Posts Tagged ‘Web Conferencing’

Go Green with Conference Calls

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

It is fantastic that companies are trying to go green these days and conference calls offer an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint and increase your productivity.  So how do you use conference calls to go green?  Some areas may may seem obvious but here are a few of the ways that using conferencing can help your company go green.

  • Reduce Car Travel – Naturally the use of travel to attend a meeting is one of the biggest ways to reduce your use of resources through the use of conference calls.  Usually if there is a meeting there will also be a number of attendees so the reduction in car travel is compounded by the number of attendees.  And not everyone drives a Eco-friendly vehicle so the amount of emissions saved can be astounding.
  • Reduce Air Travel – Now take that reduction in car travel and multiply by ten.  If you have to travel by plane to a meeting you are not just taking part in the emissions from the air plane but the car resources to get to the airport and then to the meeting and everything in between.  Audio conferencing eliminates the need to travel to your meeting.
  • Reduce Office Resource Use – Even though the office your business is in is probably open whether you show up or not you won’t be contributing to the use of resources in the office when you are there.  Just your body heat requires that much more air conditioning or heating.  The lights in your office if you are in a private office can be turned off and so forth.
  • Reduce Use of Office Supplies – If you do more meeting remotely you will find yourself doing more electronically.  When you do a presentation using web conferencing you can still have hand outs but doing them electronically saves the paper, ink and electricity to print them.  In offices there are also a lot of non-renewable waste like a coffee cup you get on the way to the office for instance.  If you are home you are apt to use a coffee mug that will simply be washed and reused.

The reality is that conferencing technology has gotten to where you can hold a remote meeting with all of the resources you would use in an in person meeting including a video connection for much less than than the cost of a regular meeting.  So if you simply think twice about whether your meeting is necessary to be attended in person or not you can really reduce the resources you use and save money and increase productivity while you do it.

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2012 is the Year for Conference Call Services

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a good 2011 and you have an even better 2012.  It looks like the economy could be on its way for better year which means we will all be that much busier.  If you are still on the side lines it is time to use conference call services to help you get the most out of your time in 2012.  Let’s face it, the past couple of years have meant downsizing and ultimately more work for those that still have a job.  And management expects everyone to do more with less.  So if you are looking for ways to save some money and increase productivity for yourself or those around you a quality conference call service is just the ticket for you in 2012.  Although there are many benefits to using conference calls for your business there are none more powerful than saving time and money.

Save Money – Conference call services have enjoyed extraordinary growth over the past 15 years partly due to all the money a conference call saves compared to an in person meeting.  Even if your meeting is fairly local it still costs money to get everyone together.  When you start traveling the cost really adds up.  If you are traveling by car there is the gas, tolls and mileage you are going to incur when you go to the meeting.  And if the meeting is across the country the costs are even greater with airline, rental car, hotels and restaurants all figured into the mix.  And I am sure you have noticed that none of these costs have gone down over the past few years.  But remarkably the costs of conference call services have declined over the past few years to all time lows.  For a combined cost of just a few dollars a group of people can get together and hold a meeting even if the participants are spread across the country.  And if you use a web conference along with the conference call you can have all the same tools at your disposal as if you were in a meeting room.

Save Time – If you are one of the many companies trying to do more with less resources you know how important your productivity is.  Wasting time in traffic or airports and airplanes can really cost you.  If you never had to travel to a customer again as a salesperson how many more customers could you sell?  I am certainly not advocating you never see a customer again but reducing the number of in person meetings increases the time you can spend acquiring new customers or dealing with the ones you already have.  A quality conference call service gives you everything you need to meet with people over great distances and be as productive as possible.

So I am sure when you look back on 2011 like me you will wonder where it went.  Time flies and there really is no time to waste.  So make 2012 the year you embrace conference call services and use our services to your advantage.  You will be glad you did.

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Virtual Holiday Parties with a Conference Call Service

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

It is the time of year for holiday parties but today many businesses have remote employees scattered around the country so why not include all of your employees with a virtual holiday party using a conference call service? For most businesses it is just too costly to bring all of your employees in for a holiday party but there is no reason not to include them in the festivities. Using a conference call service you can connect all of your remote employees into the party and have them still participate and interact with the rest of your employees. Today you can host a virtual party easily using conference call services like audio conferencing and web conferencing. The technology today allows you to share the audio, any presentation materials you may use and even video of the event while it is taking place. And the cost of the event will not break your budget.

Audio Conferencing – The simplest way to connect your remote participants to your virtual holiday party using a conference call service is by using a conference call.  You certainly may not keep a conference call up for the full duration of the party but usually management likes to take a minute in the beginning or end of the vent to thank and recognize employees for the past year’s accomplishments.  So if you establish a conference call for the beginning of the party you can include the remote participants easily in the festivities.  After announcements you can end the conference call portion and continue with the party but at least your remote employees were included at the beginning.

Web Conferencing – With Web Conferencing you can provide a visual aspect to your virtual holiday party.  If you do any employee recognition you can provide a presentation that includes the names and their achievements and a picture of the recipient so all participants can be included.  Most conference call services that provide web conferencing have desktop video included as well.  So if you have a desktop video camera you can have the remote employees see the venue and be seen as well.  If you want to get real elaborate you can have your A/V source provide a large screen to enhance this interaction.  The remote participants can also interact using web conferencing tools so they feel like a part of the party. 

Zip Conferencing is a conference call service provider that has all the tools you need to do virtual meetings for any event including your virtual holiday party.  Speak to a representative today who can assist you in planning your next remote event.

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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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Web Conferencing Services should be Easy to Use

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Web Conferencing Services have helped companies save millions of dollars and are here to stay.  The use of web conferencing services is expected to continue to grow rapidly over the next 5 years as more and more people adopt them for their own use.  And the inclination of many of the web conferencing services providers is to add more and more features to try and attract customers.  But the one thing that you really need to have in your web conferencing services is their ease of use.  Zip Conferencing has gone to great lengths to create a web conferencing service that is powerful and yet easy to use.  Here are some of the features that make our web conferencing service one of the easiest to use services in the market.

  • Outlook Integrated Invitations- One of the complications of getting a web conference meeting going is inviting your participants.  Different web conferencing services do this in a variety of ways but all offer some type of email confirmation or a web page you can send your participants to in order to join the meeting.  These methods certainly work but why should you have to cut and paste and try to pull together the information for your participants.  With Zip Conferencing you can use our Outlook scheduling tool and integrate your web conference details right within Outlook.  That way you are able to put out a meeting request just like you would any other meeting, from within Outlook.  Invite participants and have them accept the meeting and have the meeting appear on your calendar all using the same steps you would take to schedule any meeting.  Now that is Easy!
  • Intuitive Control Panel – The actual functionality of a web conference is not that different across providers but what is different is that way that you access the functions from within the service.  With all of the different features now packed within the web conferencing services out there you sometimes have to navigate a maze of controls to find what you are looking for.  Zip Conferencing has put the most widely used features front and center using intuitive controls available with the touch of a button.
  • No Software Downloads – One of the hardest things to overcome with a web conference is getting on the meeting.  Many times participants who have not used the web conferencing services before will have to download software in order to join the meeting.  Many times adding software to a computer is prohibited by companies and participants are unable to join.  With Zip Conferencing there are no software downloads for the participants.  Our web conference service uses Flash which is already widely installed on people’s computers so there is no waiting for participants to download software. 

If it isn’t easy to use you probably won’t use it.  So if you are just starting out doing web meetings or you have struggled in the past to have a successful web conference give Zip Conferencing a try.

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Rain, Rain Go Away

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

If you live in the Northeast you can certainly relate to the title of my blog today.  I have barely been out of the house it seems in the past two weeks as I have been on conference calls dodging the rain drops.  A hurricane followed by a tropical storm have spurred people to contemplate building an Ark.  My home and our conference call service offices have been spared any damage but many people have not.  And to them I send my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery from what is some of the worst flooding ever.    Especially my friends and customers in Vermont who really had no warning for some of the worst damage the storms could impart.

As devastating as the weather has been over the past couple of weeks, our customers have had the advantage of continuous communications throughout with our conference call service.  I have suggested many times on this blog to have conference call information at the ready in case of emergency and it has certainly come in handy for our customers.  We have customers in Vermont who literally could not get to their place of business if they wanted to and were ostensibly cut off.  But conference calls with their employees enabled them to maintain lines of communication and continue their businesses without interruption.  And with the Zip Conferencing Pay As You Go service there isn’t even any cost unless you use the service so there is no excuse not to have conference call information in case of emergency.

And the hurricane season is not over.  Another named storm is brewing in the Atlantic and could once again threaten the East coast with wind and rain.  We were lucky that Irene did not have the damaging winds that were possible but the rain certainly did its damage.  Next time we may not be so lucky so be prepared.  Also, when the hurricane season ends the next thing we get to deal with is the snow.  And if last year was any indication we can’t wait for global warming to get us out of trouble any time soon.  Several times in the Northeast last year we were paralyzed and could not get to office buildings.  Our business was not affecting thanks to careful planning, is yours?  Make sure you have a back up communication plan in place with conference calls and web conferencing just in case you need them.

So anyway, rain, rain, go away and help poor Texas anyway.

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Teleconferencing Services are Everywhere

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

I have been in the teleconferencing industry since 1995 and have seen the services availability grow from a boutique industry to where it is today.  Teleconferencing services are virtually everywhere.  Here is a quick take on the different services and where you can find them.

  • Audio Conferencing – Teleconferencing services leading type of service is audio conferencing.  Since audio conferencing became an automated service that was so easy to use it has grown exponentially.  It is hard to find anyone in business these days that has not been on a conference call using a dial in number and pass code.  Audio conferencing still has other types of calls but the automated conference call is the most prevalent.  Other types of audio teleconferencing services include the operator assisted conference call where an operator greets the participants, gather information and then facilitates the call by assisting the leader and performing a question and answer period.  Teleconferencing services like this are primarily used for large calls.  One of the most widely used applications for this type of call is the investor relations call used by public companies to speak quarterly to the investment community.
  • Video Conferencing – Some people think that teleconferencing is actually referring to video conferencing alone but again it really refers to a number of types of conferencing.  Video conferencing has been around for a long time and the industry keeps thinking the latest iteration is the one that is going to crack the code and make this form of teleconferencing services explode.  It just doesn’t seem to matter if it is the big room systems, desktop video, home phone video or video on a PDA now it just doesn’t seem to appeal to people as widely as audio conferencing.  I think it is more a social issue than a technical issue as most people are simply uncomfortable in front of a camera.  Maybe the kids today who are growing up with all of this technology and YouTube will finally find video conferencing comfortable.
  • Web Conferencing – Teleconferencing services newest addition is web conferencing.  The ability to share your desktop and do presentation remotely has given people the ability to add a visual element to a regular conference call without much effort and has been widely accepted.  As more and more people attend these kinds of webinars and be exposed as a participant the more they will become hosts of future web conferences.  Web conferencing will continue to grow and become a part of regular phone conference calls.

Teleconferencing services are now widely available and companies like Zip Conferencing offer all types of teleconferencing services at very reasonable rates.

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Hasn’t Congress heard of Conference Calling Services?

Friday, August 12th, 2011

I would not describe myself as a political activist, but like many people the latest display of ineptitude of our elected officials in Washington, DC I find myself wondering how these people can afford to take a 5 week vacation when their business (our country) is struggling like it is today.  Maybe they need some time back in their home states but haven’t they heard of conference calling services?  At least make it look like you are attempting to do something about the mess we are in by working a little while you are on vacation like the rest of us.  Seems like conference calling services would enable these people to keep things moving and maybe get something done.  After all I have never been able to take a 5 week vacation and I don’t know anyone who has in my lifetime.  I have been working since I was 14 years old and I have not had 5 weeks off ever.  In fact I took a two week vacation once and it felt like I was retired.  It was tough to get back into things when I returned and I have not taken a vacation that long since then.  Now when I am even out for a few days I use conference calling services to stay in touch with things at work.  It helps me to relax to know that things are running smoothly and I won’t be blindsided when I return.  If things at work need to be addressed I won’t even go on vacation let alone for 5 weeks!

Conference calling services are one thing but these people work for the government after all and have every means of communication imaginable available to them.  They could absolutely work from home and continue to accomplish things.  Many businesses now rely on a good portion of their employees working from their homes and it doesn’t slow them down.  Conference calling services and web conferencing services allow people to work from anywhere and still hold meetings and collaborate on projects.  So how about it Mr Congressman?  What do you say?  Can you possibly cut your vacation down to 2 – 3 weeks and get back to getting this country put back together?  We working stiffs who pay your salaries would surely appreciate it.

Zip Conferencing would be happy to provide conference calling services and web conferencing services to any elected officials who would like to keep working.  Drop us an email and we will set you up.

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No Web Conference Software Necessary

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Web conference software has been around since the beginning of web conferencing. In fact in the beginning everyone needed the same web conference software on their PCs in order to have a web conference. Not really practical when you think about inviting people who are new participants to a web conference. What are you supposed to do send them the software ahead of time? It is easy to see how a service provider that made it easy could gain so much ground in the providing of web conferencing. But even service providers of web conferencing require that you download web conference software in order to use their service. Zip Conferencing has a web conferencing service that requires no web conference software for the participants which makes it easier on everyone. Here are some of the advantages of using a service provider and not using web conference software.

  • No Up Front Cost – If you buy web conference software there is going to be the up front cost associated with buying the software.  You then need to spend valuable time installing the software on the PCs you intend to conduct your web conferences with as well.
  • No Maintenance Cost – In order to keep your web conference software up to date you will need to buy regular maintenance updates on the software. 
  • Any Participants can Join – If you use a service provider instead of web conference software the participants can join a web conference without having to install software.  Participants generally are going to join your web conference last minute and you don’t want any delays while your participants are downloading software.
  • Full Support – If you purchase web conference software you are not going to get the kind of support you get with a service provider.  With Zip Conferencing you get support 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.  You can even get support while in your conference call by simply pressing the star key followed by zero on your telephone.

These days with any number of web conferencing service providers out there that provide services at very reasonable rates you really have no reason to go out and purchase web conference software.  And the way that the service works with Zip Conferencing you and your participants don’t even have to download any software.  Since our service was built on a Flash platform you just need to have Flash on your PC.  These days anyone that surfs the Internet has Flash on their PC.  So anyone can join our web conferencing service without having to download any web conference software.

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Summertime Conference Calls

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Here it comes!  Summertime.  And we all look forward to spending time doing the things we love and spending time away from the office.  So why would I want to talk about conference calls in the summertime?  Well, when you thin about it getting on a conference call to stay in touch with things is sometimes a much better option than having to go into the office to meet with people.  In fact, summertime conference calls can really save your summer vacation.  How can a conference call be a good thing?

  • Conference Calls can be attended from Anywhere- I have taken a conference call in some mighty strange places.  But that is because I have not let the need to attend a conference call get in the way of a vacation day.  But I will never complan if I have to leave my chair at the beach for a few minutes to go to the air conditioned car where it is not windy so I can get on a conference call.  The alternative is I can’t go to the beach at all because I have to go to the office for a meeting.  So take your conference call wherever you need to as they don’t care if you are at the beach, boat, camp or wherever.  If your phone works so will your conference call. 
  • A Conference Call can happen Anytime – I have also been on a conference call at all times of the day.  With people all around the world being able to join a conference call with Zip Conferencing I have been on calls all hours of the day.  But wherever I am when the call happens I simply need to get on the telephone and can do that from the comfort of my home and go back to bed if necessary.
  • A Web Conference is Just like being There- If you add a web conference to your conference call you can colloborate with others just like you are in the room with them.  So if you really need to get some work done all you need is a PC and in internet connection and you can literally do whatever you need to do from a meeting standpoint from anywhere in the world.

So don’t think of a conference call as an interruption on your vacation but as simply a way you can do what needs to be done for work without the need to disrupt your summer.  Enjoy the summer!

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What is a Web Conference Call?

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Conference Call Service Providers that have web conferencing  in their service offering provide the audio component of the web meeting in a couple of ways.  So I thought it would be helpful to explain what a web conference call was and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

  • VOIP conference call – One way to connect with your participants during a web conference call is to have the audio portion of the conference call go through the PC along with the web conferencing component.  The advantage to this is there is typically no additional cost to having parties connect using this method.  The disadvantages are that some people are not set up to listen through their PC or they are at work and can’t disturb the people around them by playing sound through their PC.  And most people do not have the ability to talk through their PC either.  That means it will be difficult to have your audience participate in the conference call.  Another disadvantage is that you are using up bandwidth by talking over the same Internet connection as the web conference.  This can create additional quality issues with the audio portion or web portion of the web conference call.
  • Local Access Number – Most web conferencing providers will provide a local access number to connect to the audio portion of the web conference call over a telephone.  The advantage to this method is that you are allowing participants to connect using a telephone and they don’t have to be on their PC to hear the conference call.  If someone is on the road and can’t access their PC they can still participate.  Also, the quality issue is now solved by separating the PC traffic from the voice traffic.  The disadvantage is that participants have to dial a local number somewhere and may get charged by their telephone company to connect to your conference call.
  • Toll Free Access Number – The toll free access number using a regular telephone conference call that is integrated to the web conference incorporates the advantages of using a regular telephone call with the convenience of a toll free connection.  Now you know that your participants will not see any hidden charges when they connect to your web conference call.

So when you are shopping for a web conferencing service provider you may want to pay attention to the web conference call connection methods they provide.  Zip Conferencing provides local and toll free access numbers using a regular telephone conference call for the maximum quality and convenience.

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The Right Web Conferencing Solution for You

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Web Conferencing has come a long way since its invention in the mid 1990′s and today there are a lot of different solutions available.  So what is the right web conferencing solution for you?  First you need to familiarize yourself with the different features and options available and then look for the right solution.  Here are a few of the most popular options available with a web conferencing solution.

  • Application Sharing – Most web conferencing solutions offer some type of application sharing.  Application sharing is where you have the ability to show what is on your computer to the participants in your web conference.  Usually you can choose the application you want to share or just show everyone your entire desktop.  Just be careful if you choose your entire desktop all participants will see everything you have open on your computer as you move around. 
  • Whiteboarding – This is another popular feature for any web conferencing solution.  This feature mimics having a white board in your meeting.  You have the ability to draw on the white board and so do your participants.  So if you want a live interactive white board session you want to look for this feature.
  • Video Sharing – Some, but not all web conferencing solutions allow you to share your desktop video with your participants.  And some web conferencing solutions enable your participants to share their video with you and other participants as well.  Zip Conferencing has full video sharing with the host and participants.
  • Q&A and Polling – If you intend to use the web conferencing solution for any training application you may want to make sure it has some form of Q&A and Polling built into it.  These features allow you to ask the participants questions and then provide the results real time to the audience.  This interactivity helps keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation.
  • Chat – A chat function in the web conferencing solution allows you to communicate with people separately from the audio portion of the meeting.  That way you can have a private discussion with a participant during the web conference.

The best way to determine which web conferencing solution is right for you is to try them out.  Most of the services available offer some type of a free trial so there is no risk in trying out the service.  Zip Conferencing is extremely easy to use and offers a 30 day free trial to all users.

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Conference Call and Web Conferencing Free Trial

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

They say that nothing in life is free and I usually agree.  But here at Zip Conferencing we truly let you try our conference calls and web conferencing for free.  There is no better way to convince you about the quality, service and features we offer for our conference call service than to let you try it yourself.  Let me explain how the free trials work and what is included.

Conference Call Free Trial – The conference call free trial provides of 60 minutes of conferencing free to people who sign up for our monthly minute plans.  That way since you are making a commitment to use the service regularly you can first try it for free to make sure it suits your needs.  When you sign up for the free trial you will have access to the full set of features and options as any regular customer of Zip Conferencing.  You can log into your online account and explore the conference options, see how easy it is to add Moderators and conferences and explore the reporting options available online.  Then you can conduct a conference call and test out the quality of the service and the see what Host controls are available during the conference call.  If you are not completely satisfied with the service you can simply cancel your account and you will not be charged anything.

Web Conferencing Free Trial – The web conferencing free trial is available to all subscribers to the Zip Conferencing service and lets you use the web conferencing service for 30 days for free.  When you sign up for the web conferencing free trial you will have access to all of the features we offer including desktop video, chat and application sharing.  The web conferencing service is so easy to use you will be amazed at what you can do during a meeting.  At the end of the 30 days if you are not completely satisfied you can simply cancel the service and you will not be charged.

Zip Conferencing lets you try our services for free and has no contracts because we are confident that if you try our services you will become a customer like the thousands of loyal customers who already enjoy all of the features, service and value that Zip Conferencing offers.

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Online Web Conferencing just got Easier

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Online web conferencing has been around now for a while.  And online web conferencing of any kind is a whole lot easier than what you had to do before the proliferation of the Internet.  But one of the reasons online web conferencing has not been more widely adopted is because people are reluctant to learn a new application.  Conference calls are very easy because all you need is a telephone and everyone knows how to operate a telephone and dialing into a conference call could no be any easier.  So why does online web conferencing have to be so difficult.  Well, Zip Conferencing does not believe that a web conference should be any more difficult to run than an audio conference call.  And our new web conferencing service has taken the learning curve out of online web conferencing.  It is so easy to use you will not need any instruction whatsoever to be successful with the service right from the start.  In addition to being easy to use our online web conferencing service is packed with features that will allow you to perform amazing things.  Here is a list of some of the features that separate our online web conferencing service from all the others out there.

  • No Software Download Needed – Our online web conferencing does not require you to download any software in order to participant in the web conference.  This makes it much easier for your participants to join a web conference.  You won’t be wasting time waiting for people to connect to the your conference call and you participants won’t be frustrated trying to join either.
  • Dial Me Connections – Instead of having to figure out how to dial into online web conferencing we have made it so the system can dial out to you.  That way you don’t have to figure out a conference call and a web conference they are the same.  Just put your phone number into the system and it will connect you to the web conference.
  • Application Sharing – Like other online web conferencing solutions our web conferencing service allows you to share an application or your entire desktop with your participants.  The difference is we have an easy to find button that starts the process.  You don’t have to try to figure out how to share an application it is very evident from within the tool.
  • Polling – Many online web conferencing sites have polling but it is hard to operate.  Our web conferencing service has an easy to use polling feature that lets you share the results easily with your audience.  A polling feature helps keep your participants engaged in your web conference.
  • Video Sharing- Our online web conferencing solution even allows you to share your web cam feed with your participants.  And your participants can play too.  In fact you can have an unlimited number of web cams in your web conference.
  • Outlook Integration – To make the invitation process with your participants simple our online web conferencing service is integrated with Outlook so that you can invite participants through your email and then save the meeting as a scheduled appointment in your calendar.

The trick to successful online web conferencing is making it easy to use.  Zip Conferencing makes web conferencing as easy as can be.

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Aren’t all Conference Call Providers the Same?

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

As prices have fallen for conference call services over the past 15 years, conference call providers offering a discount price were able to grab market share from price alone. Now that the prices for conference call services have reached the bottom there is a renewed need to look closer at conference call providers. Because conference call providers are not all the same. If you should line up 10 conference call providers and actually look at what is going on behind the scenes you will find some pretty big differences in the services they offer, the quality and reliability of those services and the level of support you can expect. Here are some of the things you should be looking at in conference call providers after you look at the price and before you decide.

  • Services – Not all conference call providers offer the same set of services.  Make sure that the conference call providers you are looking at have the services you are used to and also services you may need in the future.  You don’t want to select a conference call provider and then have to switch later down the road.  Capacity is an important area to consider.  Zip Conferencing enables you to have up to 300 participants on a conference call at one time.  Many conference call providers limit the number of attendees.  Do they offer web conferencing?  You may not use web conferencing today but more than likely you will want to use this services in the future.
  • Features – Did you know that not all conference call providers offer the same set of features?  Many discount conference call providers use inferior equipment that has a limited set of features.  You may not want to record your conference call every time you use the service but you may want to use this valuable feature at some point so you should make sure they offer it.  Zip Conferencing is a full feature provider and even provides you the ability to customize the features on your conference call through your online account interface.
  • Quality – Many discount conference call providers cut corners on the equipment and network they place the conference call equipment on to save money.  Zip Conferencing has used the latest equipment available and connected it directly to major telecommunications providers to ensure a high quality connection for our customers every time.
  • Reliability – Conference call providers will also cut corners on their back up systems in order to save money.  Zip Conferencing has back up conference call equipment connected to its network in order to provide seamless service in the event of an equipment failure.  In addition, we have generator and battery back ups for power insurance and redundant network connections to multiple providers for consistent network connectivity.
  • Support – Not all conference call providers have a full service and support process in place.  You will find limited support and in many cases no help from within your conference call.  Zip Conferencing has 24/7 service and will even join you on your conference call if you need assistance.  Whenever you reach out for assistance you will find us ready and eager to help with your conference call needs.

So no, all conference call providers are not the same.  If you look closely you can see the differences and you will see Zip Conferencing looking better than ever.

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Conference Calls Are the Best Option

Friday, September 24th, 2010

I was speaking to someone yesterday and he asked me what I do and when I said that I run a conference call business he could not say enough about what a benefit conference calls have had on his business.  I love talking to people about conference calls because it is usually a very positive conversation.  I ended up talking to this gentleman for a while about how his company uses conference calls and I thought I would share some of his thoughts with you.

One of his first reactions was to tell me how much his company spends on conference calls which is not uncommon.  But he quickly turned that part of the conversation into how much money his company was saving by doing conference calls instead of travelling.  Like  all companies, he is trying to keep his costs down and reducing the travel budget by using conference calls instead is a great way to do that.  He did some quick calculations in his head and told me that his company was literally saving millions of dollars by doing conference calls.  And then the conversation turned to  how people in his company including himself are also using conference calls to increase productivity because it was so easy to pull a meeting together.  A quick meeting with a conference call usually averted issues and kept projects moving forward that otherwise would get bogged down.  And he said that many times they would hold a conference call as an adjunct to a physical meeting in a conference room and give people the choice of joining in person or on the conference call.  And even though the physical meeting may only be down the hall many time the participants would join via conference call so that they could stay at their desk and be productive.

And finally he asked if I did video conferencing and I said no but we offer a service that allows you to share a presentation on your PC and he immediately knew what I was referring to, web conferencing.  To this he said how web conferencing has really enhanced the way his company presents its services to new customers and ultimately has increased sales.  And he said they also use web conferencing internally to collaborate and do training.  At the end of the conversation I told him I could not have found a better pitch man for the benefits of conference calls.  And he said he did not realize how much conference calls were intertwined with his business until he started talking about it but certainly did not know what he would do without it.  Without a doubt, conference calls are the best option. 

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference calls because of a volcano?

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Okay, I have been in the conference call industry since 1995 and I have seen a lot of applications for conference calls.  There have also been events that have triggered the use of conference calls like 9/11, but I have to admit this is the first time I have seen an increase in conference calls because of a volcano.  But then the volcano in Iceland obviously caused a lot more interruptions than any other volcano in recent history.  And when travel is interrupted the use of conference calls goes up.  And it always seems that when people are forced to use conference calls and web conferencing because of an event they realize how easy the services are to use and how effective they can be at allowing you to have a distance meeting.

And why wait for a volcanic eruption to discover how conference calls can save you time, money and increase your productivity?  Businesses have discovered for a long time that using conference calls and web conferencing to replace some of your in person meetings is not just he practical thing to do but simply a good business decision.  Let’s face it, most meetings we have are not necessary to have in person.  You are simply communicating with people you know and sharing ideas, advancing a project or doing a presentation.  Unless you need to do something physically with the participants or desire to shake hands all of this can be done remotely.  And even as a staunch promoter of conference calls I understand that sometimes you need to get together with the other participants to build a relationship.  And doing that remotely is difficult if not impossible.  So, have your initial meeting in person, break some bread but then have the next meeting by way of a conference call or web conference.  All of the participants will be thankful of the time saved in getting together physically.

So, don’t wait for the volcano to make you try a conference call or a web conference.  It is time to incorporate distance meetings into your regular way of doing business.  And then if something happens that prevents your next inperson meeting you will not feel the impact.  You and your participants will be thankful for the conference calls!

 

Conference calls and web conferences can truly offer a reliable substitute for in person meetings.  I certainly agree that there is no substitute for sitting around a conference table together

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Conference Calls for Earth Day

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Earth Day reminds us to do whatever we can to help save our environment because its resources are limited and fragile.  And one of the things we now understand is reducing our “carbon footprint”.  This means to reduce our emissions and use of resources and one of the easiest ways to do this is to reduce our travel whether it is by car, train or plane.  There is no easier way to reduce your business travel then to replace your in person meetings with a conference call or a web conference.

In person meetings are great.  You get to shake hands, look people in the eye and connect with others the way you can’t when you are on a remote meeting.  But every meeting doesn’t need to be in person.  If you know the people you are meeting with and have met before you don’t really need to meet in person every time.  And by doing some of your meetings by way of conference calls and web conferencing you can hold just as effective a meeting as if you were in person without the travel expense and do your part to reduce your carbon footprint.  Holding a conference call or web conference has never been easier.  Services are widely available, affordable and very easy to use.  At this point just about everyone has been on a conference call that utilizes a toll free number and a pass code.  You simply dial the access number and put in your code and you are connected to the other people that did the same.  You can meet with hundreds of people at once if you like and you can meet any time you like.  A web conference is just as easy and allows you to share your desktop or do a presentation from your PC as easily as if the people were in the same room.  You can even use a camera and send participants your own video feed if you really want to add that in person feeling.   And while you are being a good steward of the Earth you also will be saving a good amount of money and time using conference call services as an alternative.

If only a fraction of meetings today were replaced with conference calls and web conferencing we would save millions of tons of carbon emissions.  And lets face it, there are a lot of meetings that are not worth the gas to get there. 

And using a conference call instead of driving to an appointment is many times just a matter of thinking to do it.  So on Earth Day it gives us one more reason to think to do a conference call benefiting everyone concerned, even the Earth.

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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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Free Web Conferencing

Monday, March 8th, 2010

One of the surest ways to get traffic to your web site is to give something away for free.  But how is it that a service that a lot of people are willing to pay for can be offered by another company for free.  Well, I have gone through free conference calls before and explained how that can happen, but what about free web conferencing? 

A conference call service company that provides web conferencing to its customers has to pay for a number of things in order to provide the service.  Some of those cost items include the following.

  • Software development – If the conference call service company has developed the service themselves then they had to pay to have the software developed in the first place.  And like any software you develop the development doesn’t end there.  There are on going improvements, bug fixes and so forth to fund.
  • Reseller fees- Some conference call services don’t develop their own software, they simply resell someone elses technology.  In this case there is always a cost to the company who is reselling the service.
  • Hosting environment – If you are supporting your own software you need to have a server or servers depending on the number of users to host the software and make it available to your customers. 
  • Internet Connectivity- If you are hosting your own web conferencing service you need to connect it to the internet and the connection needs to allow many users fast access so you will also need a very good and potentially expensive connection.
  • Support Costs – And like any other conference call service you will need to support your web conferencing service with sales and service personnel.

So, if there are all these costs, how does anyone provide free web conferencing?  Well, some conference call service companies will offer a dumbed down version for free hoping you will upgrade because the free version doesn’t do much.  Or the web conferencing service they offer for free is an old version they no longer support and instead of retiring it they simply give it away so you will come to their site and but the other version.  Either way, if you investigate the free web conferencing versions out there you will see that they are not a full version, current representative of what web conferencing can do.  And it just may not have the reliability and capacity you would expect with a service you pay for.  After all it is free so how hard can you complain?

If you really need a good web conferencing service don’t use a free one.  For a low monthly fee you can have access to a web conferencing service that save you time and money wihtout breaking the bank.

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Managing Large Conference Calls

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

There was a time when you would not even think about running an automated conference call for 20 or more participants.  If you were going to run a conference call of that size you would run the conference call with the assistance of an operator.  And even today, an Operator Assisted call might be the right conference call solution depending on your application, but the conference call technology has gotten to where running a large automated conference call is manageable if you know a few tricks.

The main problem with running a large conference call is the noise the audience can introduce during the call.  It is bad enough when there are just 4 or 5 participants and one of them introduces noise because they are on a cell phone, rustling papers on their desk, talking to people in their room, etc.  Just imagine having 100 people on the call.  The odds that someone is going to make noise during the conference call are pretty good.  In fact, virtually certain.  So, what can you do to hold an orderly conference call with a large audience?  Here are a few tips to make for a successful large conference call.

  • Turn Off any Tones –  Most conference call service companies provide tones on the conference clal so you know when a participant joins the call.  This is fine when you have 5 people on the conference call, but can be more than a distraction when there are 20 or more.
  • Mute All – The conference calling service should provide  a way to mute all participants as the Moderator of the conference call. 
  • Use an online interface if offered – Some conference call service companies offer an online conference call interface that allows you to see the callers and control the audio portion of the conference call.  This can be very helpful, especially if you intend to open up to questions from the audience.  That way you can see the callers and manage the call easier.
  • Use Web Conferencing – In addition to enhancing your conference call with visual presentations, a web conference can allow you to manage a Q&A session better than just using an audio conference.  With a Web Conference you are giving your participants a way to raise their hand for questions and a way for you to open up an individual line to allow them to ask their question.
  • Practice – The best thing you can do to insure your success with a large conference call is to run a practice session to make sure you are familiiar with all of the conference call controls and how to use them.

If you follow these tips you can run a large conference call successfully without the need to use an expensive Operator Assisted Conference Call.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conferencing for Remote Support

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Web conferencing has been adopted by sales organizations around the world as a way to do a presentation for a prospect from your desktop,  greatly reducing travel expenses and increasing productivity.  It is also widely recognized for its remote training abilities which allows participants to take a training class without the costly need to travel to a central location.  But another application for web conferencing that is being used, but maybe not as widely known is for the support of customers and employees remotely to troubleshoot software on their desktops.

Since web conferencing allows participants to see each other’s computer screens regardless of the application that is running.  It allows a technical support person to view the PC of a customer or employee which assists them in more easily diagnosing an issue.  A remote participant does not need to try to describe the issue they are having because the technician will be able to see exactly what they are talking about on the web conference.  And if the participant allows it, the technician can even take control of the remote user’s PC and fix the problem while the participant sits back and watches them do the work.

Needless to say, this application for web conferencing is a win-win for the company supporting the product and the customer, since the problem is fixed easily and quickly and any interpretation errors on exactly what the issue is are avoided because the technician is actually viewing the PC themselves.  Like all of the conference call services, the web conferencing in this application saves any travel costs that may have been associated with the service and makes the technician that much more productive since they can handle many of these types of service calls using web conferencing instead of travelling to customer locations.  In many cases, if you are selling your product across the country or around the world, travelling to customer locations to support your product is not even practical.  Especially for a small business that is trying to support their product, web conferencing offers a way to provide their customers an excellent level of service without spending a lot of money.  Supporting your customers using web conferencing just makes good business sense.

www.zipconferencing.com

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I Resolve to do more Web Conferencing

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Its that time of year again.  Everyone sets expectations for themselves in the new year.  Many of the resolutions we commit to we do not stick with and some we don’t even attempt.  Maybe this is the year to set some realistic goals for ourselves that will benefit us personally and also help in our own little way the world around us.  Why not resolve to do more web conferencing?  I am going to add it to my list.  Because I am as guilty as the next person.  It is easier to stick with the familiar than to try something new and if you have never conducted a web conference before it can be a little intimidating.  But the benefits to you and the world are real!

  • Save Time – A web conference can save you time on the front end by simply eliminating the need to travel to a meeting.  Even if the meeting is in the same building with people you work with you still have to get up off your seat and go to a meeting room.  You have to remember to bring all the materials you will need or you may need to return to your desk to get additional materials or reschedule another meeting so you can bring other things, etc.  You can instantly attend your meeting right from your desk and have all of your materials at your fingertips to share with everyone at the meeting if you do a web conference.
  • Save Money – The cost to travel to your meeting locally or at a great distance is saved if you do it from your desk using a web conference.  If you have to travel across the country all of the travel costs will be saved which can add up to thousands of dollars.
  • Increase Productivity – You will find that by doing a web conference you are better prepared for your meeting and can extend the discussion since you have access to everything you need.  You also will be able to work during the time you would otherwise have to travel.
  • Save the Environment – By using a web conference instead of travelling to a meeting you are being very eco-friendly.  Think of all the carbon emissions you are avoiding during the travel you have avoided.  And all of the participants in the web conference also have avoided all of the travel and associated emissions.

So, for your benefits and in a small part, all of mankind, it is time to resolve to do more web conferencing.  And unlike the resolutions you are unlikely to stick to you will find this one is easy to keep once you feel the benefits.

www.zipconferencing.com

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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

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Conference Calls in Healthcare

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

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Conference Calls make the World a Smaller Place

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

A conference call has the ability to bring people together from great distances so that they can meet when it otherwise would be impossible.  And today, with the globalization of many companies there really is no better option than a conference call to keep your organization going around the world.  And with Zip Conferencing you can even have your participants around the world dial into the conference in their country.  We routinely have customers who will have participants on a conference call that are in Europe, Asia and the US at the same time.  There is not an easier more cost effective solution to hold a meeting with participants in these locations than a conference call.

There are currently 40 cities where you can dial a local number in that city to connect to a conference call with Zip Conferencing that can have participants on it from around the world.  Any size company can look like a large company when you have the ability to have your customer in Paris dial a local number to get on a conference call with you in the United States and you can also share a presentation by using web conferencing as well.  The way it works is there are 40 cities around the world that have a local access number that transports the participant to the United States conferencing center through our network.  So, what looks like a local number to them is actually a connection all the way back in the United States to the conference call. 

Another way to connect from around the world is by using an International Toll Free access number that is available in over 30 countries around the world.  If someone is in France but not local to Paris they can still join the conference call by dialing a toll free number in France and they will get connected to the conference call in the United States with you.  The Toll Free access is a little more expensive but certainly impressive when your customer or prospect is dialing a toll free number outside the United States to join your conference call.

As technology progresses the world continues to get smaller and with an International conference call you can help make the world a lot smaller for your company.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conferencing Saves a Company Thousands of Dollars

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I know I have blogged about conference calls and web conferencing and how it can save you money.  But I thought it would be useful to use a real life example to illustrate just how dramatic the savings can be when you choose to conduct a meeting using a web conference instead of an in person meeting. 

A customer had an instance where they really needed to go to Hong Kong from New Jersey to have a meeting with a new customer to discuss the implementation of their services.  And under normal conditions this type of meeting in person is very typical for this customer and they would not use a web conference for the implementation phase of their service.  But in this case the customer had an issue where they wanted to have a pre-m eeting with this vendor and discuss how the implementation would work with one of their contacts before they had the actual meeting.  So, the customer requested that the vendor come out and have a meeting and then return to have the actual implementation meeting.  This meant that two employees would need to fly from New Jersey to Hong Kong which is a 16 hour flight for a four hour meeting and then return to New Jersey only to go back to Hong Kong the following week.   And for those of you who have not had to do this flight it is not only long, it is expensive.  It costs $1,800 for a coach seat and almost $9,000 for a business class seat each.  The bottom line for the vendor was that the four hour meeting was going to cost about $5,000 and several days of productivity from two employees.

In steps Web Conferencing to save the day.  The vendor convinced the customer that they could do a web conference for the pre-meeting at least and spend as much time as is necessary to go through the implementation planning.  The customer agreed and the web conference went off without a hitch and made the customer feel comfortable about the upcoming meeting.  The customer and the vendor were able to interact on the web conference just like they were in the same conference room and accomplish everything that needed to be done.  The meeting ended up lasting about 3 hours and cost the vendor $29 using Zip Conferencing’s web conference service.  Using web conferencing saved the vendor $5,000 and allowed them to conduct the meeting without any sacrifice in results and also saved a lot of time for the employees increasing the company’s productivity.

These kind of events happen all the time and is the reason that web conferencing is growing so fast.  Customers immediately experience the real life benefits of conducting a web conference instead of an in-person meeting.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conference Recording

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Being able to record a conference call has been around for a while.  It is fairly simple to press a command on your phone and initiate a recording of a conference call and then allow people to dial into a system to listen to the recording or download a copy of the recording to share with others.  A web conference, however, presents a different set of issues.  The web conference is on one platform and the audio portion of your web conference may be on another platform.  In fact, in the early days of web conferencing, the only way to record the web conference and the audio of that conference was to have a separate recording of the audio portion made using an adaptor that plugged into your PC and fed the audio portion back into the recording for the web conference.  That was fun.  Customers could not believe the gyrations they had to perform to record a web conference.

Today, recording a web conference is very simple and it provides a recording that is full audio and web and can easily be played back for participants.   Zip Conferencing’s web conference service has a one click mechanism to start the recording of both the audio and web conference portion of the conference call.  The recording of the web conference can be stored and viewed by you or your participants or you can download a copy of the web conference recording and distribute it as you see fit.  Like many aspects of web conferencing, as the recording has been simplified there are not only more recordings of web conferences being done, but people are thinking of ways to use the service that we in the industry never thought of ourselves.

Why hold the same seminar over and over again for different audiences?  If the subject matter for your web conference is not going to change you can just record the material once and then invite different people to observe the web conference to absorb the material.  Maybe there is a web conference when the participants were especially intriguing.  Record the meeting and you can share the insightful observations of one audience with another.  If you cannot attend a meeting live, but you still need to present the material you can record the meeting ahead of time and then share with your audience later. 

The ability to easily record a web conference with the audio portion of the call has opened up a world of possibilities.

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Conference Calls in Education

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Its that time of year again.  Back to School.  And with everyone getting back to school come applications for conference calls within the educational system, because just like many other areas, education derives many benefits from using conference calls in place of in person meetings.

Conference calls in education applications come in many forms.  Probably the first conference call application you can think of is in the teacher/student relationship.  There are many teachers that teach in multiple campuses because they may have an expertise that is more rare than your standard English or geography discipline.  So, in some cases, instead of being in person for all of the classes the teacher will use a conference call to teach a class instead of being in person for all of the classes.  In fact, there are examples where a class is conducted completely virtual using conference calls and web conferencing to lecture to students from a distance.  With the advent of conference call and web conferencing technology this is entirely possible and the students do not miss anything by attending the class remotely with the use of conference calls and web conferencing.  Entire educational programs are now offered to students without attending any campus at all.  An example of this is the programs of the University of Phoenix.  Their curriculum is meant to be attended remotely by students. 

Another area where conference calls are used in education is in the administration area.  Colleges and Universities in particular are really just another form of business and have many of the same needs.  The administration needs to stay in touch with its board of trustees so they do regular conference calls.  Alumni associations need to organize events and solicit donations through conference calls.  And faculty members need to stay in touch with their unions and associations via conference calls.

We also see a lot of use by the student body with the organization of events using conference calls, student organizations having remote meetings via conference calls and off campus organizations like fraternities staying in touch with national agendas by way of the conference call.

So, as you can see, education also is able to save time and money by using conference calls in place of in person meetings.

 

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conference Features

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Ever since a web conference has been available there have been a few features that have always been available. 

Whiteboarding – One of them is the ability to white board with your participants.  The concept is that if you could do it in a physical meeting room you would want to do it in a web conference since it is meant to simulate that meeting environment.  The web conference version of whiteboarding allows participants and the host of the web conference to draw freestyle on the whiteboard in the meeting space and all participants are able to see the results of the drawing on the board and also to participate themselves.  This particular feature has some uses but this web conference capability has not seen wide adoption I think because people are not as used to drawing with their mouse and it is not as easy to do as walking up to a whiteboard, grabbing a marker and drawing.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it is pretty easy to use, but people are just not as apt to do it as they would be in a physical meeting room situation.

PowerPoint Sharing – The ability to share a PowerPoint slide show with your participants during a web conference is a key feature that has helped lead the way to web conferencing’s success.  People have quickly become comfortable with doing a remote presentation using a web conference and sharing a PowerPoint slide show.  I think that the sense of detachment is easier to comprehend for a host since in a presentation environment you are basically by yourself showing slide and sharing comments whether you are in a person to person meeting or not.

Application Sharing – When application sharing first came out the thought was that participants could truly collaborate on a web conference by sharing applications and letting others control the application to get tasks done on a web conference.  I am not sure this has really happened yet, but people do find that simply sharing their desktop or an application on a web conference is easy to use and understand for the host and participants alike.  All you have to do is click on the application and all the participants are seeing what is on your desktop.  Its that simple.

Now there are a few more features that have been introduced on some web conference platforms that really enhance the experience.  One of them is the ability to record the web conference.  With a push of a button you can record the web conference and the audio portion of the call.  This makes sharing the presentation with people who missed the live web conference simple.  Another cool feature that is gaining momentum is the ability to provide files for the participants to download from the web conference.  The equivalent of hand outs in a physical meeting, this web conference feature makes it easy to provide materials to your attendees as part of the meeting.  And another feature people seem to like is the ability to send a meeting thank you and survey following the meeting as an integrated part of the web conference.  This is especially liked by people who a re running seminars as they are trying to connect to a n audience that they are many times trying to sell something to. 

The web conference feature list continues to grow because the use in web conferencing is on the rise and people want to better emulate the person to person meeting.  Look for more web conference features in the future as more and more people continue to adopt this valuable service.

www.zipconferencing.com

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The Joy of being a Conference Call Service Provider

Monday, September 14th, 2009

I have been in the telecommunications business over 25 years and been a conference call service provider business since 1995.  When I first started in this industry I had no idea of the complexity of the business, the amazing number of applications the service is used for and the importance of a quality conference call service to the customers that use it everyday.  Now after fourteen years of providing such a valuable business service I can not imagine doing anything else.

Conference call services have evolved over the past fourteen years but their value to businesses has only grown and grown.  Especially in an economy like we are going through today, a quality conference call service provides businesses a way to cut costs without having their business processes suffer.  Meetings can still happen without the need to travel to far reaching locations, sales can meet with customers, employees can still be trained to provide a higher level of service to customers without having to attend a training class in some distant city and a conference call service provides an alternative to countless other costly travel plans. 

In an effort to save money, companies are discovering the other benefits of conference calls such as shortening the sales cycle.  Without conference calls, sales would have to travel to the customer site to perform a presentation or sales demonstration.  With the aid of web conferencing and a conference call, sales can perform a full scale sales presentation right from their desktop.  Beyond the cost of the visit, the salesperson has more time to perform other demonstrations for more customers.  A conference call service is more convenient for the salesperson and their prospective customer.  The same goes for other departments as well.  With a conference call, people don’t have to spend time getting to a conference room, waiting for the meeting to start and then returning to their desk.  Conference call service meeting attendees simply hang up the phone and return to work.  This increase in productivity is very important when your business is trying to do more work with less personnel.

And throughout your business, you will find that communication improves in general.  Making sure that everyone is on the same page is essential to running an effective business and staying in touch through a conference call service makes sure that even remote employees get the same message at the same time as the other employees. 

Now that I have been providing this essential service to businesses for over fourteen years I understand the importance of it in their everyday lives.  Providing a high quality conference call service is not an option it is a necessity.  Businesses rely on conference calls like never before and being able to provide this essential service is a very rewarding experience.  I take my responsibility in being a conference call service provider very seriously and I hope you value the service enough to make sure you get the best service available.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conferencing Features Make Remote Meetings Easy

Friday, July 24th, 2009

When Web Conferencing was first introduced it included a number of features that still exist in the web conference service business today.  But over time, conference call service providers and web conferencing companies have enhanced web conferencing to allow anyone to quickly and easily conduct a web conference without the need for a lot of training or experience.

The features that have always existed with web conferencing include:

  • Whiteboarding
  • Share Powerpoint presentations
  • Share Applications

The ability to whiteboard on a web conference allows participants on the conference call to participate on a virtual whiteboard by using their mouse and tools to annotate and collaborate with other participants.  The ability to share a Powerpoint presentation gives you the ability to broadcast your Powerpoint to the entire audience and the ability to share applications allows you to share virutally anything that is on your desktop with the other participants.

Over time additional functionality has been added to web conferencing including:

  • A Chat feature
  • Video conferencing
  • A Recording function
  • Q&A
  • Polling
  • Participant Registration Info
  • Exit Surveys

A chat feature was added to allow participants to chat with each other or the Moderator on a web conference.  The ability to share a video of yourself as the Moderator on the web conference gives the participants a face with the name on the conference call.  A recording function has existed for a while, but only recently has the full integration of voice and visual presentation recorded without the need for extra equipment become available.   A Q&A and Polling element on a web conference has also been available for a while but the tools provided to build the questions and tally the results have become much easier to implement and use.  And one fo the favorite tools of the Sales and Marketing users is the ability to create a registration process to capture participant informaiton on the front end of the web conference and a exit survey process to give the participants the ability to provide feedback after the web conference has been completed.

Even though the features available on a web conference have grown and enhanced, the inuitiveness of the interface has also improved to where anyone can conduct a web conference and look like a pro in a very short time.  Zip Conferencing like some other conference call service providers gives a 30 day free trial of the service to allow users to become familiar with the web confernecing service at no cost before they do a live presentation.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls Save Money

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Many people who use conference calls in their daily business lives may have forgotten the number one benefit you get when you use conference calls.  Conference calls save money. 

I think that conference call service early adopters were more interested in solving business issues that could not be solved in other ways.  The legal community in particular simply could not find a way to effectively meet with clients and other counsel in a quick and convenient manner when they were unable to meet face to face.  They were not really concerned about saving money by meeting over the telephone as they charge back their customers anyway.  It was the second wave of conference call users that discovered some of the other benefits to using a conference call service. 

Benefits to Using a Conference Call Service

  • Save Money
  • Save Time
  • Increased Productivity

The widespread growth of the use of conference calls has certainly been from their ability to save companies money.  No other technology offers as affordable a solution to solving the need to meet than the basic conference call.  How else can you meet with dozens of people around the world without leaving your desk for just pennies per minute?  So, the most obvious cost you save when you do a conference call is the travel cost to get to a personal meeting.  What other costs can you save with a conference call?

Costs you save when you do a Conference Call

  • Flight Expense
  • Rental Car Expense
  • Hotel Costs
  • Food Costs

And now with the availability of web conferencing and the ability to add visuals to your conference call there are many more applications for conference calls that save companies even more money.  As an industry we again thought that the legal community would be an early adopter of web conferencing since they could share a contract on the screen and edit it with opposing counsel and so forth.  But actually, the largest users of web conferencing have been in the Sales and Marketing areas where they have been able to dramatically reduce their travel costs and shortened their sales cycles.

And now, with the prices for conference call services hitting all time lows in the marketplace there is no better way to save travel costs than substituting your in person meetings with a conference call.  Conference calls save money.

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 Calls in the Legal Community

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Conference calls have always been an important business tool in the legal community.  The need to communicate amongst multiple parties has always been a fact of life in the legal system and the benefits of doing it over the telephone as opposed to an in person meeting have been there all along.  In the early days of conference calls the participants had to be called by an operator and the participants had to be at their telephone to answer it at the time of the conference.  Despite the logistical problems this poses the legal community adopted conference calls into their everyday processes early and often.

In the legal community conference calls are used for many applications

  • Depositions
  • Consultations with clients
  • Conferences with opposing attorneys
  • Communication with multiple parties around the world

One of the reasons the legal community also adopted conference calls is out of sheer necessity.  Many times the schedule of attorneys does not permit them to be in multiple places at the same time and by using conference calls attorneys can be more productive.  The cost of the conference calls has never been as much of an issue since attorneys bill back their clients.  For this reason, the most important features of the conference call are call accounting features that allow the attorneys to keep track of their billings to their clients. 

The conference call features most used by the legal community 

  • The ability to attach a client matter number to a conference call to track expenses
  • Subconferences for sidebar conversations
  • Dial out to add participants
  • Security features that prevent unwanted participation

Zip Conferencing has all the features listed and more.  In fact, you can even see the participants on a conference call by logging into your account on your computer during the call.  The invoices have the calls broken out by Moderator and by Client Matter number.  And the ability to break into a side conversation assists lawyers in being able to talk to their clients alone and return to the conference call to resolve issues.  And more and more, the Legal Community is realizing the benefits of web conferencing.  The ability to share documents and revise them on the fly has added another tool to help improve productivity which for an attorney is the most important thing.  Since attorneys bill by the hour, the more they can get done in an hour is directly related to how much they earn.  For the Legal Community conference calls are not a convenience, but a necessity.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Web Conferencing changes Everything

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Web Conferencing started out as something you did on your company’s network and only if you and the person you wanted to web conference with had the same software installed on their machine.  The internet was still coming of age so many of the things we now take for granted did not exist.  In fact, I remember in 1995 taking some of the available software, buying a card for a computer that allowed multiple network connections and building a web conference bridge you could dial into so that up to 5 people could get on the same web conference.  As long as the 5 people had a good connection to the internet.

When I think about that now I laugh.  In the past 10 years the technology has come a long way.  Today you can easily hold a web conference with up to 100 people and you don’t even have to download any software.  High speed internet connections are taken for granted and conference calls are completed integrated into the experience to add voice and visual communications on a conference call. 

With the advent of web conferencing, you can easily add a visual element to your conference calls.  This makes your confernece call more compelling, encourages audience participation and helps with retention.  The applications are wide spread and more and more people are utilizing web conferencing services to help sell, train and inform to internal and external clients throughout the world. 

I don’ t know if anyone has attempted to calculate the savings in hours of productivity, travel costs and fossil fuels, but it must be enormous. The amount spent on web conferencing in 2007 was over $700,000,000 in the US alone and even as the service continues to be more affordable, it is expected that the amount spent in five years will be almost double what it is today.  That is because web conferencing services make sense to such a wide range of industries and applications.  Just like conference call volume has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the past 15 years, web conferencing is now enjoying that same growth.  That is because it is truly easy to use and affordable to everyone.

So the next time you register for that online “webinar” think about how what you would have to do to get that same seminar without web conferencing.  because web confernecing changes everything.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Applications – Sales and Marketing

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Conference calls have been adopted by business as a great way to save money on travel, improve communications and shorten business life cycles.  One of the areas where the technology has been widely adopted is in Sales and Marketing.  While it is widely accepted that face time is important to the sale in many cases, getting in front of the customer with conferencing technology can help qualify prospects, perform product demonstrations and ultimately shorten the sales cycle. 

Audio Conferencing

The same basic principles that assist all businesses when they use audio confernecing apply in Sales and Marketing.  Why they have so widely adopted conferencing technology is understandable because in this area of business you will see an immediate impact to your bottom line.  Travel costs to present the materials to the customer are eliminated.  A conference call can be scheduled much quicker than a face to face meeting.  Many prospects are much more willing to make time for a conference call because it takes less time out of their day than an in person meeting.  Sales Managers can have daily calls with their entire sales force even when the people are located across the country.

Web Conferencing

Web conferencing has revolutionized the way companies sell their products and services.  It is now commonplace to get an initial demonstration of a product or service over the internet using web conferencing.  Especially for software and web services this is more the norm than not.  Customers have now grown used to sitting comfortably at their desks and watching a webinar or demonstration.  The web confernece eliminates the need to travel to a customer premise and set up the projector, get an internet connection and everything else that goes with getting an in-person sales demonstration in place.  Instead sales demonstrations can happen ad hoc or scheduled using a web conference and a telephone.  And beyond being more convenient for salesperson and customer, the statistics prove that using web conferencing services in the sales process is a very effective way to do business.  You can do more presentations in less time for less money than anyone doing in-person sales.

For Sales and Marketing applications the path is clear.  Audio conferencing and web conferencing provide a quicker more effective way to do business.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Calls Explode

Friday, June 19th, 2009

I have been in the conference call business since 1995.  At that time many people had not even been on a conference call and web conferencing was little more than an idea.  Over 50 % of the conference calls we ran back then were operator assisted because the concept of running a reservationless conference call was foreign to most people.  Now the technology has made it simple to run a conference call from any phone at any time without the need to schedule the call and web conferencing and sharing your desktop with someone thousands of miles away is just a few clicks away.  It has been an amazing ride and newer technology promises to make conference calls even easier and more compelling for the customers than ever.  No wonder the amount of conference call minutes has exploded to over 40 billion minutes a year and is expected to continue to grow to over 70 billion minutes by 2012.  Zip Conferencing is poised to bring you the best technology the industry has to offer at rates that make the service affordable to everyone.  Never before has this technology been so easy to use and so affordable.  In this blog I hope to bring you some of the conference call applications used by customers across many industries in hopes it will help you find a way to improve communication in your company.  I welcome any input and feedback on Zip Conferencing, questions about our services, the web site and I hope you will share the ways that you are using conference calls and the benefits they bring to you.  Just like the technology itself promotes, there are power in numbers and sharing makes us all better.  Enjoy!

www.zipconferencing.com

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