Posts Tagged ‘Conference Calls’

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Conference Call Bridge

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

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

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

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

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Residential Conference Calls

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Just about everyone has done a conference call in their business life.  Conference calls have become universally known for their convenience and ability to save people time and money compared to an in person meeting.  But can you also use a conference call service for your residential conference call needs?  Sure you can, here are some of the uses we have seen for residential conference calls.

  • Family Party Planning – Many times you may want to have a party with your family and you need to work on logistics like during the holidays.  If you have a dispersed family and you need to get everyone on the same page a conference call will allow you to get all of the family members on the same page.
  • Family Emergencies- If you have a family emergency you need to deal with such as a death or hospitalization of a family member and you need to coordinate with the other family members you can do a conference call to get together more easily.
  • Birth of a child – A new family member is a great excuse to get everyone on the phone so you can celebrate with everyone in the family.
  • Local Organization – If you have a local club or organization that you organize you can use a conference call to coordinate your efforts with the other members of the organization.

Basically, anything you can think of where you need to get multiple parties together to discuss something you can coordinate with a conference call.  Conference call rates have gotten low enough where even for residential conference calls it makes sense rather than an in person meeting if you would like to save money and time.

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Conference Call Price Comparison

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

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

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

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

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What is Teleconferencing?

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Like anyone else who has been in a technology business for a while you tend to develop your own language.  I am no different.  I have been in the telecommunications industry since 1981 and if any industry has its own language telecommunications certainly does.  The glossary for all the telecommunications acronyms being used would probably be 4 inches thick.  It really is its own language.  Teleconferencing as an off shoot of telecommunications is certainly guilty of this too but certainly not so bad.  But for those novices to teleconferencing, otherwise known as conference calls, I thought it might be helpful to explain a few of the main terms used in the industry to help you better understand what you are dealing with.

  • Access Code (Also known as the Pass Code) -  
    The personal access code that allows you to join a conference call. There are both Host and Guest codes used to access a conference call.
  • Access Phone Number – The telephone number used to reach the teleconferencing equipment where you input your Access Code to enter your conference call.
  • Bridge - The piece of equipment that performs the act of connecting multiple callers on a singe conference call.
  • CSP- This is the acronym for Conference Service Provider.  It refer to the companies that provide conference call services.
  • Digital Record and Playback –  A service offered by conference call service companies that allows you to record your conference call and play it back at a later time.
  • Host – The leader or Moderator of the conference call.
  • Mute- The Mute function on a conference call allows the participants to turn off the ability to be heard during the conference call.  The Host also has the abilitiy to Mute all participants.
  • Reservationless - Reservationless means that no scheduling, reservation or advanced notification is required for this type of conference call.  Once you have the Access number and Pass Code you can hold a conference call whenever you want.
  • Teleconferencing - Otherwise known as conference calling or audio conferencing, it refers to a telephone call where 3 or more people are connected and able to talk to each other at the same time.

This is by no means a complete list of terms used in the conference call service, or teleconferencing industry but this sampling should get you well on your way to being fluent in teleconferencing speak.

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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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Discounted Conference Calling Services

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

What goes into the cost of a conference call service?  How good are discounted conference calling services?  Does cheaper conference calls mean bad quality conference calls?  Not necessarily.  If you understand the cost model of a conference call service company you will understand how you can get discounted conference calling services without sacrificing quality and reliability.

  • Sales Cost – A conference call service company that has been in existence for a while probably grew using typical Sales and Marketing efforts with salespeople doing cold calls to produce sales.  That means the conference call service company had to pay salespeople and probably has sales offices around the country or a telemarketing center which has fixed costs that must pay.  A newer conference call service company offering discounted conference calling services can take advantage of internet marketing without the need for a large sales force or remote offices.
  • Operations Cost – The older conference call service equipment requires more personnel to operate than newer equipment.  Operators needed to man the switch and baby site the equipment more than today’s equipment.  A larger group of operators and office space adds costs to the conference call service company.  A newer conference call service company offering discounted conference calling services can avoid some of these costs through more modern, automated equipment that requires less space and maintenance. 
  • Customer Service Cost – An older conference call service company has existing procedures and probably has not automated their operation too much over time.  A newer conference call service company offering discounted conference calling services can automate just about everything and provide the customer the ability to service their own account which reduces the number of customer service people required to service their customers thus reducing cost.
  • Back Office Cost – The older conference call service companies have not automated their billing, collections and other activities and have a higher cost to operate.  A newer conference call service company offering discounted conference calling services can automate billing, collections and virtually all back office operations which greatly reduces the cost to the company.

All of the efforts to reduce cost in a conference call service company do not take away from the quality of the conference call service itself if you do it right.  At Zip Conferencing, you get all of the same services at a discounted rate because we have designed and built a company to provide a high quality service but eliminated a lot of the cost associated with an older conference call service company.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Service or the Phone System?

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

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Don’t get burned by a Conference Call Service company

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I speak to many customers who come to Zip Conferencing after being “burned” by another Conference Call Service company.  I guess it is a factor of the competitiveness of this business, but I can’t see how tricking your customers is going to help you in the long run.  Here are a few ways you can be misled by a conference call service company.

  • Access is not Toll Free – Many conference call companies including the Free Conference Call companies offer an attractive rate that may look good but actually have hidden charges.  Any conference call service company that pushes a local or toll connection is making you pay long distance charges to connect to your conference calls.  It doesn’t appear on your conference call bill but it will add to your bottom line cost for you and your participants.
  • Long Term Contracts – Some conference call companies will make you sign a long term contract in order to get a good rate for the conference calls.  If your business needs change or your conference call needs change you can find yourself paying a penalty to get out of a contract for services you no longer need.
  • Hidden Charges – Make sure that all of the charges you will get for the service are spelled out ahead of time.  Some conference call companies will fail to tell you about connection charges or set up charges that you did not expect when you signed up for the service.
  • Per Moderator Charges – Some companies will charge you to add users to your account who can hold conference calls.

The bottom line is you need to ask lots of questions when you are investigating which conference call company to choose.  Make sure your are doing an apples to apples comparison so that you can sort through all of the offers to determine who will provide the best conference call service at the best rates for your needs.  Be sure to check out Zip Conferencing and you will find that the rates for the conference call services are straight forward.  There are no set up fees, no contracts and you can cancel at any time.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls Save Money

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Many people who use conference calls in their daily business lives may have forgotten the number one benefit you get when you use conference calls.  Conference calls save money. 

I think that conference call service early adopters were more interested in solving business issues that could not be solved in other ways.  The legal community in particular simply could not find a way to effectively meet with clients and other counsel in a quick and convenient manner when they were unable to meet face to face.  They were not really concerned about saving money by meeting over the telephone as they charge back their customers anyway.  It was the second wave of conference call users that discovered some of the other benefits to using a conference call service. 

Benefits to Using a Conference Call Service

  • Save Money
  • Save Time
  • Increased Productivity

The widespread growth of the use of conference calls has certainly been from their ability to save companies money.  No other technology offers as affordable a solution to solving the need to meet than the basic conference call.  How else can you meet with dozens of people around the world without leaving your desk for just pennies per minute?  So, the most obvious cost you save when you do a conference call is the travel cost to get to a personal meeting.  What other costs can you save with a conference call?

Costs you save when you do a Conference Call

  • Flight Expense
  • Rental Car Expense
  • Hotel Costs
  • Food Costs

And now with the availability of web conferencing and the ability to add visuals to your conference call there are many more applications for conference calls that save companies even more money.  As an industry we again thought that the legal community would be an early adopter of web conferencing since they could share a contract on the screen and edit it with opposing counsel and so forth.  But actually, the largest users of web conferencing have been in the Sales and Marketing areas where they have been able to dramatically reduce their travel costs and shortened their sales cycles.

And now, with the prices for conference call services hitting all time lows in the marketplace there is no better way to save travel costs than substituting your in person meetings with a conference call.  Conference calls save money.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls in the Legal Community

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Conference calls have always been an important business tool in the legal community.  The need to communicate amongst multiple parties has always been a fact of life in the legal system and the benefits of doing it over the telephone as opposed to an in person meeting have been there all along.  In the early days of conference calls the participants had to be called by an operator and the participants had to be at their telephone to answer it at the time of the conference.  Despite the logistical problems this poses the legal community adopted conference calls into their everyday processes early and often.

In the legal community conference calls are used for many applications

  • Depositions
  • Consultations with clients
  • Conferences with opposing attorneys
  • Communication with multiple parties around the world

One of the reasons the legal community also adopted conference calls is out of sheer necessity.  Many times the schedule of attorneys does not permit them to be in multiple places at the same time and by using conference calls attorneys can be more productive.  The cost of the conference calls has never been as much of an issue since attorneys bill back their clients.  For this reason, the most important features of the conference call are call accounting features that allow the attorneys to keep track of their billings to their clients. 

The conference call features most used by the legal community 

  • The ability to attach a client matter number to a conference call to track expenses
  • Subconferences for sidebar conversations
  • Dial out to add participants
  • Security features that prevent unwanted participation

Zip Conferencing has all the features listed and more.  In fact, you can even see the participants on a conference call by logging into your account on your computer during the call.  The invoices have the calls broken out by Moderator and by Client Matter number.  And the ability to break into a side conversation assists lawyers in being able to talk to their clients alone and return to the conference call to resolve issues.  And more and more, the Legal Community is realizing the benefits of web conferencing.  The ability to share documents and revise them on the fly has added another tool to help improve productivity which for an attorney is the most important thing.  Since attorneys bill by the hour, the more they can get done in an hour is directly related to how much they earn.  For the Legal Community conference calls are not a convenience, but a necessity.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls Explode

Friday, June 19th, 2009

I have been in the conference call business since 1995.  At that time many people had not even been on a conference call and web conferencing was little more than an idea.  Over 50 % of the conference calls we ran back then were operator assisted because the concept of running a reservationless conference call was foreign to most people.  Now the technology has made it simple to run a conference call from any phone at any time without the need to schedule the call and web conferencing and sharing your desktop with someone thousands of miles away is just a few clicks away.  It has been an amazing ride and newer technology promises to make conference calls even easier and more compelling for the customers than ever.  No wonder the amount of conference call minutes has exploded to over 40 billion minutes a year and is expected to continue to grow to over 70 billion minutes by 2012.  Zip Conferencing is poised to bring you the best technology the industry has to offer at rates that make the service affordable to everyone.  Never before has this technology been so easy to use and so affordable.  In this blog I hope to bring you some of the conference call applications used by customers across many industries in hopes it will help you find a way to improve communication in your company.  I welcome any input and feedback on Zip Conferencing, questions about our services, the web site and I hope you will share the ways that you are using conference calls and the benefits they bring to you.  Just like the technology itself promotes, there are power in numbers and sharing makes us all better.  Enjoy!

www.zipconferencing.com

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