Posts Tagged ‘Internet Connection’

Is an Online Conference Call a Good Thing?

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

The telephone conference call has been around for a long time, but now with the advent of the Internet and phone calls over the Internet what about the online conference call? There are services that promise to be able to give you cheap or even free conference call services online.  So, is an online conference call a good thing?  Here are some of the things you should consider if you are thinking about trying an online conference call.

  • Quality- The first thing you need to consider when thinking about an online conference call is the quality.  It used to be you would n0t even consider doing a phone call over the Internet let alone a conference call.  But the Internet network improved and then people started to get high speed access and the option started to make some sense to people.  VOIP (Voice Over IP) technology has come a long way but it is still not of the same quality as a regular telephone call.  There are traffic issues with the Internet and the connections to it that cause irregularities that you do not notice when surfing the Internet but will surely notice when you try to make a phone call over it.  And with an online conference call you don’t have just one call going on but you will have any number of participants on an online conference call and that uses even more bandwidth.
  • Reliability- Reliability of an online conference call is much the same as the quality in its issues.  Everyone has experienced hits on their Internet connection that cause loss of data and even outages altogether on their Internet connection.  It is bothersome if you are on your PC when this happens but if you are on an online conference call when this happens it can be disastrous.
  • Accessibility – Probably the biggest argument against an online conference call is the issue of accessibility.  When you do an online conference call all of the participants need to have access to a PC and an Internet connection.  This defeats the whole concept and convenience of a conference call.  With a regular conference call you can join the conference call from anywhere you have a telephone.  And with mobile phones that is virtually anywhere.  And even if everyone is sitting at their desk to attend your online conference call not everyone has the equipment on their PC to be able to participate because you also need a microphone or a headset.

    • I do believe that someday the network will be ubiquitous and we will be communicating through our PC or similar device but for now the best place for a conference call is on the plain old telephone network.

    Posted in Conference Call | Comments Off

    Summertime Conference Calls

    Friday, June 17th, 2011

    Here it comes!  Summertime.  And we all look forward to spending time doing the things we love and spending time away from the office.  So why would I want to talk about conference calls in the summertime?  Well, when you thin about it getting on a conference call to stay in touch with things is sometimes a much better option than having to go into the office to meet with people.  In fact, summertime conference calls can really save your summer vacation.  How can a conference call be a good thing?

    • Conference Calls can be attended from Anywhere- I have taken a conference call in some mighty strange places.  But that is because I have not let the need to attend a conference call get in the way of a vacation day.  But I will never complan if I have to leave my chair at the beach for a few minutes to go to the air conditioned car where it is not windy so I can get on a conference call.  The alternative is I can’t go to the beach at all because I have to go to the office for a meeting.  So take your conference call wherever you need to as they don’t care if you are at the beach, boat, camp or wherever.  If your phone works so will your conference call. 
    • A Conference Call can happen Anytime – I have also been on a conference call at all times of the day.  With people all around the world being able to join a conference call with Zip Conferencing I have been on calls all hours of the day.  But wherever I am when the call happens I simply need to get on the telephone and can do that from the comfort of my home and go back to bed if necessary.
    • A Web Conference is Just like being There- If you add a web conference to your conference call you can colloborate with others just like you are in the room with them.  So if you really need to get some work done all you need is a PC and in internet connection and you can literally do whatever you need to do from a meeting standpoint from anywhere in the world.

    So don’t think of a conference call as an interruption on your vacation but as simply a way you can do what needs to be done for work without the need to disrupt your summer.  Enjoy the summer!

    Posted in Conference Calls | Comments Off

    What is a Web Conference Call?

    Friday, June 10th, 2011

    Conference Call Service Providers that have web conferencing  in their service offering provide the audio component of the web meeting in a couple of ways.  So I thought it would be helpful to explain what a web conference call was and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

    • VOIP conference call – One way to connect with your participants during a web conference call is to have the audio portion of the conference call go through the PC along with the web conferencing component.  The advantage to this is there is typically no additional cost to having parties connect using this method.  The disadvantages are that some people are not set up to listen through their PC or they are at work and can’t disturb the people around them by playing sound through their PC.  And most people do not have the ability to talk through their PC either.  That means it will be difficult to have your audience participate in the conference call.  Another disadvantage is that you are using up bandwidth by talking over the same Internet connection as the web conference.  This can create additional quality issues with the audio portion or web portion of the web conference call.
    • Local Access Number – Most web conferencing providers will provide a local access number to connect to the audio portion of the web conference call over a telephone.  The advantage to this method is that you are allowing participants to connect using a telephone and they don’t have to be on their PC to hear the conference call.  If someone is on the road and can’t access their PC they can still participate.  Also, the quality issue is now solved by separating the PC traffic from the voice traffic.  The disadvantage is that participants have to dial a local number somewhere and may get charged by their telephone company to connect to your conference call.
    • Toll Free Access Number – The toll free access number using a regular telephone conference call that is integrated to the web conference incorporates the advantages of using a regular telephone call with the convenience of a toll free connection.  Now you know that your participants will not see any hidden charges when they connect to your web conference call.

    So when you are shopping for a web conferencing service provider you may want to pay attention to the web conference call connection methods they provide.  Zip Conferencing provides local and toll free access numbers using a regular telephone conference call for the maximum quality and convenience.

    Posted in Web Conference | Comments Off

    Conference Calls help make Holidays happen

    Monday, October 12th, 2009

    Sitting here on Columbus Day and working, as I always have, has made me think about all the holidays I have had to work and how conference calls have helped make them happen.  It seems over the past ten years especially, the pressure to produce more with less in the American work place has made it normal to work on holidays.  And it seems there are fewer and fewer  holidays that we celebrate.  So how do you keep up with work expectations and still make time for family and friends on the holidays.  It isn’t the only answer certainly, but conference calls have save more than one holiday for me.

     

    Here you are, it is Columbus Day and you have planned to take a personal day or floating holiday to spend with your family because the company you work for doesn’t recognize Columbus Day as a paid company holiday.  And just as you are heading out of the door on the Friday before the holiday you are asked to hold a meeting to discuss a very important topic that is time sensitive and must happen on Monday, your day off.  How can you manage to keep everyone happy and still keep your day off?  Why a conference call of course!  The beauty of technology world we live in is the ability to conduct business from just about anywhere.  As long as you can get a signal on your cell phone and an internet connection, most people can continue to do all of their job functions without missing a beat.  And a conference call allows you to put that technology to work and conduct a group meeting from a distance without sacrificing anything.  With a conference call you can meeting with your group just as you would in person and use a web conference to further enhance your meeting with pictures as well. 

    So, enjoy your holidays.  Even when something comes up that requires you to meeting with a group of people you can still have your meeting without physically having the need to go to your office by using a conference call.

    www.zipconferencing.com

    Posted in Conference Calls | Comments Off