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.
Tags: Company Money, Conference Call, Conference Call Service, Conference Call Service Provider, Conference Calling, Conference Calls, Culture, Desk, Face, Imagine, Little Break, Nature, Productivity, Slate, Time Management, Travel Expenses, Travel Time
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
There is a lot of talk surrounding healthcare these days, so I thought I would point out some of the many applications for conference calls in the Healthcare industry. Although healthcare is a largely one on one experience ina local surrounding, the healthcare industry is actually a large user of audio conferencing and web conferencing. Just like any other business, the Healthcare industry tackles many of the same issues on a daily basis as any other industry and is always looking for ways to reduce costs and improve productivity.
For physicians, using a conference call is mainly done as a participant. Doctors regularly are being trained on the latest techniques and therapies to assist their patients and many times these trainings are done remotely using audio conferencing and web conferencing. Not only are the doctors incented to attend these training seminars, but the companies that are vendors in this industry are also incented to conduct the training seminar. Pharmaceutical companies for instance need to promote their drugs and what better way then to hold a free seminar for doctors that describes the drug, its uses, efficacy and side effects. That way the doctors are getting the information first hand from the experts on the drug. And by conducting the training seminar using a conference call and a web conference, the drug company is able to reach more doctors in less time and much more cost effectively than if they attempted an in person meeting. In addition, the drug companies have found that getting a doctor to attend a remote meeting via a conference call is easier than trying to get them to take the time to meet at a location. Even as a participant, the doctors benefit from attending the seminar via a conference call by reducing their cost and increasing their productivity.
Another user of conference calls and web conferencing you may not expect are the hospitals. Many times hospitals are regional in nature and have affiliations with other hospital location in an area. The administration offices are often shared to reduce their overhead. So, you have a business that has multiple locations where employees need to share information and meet on a regular basis. The perfect scenario for the use of conference calls and web conferencing. Similarly, physician and nurse staffing organizations exist that supply personnel to hospitals and healthcare clinics across a regional area and also need to communicate with their employees via conference calls. And another maybe obvious example is when there is a company that owns multiple walk in healthcare clinics across an area. These are basically small outlets for healthcare that are part of the same company spread across a region. Like any other business, the managers of the locations are in need of regular communication with headquarters and are big users of conference calls and web conferencing.
Yes, like most industries, the Healthcare industry finds many benefits by using conference calls and web conferencing.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Affiliations, Applications, Audio Conferencing, Conference Call, Daily Basis, Doctors, Drugs, Efficacy, Free Seminar, Healthcare Industry, Hospitals, Nature, Participant, Pharmaceutical Companies, Physicians, Productivity, Training Seminar, Training Seminars, Web Conference, Web Conferencing
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
In this blog I have spoken a lot about how businesses benefit from using conference calls to reduce their expenses and increase their profitability. Well, the benefits of conference calls is not exclusive to companies that make a profit, non-profit entities can benefit as well from the use of conference calls.
The inherent nature of a non-profit is that they are supposed to be trying to leave the bulk of their money for the use of the charity, whatever that is, but they still have activites that need to be performed to keep the non-profit going. One of the thise activities is soliciting donations and conference calls work well when you are trying to get a group together to get donations. Many of the non-profits have found that soliciting donations in a group setting is more effective than doing it one on one. There is a herd mentality when someone provides a donation and others are present. The other participants do not want ot be out done and are more willing to contribute. A conference call allows a non-profit to perform this type of activity without the need for an in person meeting. And just like a for profit company, they save time and money by performing it on a conference call. And the participants benefit as well since they do not have to leave their home or office to participate on a conference call.
Another activity that would be very costly for a non-profit without the help of conference calls is the regular board meetings that need to tak place to run their charity. Usually there is a benefactor and a board of trustees that needs to meet on a regular basis to help runa non-profit organization and many times they are spread around the country. Without the help of a conference call the participants would need to travel to a central location and incur the high cost of travel and so forth to attend the meeting. Not only is it more expensive, but many of the members would not be able to attend without the conference call.
And, in many cases the actual activities of the non-profit itself are assisted by the use of a conference call. Depending on what the charity provides, the use of conference calls allows them to perform their charity without the need to physically be present where they are doing their work. Sometimes this means they can assist more people across a wider geographic area because they can do it remotely. It also means they can perform more work because they are not incurring the high cost of travel, even within their local area to perform some of their activities.
So, don’t think that conference calls only help the bottom line of a for profit company, they help non-profits as well.
www.zipconferencing.com
Tags: Benefactor, Blog, Board Meetings, Board Of Trustees, Central Location, Charity, Conference Call, Herd Mentality, Members, Nature, Non Profit Organization, Non Profits, Participants, Profit Company, Profit Entities, Profitability, Soliciting Donations, Time And Money, Travel
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