeople. By sharing winning strategies across your sales team you will be able to spread the successful strategy much easier than in any written format. Conference calls can also enable the sales team to share competitive information. Being up to date on what the competition is doing will provide valuable information to the salespeople on handling objections and positioning your company better.
A weekly conference call with your sales team can give you an opportunity to announce weekly sales to the team and congratulate winning salespeople. This type of positive reinforcement helps encourage salespeople to be on top so that they can be recognized. It also provides reinforcement to reps who may have a tough week that you can sell the goods or services you are offering and be successful doing it. The weekly conference calls can provide a way to plan out the week coming up as well. Discussion of plans and goals helps set the tone for the coming week and sets expectations to the salespeople.
A monthly conference call with your sales team will give you an opportunity to announce the salesperson of the month. This type of recognition builds competitiveness in the team and also strong reinforcement to the best salespeople on the team. Any monthly company announcements like promotions for the following month can be discussed. And the monthly conference call can be used to establish goals for the team as well.
The key to managing a remote sales team is good communication and providing a way to make the members of the team feel like part of the team. This can be accomplished by holding regular conference calls so that the salespeople can share their struggles and successes as a team. Conference calls and sales team meetings are a natural and provide many companies the secret to sales success with a remote sales team.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
I am sure you have seen them if you have done a search for conference calls on the internet. Free conference calls. So what is the deal? Are they really free? How do they afford to do that?
Well I am sure you have also heard the saying, “There is no such thing as a Free Lunch” and with free conference calls it is all too true. First of all who had the idea in the first place and how do they make money? A number of years ago someone had the idea to give away conference calls in order to generate traffic to a carriers’ network, because the carrier gets paid by the long distance carriers a small amount of money to terminate the call on the local network. So, even though to you the conference call is “free” the conference call service provider is paid by the carrier for the traffic they are generating. So, then it is a Free Conference Call, right? Not exactly.
The problem with the free conference call is that you have to pay a long distance charge to whoever your long distance provider is in order to get to the location where their conference call equipment is installed. Let’s say that their equipment is in Kansas City for instance. You and all of your participants have to pay the long distance charge, per minute to connect to Kansas City. Now that rates for toll free conference calls have come down, why would you want to have hidden charges for you and your participants?
There are other problems with many of these free conference call services. Some are using VOIP to connect the call resulting in poor quality. Many will have capacity issues because they really can’t afford to have lots of equipment sitting idle because their financial model is so thin. Many of the conference call features you will get with a toll free conference call service provider are not available with a free conference call service provider. In order to compensate for some of these shortfalls some of the free providers started offering toll free conference calls as well. But the pricing for these services is higher than some of the conference call service providers that are built to provide a high quality service like Zip Conferencing. So, you end up paying a higher price for a lower grade of service.
So, why would anyone use a free conference call service? Because its “free”. In the end, like so many other things in life, with conference calls you get what you pay for.
www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Conference calls are used for many reasons in business and personal walks of life. But the need to speak with a group of people is not uniques to business or to family needs. There are also a number of applications that apply to the public service sector and assist them in communicating to a large displaced group.
Because conference calls provide the ability to instantly communicate with a group of people, they are especially good for emergency communications. You can have a conference call that is all set up for the personnel in a city or state governemnt to dial into in the event of a natural disaster for instance. The conference call enable the same message to be delivered to multiple people at the same time ensuring accurate and timely communications. In the event of a disaster, this kind of timely communication is essential to insuring the public’s safety.
Another application that many people would not think of for conference calls is the application within the religious community. Today, all denominations of religious belief have found confernece calls to be useful when trying to continue to provide religious services to people that are unable to attend their church in person. This service provided through a conference call is a welcome means of communication to people that are shut in their homes due to disablity or sickness. The comfort provided by their church in these times is immmeasurable.
Another institution that benefits from conducting regular conference call is the educational system. At all levels of education the ability to communicate information to a large audience via a conference call is essential in today’s environment. Schools use conference calls to communicate to parents and within their staff to stay current on school events, teacher issues and student forums.
Another institution that benefits greatly from conference calls is the press. Not only does the news media use conference calls regularly amongst their staff to communicate about daily issues, but they also rely on conference calls to get informed about daily events from the people generating newsworthy content. The ability to communicate a newsworthy event to a large audience of press people via a conference call insures that all of the press people get the same story at the same time.
Conference calls benefit people in all walks of life including many applications in the public service sector. www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
I sat down to write about how conference calls help manage your way around the crazy busy world we live in and guess what? I got interrupted, had to handle multiple emergencies and yes, attend several conference calls. So, it is certainly not a cure for the crazy busy lifestyle I am so familiar with but it certainly helps. Conference calls simply provide a way to get more done in the same amount of time. If I couldn’t attend those conference calls, I would have had to get in my car and drive, along with all the other participants to the office and find an open conference room, and have our discussion there. That is bad enough that I have to spend the time commuting and the expense to get there, but then I would be in a location where I am limited in what I can do. In my case I would have encountered the other emergency that happened to come up and I would have had to get back in my car and travel back to my home office again. Again wasting time travelling, etc.
So, instead opf taking up all this time traveling I was able to jump on a conference call from wherever I am at the time, thanks to cell phones, take part in a productive meeting, simply hang up my phone and immediately return to the task I was on before the meeting, deal with the emergency, etc. And I think that while we take many of these modern day marvels fro granted, the conference call is as important to helping us manage our busy lives as many of the other conveniences we now take for granted. Cell phones are great but you can’t meet with ten people at the same time without the conference call. The ability to carry around your email box on a handheld device is super, but after you get an email saying that you need to meet on a particular topic it would do you no good if you had to drop everything and come back to the office to meet instead of just jumping on a conference call.
Maybe you appreciate the conveniences that help you manage your busy world, maybe you feel like you can’t escape from them, but one thing is for certain, conference calls help us manage today’s busy world. www.zipconferencing.com
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Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
The world is shrinking and virtually every business has a need to communicate with associates, partners and prospects around the world. Like other ways to communicate, conference calls have had to adapt to this reality and make it easier to allow international participants on the call.
There are a few ways to allow international participants onto a conference call.
- Have an Operator dial out to the participant
- Provide the participant a local number in the US they can dial into
- Provide a local number in a foreign city that connects with the US conference call equipment
- Provide a toll free number that can be accessed in a foreign country
All of these methods can work, but one may be better suited to your conference call needs than the others.
Operator Dial out to the International Participant
Having an operator dial out to your international participants used to be the way all participants connected to a conference call. This method, however, has its draw backs. The participant must be at a predetermined location and phone number so that the operator can reach them. This is the highest cost method to connect a participant to a conference call since an operator is involved in putting the call together.
Provide the participant a local US number they can dial in to connect to the Conference Call
Most people use a toll free number in the US to assemble participants which works great if you are in the US. People outside the US cannot access a US toll free number. But you can provide the local US access number and this number can be used to connect to the conference call from anywhere in the world. The cost to the Moderator or Host of the conference call is low but the participant will pay a toll charge to call into the US just like they were calling any other number in the US.
Provide a local number in a foreign country that is connected to the US conference call equipment
Not all conference call service providers have this option, but it works well for all involved. Basically, in large foreign cities there is a local number in that city that is networked back to the US conference call equipment. This means the international participant only has to call a local number in their city and the US Moderator pays a lower cost to transport that participant back to the US conference call equipment.
Provide a toll free number that is accessible in a foreign country
This option provides the greatest flexibility but does add some additional cost to the conference call. The international participant simply dials a toll free number in their country and they are connected to the conference call in the US. The cost of toll free access is higher than the local number access bu the international participant incurs no cost and does not need to be in a large city to access the number.
So, as you can see the conference call service providers now have a variety of ways to access their conference calls from around the world. www.zipconferencing.com
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Monday, August 10th, 2009
It’s summertime! That means vacations, family, barbecues and for the fortunate people on the coasts, the beach. And we all take time off during the summer to enjoy the weather that only comes around for a few months a year for most of us. But that also doesn’t mean that work totally stops. Many people own their own business or have a job where it is simply understood that 40 hours a week punching a clock is not enough. Today the miracle of cell phones, blackberrys and conference calls can keep you in touch without the need to cancel your entire vacation. A conference call, like many of these modern day conveniences allows you to stay in touch with your work or family wihtout having to be there physically. And that can be a good thing!
Some people feel that wireless devices and conference calls are a leash they would rather do without, but without them what would you have to do. It used to be that the hotel phone or even a pay phone and a calling card was the way people stayed in touch, but now a cell phone andyou can be on a conference call, conducting a business meeting without leaving your lounge chair. The hotel, the mountains, the lake or the beach can now be the place you are when you attend a conference call. Of course, you may want to keep yourself on mute so that the sound of the waves does not interrupt the conference call. That is what I did just last week. I had a week off planned and of course at the last minute an important meeting comes up and there is no way to avoid it. Did I cancel my vacation? No. Did I stay home the day of the call? No. All I had to do was remember that I had a conference call, put the call in number and passcode on my Blackberry and I am all set.
So, I don’t know about you, but I sure feel that is a lot more convenient than staying home or missing the meeting which in this case was not an option. So, the next time you are going on vacation and an important meeting comes up, simply set up a confernece call and the interuption on your well deserved time off will be minimal. www.zipconferencing.com
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
One of the great things that has happened since conference calls have become more available and affordable is their use for things other than for business. Sure, conference calls provide lots of benefits to businesses in saving travel costs and increasing productivity but more and more people are discovering that conference calls can be a great help to people in their personal lives too.
Ever need to talk to your extended family about a family situation and made endless calls to individuals and after you talk to someone they usually have input that you now need to relate to the people you have already spoken to and on and on it goes. Since people have been exposed to conference calls at work they are now applying the same benefits of a conference call service to their personal lives. There are many applications that are perfect for using a conference call.
Personal Conference Call Applications
- Planning an Event
- Family Emergency
- Holiday Greetings
- Special Occasions
Ever have to plan a family reunion or a wedding? The logistics can be daunting, especially if the family is all over the country. A conference call can bring everyone together and get the details of planning a family event that much easier. A family emergency can be stressful enough without having to make a lot of individual calls and explaining the situation over and over. Sharing the news all at once on a conference call will save you time and stress. Holidays can be tough on the members of the family that can’t make it in person but you can share the moment with the extended family via phone on a conference call. It also works well with any special occasion where all members of your family and friends can’t be there in person. Having everyone being able to talk together is the next best thing to being there.
Conference calls for personal use can help keep your extended family and friends connected and a conference call service is easy to use and affordable. www.zipconferencing.com
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Many people who use conference calls in their daily business lives may have forgotten the number one benefit you get when you use conference calls. Conference calls save money.
I think that conference call service early adopters were more interested in solving business issues that could not be solved in other ways. The legal community in particular simply could not find a way to effectively meet with clients and other counsel in a quick and convenient manner when they were unable to meet face to face. They were not really concerned about saving money by meeting over the telephone as they charge back their customers anyway. It was the second wave of conference call users that discovered some of the other benefits to using a conference call service.
Benefits to Using a Conference Call Service
- Save Money
- Save Time
- Increased Productivity
The widespread growth of the use of conference calls has certainly been from their ability to save companies money. No other technology offers as affordable a solution to solving the need to meet than the basic conference call. How else can you meet with dozens of people around the world without leaving your desk for just pennies per minute? So, the most obvious cost you save when you do a conference call is the travel cost to get to a personal meeting. What other costs can you save with a conference call?
Costs you save when you do a Conference Call
- Flight Expense
- Rental Car Expense
- Hotel Costs
- Food Costs
And now with the availability of web conferencing and the ability to add visuals to your conference call there are many more applications for conference calls that save companies even more money. As an industry we again thought that the legal community would be an early adopter of web conferencing since they could share a contract on the screen and edit it with opposing counsel and so forth. But actually, the largest users of web conferencing have been in the Sales and Marketing areas where they have been able to dramatically reduce their travel costs and shortened their sales cycles.
And now, with the prices for conference call services hitting all time lows in the marketplace there is no better way to save travel costs than substituting your in person meetings with a conference call. Conference calls save money.
www.zipconferencing.com
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