Posts Tagged ‘Spreadsheet’

Have you tried a Web Conference yet?

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

I still talk to people all the time that have not hosted a conference call before so it does not come as a shock to know that most people have not tried a web conference yet. Let’s face it, you have to learn a new thing on your PC and who has the time for that? Besides a web conference is hard to do and everyone joining the call has to learn something new too, right? Well I am hear to tell you that I don’t like having to learn new things either but today’s web conference is so easy to use there really isn’t anything to learn. You can literally sign in to the Zip Conferencing web conference for the first time and be up on a web conference with your participants in just a couple of minutes. And as easy as it is for the host of the web conference it is even easier for the participants. There is no software to install and all they have to do is click on a link you send them and they are on the web conference. In case you did not know here are some of the things you can do on a web conference.

  • Share Your Desktop – By far the most popular thing that people do on a web conference is share their desktop or an application with their participants.  Basically what you are doing is allowing your participants to see whatever you have on your PC.  If you want to show your participants a web site your are browsing or a application on your computer you can on a web conference.  That way you and your participants are literally on the same page when you are talking on a conference call.
  • Collaborate on a Document – Not only can you share an application during a web conference but you can also allow your participants to provide input on a document or spreadsheet by giving them control of an application.  If a participant has an idea for updating a formula in Excel, for instance, you can give them control and let them put the new formula in on the spreadsheet on your PC.
  • Do a Q&A session – If you are conducting a seminar or training session the hardest thing is keeping your audience engaged.  With a web conference you can conduct a Q&A session and poll your audience.  You can then share the results with your audience.  Interaction like this will keep your audience on their toes and involved in your discussion.

And the best thing is you can try a web conference for free with a FREE demo from Zip Conferencing.  That’s right, the first 30 days are free!  So what are you waiting for?  Try a web conference today!

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Interactive Web Conferencing

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

As web conferencing has become more popular chances are that you have attended an online seminar where the presentation has been done via web conferencing.  Usually you are simply sitting in the audience on a conference call listening while watching the presentation on the web conference with little or no interaction with the speaker.  Although this is the most used method of web conferencing, the people who first came up with the idea had much bigger plans for web conferencing.

When web conferencing was first invented a lot of effort was made to make the service a collaborative tool where people could work on a document together from great distance.  This ability to collaborate was seen as the the killer application.  The adoption of web conferencing services is more and more widespread but interactive web conferencing is still lagging in its use overall.  Here are some of the features that allow for interactive web conferencing.

  • Application Sharing – Application sharing provides users the ability to share their desktop with the other participants on the web conference and permits any participant to control another computer.  This means that participants can actually control a document or spreadsheet and input or edit data on it.  Much like you would pass around a piece of paper in an in person meeting for people to mark up, you can actually change the document on the fly while on the web conference.
  • Whiteboarding- This application permits participants to mark up a virtual whiteboard seen by all participants while on an interactive web conference.  Much like someone would go up to a whiteboard to discuss things while in a conference room, participants can easily do the same on the web conference.
  • Polling/Q&A – Even a presentation can be an interactive web conference through the use of polling and Q&A features.  By engaging the audience you will have a more stimulating meeting and have better retention of the material.  Polling permits you to survey your audience during an interactive web conference and the Q&A feature allows you to conduct an orderly Q&A session for the presentation.

It seems that maybe people don’t work in a collaborative manner and allowing someone to control your PC is a little scary to some people as well.  But even if you are only doing a presentation using a web conferencing service you can make it an interactive web conference by adding polling and Q&A to your web conference.  You will find that the more you can make it an interactive web conference the more your participants will stay engaged with your presentation.

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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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