Posts Tagged ‘Amp’
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
When I tell people what I do for a living they are surprised that there is an industry that exists to provide conference call services to businesses. Many people think that the phone company is who provides the service. Which has always been true. But private companies have been providing a higher level of service for lower costs since the divestiture of AT&T in the early 1990s. The other thing that people want to know is why people don’t just use their phone system which usually has the capacity to run a conference call. Well, there are a number of reasons to use a conference call service instead of a phone system conference button to hold a conference call.
- Phone systems have capacity issues - Most phone systems can only handle a limited number of participants on a conference call. And you are also limited by the overall number of phone lines on the system. If the people in the office are using a number of lines to make calls you may be limited with the number of people you can get on a conference call.
- Phone systems require you to connect the participants - In order to connect people to a conference call using your phone system you will need to dial out to the participants through the phone system. You have to get the people on the phone and sometimes they may be on the phone or out of their office and you can reach them by dialing out to them.
- Call quality on a phone system degrades as you add participants - Phone systems are not made to hold conference calls and as you add participants the voice quality in the conference call degrades. The more people you add the worse the overall quality of the conference call.
- Most people have difficulty operating the conference call function on a phone system - Since there is no standard on how the phone systems assemble a conference call you will need to learn how to assemble a conference call using the phone system. Most people do not use this function often enough to be proficient at it and are not able to smoothly carry out the procedure.
The bottom line is a phone system does not provide a high quality conference call experience compared to a conference call service. A good conference call service company provides a service that is easy to use and gives you an experience that is equal in quality to meeting in person. And at the rates that conference call services are currently available it is no wonder that most people opt to do a conference call using a conference call service instead of a phone system.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Amp, Conference Button, Conference Call, Conference Call Service, Conference Call Services, Conference Calls, Divestiture, Early 1990s, Limited, Many People, Participants, Private Companies, Quality System, Voice Quality
Posted in Conference Call Service | No Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
I have had the fortune to be involved in a few industries as they have gone from the early adoption phase to the accepted norm stage. I was in the telecommunications industry shortly after the divestiture of AT&T. I was in the paging industry as it grew wildly and then died just as quickly with the adoption of the cell phone. And then I joined the conference call industry and over the past 14+ years I have seen the conference call service industry go from a niche application mostly used by the legal industry to a widely used business tool. Conference calling has truly reached the level of mainstream acceptance.
I am not sure how an expert would judge whether conference calling has reached mainstream acceptance, but I am sure the growth of the industry is certainly one of the factors. And no one can deny that the conference calling industry has been fortunate to realize exponential growth over the past 14 years. One of the biggest factors for the growth in the conference calling industry is the change to a reservationless system where you don’t need an operator or schedule a conference call with anyone. The ease of use of conference call technology has also contributed to the growth.
When I started in the conference calling industry we received many calls from people at businesses who were trying to understand how to get multiple parties on the conference call and they really were not familiar with the technology. Now we receive calls from people who have inevitably been on a conference call but maybe they have never hosted a conference call before, but now plan to use the service. The method of conference calling has become somewhat standardized and everyone seems to know what the experience will be like on a conference call. So, now we spend a lot more time telling customers about the benefits of our service over others and educating them on the small differences between conference call service companies instead of educating them on how a conference call works.
But probably one of the biggest indicators I have seen in the past few years that conference calling has hit the mainstream is the use of conference calls for personal use. Because so many people have been exposed at work to conference calls, they are now finding applications in their personal lives to use conference calling. The wide availability and lower costs of conference calling have really helped this new area of applications. We have had people use conference calling for wedding and event planning like family reunions where the participants are not able to meet physically. Recently we even had a family use a conference call so that the missing family members could attend a grave side service because they all could not attend the service in person. I think that the conference call industry will continue to grow with the advent of new applications as more and more people think up new ways that they can use conference calling to their benefit.
www.zipconferencing.com
that is widely used
Tags: Adoption, Amp, Business Conference, Business Tool, Cell Phone, Conference Call Service, Divestiture, Exponential Growth, Fortune, Mainstream Acceptance, Niche Application, Norm, Technology, Telecommunications Industry
Posted in Conference Calling | No Comments »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
When Web Conferencing was first introduced it included a number of features that still exist in the web conference service business today. But over time, conference call service providers and web conferencing companies have enhanced web conferencing to allow anyone to quickly and easily conduct a web conference without the need for a lot of training or experience.
The features that have always existed with web conferencing include:
- Whiteboarding
- Share Powerpoint presentations
- Share Applications
The ability to whiteboard on a web conference allows participants on the conference call to participate on a virtual whiteboard by using their mouse and tools to annotate and collaborate with other participants. The ability to share a Powerpoint presentation gives you the ability to broadcast your Powerpoint to the entire audience and the ability to share applications allows you to share virutally anything that is on your desktop with the other participants.
Over time additional functionality has been added to web conferencing including:
- A Chat feature
- Video conferencing
- A Recording function
- Q&A
- Polling
- Participant Registration Info
- Exit Surveys
A chat feature was added to allow participants to chat with each other or the Moderator on a web conference. The ability to share a video of yourself as the Moderator on the web conference gives the participants a face with the name on the conference call. A recording function has existed for a while, but only recently has the full integration of voice and visual presentation recorded without the need for extra equipment become available. A Q&A and Polling element on a web conference has also been available for a while but the tools provided to build the questions and tally the results have become much easier to implement and use. And one fo the favorite tools of the Sales and Marketing users is the ability to create a registration process to capture participant informaiton on the front end of the web conference and a exit survey process to give the participants the ability to provide feedback after the web conference has been completed.
Even though the features available on a web conference have grown and enhanced, the inuitiveness of the interface has also improved to where anyone can conduct a web conference and look like a pro in a very short time. Zip Conferencing like some other conference call service providers gives a 30 day free trial of the service to allow users to become familiar with the web confernecing service at no cost before they do a live presentation.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Amp, Business Today, Conference Call Service, Conferencing Features, Exit Surveys, Extra Equipment, Favorite Tools, Participant Registration, Participants, Powerpoint Presentation, Sales And Marketing, Service Business, Service Providers, Share Applications, Time Conference, Video Conferencing, Virtual Whiteboard, Visual Presentation, Web Conference, Web Conferencing
Posted in Web Conferencing | No Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Holding a free seminar ona subject of interest to your prospects in a hotel or other public space and inviting potential customers has always been a good method to attract these prospects to a place where you can meet them and begin to build a relationship. This strategy for sales has been around for a long time and can be pretty effective if you have a good speaker and a topic they will make the time for to attend. There are, however, several obstacles to overcome in making this an effective sales tool.
- The prospects need to make a large time and effort commitment
- The speaker and subject matter needs to be very compelling
- The cost of the space and refreshments
- Personnel on your part to coordinate and man the event
Today, with Web Conferencing, there is a new way to meet and greet your potential customers with what has been called the “webinar”. A webinare is simply a seminar you hold on the web using web conferencing services. There are a host of advantages to holding a virtual seminar instead of an in-person event.
- Prospects are more likely to attend since the commitment is much less on their part
- The cost to you and your prospects is much less
- No refreshments or hall rental necessary
- You can gather information on your customers when they register
And, even though your meeting is virtual, you will not give much up in the way of tools to make your seminar an effective way to introduce your prospects to your good or services. With Zip Conferencing’s web conference service you can craft an invitation and require your guests to provide information in the process about themselves to assist in your marketing efforts. Once they join the web conference you can better engage your audience through the use of multiple presenters, Polling questions, audience interaction and a Q&A session at the end of your presentation. When your guests leave the web conference you can also provide a thank you email and survey if you like so that the audience can provide feedback.
Zip Conferencing’s Web conferencing is so easy to use anyone can do it and it cost nothing to test drive your own webinar and see if this service can help you get to your prospects quicker, easier and less expensively. You can start a FREE TRIAL of web conferencing by going to https://www.zipconferencing.com/web-conference-demo.php
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Amp, Audience Interaction, Effective Sales, Email Survey, Free Seminar, Invitation, Large Time, Long Time, Marketing Efforts, Multiple Presenters, Obstacles, Prospects, Public Space, Refreshments, Sales Tool, Subject Matter, Virtual Seminar, Web Conference, Web Conferencing Services, Webinar
Posted in Web Conference | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Training sessions and and communication of HR policies are essential to any business. New employees especially are in need of training and HR policy education and you can deliver effective training and communication from a distance with conference call services and web conference services.
Training Programs
Combining Audio and Web Conferencing services provides an effective way to deliver Training and Communication from a distance without the need to incur travel costs or spend the time necessary to go to remote locations. The features included in our conference calls and web conferences make your presentations powerful and yet easy to use.
- Increase productivity – deliver more training in less time without the need to travel
- Reduce Costs – eliminate travel costs
- Deliver Training and Communication more frequently - conduct more training sessions more frequently and reach a wider audience
Conference Call Services to Help You Deliver Effective Training
- Audio Conference Calls – A conference call allows you to deliver a consistent message to a large audience. Host controls allow you to be in charge of the meeting and deliver your training in an effective way without audience interruption.
- Web Conferencing - Web Conferencing allows you to deliver your message in pictures as well as words improving audience interaction and retention of the information. Our easy to use Web Conferencing tool enables anyone to be an effective presenter in minutes.
Key Features
- Host Audio Controls
Control your audio conference using Host Controls through your telephone that allow you to mute all participants, take a roll call, conduct sub-conferences and more.
- Distribute Information
Allow participants to download files of your presentation at the end of your presentation.
- Audience Participation
Engage your participants throughout the presentation with the use of Q&A and Polling questions to keep them engaged in your presentation.
- Branded Interface
You can brand your online interface and the Web Conferencing tool itself with your logo to personalize your interface and put onn a more professional appearance to your online meetings.
- Multimedia Content
Your presentationscan include visual elements to egage your audience.
- Polls and Surveys
Conduct Q&A, Polling and surveys using Web Conferencing’s tools.
- Invite Participants
You can invite your participants through the web conferencing interface or simply invite your participants to your online conferencing Hub where they can join web conferences.
- Record and Playback
You can record the audio and visual portion of your conference call and allow participants to view or listen to your presentation after the completion of the conference call.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Amp, Audience Interaction, Audience Participation, Audio Conferencing, Conference Call Services, Consistent Message, Effective Training, Hr Policies, Hr Policy, Hr Training, Increase Productivity, Interruption, Participants, Policy Education, Roll Call, Travel Costs, Web Conference, Web Conferences, Web Conferencing Services, Web Conferencing Tool
Posted in Conference Call Service | No Comments »
