Posts Tagged ‘Invitation’

Conference Call Services keep getting Easier

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

I have been in the conference call service industry long enough to see most of the innovations introduced over the years.  Every time a new feature is introduced I wonder how much easier you can possibly make a conference call.  Ever since the invention of the reservationless conference call it has become pretty easy to hold a conference call.  Yet the conference call services industry continues to improve and make holding a conference call easier and easier.  The latest innovation, the integration of the invitation process with Microsoft Outlook is no exception.  Zip Conferencing now offers the ability to integrate its conference call service into your Outlook with an Outlook Toolbar that can get your conference call going in just a click of the mouse.

The Microsft Outlook Meeting Toolbar from Zip Conferencing has a number of features that make assembling a conference call even easier.

  • Outlook Toolbar retains your conference call service information – Once you load the toolbar you never have to try to remember your conference call information again.
  • One click to start a meeting - The start a Meeting button means just that, one click and your audio or web and audio meeting begins.
  • Connect Me Service – Dial into the meeting as you always have or you can have the Zip Conferencing system dial out to your phone to connect you to the meeting.
  • PC Controls – Controls on your PC allow you to control the meeting including volume, muting and recording of the conference call.
  • Web Conferencing – From within an audio meeting you can easily switch to a web meeting or start a web meeting as easily as an audio meeting.
  • Invite Participants – Since the Toolbar is integrated with your Outlook you can easily invite participants using Outlooks’ scheduling tool.  That way you can easily send invitations to participants who are in your Outlook contact list.  You can do this for a meeting you want to start right now or one you want to schedule for later.
  • Online Account Access – The Toolbar also provides easy access to your online account where you can add Moderators, conference calls and control other options of your conference call service.

Zip Conferencing continues to make improvements to its conference call service that truly make it easier to do conference calls than ever before.

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Hosting a successful Conference Call

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

What This Guide Provides

This guide was designed to walk you through the steps to coordinating and hosting a successful conference call.
 
INVITE YOUR PARTICIPANTS
Send your guests, via email, fax, or word of mouth, the information listed below. All of the conference codes and Dial-In numbers can be found online by accessing your account.
 
Design an Invitation:
Date/Time of conference – you may want to include an agenda.
It is recommended that you inform your Guests to log into the conference no less than 5 minutes prior to start time. Guests joining the meeting prior to the Host will be placed on hold listening to music until the Host activates the conference.
 
Audio Conference Dial-In Info:
·          Instruct guests to dial into the Audio Conference approximately 5 minutes prior to the conference
·          Provide Dial-In phone number
·          Provide Guest Code
·          Require attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference. 

PRE-CONFERENCE PREPARATIONS

·          Set an agenda for the meeting.
·          If possible, send the agenda to all meeting participants.
·          Send out a reminder to participants for calls scheduled far in advance.
·          Make sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed
ACTIVATE THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Be on time! It helps if the host or chairperson dials into the conference a few minutes early. This avoids confusion if guests dial-in early.
·          Turn off call-waiting. Most call-waiting features can be deactivated by dialing 70# before dialing into the conference.
·          Dial into the call using either the Toll Free or Direct Dial-In number provided. You will be prompted to enter your passcode.
·          Conduct a roll call to find out who has joined your conference.
·          Remind attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference.           Instruct everyone to state their names when speaking to avoid confusion. For example, “This is Karen, and I’d like to see…”
 
 
DURING THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Ask for feedback from specific participants instead of from the entire group.
·          Postpone any discussions that are not relevant to the conference for another date and time.
·          Promptly deal with any noise or distractions.
·          Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.
·          Clearly state when you are ending the conference. Often a guest can be left on the line not realizing that the conference has ended.
www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls – The Basics

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

I take it for granted that people have done conference calls before, but if you believe the analysts the market for conference calling services is only penetrated at a rate of 58%.  That means that 42% of the possible customers for conference calling are not using the services today.  Which means that many of you have never done a conference call.  Here is a simple guide to holding a successful conference call.

INVITE YOUR PARTICIPANTS
Send your guests, via email, fax, or word of mouth, the information listed below. All of the conference call codes and Dial-In numbers can be found online by accessing your account when you sign up for Zip Conferencing.
 
Design an Invitation:
Date/Time of conference call – you may want to include an agenda.
It is recommended that you inform your Guests to log into the conference call no less than 5 minutes prior to start time.  Your guests can speak together prior to you joining the call.  You can change that by accessing conference call options in your account and change it so that the guests listen to music and can not speak prior to you joining.
 
Audio Conference Dial-In Info:
·          Instruct guests to dial into the Audio Conference approximately 5 minutes prior to the conference
·          Provide Dial-In phone number
·          Provide Guest Code
·          Require attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference. 

PRE-CONFERENCE PREPARATIONS

·          Set an agenda for the meeting.
·          If possible, send the agenda to all meeting participants.
·          Send out a reminder to participants for calls scheduled far in advance.
·          Make sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed
ACTIVATE THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Be on time! It helps if the host or chairperson dials into the conference a few minutes early. This avoids confusion if guests dial-in early.
·          Turn off call-waiting. Most call-waiting features can be deactivated by dialing 70# before dialing into the conference.
·          Dial into the call using either the Toll Free or Direct Dial-In conference call number provided. You will be prompted to enter your passcode.
·          Conduct a roll call to find out who has joined your conference.
·          Remind attendees to refrain from putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference.           Instruct everyone to state their names when speaking to avoid confusion. For example, “This is Karen, and I’d like to see…”
 
 
DURING THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Ask for feedback from specific participants instead of from the entire group.
·          Postpone any discussions that are not relevant to the conference for another date and time.
·          Promptly deal with any noise or distractions.
·          Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.
·          Clearly state when you are ending the conference. Often a guest can be left on the line not realizing that the conference has ended.
You will find that if you treat the conference call just like an in-person meeting you will get the same results.
www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conferencing – The New Meet and Greet

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Holding a free seminar on a subject of interest to your prospects in a hotel or other public space and inviting potential customers has always been a good method to attract these prospects to a place where you can meet them and begin to build a relationship.  This strategy for sales has been around for a long time and can be pretty effective if you have a good speaker and a topic they will make the time for to attend.  There are, however, several obstacles to overcome in making this an effective sales tool.

  • The prospects need to make a large time and effort commitment
  • The speaker and subject matter needs to be very compelling
  • The cost of the space and refreshments
  • Personnel on your part to coordinate and man the event

Today, using a Web Conference, there is a new way to meet and greet your potential customers with what has been called the “webinar”.  A webinar is simply a seminar you hold on the web using web conferencing services.  There are a host of advantages to holding a virtual seminar instead of an in-person event.

  • Prospects are more likely to attend since the commitment is much less on their part
  • The cost to you and your prospects is much less
  • No refreshments or hall rental necessary
  • You can gather information on your customers when they register

And, even though your meeting is virtual, you will not give much up in the way of tools to make your seminar an effective way to introduce your prospects to your good or services.  With Zip Conferencing’s web conference service you can craft an invitation and require your guests to provide information in the process about themselves to assist in your marketing efforts.  Once they join the web conference you can better engage your audience through the use of multiple presenters, Polling questions, audience interaction and a Q&A session at the end of your presentation.  When your guests leave the web conference you can also provide a thank you email and survey if you like so that the audience can provide feedback.

Zip Conferencing’s Web conferencing is so easy to use anyone can do it and it cost nothing to test drive your own webinar and see if this service can help you get to your prospects quicker, easier and less expensively.  You can start a FREE TRIAL of web conferencing by going to https://www.zipconferencing.com/web-conference-demo.php

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Etiquette

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

We have all been on a conference call where someone does something to either disrupt the call, embarass themselves or both.  I am going to point out things that will help make the difference on your conference call between a success and a failure whether you are hosting the call or jsut a participant.

As the Host or Moderator of conference calls

  • Give participants plenty of notice about the scheduled time of the conference call.  Even if you are the boss and can make them attend at a moment’s notice, if the participants are harried or have to reschedule to make the call they will be distracted during the conference call.
  • Send out an agenda with the conference call meeting invitation.  I know that this is not done in many cases but having your audience prepared for the call allows particpants to be ready for the discussion.  Even if it is not a formal agenda a simple listing of topics to be discussed on the conference call really helps.
  • Start your conference calls on time.  Even if a participant is late if you become known as someone who starts on time your participants will learn to be oon time as well.
  • Take a roll call at the beginning of the conference call so that everyone knows who is in attendance.  This will get everyone participating right away and make people  more comfortable.
  • Even though everyone takes the technology for granted, try to not use a cell phone if you are hosting the conference call.  It is one thing for a participant to be on a cell phone, they can mute their line if they have to, but the Host needs to control the meeting and have a clear, consistent connection.
  • Put yourself in a quiet environment.  Background noise can be a real nuisance on a conference call.
  • Treat it like a meeting.  Take notes, assign tasks, etc.  Where most people struggle on a conference call is being aimless in the way the meeting is conducted.   

Good practices for Moderators and Participants

  • Introduce yourself when you speak every time.  Many times the participants have a hard time determining who is speaking.
  • Learn to use the mute button.  Especially if you have to join the confernece call via cell phone you should use the mute button whenever possible.  Any noise you produce or background noise will be on the entire conference call.
  • If you are using a speakerphone and own a PDA like a BlackBerry, make sure the PDA/BlackBerry is nowhere near the Speakerphone.  The transmission and reception of messagtes into the device will make noise across the conference call.
  • Don’t ever put your phone on hold while on a conference call.  Any hold music or messages will play across the entire conference call the entire time you have your phone on hold.
  • Just like an in person meeting take care of any bathroom needs prior and after the conference call.  No matter how familiar you are with your mute button, inevitably everyone will hear the flush.

Finally you are ready to close the conference call.  Thank your participants for their time.  Whether an in person meeting or a conference call, people’s time is valuable and should be recognized.  Participants will be more willing to give you their time again.

www.zipconferencing.com

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