Posts Tagged ‘Audio Conference’

Virtual Holiday Parties with a Conference Call Service

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

It is the time of year for holiday parties but today many businesses have remote employees scattered around the country so why not include all of your employees with a virtual holiday party using a conference call service? For most businesses it is just too costly to bring all of your employees in for a holiday party but there is no reason not to include them in the festivities. Using a conference call service you can connect all of your remote employees into the party and have them still participate and interact with the rest of your employees. Today you can host a virtual party easily using conference call services like audio conferencing and web conferencing. The technology today allows you to share the audio, any presentation materials you may use and even video of the event while it is taking place. And the cost of the event will not break your budget.

Audio Conferencing – The simplest way to connect your remote participants to your virtual holiday party using a conference call service is by using a conference call.  You certainly may not keep a conference call up for the full duration of the party but usually management likes to take a minute in the beginning or end of the vent to thank and recognize employees for the past year’s accomplishments.  So if you establish a conference call for the beginning of the party you can include the remote participants easily in the festivities.  After announcements you can end the conference call portion and continue with the party but at least your remote employees were included at the beginning.

Web Conferencing – With Web Conferencing you can provide a visual aspect to your virtual holiday party.  If you do any employee recognition you can provide a presentation that includes the names and their achievements and a picture of the recipient so all participants can be included.  Most conference call services that provide web conferencing have desktop video included as well.  So if you have a desktop video camera you can have the remote employees see the venue and be seen as well.  If you want to get real elaborate you can have your A/V source provide a large screen to enhance this interaction.  The remote participants can also interact using web conferencing tools so they feel like a part of the party. 

Zip Conferencing is a conference call service provider that has all the tools you need to do virtual meetings for any event including your virtual holiday party.  Speak to a representative today who can assist you in planning your next remote event.

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An Audio Conference Call Full of Features

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Most people use the basics audio conference call and never access any of the features available.  It could just be that people are busy and learning anything new is more of a chore than they would like to deal with when they are simply trying to do a conference call.  I certainly understand that.  Every time I get a new cell phone it takes until I am ready to turn it in for a new one to learn all of the things you can do with it.  But the audio conference call features that Zip Conferencing offers can make your life easier in the end.  So instead of making you go somewhere to learn the audio conference call features yourself I thought I would list a few here and explain how they work.  All of these features are accessible during the conference call by using commands on your telephone keypad.

  • Volume Control – How many times have you been on a conference call and had a hard time hearing a participant?  Our audio conference call features enable you to increase and decrease the volume of the conference call.  You can also control the volume of your line into the conference call.  That way if you are too loud or soft you can also adjust the volume of your line.
  • Mute Control – As leader of the audio conference call you can mute all participants.  This is especially helpful if you have a large number of participants and you need to make a presentation or announcement.  You can also un-mute all participants to allow them to provide feedback.  Also, you and your participants can mute and un-mute yourselves during the conference call.
  • Dial Out Capability – Did someone forget to dial in to the conference call?  Instead of calling them and reminding them to join the audio conference call you can simply dial out to them and add them to the call.
  • Sub-Conferences – Many times during the conference call you may want to have a side conversation with one or more participants.  You can quickly and easily establish a sub-conference and have a private conversation with one or more participants and then rejoin the conference call.  
  • Conference Call Recording – If you would like to retain a copy of your conference call or have a participant who missed the call be able to dial in later to listen to it you can easily record the call.  You can start and stop the recording during the conference call as well.

You may not use the audio conference call features all the time but it is good to know they are there if you need them.

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Audio Conference Calling is the Simplest Way to Meet

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

I have been in the teleconferencing industry for over 15 years and audio conference calling just keeps getting easier and easier.  You can’t argue with the fact that audio conference calling is the simplest way to have a meeting whether you are across the hall or around the wall.  And no one makes it simpler than Zip Conferencing.

When I first started in this industry it was mostly dial out conference calls.  That means that to do audio conference calling an operator would contact you at a pre-designated phone number and connect you to the conference call.  Needless to say this was not a very convenient method of getting on a conference call.  Especially since most people did not have cell phones back then.  The biggest development in audio conference calling came with the invention of the dial in reservationless conference call.  This is the type of conference call most people are familiar with at this point.  You are given an access number and a pass code.  At the time you choose to do audio conference calling you dial the access number and input the pass code.  Everyone that does that will end up on the same conference call together.  After this audio conference calling boomed.  That is because the industry made it super simple to get on a conference call.

 As time has gone on there have been many developments in audio conference calling.  None of which have had the kind of impact that development has had but things have continued to get easier.  And the proliferation of cell phones has helped as well.  Now to get on a conference call you can dial in from anywhere there is a signal to your mobile phone.  I am sure people have attended a conference call from some pretty bizarre places.  And you can too!  Because audio conference calling can be done from virtually anywhere. 

When you compare audio conference calling to other ways to meet it is easy to understand why conference calling continues to grow faster than any other way to meet.  At this point everyone pretty much has been on a conference call.  So there is no need to train your participants on how to get on a conference call.  And no one needs any special equipment.  All you need is a phone and everyone has or has access to a telephone.  Dial a number and input a code and you are on your conference call.  No need to drive to a meeting.  No need to fly to a meeting.  Just pick up your telephone.

Zip Conferencing makes audio conference calling as easy as it can be.  From the process before the conference call to looking at reports after the call you can not find a simpler way to meet.

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An Audio Conference is Easy and Affordable

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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Audio Conferencing Services

Monday, March 15th, 2010

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

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

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

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

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