Posts Tagged ‘Interruption’

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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Rain, Rain Go Away

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

If you live in the Northeast you can certainly relate to the title of my blog today.  I have barely been out of the house it seems in the past two weeks as I have been on conference calls dodging the rain drops.  A hurricane followed by a tropical storm have spurred people to contemplate building an Ark.  My home and our conference call service offices have been spared any damage but many people have not.  And to them I send my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery from what is some of the worst flooding ever.    Especially my friends and customers in Vermont who really had no warning for some of the worst damage the storms could impart.

As devastating as the weather has been over the past couple of weeks, our customers have had the advantage of continuous communications throughout with our conference call service.  I have suggested many times on this blog to have conference call information at the ready in case of emergency and it has certainly come in handy for our customers.  We have customers in Vermont who literally could not get to their place of business if they wanted to and were ostensibly cut off.  But conference calls with their employees enabled them to maintain lines of communication and continue their businesses without interruption.  And with the Zip Conferencing Pay As You Go service there isn’t even any cost unless you use the service so there is no excuse not to have conference call information in case of emergency.

And the hurricane season is not over.  Another named storm is brewing in the Atlantic and could once again threaten the East coast with wind and rain.  We were lucky that Irene did not have the damaging winds that were possible but the rain certainly did its damage.  Next time we may not be so lucky so be prepared.  Also, when the hurricane season ends the next thing we get to deal with is the snow.  And if last year was any indication we can’t wait for global warming to get us out of trouble any time soon.  Several times in the Northeast last year we were paralyzed and could not get to office buildings.  Our business was not affecting thanks to careful planning, is yours?  Make sure you have a back up communication plan in place with conference calls and web conferencing just in case you need them.

So anyway, rain, rain, go away and help poor Texas anyway.

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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!

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How to Participate on a Conference Call

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

I have spent a lot of time talking about how to host an effective conference call.  But what should you do if you are a participant?  In order to have a godd conference call it takes a well prepared host and it also takes participants who know how to behave on a conference call.  Here are a few tips if you are a participant on a conference call that will help you get the most out of the conference call.

  • Be On Time – The first thing you can do as a participant is show up for the conference call on time.  When you don’t show up on time you are showing a lack of consideration for the Host and the other participants alike.  Because even if the Host starts the conference call on time wihtout you or not you are causing a delay and/or an interruption to the meeting.  And you have to assume you were invited to the conference call because you are recognized as a valuable contributor to the conference call.  Given that assumption you need to be on time to the meeting and ready to participate.
  • Be Prepared – Hopefully the Host sent out an agenda for the conference call ahead of time.  At the very least you should have an idea of what the conference call is meant to address and you have a responsibility to be prepared for the meeting.  That could mean reviewing related documents or actually being prepared to present during the conference call.
  • Mute Your Phone – This is not always necessary, but all participants should be aware that even if you are being quiet the other people on the conference call can hear you.  Our conference call service equipment produces a very clear audio connection so even just the typing on your computer is easily picked up by the microphone on your phone and is transmitted across the conference call to all participants.  It is always the best idea to simply mute your phone unless you are speaking.  Most phones these days have a mute button and if not the conference call service should have a way to enter a command through the phone to mute your line.
  • Identify Yourself – On a conference call there is no way for the Host or other participants to identify you unless you do it.  The best practice is to state your name when you are going to speak so people know who is spoeaking.
  • Participate – It is easy to get distracted on a conference cll because you are usually at your desk and still have access to computers, papers, etc.  But you were invited to the meeting because your participation was deemed important and if you were in a face to face meeting you would not even consider answering emails while in the meeting.  So on a conference call participate just like you would in a face to face meeting.

If you treat your participation on a conference call just like you would an in person meeting then your conference call participation will be a success.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Telephones

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

One of the best reasons to use a conference call service instead of trying to do it yourself is the quality of the connections.  A conference call service company uses equipment that provides full duplex transmission between all of the parties on the conference call.  That means that more than one person can talk at the same time and all of the voices will be heard equally the same across the conference call.  It is just like being in the same room together.  What people experience when they are on a conference call, however, may not be the same thing.  That is because many times the terminal equipment or telephone the participants are using are not full duplex.  So you see, the conference call is only as good as the telephones that are connected to it.

For many years there have been a handful of manufacturers of high end telephone equipment that uses similar technology as conference call equipment and provides a full duplex transmission through the speakerphone.  If you have ever been in a conference room you have probably noticed one of these funny shaped telephones sitting on the conference table.  The telephone is designed to pick up voices from around the conference table so many times they have a triangular or star shape to them.  And sometimes the conference speakerphone has been installed in such a manner to allow a separate microphone at each station at the table to allow individual participants to mute themselves at their seat.  The main mission of these funny looking telephones is to provide a full duplex speakerphone for the conference room.  That way the participants who connect to the conference call can hear everyone in the conference room and the conference room participants can talk freely without interruption and converse with conference call participants just like they are in the room together.

Without a full duplex speakerphone, once a participant has taken the talk path no one else can talk until that person stops talking.  This can make for a very frustrating experience on a conference call.  If you are unable to add discussion points while someone is talking the whole concept of being able to interact at a distance using a conference call has been lost.

There are a number of manufacturers of these types of telephones.  The one manufacturer that everyone is familiar with is the Polycom.  They were the first to develop and manufacturer this type of specialized conference call phone and have become the Kleenex of the full duplex speakerphone.  Many times people will simply refer to the telephone as a Polycom regardless of the manufacturer.  As long you make sure that the speakerphone has full duplex capabilities you will have a good experience using a speakerphone for your conference calls.

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 Applications – Training/HR

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Training sessions and and communication of HR policies are essential to any business.  New employees especially are in need of training and HR policy education and you can deliver effective training and communication from a distance with conference call services and web conference services.

Training Programs

Combining Audio and Web Conferencing services provides an effective way to deliver Training and Communication from a distance without the need to incur travel costs or spend the time necessary to go to remote locations. The features included in our conference calls and web conferences make your presentations powerful and yet easy to use.

  • Increase productivity – deliver more training in less time without the need to travel
  • Reduce Costs – eliminate travel costs 
  • Deliver Training and Communication more frequently –  conduct more training sessions more frequently and reach a wider audience

 

 

Conference Call Services to Help You Deliver Effective Training

  • Audio Conference Calls – A conference call allows you to deliver a consistent message to a large audience.  Host controls allow you to be in charge of the meeting and deliver your training in an effective way without audience interruption.  
  • Web Conferencing - Web Conferencing allows you to deliver your message in pictures as well as words improving audience interaction and retention of the information.  Our easy to use Web Conferencing tool enables anyone to be an effective presenter in minutes. 

 

 

Key Features

  • Host Audio Controls
    Control your audio conference using Host Controls through your telephone that allow you to mute all participants, take a roll call, conduct sub-conferences and more.
  • Distribute Information
    Allow participants to download files of your presentation at the end of your presentation.
  • Audience Participation
    Engage your participants throughout the presentation with the use of Q&A and Polling questions to keep them engaged in your presentation.
  • Branded Interface
    You can brand your online interface and the Web Conferencing tool itself with your logo to personalize your interface and put onn a more professional appearance to your online meetings.
  • Multimedia Content
    Your presentationscan include visual elements to egage your audience.
  • Polls and Surveys
    Conduct Q&A, Polling and surveys using Web Conferencing’s tools.
  • Invite Participants 
    You can invite your participants through the web conferencing interface or simply invite your participants to your online conferencing Hub where they can join web conferences.
  • Record and Playback
    You can record the audio and visual portion of your conference call and allow participants to view or listen to your presentation after the completion of the conference call.

 www.zipconferencing.com

 

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