Posts Tagged ‘Conference Call Service Provider’

Low Cost Conference Calls can be High Quality

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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Discounted Conference Calling Services can be Reliable

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

If you are looking at getting a conference call service provider for your business and you have looked at some of the long distance carriers and other providers that still charge 10 cents or more a minute you may be a little skeptical of discounted conference calling services.  But just because the service is less expensive does not necessarily mean that the service is of a lower quality or less reliable.  You do still need to be careful as some of the conference call providers have not taken the same steps to ensure quality and reliability like Zip Conferencing has done.  Here are some of the areas that any discounted conference calling services company needs to pay attention to in order to maintain high quality and reliability.

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    • Back Up Power - All of the equipment for conference calling services should be connected to to battery and generator back up power. This makes sure that no matter what power outages are experienced at their place of business your conference calls will not be impacted.  Zip Conferencing uses back up power systems on all of its equipment and can maintain power to these systems for an indefinite amount of time. 
    • Back Up Systems – A key component for conference calling services is the conference call bridge. This is the equipment that creates the conference calls from independent callers into the system.  It is an expensive proposition to maintain back up equipment so many discounted conference calling services companies do not take this step.  But if something happens to this equipment your conference call will be affected.  Zip Conferencing has designed their conference calling services with back up conference call bridges so that if there is ever an issue the traffic can be redirected to the back up system.
    • Telecommunications Redundancy – What happens if the long distance carrier used by the discounted conference calling services company has an outage?  If they do not have another carrier as back up you will not be able to get to your conference call.  Zip Conferencing uses multiple telecommunications carriers that insures that if one of the carriers experiences a disastrous outage they can still perform your conference call. 
    • Support – One of the areas that discounted conference calling services will differ is with support.  You may not need support very often but when you do you need it to be there for you.  Zip Conferencing offers conference calling services with an award winning support team. Our operators are monitoring our conference calling services 24/7 and can even join on your conference call if you need assistance.  No mater what time of day you can access support and get the help you need.

So, discounted conference calling services can be reliable but you need to investigate and make sure that discounted doesn’t mean your conference call quality or reliability will suffer.

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Is a Free Telephone Conference Call Service really Free?

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

So here you are searching for a conference call service provider and there are companies advertising a free telephone conference call service.  Free is good, right?  Why shouldn’t you use a free telephone conference call ervice?  Let’s examine how a free telephone conference call service works and see if you are still interested in trusting your business to a free conference call service.

  • A Free telephone conference call service is not really Free – The Free conference call service companies are advertising on the internet and other places so if they are truly free how are they making money?  These companies make money by working out a deal with a local phone company to terminate calls within their equipment.  That’s because the local phone company makes money when a long distance call terminates on their equipment.  It doesn’t pay a lot but when you consider the volume of calls that can be generated it does add up to enough money to pay for the equipment over time.  The problem is they don’t make enough to provide all of the services a regular conference call service provider does and they are usually a little thin in other areas of their business as well.  The main problem is that you are the one paying the bill.  Because you and your participants are dialing a long distance number to join the conference call.  So it appears free until you get your long distance bill or cell bill and see all the minutes on it.  And if the local number connection was so good why do all of the “Free” conference call companies offer toll free access?
  • Quality – A Free telephone conference call service is not concerned with providing a reliable and quality service to its customers.  It doesn’t have to because it is free.  It is hard to argue with free so people put up with capacity issues, unavailability and noisy connections.  Do you want to trust your important business calls to a free service where quality and reliability are not assured?  Also you will find that many of the features you expect to have on a conference call service are not there on a free telephone conference call service.  They can’t afford the best equipment with the latest features.
  • Support – Lastly, probably the biggest hole in the services for a free telephone conference call service is the support you will receive.  You will find that support is given to their customers that pay for the upgrade to toll free service but little is provided to the free conference call customers.  Its free so who can complain.

If you will look at the free telephone conference call service companies you will see they all offer a toll free service option but at rates higher than Zip Conferencing.  So why fool around with a service that will cost you anyway when you can get a toll free service that is highly reliable and high quality from the start for less money?

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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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Why doesn’t Zip Conferencing offer a Free Conference Call Service?

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

When I started Zip Conferencing I formed the company around a strong foundation of offering a high quality, reliable conference call service with outstanding customer service.  And the idea of offering a free conference call service just did not match up well with these principals.  So why doesn’t Zip Conferencing offer a free conference call service?

  • Quality – The first thing to suffer when a company offers a free conference call service is the quality of the conference call.  In order to be able to provide a free conference call service the conference call service provider needs to keep their costs way down.  That is because they only earn money from the local phone company where their equipment is and the rate they earn is very small.  That is because the conference call service provider makes money on a free conference call by getting paid to terminate long distance calls on the local provider’s network.  And you and all of your participants are required to dial long distance to get to the conference call bridge.  The local phone company is paid by the long distance carriers to terminate calls and they in turn pay the free conference call service company.  So, typically the conference call equipment is not the best available and many times it is VOIP based and believe me you will hear the difference.  Zip Conferencing uses the latest conference call service equipment directly connected to the long distance carrier networks to insure the highest quality conference calls possible.
  • Reliability- Quality and reliability go hand and hand and if you are not using the best equipment you tend to have more issues than if your equipment is top of the line.  In addition, to keep costs down the free conference call service companies usually do not have as extensive a back up network in place in case there is an issue.  It cost money to have back up equipment on standby and to have back up generators and other systems in place to insure the conference call service is in place when you need it.  Zip Conferencing has back up systems and power in place for the highest standard in reliability.
  • Cost- Lastly is the cost.  But it is Free right?  Actually no.  A free conference call service makes you call a long distance number to connect to it.  So you and all of your participants are going to pay a long distance charge to connect to the conference call.  Do you really want your participants to have to pay to get on your conference call?  This hidden cost is the main reason to avoid using a free conference call service.  With rates for toll free conference calls as low as Zip Conferencing’s why make your participants pay?

So why should Zip Conferencing offer a free confernece call service when it can provide the highest quality, most reliable conference calls at rates that beat even the free conference call service providers?

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An International Conference Call Service with Options

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Most people are pretty familiar with running or at least attending a conference call.  But what if you have international participants?  What is different about an international conference call service?  How do participants join your conference call if they are out of the country.  Conference call service providers offer a number of ways to connect to a conference call from outside the United States.  Zip Conferencing offers a number of international conference call service options for its customers.

  • Local Number Dial In Access – This international conference call service option is available from most every conference call provider.  Basically when you get a dial in reservation from the conference call service provider they give you a local number here in the United States.  And like any other local number you can dial into this number from anywhere in the world.  The cost to the Host of the call is usually the same as if someone dialed in from somewhere in the United States.  For the participant, however, they will pay whatever toll charges they would normally pay to dial into a local number in the United States.  Depending on where in the world they are this can get quite expensive for the participant.
  • International Local Access – A few conference call service providers, like Zip Conferencing, have local numbers in countries outside the United States that participants can dial into.  The international conference call service company transports the call back to the conference call system in the United States.  That way someone in another country can dial a local number but actually conenct to a call int eh United States.  They only pay for the call in their country and since it is a local call the cost is usuall minimal for free.  The cost to the Host of the call is more than if the participant used the local number in the United States but still less than an international toll free number.
  • International Toll Free Access – The most expensive, but certainly most convenient method for international conference call services is the international toll free number.  Zip Conferencing has toll free numbers in over 40 countries that terminate into their systems in teh United States.  That way the participant dials a toll free number in their country and connect to the conference call in the United States.

The main thing to consider when looking at international conference call service options is whether you want your participant to pay for any portion of the conference call.  The next deciding factor is whether they are near one of the local access point around the world.  And then depending on your relationship with your participant you may want to make sure they get the most convenient no cost option which is toll free.

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Toll Free Conference Calling is Still Better for Everyone

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

Toll free conference calling has been around for a long time and hands down the most popular method of conference calling. The reason has always been pretty simple. No one hosting a conference call wants to subject their participants to having to pay to get on to their conference call. Toll free conference calling means there are no charges to dial into the conference call from your long distance provider. The only person that incurs any cost is the host of the conference call. So, the participants can dial into the conference call from anywhere and not worry about how much it costs. Who wants to think about where people are dialing in from? Here are the alternatives to toll free conference calling and their disadvantages explained.

  • Free Conference Calls – Free conference calls are not really free like toll free conference calling to the participants.  If you do a free conference call you will be given an access number somewhere in the country where you have to dial a long distance number to get to it.  That is you and your participants.  Depending on your calling plan the free conference call could easily end up costing you more than toll free conference calling.  The reason that companies can offer you a free conference call is because they get paid by the local phone company to terminate your long distance call in their facility.  And that is because you and your participants are paying someone for the ability to make that long distance phone call to connect to the conference call.  With toll free conference calling you are paying the conference call service provider to transport you and your participants to the conference call.  There is no mystery to who is paying for the call and the charges are not hidden somewhere.
  • Toll Conference Calls - Toll conference calls are similar to free conference calls only on top of paying to get to the conference call you are also paying the conference call service company.  If you are going to pay for the conference call why not pay for toll free conference calling?  A toll conference call means you are going to get a phone number somewhere in the country to dial into to access the conference call and you will have to pay long distance charges to get to the call and for the duration of the call.  Toll free conference calling means no one pays any long distance charges to participate in your conference call.  And you might think that since some people use a cell phone to dial into the conference call that they are not paying for long distance anyway.  But they are paying for long distance.  It is figured in their monthly plan which also has a certain number of minutes included.  Do you want your participants to have to use up their airtime minutes on your conference call?  With toll free conference calling the participants can dial in from a land line and not worry about long distance charges.

Toll free conference calling is still better for everyone because there are no hidden charges for people.  I am sure you would not want your participants to have to pay to get on your conference call and since toll free conference calling is so inexpensive why not give them an easy, toll free way to access the call?

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Should you buy a Teleconferencing Bridge?

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

As companies start to use a lot of conference call services the question will often come up as to whether they should buy a teleconferencing bridge.  And like many services that you can bring in house a large part of the argument is born from economics.  If you are spending thousands of dollars a month on a conference call service provider doesn’t it make sense to buy a teleconferencing bridge and you will save money?  Well, this argument used to hold a lot more weight when conference call services cost 50 cents per minute and you could buy the long distance connection for 5 cents or less.  But these days it is hard to build a compelling argument for a company to buy a teleconferencing bridge.  Here are some of the reasons you may want to stay with a teleconferencing services provider.

  • Capital Cost of the Teleconferencing Bridge – The first expense you will have to incur with a teleconferencing bridge is the expense of the equipment itself.  Today there are some low cost teleconferencing bridges available in the market but given the importance of the conference calls you probably won’t risk your business on a low priced teleconferencing bridge.  A high end teleconferencing bridge like the ones used by Zip Conferencing can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
  • Telecommunications Cost to connect to the Teleconferencing Bridge – The next thing you will need to do is connect the teleconferencing bridge to a telephone network so you can dial into it and conduct your conference calls.  You will need to spend a monthly fee to have a connection that can handle hundreds or thousands of callers whether you use it or not.  Depending on the type of connection it can cost thousands of dollars a month.  In addition, you will also pay the per minute charge for participants to connect to your teleconferencing bridge toll free or they will pay a long distance charge to connect to conference calls.  Zip Conferencing uses only the highest quality digital connections tied directly to the telecommunications network.
  • Maintenance Cost of the Teleconferencing Bridge – In order to keep your teleconferencing bridge up to date and within a warranty you will need to spend money on maintenence for the teleconferencing bridge and its software.  You also may want to have a back up teleconferencing bridge or at least components in case something happens to the equipment.  Zip Conferencing has hot stand by backup teleconferencing bridges and maintains all of its equipment regularly.
  • Personnel Cost to Manage your Teleconferencing Bridge - No matter how automated the teleconferencing bridge is you will still need someone in your company to be the administrator.  This person will need to access the teleconferencing bridge to configure the system and manage settings within the teleconferencing bridge regularly.

As you can see, it is difficult these days to make the argument that a teleconferencing bridge will actually save you money.  With a company like Zip Conferencing available that provides full featured conference call services for as little as 2.4 cents per minute for toll free access why would you want to take on the headache of managing a teleconferencing bridge.  Like most service provider arguments it is probably best to concentrate on what you do for a living and let the experts worry about the rest.

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Audio Conference Calls should be Reliable

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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Cheap Conference Calls are Great if you get Quality Too

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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A good Conference Call Rate is just the Beginning

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

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

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

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

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Free Conference Call Services

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

So, you think you want free conference call services?  Think again!  Like most things in life, nothing really comes for free.  And before you risk your reputation and business you will want to understand what free conference call services are all about. 

When the first free conference call service was introduced everyone in the conference call industry kind of shrugged and figured everyone would understand the deficiencies with the service and steer clear of them.  Well, free conference call services have survived because everyone likes something “free” so its attraction can not be underestimated.  But, is it truly free?  And what is the difference between free conference call services and paid conference call services?  Here are the details behind free conference call services.

  • Free Doesn’t mean No Cost- True, after the conference call is over you may not owe the free conference call service provider anything, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t cost you anything.  That is because all free conference call service providers give you a local number to access your conference call.  That “local” number is usually not local for anyone on the conference call which means you and you participants have to make a long distance call to connect to your conference.  Do you want your customer or prospect to get long distance charges on their phone bill for attending your conference call?
  • Will it be available when you dial in – The way a free conference call service company makes money is by getting the termination fee for having you call into a location where long distance providers pay the local telephone company to terminate the call.  The amount they are paid is very small so they can’t afford the best conference call equipment and have a limitation on capacity.  There is no guarantee that when you call in for your conference call that the capacity will be there for you.  Do you want to chance having the conference call available?
  • Toll Free at a Price – You can usually get a toll free access number for your conference call, but you will pay for it.  And if you find that if you shopped around the competition you could find a better toll free conference call rate from a company with better features and more reliable conference call equipment.
  • Support is Not Free – And if you need any support, how much support do you expect if the service is free? 

So, if you want to make sure your conference call is there when you need and not get hit with hidden charges you may want to examine what it means to be a free conference call service.

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Is there such a thing as too many Conference Calls?

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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Conference Call Security

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

The big buzz word these days in the news is security, so I thought it might be appropriate to spend a little time to discuss conference call security.  In general conference calls are pretty secure.  It israther difficult to tap into a conference call from the conference call service provider side of things.  The conference call equipment is located in a secure environment, its directly connected to carrier networks and each piece of conference call service equipment has thousands of participants on hundreds of calls.  It would be pretty difficult to tap into a piece of conference call service equipment unless you are an operator for the conference call service company and listen in on a particular conference call.  That having been said, there are some people who want to make sure that their conference call is secure so here are some options on making a conference call even more secure.

  • Change the conference call passcode frequently – Many people use the same conference call pass code for all of their conference calls.  Like any password you have it is good practice to regularly change the passcode so that it cannot be compromised.
  • Add a PIN number to the conference call passcode – With some conference call service companies you can add an additional PIN number for each participant that requires them to input in order to join the conference call.  This adds a layer of security and identifies them on the conference call.
  • Lock the conference call – Most conference call service companies allow you to lock the conference call so that additional participants cannot enter the conference call after it is locked.  This feature usually locks out any operators from the conference call service company as well.
  • Monitor the conference call from your PC – Some conference call service companies provide a feature that allows you to monitor and control your conference call through a web interface on your PC.  That way you can see the participants and make sure that only the participants you have invited are on the conference call.
  • Roll Call – Whether using a PC interface or through the telephone you can usually automate a roll call with the participants on a conference call so that you know who is on the call.
  • Music on Hold – If you are concerned about the participants being able to speak before the Moderator joins or use the conference call information without the Moderator you can make it so that the conference call will not start without the Moderator and keeps the participants on hold with music.
  • End Conference when Moderator Exits – You can also configure a conference call so that when the Moderator exits the conference call ends and hangs up on the remaining participants.  This will also prevent the participants from being able to hold a conference call without the Moderator.

Even with all of these options there is no guarantee of security as someone could tap into an individual phone line like any phone conversation, but these conference call security measures will prevent the majority of any security concerns on a conference call.  All of these features are available with Zip Conferencing.

www.zipconferencing.com

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A Conference Call Service Provider should be Your Partner

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

I think that everyone is aware that conference calls can save you time and money.  It is easy to figure that holding a conference call is going to save you money if the alternative is flying to someone’s location to hold a meeting.  But what I think a lot of people miss are all of the options available with a good conference call service provider.  I know when I started in the teleconferencing industry in 1995 I had been on conference calls and just assumed that it was just a simple matter of getting a dial in access number and a pass code and holding your conference call.  Boy, was I wrong.  Most people have no idea of all of the options available for audio conferences and web conferences.  And that is why a good conference call service company should act as your partner and help you discover all of the options available so that you can customize the conference calls you hold to fit the needs of your company.

Even just a plain automated conference call can be customized with a number options.  For instance you can vary how and whether you are notified when a participant enters or exits your conference call.   With Zip Conferencing you can have a tone play, play the participants name or have no sound at all when they enter or exit the conference call.  And all three options can be enabled when entering, exiting or both.  Some people want to make sure that the conference call can not be used when the Moderator of the conference call is not present.  You can set the option to have the participants listen to music while they wait for the moderator to join the conference call.  This prevents participants from being able to use the conference call information to hold their own conference call.  Another measure to ensure that participants are only able to use the conference call when the participants are present is the ability to close the conference call when the Moderator exits the call.

There are also tracking features that some people like to keep tabs on what the call was about.  For instance, an attorney want to track the calls so that they can charge back their clients for the cost of the conference call.  You can enable a feature on the conference call that requires a Moderator to enter an accounting code at the start of the conference call.  An attorney would enter a Client Matter # and then they could track this back to the client at the end of the month.

All of these options and more are available, but most people don’t use them.  It is most likely because their conference call service provider has not taken the time to describe these option, listen to their business needs and suggest ways to best use the conference call service to fit their business needs.  That is where the conference call service provider can be an invaluable partner for your business.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Issues Unmasked

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Being in the conference call industry for over 14 years I have seen a lot of issues with conference calls.  And many of them are directly related to the conference call service company.  The technology to make a conference call is sophisticated and involves many components that can fail.  So naturally, no matter what measures a conference call company takes to prevent a conference call issue, they can still happen.  Luckily, over the years the technology has gotten better, and the other components have also gotten better.  Today, the conference calls are clearer and more reliable than ever.  So why do people still have problems on conference calls.  Some of the issues that occur on a conference call will never go away, because the issue is caused by the people on the conference call and that will never change.  Here are some of the common issues you will find on a conference call.

  • Echo – Echo on a conference call can be caused by many things, including issues with the telephone carrier.  But these days the issues that used to occur on a long distance call have largely been reduced to the point where it is unlikely that the long distance telecommunications carrier was the culprit.  Usually echo on a conference call is caused by one of the participants having more than one connection on the conference call up in close proximity to another connection.  Sometimes someone in a conference room with a speaker phone will also have another phone connected to the conference call.  To eliminate the echo you simply need to mute the offending connection and it will go away.
  • Noise on the call – It is not impossible for the telecommunications carrier or conference call service provider to have an issue, but these days the biggest introduction of noise onto a conference call is one of the participants.  Usually it is someone on a cellular phone and they are either in a moving vehicle or in a high noise situation like an airport.  The best way to eliminate the noise is for that participant to mute their line until they need to speak on the conference call and then they can just unmute themselves.
  • Hold Music on the call – Many people do not realize what their phone system sounds like to a caller when they place that caller on hold.  So, usually what happens is a participant will step away for a minute and place their phone on hold while they are in the conference call.  This will introduce whatever is on their phone system onto the entire conference call.  The way to eliminate this issue is to use the mute function in the conference call instead of placing your phone on hold.
  • Too little or too much volume – Sometimes a connection will have a low or high volume when connected to the conference call.  This can happen for many reasons.  Conference call service equipment adjusts connections automatically to compensate for different levels but you can also adjust the volume of individual participants from within the conference call.

So, as you can see most of the issues on a conference call these days are caused by the participants themselves.  And fixing these issues is usually not a big problem.  To assist with the correction of conference call issues, Zip Conferencing has operators available 24/7 from within the conference call to help identify and eliminate these problems.  You can reach an operator anytime by pressing *0 on your telephone from within the conference call.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Services with No Contracts

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

I have been in this business for a long time and in a service business like this I feel it is important to build a conference call service that customers will appreciate so that they will continue to use the conference call service for a long time.  And this philosophy has paid off over the years as customers have referred other customers to my conference call service company and thus the business has grown.  What surprises me, in this day and age with all the competition available, that some conference call service companies can make you sign a long term contract in order to buy their service.

Now don’t get me wrong, as a business person I certainly understand the value of a contract with a customer, but in the end a customer will get out of a contract if they want to.  So, what is the value of having someone sign a contract for your conference call service if they are simply going to leave you when the contract expires because they don’t like your service.  It seems to me that you really are only as good as your last conference call and as a conference call service provider you should be confident enough in the level of your service that you don’t need to strap people down in order to be confident that they are not going to leave you.

Another reason I feel conference call service companies should be flexible with customers is sometimes customers don’t need to run a conference call every month or sometimes their business needs change and as a service provider I feel a conference call service provider should be aware of that.

Anyway, as a customer I would certainly be wary of any service that I am going to subscribe to that makes me sign a contract right away.  With Zip Conferencing there are no contracts and no long term commitments for our conference call services and I think that is the way it should be.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Service Reviews

Monday, September 28th, 2009

So, what makes for a good conference call service?  Is there a difference in conference call service providers?  What are the main things that you should make sure you get in a conference call service.

I have been in the conference call service business for over 14 years, so I know a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in a conference call service company.  But, for the average user, has no idea and so many of the conference call service providers look the same from the outside how would anyone know the difference?  Maybe I can shed some light on some of the main things to look for in a conference call service company so you know what to look for and what to watch out for when selecting a provider.

  • Services
  • Quality
  • Reliability
  • Support

Services

First, you should make sure that the conference call service provider you are looking at has the service to match your needs.  You will need to know how many conference calls per month your company does.  This is easily calculated by finding out what the average number of people on a conference call is and how long, in minutes that they are typically on the conference call.  If most calls have 4 – 5 people for about an hour you simply take the number of participants (4) times the number of minutes (60 for an hour) and you will see that you generate 240 minutes per conference call.  Then by taking the number of conference calls per week that you do you can determine the number of minutes per month.  If you do about 3 conference calls per week then 3 times 240 times 4 weeks in a month gives you 2,880 conference call minutes per month.

Now that you know how much conferencing you do you should confirm the features that the conference call service provider offers to make sure it is what you expect.  Most conference calls that you have probably used in the past are the type that is called reservationless.  You are assigned a toll free access number and a passcode to get into the conference call.  Unless you want your participants to have to pay long distance charges while they access your conference calls you should make sure that the access is toll free.

There are a number of other features that you may or may not need so you should make a list of the things you need in a conference call service and confirm that the provider you are looking at does offer them because not all conference call service providers offer the same services.  A few features to consider are recording of conference calls, transcription, host controls, online account access and volume control on the conference call.

Quality

Quality really comes down to one simple thing.  Does the conference call sound good?  The sound on a conference call is really based on two factors, the conference call equipment itself and the network that connects the conference call equipment to the telephone network itself.  Since there are many options for a conference call service provider to choose from here, your best indication of quality is the conference call itself.  Can you clearly hear the participants, etc.  Most conference call service companies will offer a free trial of some sort to hear the quality of the conference call.

Reliability

Reliability is a tough thing to measure when looking at a conference call service company.  But you can find out a little about their infrastructure to give you an idea of how reliable their network may prove to be.  Does the company have more than one piece of conference call equipment?  If there is a problem on the conference call equipment your conference call is on can they move your conference call to another piece of equipment?  What long distance network are they using?  A major provider like AT&T or Sprint will have a network that provides some redundancy in the event of a problem where a smaller provider may not. 

Support

And finally, support.  You may never need to lean on a conference call service provider’s support team, but if you do will they be there when you need them?  Does the conference call service company offer 24/7 support?  Do they assign a representative to your account to provide a contact in case you have questions or issues that need to be addressed?  What about online support?  Does the conference call service company offer online self help in the form of a searchable database, user guides and account access tools so that you can make changes to your conference calls yourself?

So, when you are reviewing conference call service companies, remember that price alone should not be the only thing you look at to determine which company is right for you.

www.zipconferencing.com

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The Joy of being a Conference Call Service Provider

Monday, September 14th, 2009

I have been in the telecommunications business over 25 years and been a conference call service provider business since 1995.  When I first started in this industry I had no idea of the complexity of the business, the amazing number of applications the service is used for and the importance of a quality conference call service to the customers that use it everyday.  Now after fourteen years of providing such a valuable business service I can not imagine doing anything else.

Conference call services have evolved over the past fourteen years but their value to businesses has only grown and grown.  Especially in an economy like we are going through today, a quality conference call service provides businesses a way to cut costs without having their business processes suffer.  Meetings can still happen without the need to travel to far reaching locations, sales can meet with customers, employees can still be trained to provide a higher level of service to customers without having to attend a training class in some distant city and a conference call service provides an alternative to countless other costly travel plans. 

In an effort to save money, companies are discovering the other benefits of conference calls such as shortening the sales cycle.  Without conference calls, sales would have to travel to the customer site to perform a presentation or sales demonstration.  With the aid of web conferencing and a conference call, sales can perform a full scale sales presentation right from their desktop.  Beyond the cost of the visit, the salesperson has more time to perform other demonstrations for more customers.  A conference call service is more convenient for the salesperson and their prospective customer.  The same goes for other departments as well.  With a conference call, people don’t have to spend time getting to a conference room, waiting for the meeting to start and then returning to their desk.  Conference call service meeting attendees simply hang up the phone and return to work.  This increase in productivity is very important when your business is trying to do more work with less personnel.

And throughout your business, you will find that communication improves in general.  Making sure that everyone is on the same page is essential to running an effective business and staying in touch through a conference call service makes sure that even remote employees get the same message at the same time as the other employees. 

Now that I have been providing this essential service to businesses for over fourteen years I understand the importance of it in their everyday lives.  Providing a high quality conference call service is not an option it is a necessity.  Businesses rely on conference calls like never before and being able to provide this essential service is a very rewarding experience.  I take my responsibility in being a conference call service provider very seriously and I hope you value the service enough to make sure you get the best service available.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Free Conference Calls

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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Conference Call Quality

Friday, August 28th, 2009

There are a  fair number of conference call service providers in the market today offering conference call services at some pretty low rates.  Among these conference call service providers are a host of different features available for conference call users to choose from.  I have touched on some of these features in previous posts, but what is really important about a conference call?  The most important aspect of any conference call is that is work flawlessly.  And even though this is taken for granted, if the conference call service provider does not design their network correctly you can have lots of problems.

The first thing that you need to have is availability.  To make sure that your conference call is available when you go to use it, the conference call service provider needs to build redundancy and capacity into their network.  Conference call equipment is very complicated and like any piece of high tech equipment can have issues from time to time.  If you use a conference call service provider that does not have provisions for redundant equipment and the conference call equipment hosting your conference call has a problem you will have a problem.  The capacity of the conference call service provider network can also be a problem if they get unexpected traffic on their network.

The telecommunications network that your conference call service provider connects to is an important factor as well.  If the conference call service provider chooses a telecommunications provider solely on price, they may be playing with fire if their provider does not have a network with sufficient back up and networking options.  If a back hoe cuts a fiber link do they have a way to route around it and continue service without interruption?  If the telecommunications provider that connects to your conference call service provider has an issue and can’t get your call around the issue your conference call can’t happen.

The conference call is like the light in the conference room.  You just assume it will work, but if it doesn’t you cannot hold your meeting.  The network and equipment used by Zip Conferencing has been designed with one priority in mind, the quality of the service.  Because no matter what the price is for the service, if the service is not available and of high quality then customers will not be satisfied.   After 15 years of providing conference call services I understand that the quality of the service is the foundation of success in being a conference call service provider.  www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Service or Do-It-Yourself?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

There have been do-it-yourself conference call service appliances available on the market for many years.  And like the conference call service pricing, the appliances have gotten less and less expensive.  So does it make financial sense to buy an in house solution or continue to use a conference call service?

There are several issues to consider if you think that you do enough conference calls to think about buying an in house solution.  The biggest reason to even think about firing your conference call service provider is cost.  And most of the things to consider revolve around some aspect of cost.  What are some of the costs when you want to do conference calls yourself?

  • Cost of the Conference Call Appliance
  • Telecommunications Cost
  • Maintenance Cost
  • Personnel Cost

Cost of the Conference Call Appliance – The cost of a conference call appliance can be anywhere from one thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The equipment used by conference call service providers, like Zip Conferencing, is hundreds of thousands of dollars.  But if you want to try to do-it-yourself with a lower cost piece of conference call equipment your are going to pay at least a thousand dollars for it.

Telecommunications Cost – The biggest cost to providing a conference call service is the telecommunications cost.  You have to get circuits terminated to the equipment and there is a monthly cost to that and then you have to pay the variable cost of the calls themselves. 

Maintenance Cost – Buying a piece of conference call equipment is just the beginning.  Next you will need to pay a maintenance fee to the manufacturer of the equipment to remain up to date with the software that runs the machine.  Like any  other computer on your network, you will need keep the machine up to date if you expect to have the latest security, patches anf eatures to keep the conference call equipment up to date.

Personnel Cost – And lastly, you will need to have someone in your company assigned to maintaining the conference call equipment.  No matter how self service the conference call equipment is, you will still need to maintain it and administer it.  If someone in your company is performing this function there is a cost to you.

So, let’s say you can pay $.01 per minute for toll free traffic to the conference call equipment.  On the surface sounds like you could buy a piece of conference call equipment and save money.  The circuits for the telecommunications connections are at least $1,000 per month for a T-1 which only provides 24 circuits.  So if you want more than 24 total conference call connections at a time in your company you will need more than 1 circuit.  Maintenance on the equipment is going to be at hundreds or thousands of dollars a year depending on the equipment and then someone is going to need to administer the conference call equipment.

You can see how your per minute cost for conference calls can quickly get over $.05 per minute and that is if you do thousands of minutes per month.  It is hard to beat using a conference call service when you get the latest features, no maintenance and 24/7 support for less than $.05 per minute.  A conference call service provider like Zip Conferencing is a better choice for anyone needing a conference call service.   www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Service Support

Monday, August 24th, 2009

No matter how self service our world becomes, everybody needs a little help now and then.  And Zip Conferencing’s conference call service is no different.  In fact, even though our conference call service has more ways to assist you than most conference call services, we also offer good old fashioned personal assistance too.  That’s right, you can actually talk to a human being if you need help with our conference call services.

Zip Conferencing’s conference call service offers a variety of ways to support your needs and answer your questions. 

  • Self service Knowledgebase full of FAQs, How Tos and User Guides
  • 24/7 customer service and conference call technical support
  • Dedicated Account Manager
  • Online Chat
  • Support Contact Form 

 Knowledgebase – The online Knowledgebase is stuffed with useful information.  There are three main sections that make up the conference call service Knowledgebase.  The FAQ section keeps track of the most frequently asked questions.  The How To section explains step by step how to perform all of the functions necessary to maintain your conference call service account and the Meeting Guides section offers helpful hints on using a conference call service.  You can visit the ZIp Conferencing Knowledgebase here http://www.zipconferencing.com/kb/

24/7 customer service and conference call technical support – In case you need assistance with any call or question and you prefer to speak to a representative you can call our toll free number any day, anytime.

Dedicated Account Manager – An Account Manager is assigned to your account and becomes familiar with the details of your account to ensure your satisfaction.

Online Chat – If you prefer Chat over the phone you can also chat with a representative 24/7

Support Contact Form – If you prefer to contact us via email there is an online Support Contact Form available.

We have provided so many ways to contact us because we understand that your conference call service provider should be there when you need them and be able to be contacted the way you want to contact them.  Conference call service support is one of the many things that many customers do not think about when choosing a conference call service providers, but it is certainly noticed when you need it.  Be sure to compare the conference call service support options when choosing a provider.  www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Service Support is the Key

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Everyone these days thinks that since the conference calls are automated you will not need to speak to anyone.  And in many cases this is true.  Conference calls have become so reliable that you rarely will have any issues that require any support or interaction with a conference call service provider customer service representative.  And the services are self explanatory enough that you really don’t need anyone to tell you how to do a conference call.  But let’s face it, everyone needs a little help with things from time to time and your conference call service is no different.

So maybe you have a question about how the conference calls operate, or maybe you forgot your password and can’t remember your conference call passcode.  Okay, well now regardless of price you are going to need to talk to someone at your conference call service provider or have access to the information to answer your question.  Zip Conferencing has developed a web site that allows its conference call service customers to access a large amount of information in a searchable knowledge base.  There are the answers to virtually any question you may have about the conference call service and if the answer doesn’t exist you can submit your question and the knowledge base will grow when the answer to your conference call service question is answered.

But our conference call service support doesn’t stop there.  If you need personal help with a representative you can speak to someone twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  Because conference calls can happen anytime so can the support you get.  And that is important in a conference call service provider.  Because no matter what any conference call company tells you, there are going to be times when you need the support of a representative who can answer questions about your conference call and resolve any issues that might exist.

www.zipconferencing.com

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