Posts Tagged ‘Share Information’

Conference Calls in Agriculture

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Just to help make the point that conference calls and now more than ever, web conferencing can help any business save money and be more productive I have decided to talk about another industry who you would not think uses conference calls.  Certainly when you think of agriculture you think of a farmer who raises a crop or livestock and then sells to a market.  What use could agriculture possibly have with conference calls and web conferencing?

Well you would be surprised.  Agriculture is just another business, a big business in fact, that is always looking for ways to reduce cost and improve productivity so naturally they use conference calls.  The market that buys the crops or livestock is having conference calls with the farmers it buys from to keep them informed of prices and stock levels and other market factors.  By having one conference call with all of their suppliers they are saving time from calling each farmer individually.  The farmers are able to speak amongst themselves and share tips on how to better manage their farms.  If the farmers belong to a cooperative, the cooperative is using conference calls to better communicate between all of the farmers in the cooperative and share information.  And up the supply chain the distributors are able to talk to all of the markets and give them information on demand and pricing and so forth.  The level of communication in the entire supply chain has improved with the use of conference calls.

And all of the vendors that touch this industry have also found that conference calls and web conferencing are helping them communicate with their audience faster and more effectively.  The companies that make farming equipment are holding regular seminars on the latest equipment and its uses.  The companies that make the feed for the animals and the seed for the crops are holding conference calls with the farmers to discuss the availability of their goods, pricing and effective uses.  And all of this communication via conference call and web conferences is saving everyone a lot of time and money.  Farms by their nature are spread out over vast areas and it is very difficult and time consuming to have personal meetings with each farmer.  The use of conference calls and web conferences in agriculture is a natural fit!

www.zipconferencing.com

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Conference Calls | No Comments »

Conference Calls for Human Resources

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Clearly, one of the main missions for Human Resources departments is to clearly and concisely communicate with the employees in a company.  And with the employees in a company becoming more and more spread out how does the Human Resources department continue to handle effective communications with these remote employees.  Why through conference calls of course!

Conference calls enable the Human Resources department to do their job effectively without the need for extensive travel to remote employee locations.  All of the necessary regulations can be satisfied by holding conference calls and providing information to the employees separately.  Or you can hold a web conference and go through the information live with the employees.  The need for signatures on any documents acknowledging receipt of the information can be accomplished through the mail.  And all while the Human Resources personnel sit at their desk.

What about a new employee, especially one who is working remote?  The Human Resources personnel can use conference calls to introduce multiple new employees to company policies and benefits.  By doing several new employees at the same time the Human Resources department saves time and makes sure that all employees are getting the same materials at the same time.  Questions that the new employees have can be shared which helps avoid answering the same question multiple times if handled on a separate phone call instead of a conference call.

And there is no more effective way to conduct training than using conference calls or a web conference.  Many companies do not have the room necessary to pull employees into a central location and train them even if the cost to do so is not a barrier.  Using conference calls for training allows you to share the same information across the employee base in a fast, efficient and affordable manner.  Using a web conference combined with conference calls allows you to not just share information with the participants, but you can also insert questions into the presentation to encourage participation and increase retention.  You can even upload files into the web conference that participants can download during the presentation if necessary.

Today with smaller numbers of staff in Human Resources shouldering an increasing responsibilty for disseminating information and training to  remote employees, conference calls have become an essential tool.

www.zipconferencing.com

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Conference Calls | No Comments »

Conference Call Security

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Conference calls have done great things to improve corporate communications, productivity and expenses, but what about security?  Many customers are concerned that since you have an open conference call you are open to having an unwanted participant join the call.  Or maybe you had to let an employee go and you need to make sure they don’t enter your regular conference call that they have the participant information for.  Or maybe you are concerned about corporate spying.  Whatever your concern, I would like to address the different areas of conference call security and suggest ways to make sure your conference calls are secure.

First of all, the conference call equipment itself needs to be secure.  Zip Conferencing has taken steps to make sure that the network connected to our conference call equipment is dedicated to us and directly connected to our conference call equipment.  The equipment and network are located in state of the art data warehouses with top of the line security in place to prevent any tampering at the conference call equipment level.  Every conference call is protected by having a unique set of dial in numbers and pass codes that allow access to the conference calls.  So, the provider end of the equation has insured that the conference call is as secure as it can possibly be on the back end.

Fo0r the user, there are a number of practices and features you can use to make sure your conference call is equally secure on the front end.  FIrst, your conference call information security is up to you.  Make sure that you do not share the conference call information with anyone other than the intended participants on your conference call.  If you have personnel changes you should change your conference call information immediately.  With Zip Conferencing this is easily done with your online account manager.  If you are concerned about having permanent conference call information you can even do one time scheduled conference calls where the conference call information only works one time and then does not work again.

Once you have made sure that the conference call information is secure and you have joined the conference call, how do you know that the participants you invited are the only ones that can join the call.  FIrst, you can put music on hold so no one to speak to each other until the Host joins.  When you join the conference call you set the call to do a roll call to verify the participants.  Or you can view the call using an online interface to see the participants and their dial in numbers.  Once you have established that the participants that are on the conference call are correct, you can lock the conference call to prevent anyone else from joining the call.  This is easily accomplished by using the Host Controls from within the conference.  This will prevent anyone from dialing into the conference call or even an operator from joining the call.

So, you see, there are a number of ways to insure the security on a conference call.  It starts with a good conference calls ervice provider like ZIp Conferencing that has engineered a secure network and provides a full featured conference call service that provides these security options.

For more on conference call security options visit Zip Conferencing’s Knowledgebase http://www.zipconferencing.com/kb/Conference-Call-Host-Controls-31-Activate/Deactivate-Conference-Security-Code_132.html

www.zipconferencing.com

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Conference Call | No Comments »