Posts Tagged ‘New Technology’

An Audio Conferencing Company First

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

I have been in the teleconferencing industry since 1995 and since then there have been technologies come along that were going to eliminate audio conferencing several times.  But every time the new technology has helped augment audio conferencing but never really threatened to eliminate what is still the most cost effective and easiest way to meet with a group of people.  That is why when I started Zip Conferencing I decided to make sure I built the best audio conferencing company first.  After that whether it is web conferencing or video conferencing or whatever the latest technology is the company would have the foundation of being a really great audio conferencing company and could easily adopt and layer other technologies on top of that.  Over the years the two technologies that were going to replace audio conferencing but instead have only helped grow audio conferencing usage are web conferencing and video conferencing.  Here are some reasons why these are complimentary services and will never eliminate the need for audio conferencing.

  • Video Conferencing – Video conferencing has been around for  along time and in my 16 years in the industry I have heard lots of reasons why this technology has not been widely adopted.  I have also seen efforts over the years to “fix” these problems with video conferencing only to see the adoption rate remain sluggish at best.  At first it was very expensive so it was not widely available.  Only very large companies had access to the technology necessary to conduct an effective video conference.  Today you can conduct a video conference from your desktop for very little money.  The technology and network bandwidth is basically universally available.  But people simply do not use video conferencing all that much except maybe for personal use to speak to loved ones from great distances.  I think the biggest hurdle to wide adoption of this technology is the aversion of the participants to being in front of the camera.  Most people I know do not like being in front of a video camera and looking at their own image on a screen.  As an audio conferencing company this is music to my ears. 
  • Web Conferencing – Web conferencing has seen tremendous growth since its introduction in the late 1990s because it has become easy to use, inexpensive and it mimics the way we meet with others.  You can literally do anything on a web conference today that you can do in a conference room.  It even has video conferencing built in if you want it but most people simply want to share their desktop or do a remote presentation.  And the audio portion of the call is still done over a conference call system through an audio conferencing company.  This means that the audio quality is just as good as a normal conference call.  And as an audio conferencing company I am happy because we can provide both services and people tend to meet longer because they can have more effective meetings.

So, first and foremost, Zip Conferencing will always be an audio conferencing company first.

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Why a Regular Telephone Conference Call still makes Sense

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

When I tell people what I do for a living I am still amazed that people don’t know that companies like Zip Conferencing exist. Most people do a telephone conference call on a regular basis or have certainly been on one recently but don’t know where they come from. I guess many of these people are in a company where the buying decision for conference call services is made by someone else and they just know how easy it is to get on a telephone conference call. And that is why a regular telephone conference call still makes the most sense.

Let’s face it, technology has come a long way in the past 15 years since I started my career in teleconferencing so why is the regular telephone conference call still growing in use? Well, in the past 15 years I have heard the prediction of the demise of the telephone conference call with the invention of every new group communication technology that has come along. But there are several reasons why the regular telephone conference call is still the easiest, most convenient and least expensive way for a group of people to get together.

  • Universal Connectivity- A telephone conference call uses a device that everyone is familiar with, the telephone.  You don’t have to teach people how to use a telephone and these days most people know how to connect to a conference call as well.  And with a telephone conference call all you need is a telephone.  And any telephone will do.  When I started in 1995 we still had to help people who had rotary phones onto conference calls that require you to enter a pass code but that is no longer the case.  And cell phones were not as reliable as they are today and would cause issues on conference calls as well.  But today any telephone can connect to a conference call with ease.
  • Easy to Use- With the invention of reservationless pass code entry telephone conference calls the usage in conference calls skyrocketed.  That’s because the industry made the service easy to use.  And over the years it has exposed just about everyone to a universal method of joining a telephone conference call.  Everyone pretty much knows that you have to dial an access number and then put in a pass code to connect to a conference call.  There is no need to get participants to learn a new technology or download something onto their computers.
  • Convenient- Today you can access a telephone conference call from anywhere in the world from any telephone.  You don’t have to worry if you can get an Internet connection or anything.  All you need to do is make a telephone call and you can connect to a telephone conference call.  So, you can be travelling, at home or in the office and connect to the conference call.  So it is convenient to the host and participants alike.

So, despite all of the predictions about its early death, telephone conference calls still make the most sense if you want to hold a group meeting with people in disparate locations.  And until they replace the telephone it will continue to be the group meeting method of choice.

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A Web Conference is Not that hard to do

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

I think that everyone is intimidated by new technology a little bit, but depending on the technology and the known benefits we will tolerate the learning curve.  Web Conferencing is no different.  Web conferencing has been around as a service for about 15 years now and even though its use is now pretty widespread, many people are still afraid to take the plunge.  But if you try a web conference once you will see that it is just not that hard to do.

Basically, anyone who can use a PC can do a web conference.  When the web conferencing services first came out there were downloads and PC settings to worry about just to get the web conference off the ground.  Today, however, starting a web conference is just a few clicks away.  Many of the services, including Zip Conferencing’s, do not require any download as they simply use the software that is already on your computer.  And the web conferencing service is usually integrated with an audio conferencing service, like Zip Conferencing does.  This makes it very simple to hold a remote meeting with a web conference and a audio conference call. 

To conduct a web conference as the Moderator all you have to do is open a browser, log into your web conferencing account, start a meeting by clicking on a start button and then click on Share your Desktop.  The participants on the web conference now see whatever is on your PC.  So to do a web conference presentation you simply need to be able to pull up your PowerPoint presentation, spreadsheet or whatever is part of your presentation and the audience will see it while you speak to them on the conference call.  It really is that easy.

A presentation that has visual elements is more impactful than just a conference call where you only listen to the presenter.  And in some cases you may need to share materials where without a web conference the only way to hold the meeting would be via a face to face meeting.  A web conference saves time, money and increases your productivity.  And it is REALLY easy to do!  So what are you waiting for?  Try a web conference today!

www.zipconferencing.com

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