Web Conferencing- Five Etiquette Tips

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While etiquette may be struggling to regain its once prominent place in a society now inhabited by five generations and exploding morays, online manners are still in their infancy. Just understanding the new acronyms can be a challenge. You may know that LOL means lots of laughs or laugh out loud but what does QT or HOAS mean? (Answers at the end.)

While a lapse in social etiquette may only cause some confusion, a business on line etiquette snafu can cost money.

If you're one of the many companies taking advantage of the convenient web conferencing services on the web, you know they're good for business. They bring you and your customers together, save on travel costs and can even increase sales.

So, if you want to avoid any snarky situations that can cause a less than favorable opinion of you and your business, consider these five pointers.

• Stay in the moment - Most of us think we’re born listeners just because our ears work. That’s like saying you are a born pianist because your family had a piano in the house. --Linda Eve Diamond

  It's no wonder listening is hard when we speak at 125 to 250 words per minute but think at 1000 to 3000 words per minute. And in a web or audio conference, we think we can multitask because no one sees us.

  Refrain from taking calls, answering emails or speaking with someone else during a web conference. Remember, you're in a meeting.

  Stay in the moment with all of the participants, all of the time. The simple fact you can't see everyone means you'll lose up to 55 percent of the total meaning (8 percent is the spoken word and 38 percent the tone). So, you have to remain alert.

  Listen. The simple, quiet act of listening will make you uniquely valued in the world. --Linda Eve Diamond

• Ask specific questions- For example, refrain from asking, "Does anyone have a question?" You might say, "What are your thoughts on xxx?" or Please give me your comments about xxx.
• Engage your audience- As a speaker, it's tougher holding a remote audience. (It's hard enough when they're in front of you!). So, if you have visuals, intersperse relevant cartoons, quotes, or pictures with your presentation, Your audience will thank you for it.
• Sync audio and visual- You want to avoid being in a situation where you're discussing a new offering but the visual is showing your company mission statement. Make sure that any visuals match the topic being discussed.
• Reassure- While web conferences are becoming more commonplace, and you've sent invitations with all of the pertinent information, still do the following:
  • State which meeting everyone is in
  • Let the participants know how to connect
  • Let them know how to reconnect
  • Let them know the expected length of the session
  • Review the objective of the meeting

If you can master these five web conferencing rules, you'll get the most from this cost effective and efficient feature.

BTW (by the way), QT means (cutie) and HOAS means (hold on a second).

Tips for Maximizing Your Conferencing Solution

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Audio conferencing solutions can make great fiscal and productivity sense for any size corporation. For those who are operating in the non-profit sector, a solution that can drive maximum collaboration in real-time and at a low cost can be an extremely attractive solution. Here, we’ll provide you with a few tips on what you can to do maximize your conferencing experience.

Tip #1 The Moderator

Ensuring there is a moderator in place during every audio conferencing call is essential to the success of the call. The moderator ensures that everyone who is supposed to be on the call is actually on the call; that the agenda items that need to be covered receive the necessary attention; and that one caller is not able to dominate the conversation when collaboration and teamwork are the main goal.

It is certainly possible to conduct a conference call without a moderator, but call participants often find that a clear focus and a specific goal are very difficult to achieve if there is not a definite leader in the call. The role of the moderator can easily be filled by a normal member of the conference call, as long as this is clearly defined ahead of time.

Tip #2 The Agenda

How often have you been on a phone call that tends to drone on without a clear focus or direction? Conference calls are especially at risk of such haphazard activity and pointless babble if an agenda is not clearly formed and distributed to all conference call participants before the time of the call.

Keep in mind that people who view meetings and conference calls as simply time wasters that detract from their normal work duties tend to take a negative approach to their own participation. If they receive a well constructed agenda ahead of the call time and the agenda is followed during the call, that perception can easily be changed.

Tip #3 The Record Option

While the information on your conference call is important, it may interfere with pre-set appointments or present other scheduling challenges. When this happens, moderators can take advantage of the Record Option. This function allows you to record the call so that all information can be disseminated later by those who were unable to participate in the live call.

Even if all intended participants are able to take part in the conference call, the Record Option serves as a permanent record of the conversation. Whether you need to support a verbal contract, contribute to the resolution of a dispute or merely to recount specific details, recording the call will provide the backup information you need.

Tip #4 The Follow-Up

Finally, follow-up with those individuals who were able to participate in the conference call to gauge their perception of the success of the call. Note their observations and evaluate whether or not you can make changes in the future to improve the conference call experience.

Smart planning for training through web conferencing

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A recent article by Darlene Christopher, written for the American Society of Training and Development* and featured on her blog, discusses the PREP model for delivering training through web conferencing. The approach helps ensure a smoother, more successful delivery through good planning and preparation.

Ms. Christopher defines PREP as Planning, Rehearsal, Execution and Post Mortem. This last step, for the uninitiated, means that you review what you did to determine its effectiveness. The approach helps a company transition from traditional live instructor-led classroom training to training via web conferencing. The cost savings have resulted in a steep increase in the number of companies employing this method.

The essay points out that the folks in your company’s training department, or those tasked with training, need to avoid the temptation to simply convert their training slides to a web conferencing tool. There is a certain amount of preparation, beyond this simple approach, that will increase the effectiveness and success of the web conference training session.

The components of the PREP approach

The author suggests that trainers begin by becoming intimately familiar with their web conferencing platform. She proposes that having a thorough knowledge of the technology will allow the presenter to focus solely on the presentation and not the features of their conferencing platform.

Next, she covers logistics. If the web conference-based training is going out to participants in other time zones, or even other countries, the trainer should be aware of the time of day at each location. In the case of participants who span several countries, she suggests that the trainer consider holidays or days that participants may be away from work.

Logistical considerations extend to how your participants will receive the audio transmission. Will participants require headphones? Ms Christopher suggests that you test the audio equipment and the bandwidth capabilities at each location first.

Content should be kept succinct and engaging and opportunities for interaction should be inserted to keep the audience alert and connected. A script should be prepared for the facilitator and should include a timeline for each slide used during the training exercise. Delegate the primary roles for the training session including the facilitator, the subject matter expert and the producer.

Get it right before the actual session

The next step in the process is to get all key members of the facilitator team together and rehearse. This helps coordinate the roles of each member and provides for a smoother delivery. After rehearsing, the author has several suggestions for the actual execution of the event. She states that the facilitation team wants to log in a half hour early. Be punctual with your start and end times.

Displaying the dial-in number and audio information on the participant’s screen aids them with this key information. Provide instructions to participants about how they can interact during the training session and have an additional computer near you, logged in as a participant, so you can share their experience.

Ms. Christopher urges facilitators to do a post-mortem or a review of how the training session went. This involves feedback from both the participants and the facilitators. Participants can complete an online evaluation at the completion of the training exercise. Feedback from both groups aids in adjusting and tweaking the training to make instant improvements.

*PREP for Web Conferencing Success by Darlene Christopher. http://www.astd.org/lc/2009/1009_christopher.html

Five Ways Audio and Web Conferencing Helps Small Businesses

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Small businesses are flocking to audio and Web conferencing for many reasons and they are all about money. Choosing audio and Web conferencing over traditional methods helps small businesses by helping them save money and more of it. Here’s how:

Travel

Audio and Web conferencing services let small businesspeople cut out travel expenses. In some cases, they can do away with travel altogether. There is no reason to spend hundred on air fare and hotel rooms when the same tasks can be accomplished right from your office computer.

Time

The old adage, “time is money,” has never been more true. Technology has saved us time in so many ways. Audio and Web conferencing is just another example of how technology allows us to do more. Time spent traveling is unfruitful and wasteful. That time can be better used to develop closer client relationships, provide better customer service to existing customers and develop more leads.

Printed Marketing Materials

There is no longer a need to create expensive marketing pamphlets and proposals. PowerPoint presentations are much cheaper to produce and can be presented via Web conferencing. Marketing this way saves trees and saves your budget.

Shorter Sales Cycles

Audio and Web conferencing shortens the sales cycle dramatically. Deals that once took several phone calls, letters and visits to accomplish can now be completed in one fell swoop through Web conferencing. Salespeople can instantly show prospects a product demonstration, invite decision makers into the conference and close the deal on the spot. All the extra time can be used to general more leads, contact more prospects and close more sales.

Webinars

Some small businesses are actually using Web conferencing itself to make money. They hold educational webinars for paying participants. Webinars can also be used to create leads by attracting the type of customer a salesperson is seeking. The relationships developed from these events can create more leads and develop more sales.

How to Manage a Virtual Workforce

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This is the third in a series about how audio conferencing services and web conferencing can help you enjoy the benefits of remote workers while avoiding the common pitfalls of such working arrangements. This discussion focuses on integrating the remote worker’s office to meet the needs of your company.

Office Space

Any remote worker you hire should have a separate, fully functional home office, with all the machines and capabilities found in your office. This means ergonomically correct desks and chairs, quality telephones, fast computers, web cameras, broadband internet, fax capabilities, copy machines and the like. You must communicate all of these requirements to the employee and then verify they are in place.

In most cases, workers are happy to supply the necessary hardware at their own expense. If your company has specialized hardware or software that you will provide, be certain the employee signs a contract, specifying the rights and duties of each party in maintaining the equipment. You should also spell out what happens to such equipment should the employee relationship be terminated.

Training

Do not assume your employee knows how to use your company’s communications systems. Have a quick web conference to go over the different avenues of communication and address any training issues at that time.

It is also important that your telecommuters understand who your service providers are and how to use them. This can include mail services or office-supply vendors. Show employees the proper procedure for utilizing these services.

Hello, My Name Is…

Introduce the new employee to current staff with a photograph and bio. Open a dialogue by including the new employee in a web conference staff meeting as soon as possible after the hire. Connect the new hire with another worker who has been telecommuting for you on a long-term basis.

Settling In

It is best to get your employee up and running as soon as possible. Assign basic tasks that will familiarize the employee with your systems and then begin adding more complicated work as the days pass. Schedule fifteen minutes each afternoon for a web conference to address questions and direct work.  Finally, be sure to get them up and running with your conference call system -  conference calls are the great telecommuter equalizer as clients, workers and prospects are all dialed in, creating a veritable virtual office for communication and primed for collaboration.

Conference on the Go with Fly!

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Conferencing on the fly means being able to set up a meeting anytime and anywhere when time is of the essence. This is when you want a service like that offers reservation-less conference calling. This service lets you connect with multiple persons spontaneously to accomplish important business more quickly than your competitors.

Flexibility

Reservationless conference calls let you meet with anyone, anywhere, for as long as you need. Many services allow you to call out to a recipient, rather than asking the recipient to call into you. Other services provide you with a toll-free number that others can dial whenever you need to set up a conference. Just send a quick email with the toll free number and access code and you can begin the session.

Small Meetings

Some businesses use reservationless calling for smaller meetings only, because operator assistance is often unavailable on such calls, with fewer features than reserved conferencing. You do not need to be concerned about such restrictions with flyConferencing. Operators and full feature services are always available whether your call is reserved or not.

Reservation-less conferencing means you can still plan a meeting in advance. You simply assign a date and time for participants to call in or to expect your call. Those who call in will need an access code, which you supply, typically by email. Participants are connected digitally and bridged together as they call in.

When to use Reserved Conferencing

Higher profile calls with hundreds of attendees are often better left under a reserved system. Organizing such an endeavor would be trying for the moderator on a reservationless system.  Reserved conferencing is also preferable when distributing a conference code would be difficult or inconvenient for the meeting.

Brought to by FlyConferencing.com, the hassle free, no-contract conference calling service provider.

Conference Call Cost Savings

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Is your conference call bill getting out of control?

Those of us in business management know the importance of keeping to a budget and beating it whenever possible. Managers can maximize efficiency in business communications and cut wasted resources by using audio and web conferencing. Here is a rundown of how audio conferencing works so you can consider how best to manage these services to the benefit of your organization.

Intro to Audio Conferencing Cost Savings

Audio conferencing is an Internet administered version of the classic teleconference but offers an ease and convenience that was never available through traditional teleconferencing services. Gone are the days of missing a meeting because the limit on number of attendees has been met. Exorbitant fees are a thing of the past. Internet audio conferencing services have made audio conferencing an even better way to save on travel expenses for your business.
Reservation not Required

With audio conferencing, the sessions can be done by reservation, where each participant calls into a specific phone number to be connected with the group. This type of conferencing is not as expensive as it once was. Most providers charge by the minute, rather than by the number of attendees as was the norm on traditional teleconferences.

Reservationless sessions can now be arranged using the Internet. This was not possible with traditional teleconferencing. Callers use a unique phone number provided to you that allows you to receive all reservationless calls. The access number given to the participants allows them to enter the non-reserved call.

Technical Aspects

Traditional telephone networks provided a dedicated line for each phone number. This ensured clear calls and prevented disruptions in communication. This is accomplished online, using private IP networks. Where public IP networks are subject to disruption when other applications take up bandwidth, private networks do not suffer this complication.

The Internet does not transmit the actual analog audio signals from the telephone. Instead, these signals are converted into digital information that can then be transmitted via the Internet. This makes the data easy to record and playback whenever necessary. No additional devices are needed, as would be the case with traditional teleconferencing.

With all the advantages audio conferencing has over teleconferencing, you can rely more heavily on virtual meetings, saving thousands on your company’s budget. Not only will you look like the hero for cutting costs, the company as whole will benefit from increased productivity that comes about when employees can communicate at great distances easily and conveniently.

The Value of Conference Calling in the New Economy

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Toll free audio conferencing is a must-have for your small business. One only needs to run through the steps in a sales cycle to see the benefit of audio conferencing services. The sales cycle involves the time that passes between initiation of the sales process and the conclusion of a sale.

The first step in the sales cycle, prospecting for leads is the part that takes up the majority of sales time for most businesses. Once you have targeted your prospects, you can set up an appointment to assess the client's needs. Next, you need to plan your trip, book the flight and hotel stay. Already, you have place a significant amount of resources in time in generating a lead that may or may not result in a sale.

Instead of packing your bags and running off to another part of the country, you can save time and money by conducting your initial meeting by toll free audio conferencing. Your audio conference will allow you to qualify the lead. This means ensuring the product or service is appropriate and that the customer and that the customer can pay for the service.

Presentation is the next step in the sales cycle. Too many salespeople overemphasize the need for slick materials and pitches. An effective salesperson does not pitch at all, but questions the prospect on their needs and shows the value of the product or service, plus how it can solve the prospect's problems. The prospect will not a buy any product unless a specific need has been demonstrated. Audio conferencing is an effective way to have this type of conversation without wasting your time or than of your potential client.

Concerns and objections will be raised by the prospect and these can be addressed through toll free audio conferencing as well. By using toll free audio conferencing, there is no pressure to go through this step at your first meeting. This puts both the salesperson and the prospect at ease, resulting in a greater chance of a sale.
Closing the sale is the final step in the sales cycle. In many cases this can be accomplished in the same meeting when objections are raised. Other times, the prospect will want more time to assess the product. If your presentation was done properly, this delay will not be needed. Most customers have already made the decision to buy before they raise objections.

Organizing Your Conference Calls

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Conference calls can become cluttered and confusing when there are more than three or four attendees. To keep things orderly and productive, the moderator needs to take a leadership role and lay down some ground rules. Introductions go a long way in keeping things running smoothly.

The first thing to do when moderating a conference call is to help members keep track of who is in the “conference room”. In person conferences allow meeting members to see each other’s faces. A similar means of identification can be accomplished in a conference call by setting up a “clock” in the beginning of the meeting and assigning locations to new arrivals as they enter the call.

“The Clock” is a well-known device for frequent conference call moderators. It allows the participants to create a visual representation of the other conference call members. Assign each attendee to a different time position on the clock. If you have more than twelve members, use ½-hour times as well. When each person is assigned, introduce yourself and then have the members introduce themselves in clockwise order.

If attendees are late entering the meeting, simply pause the meeting and assign a position to the new attendee so that those already in the meeting can assign a visual location to the new person. Ask the new member to give a short introduction and quickly state his or her purpose in the meeting. In order to minimize the disruption, simply allow to call to continue rather than going through introductions again.

For more information on affordable conference calls visit FlyConferencing.com

Recording Conference Calls

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Conference calls are an important communication tool for your business. They allow you to hold important discussions with coworkers across the globe, meet with clients no matter where they are located and conduct training for staff. The usefulness of conference calls can be further expanded by recording them for your clients.

Recording conference calls does several things that make them good tools as a client service. Firstly, when attendees know the meeting is being recorded, they are more likely to keep their remarks civil and to the point. This keeps the meeting professional and saves time, since those who know they are being recorded are much less likely to ramble on about a topic.

Not only does recording meetings keep them civil and professional, it makes them more productive. Because attendees can listen to the meeting again at any time, they will spend less time taking notes and more time paying attention to the meeting.

All this works to make a top-notch session that you can share with your clients. These meetings demonstrate your company’s expertise and serve as vital educational tools to teach clients about your products and services. Instead of scheduling meetings with a client, you can offer them a recording of the meeting that they can watch on their own schedule.

Recording conference calls also offers more flexibility for your clients. If an important person from a client organization cannot attend, the meeting will not need to be rescheduled. It can simply be played back later for anyone who missed the meeting.

For more information on conference calls visit FlyConferencing.com