Posts Tagged ‘Customer Service’
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
Tags: Advantage, Automated Equipment, Bad Quality, Cold Calls, Conference Call Service, Conference Calling Services, Conference Calls, Customer Service, Discounted Conference Calling Services, Equipment Operators, Existence, Internet Marketing, Maintenance, Marketing Efforts, Office Space, People, Quality Conference, Reliability, Sales And Marketing, Sales Marketing, Salespeople, Telemarketing Center, Typical Sales
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Monday, November 16th, 2009
I am sure there are several conference call service companies that offer a good conference call from a technical point of view. What I mean is that you can call into the conference call without too many problems and the conference call quality once connected is decent and so forth. But what happens if you need help? Is the conference call service company there for you when you need them to be?
At Zip Conferencing we pride ourselves on not just providing the highest quality audio conferencing and web conferencing services available, but we also want to make sure that your needs are taken care of as well. That is why we provide customer service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And, because we know that people like to communicate in different ways we have supplied many different ways to communicate with us. You can call us on the phone to speak to a representative or if you prefer, you can also chat with one of our representatives 24 hours a day as well. The representatives that are available by chat are the same representatives that answer the phones and are well schooled in all of services and features of Zip Conferencing. Or you can send us a Support Request Form via the web site to get an answer to your conference call question if you do not need an immediate answer.
In addition to the people behind the scenes at Zip Conferencing that are ready to assist you, you will find a helpful knowledge base of important conference call and web conferencing information. The information is organized between conference call FAQs, How Tos and Billing questions. You can even search the plentiful knowledge base or ask a question.
We believe that just providing a conference call is not enough. Standing behind the audio and web conferences that we provide with service is one of the important differentiators between us and other conference call service companies. And if you ever have a questions about your conference call service I am sure you will agree.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: 24 Hours, 365 Days, Audio Conferencing, Billing Questions, Conference Call Service, Customer Service, Differentiators, Help Service, Highest Quality, How Tos, Important Conference, Knowledge Base, Many Different Ways, People, Point Of View, Support Request, Web Conferences, Web Conferencing Services
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
When I first joined the conference call service industry 14 years ago the average cost of a conference call was around $.20 per minute per participant, today it is around $.07 per minute and it is fore casted to decline to around $.05 per minute average by the year 2013. What has driven this decline and are conference calls simply a commodity that should be judged on price alone?
The decline in the cost of conference calls has been driven over the years by competition in the industry. The lowering of the telecommunications costs associated with providing the conference calls has allowed conference call service companies to lower their rates in order to capture business from the competition. Also, the conference call service equipment has evolved over the years and the price of the equipment to provide conference calls has also come down in cost as the technology has gotten better. Like the long distance call itself, as the costs have declined and competition increased we have seen a constant pressure on conference call service companies to deliver conference calls at an ever decreasing revenue. Ultimately, as the prices continue to decline some of the service associated with conference call services will suffer unless people recognize that conference calls are not a commodity and are willing to pay a little more for the service part of it.
I have detailed in other blog posts about all that goes on behind the scenes at a conference call service company, so I won’t go into great detail here, but here is a quick summary. First, you need high quality telecommunications connections from a large carrier that provides redundancy in their network or you risk quality issues and outage possibilities. You then need to get the best conference call service equipment or you will not get the best results. Your own network needs to be constructed with fail-over and back up contingencies. And finally, you need to provide a level of customer service that provides your customers with a good customer experience. All of these things cost money to the conference call service providers. I don’t think that customers will be happy with a conference call service that has quality issues or doesn’t answer the phone when they need help or has an outage because the telecommunications carrier they use had a lengthy outage. So, customers want to pay as little as possible for a conference call but certainly do not want to have an inferior service.
So here we are in the conference call service industry. Given today’s available telecommunications rates which are not going down any more, the price of the conference call service equipment which is also not declining and the cost of personnel and I think you can see that the cost of the conference call is approaching the point where it cannot go any lower without sacrifice. And I think if you ask the customers you will find that although they like to save money, a conference call is important enough to their business that the quality, reliability and service really do matter. Conference calls are not simply a commodity.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Carrier, Commodity, Conference Call Service, Conference Call Services, Contingencies, Customer Service, Driven, High Quality, Long Distance, Participant, People, Possibilities, Quality Issues, Quality Telecommunications, Redundancy, Year 2013
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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
Tags: 24 7 Support, Call Manager, Conference Call Service, Conference Call Service Provider, Conference Call Services, Contact, Customer Service, Customer Support, Email, Faq Section, Help Services, Helpful Hints, How Tos, Meeting Guides, Online Chat, Personal Assistance, Satisfaction, Self Service, Technical Support, Toll Free Number, Variety
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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
The expansion of the internet brought with it many benefits to businesses and consumers alike. One of the greatest benefits the web can provide a company like Zip Conferencing like many businesses is the ability to put the control of the account where it belongs, in the hands of the customers. Self service was thought to be a dirty word ten or fifteen years ago, but I think that was simply because the technology did not exist to make self service both easy to use for the consumers and beneficial to the company providing it. Then as ATM machine became easier to use and widely adopted, it became clear that if you can make an interface widely available and easy to use, the consumers will use it rather than go through a customer service cycle for the simple every day transactions. Let’s face it, when was the last time you went into a bank to withdraw cash? Sure, you can still find a teller or a bank employee to assist you if you have a more complex transaction and there is 24/7 support available if you need it but all of the everyday transactions have been moved to a self service interface.
Zip Conferencing is building on this same concept. The Conference Call Service Account Interface we have called the Conferencing Hub allows customers to access their account and take care of the everyday transactions. The Conference Call Service Interface is powerful enough to handle just about everything you may want to do with your account, yet easy enough to use that you will not be intimidated by it. If you want to talk to agent they are available, but just like the ATM I think you will find that the Conferencing Hub is more convenient than trying to communicate to an agent.
Conference Call Service Interface Features
The features you can access through the Conferencing Hub are extensive. Not only do you have access to the basic account information like most companies, but you can also control the options within the confernece calls themselves. This allows you to customze your conference to the way you like it. And since you are doing it yourself you can see what all the options are without having to depend on a customer service agent to present all of the options. It is so easy to use you may change the way your confernece operates every time until you find the combination of options that suits you best. Here are some of the features available with the Conference Call Service Interface:
- Create and Edit Conference Call Moderators
- Create and Edit Conference Calls
- Edit Conference call options
- Launch an Audio or Web Conference
- Schedule a one time Audio or Web conference
- Access conference call recordings
- View Reports on completed conference calls
- Brand the Conferencing Hub with a company logo
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: 2c, Account Management, Atm Machine, Call Management, Conference Call Service, Conference Management, Conferencing, Consumers, Control, Customer Service, Dirty Word, Everyday Transactions, Fifteen Years, Hub, Self Service, Service Interface, Service Management, When Was The Last Time
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