Posted by Kathleen S on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 @ 08:07 AM
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.
Posted by Kathleen S on Sat, Oct 10, 2009 @ 07:20 PM
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.
Posted by Kathleen S on Fri, Oct 02, 2009 @ 08:38 AM
Web conferencing is a growing alternative for business people looking to save expenses and time. It allows users to communicate interactively via shared desktops, document sharing, instant messaging and voice. These features let you collaborate with others easily rather than working on many back and forth emails and phone calls. It is far more efficient to get everyone together in one room through web conferencing.
Web conferencing is as easy to use as any web site. The intuitive interface means you only need to point and click to invite attendees, interact on a project and save the meeting for later reference. 24/7 customer support ensures your meetings always go smoothly.
Before you invest in a web conference service provider, make sure you will actually get a reasonable return on your investment. The best way to do this is to use a provider that charges per use instead of by the month. This way you have a solid return on your investment and you can even allocate the expense to each project.
Make sure you choose a web conferencing provider that can meet all your needs. Many have more than one popular name-brand platform for you to host your meeting. If you get a service with excellent customer support, you will get a free tutorial or even a live walk through with a customer service agent. This is very important to minimizing the learning curve and ensuring you are up and running as soon as possible.
Posted by Kathleen S on Thu, Oct 01, 2009 @ 07:30 AM
Small businesses cannot afford unhappy customers. Growing and turning a profit requires that you continue to maintain satisfied existing customers while acquiring new ones. To accomplish this, you need an efficient, affordable and fast customer support system in place that benefits both your customer service support personnel and your customers. You are probably already using audio and Web conferencing for business contacts around the world, but have you considered what these services can do for your customer support operations?
Most companies maintain customer service agents through a call centers, instant messaging and email. While these are useful avenues, you can save a lot by switching to audio and Web conferencing for the majority of your customer service support questions. Audio conferencing is much more affordable than call centers and Web conferencing offers the benefits of sharing documents and applications with clients while providing instant messaging or voice communications at the same time.
By switching to Internet-based conferencing solutions for customer support, you are no longer limited geographically for your customer service hiring needs. Many companies outsourced customer service to foreign countries, only to learn that their customers detested speaking with individuals with poor English skills. By instead using a combination of audio and Web conferencing, combined with native English speakers where the prevailing wage is lower, you can accomplish the same savings without sacrificing customer service.
Another problem with telephone support and instant messaging is the inability to show customers visually how to fix a problem. When you use an audio conferencing service that also offers Web conferencing, you can easily turn the phone call into a Web conference and show customers how to resolve their product questions. This leads to quicker problem resolutions and few onsite customer support calls. Together these conferencing tools will save your business time and money allowing you to service more customers in less time and a lower cost.
Posted by Kathleen S on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 @ 07:55 AM
When you have settled on your web conferencing provider, take a minute to look at the provider’s free tutorial to familiarize yourself with all of the provider’s features. Some providers will even call you to walk you through your first conference and be sure you understand the system.
Ease of Use
In the tutorial, you will see just how easy web conferencing can be. The internet has accelerated the development of communications to the point where the speed will amaze you. These fast communications allow programs to run over the internet instead of on your PC, making communicating even easier. Nothing to download. Nothing to update.
Customer Service
You will also learn about the customer service your provider offers. 24/7 help gives you the confidence to go ahead with your first web conference because you know there is always someone there to help. Even very computer savvy individuals sometimes have difficulty learning a new system, so having someone available is important.
Flexibility
Finally, you will learn how flexible and simple web conferencing is with reservationless conferences. You can meet with anyone, anywhere, anytime for as long as you wish. You can place calls to others and route them into the web conference whenever you need to, making it easy to call in someone for a quick question in the middle of a meeting.
Your tutorial will show you everything you need to know and get you up and on your first web conference in just a few short minutes.
Posted by Kathleen S on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 @ 02:00 PM
Webinars generate highly qualified leads and can be used to educate or up sell current customers. You can arrange webinars easily and affordably with your web conferencing provider. Here is how you can prepare your marketing webinar to ensure it works for you.
The first step is to define your objectives. Are you looking to generate new leads, solidify client relationships, up sell or educate? Each of these objectives requires a different strategy in your presentation and in the promotion of your webinar event.
Attend your email campaigns carefully. Test different subject lines. Be sure the message is personalized with a “from” field indicating an actual person in your company and a use greeting that addresses the recipient personally. Try out long and short copy and see what works best.
If you are seeking new leads, focus on educational content for those considering the purchase of a similar product. Webinars that explain benefits and features as they relate to any popular topic are highly effective. If you are working with existing leads, “how-to” webinars work well for increasing awareness of other related products or peripherals.
Next, plan your content and timeline. You should begin marketing for your webinar as soon as you start planning the content. Expect a lead-time of three to six months in preparing for your webinar. Spend that time making your presentation clear, engaging and useful. See if you can acquire a high-profile speaker for the event. During the preparation period, use PPC campaigns, email, article marketing and social media to promote the event.
You can maximize webinar attendance by timing the event properly. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are ideal, since many are at their PCs checking email at those times. Even a well-timed webinar may only get a turnout with half the registered users. Be sure you send a reminder before the webinar and follow up with those who missed the webinar, giving them a chance to view a recording. Also, do not forget to thank those who did show and make them a special offer on your product.
Posted by Kathleen S on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 04:24 PM
Running a virtual company is not for the faint of heart. It
requires intense dedication, drive and organization. Owners have employees all
over the country performing various tasks. The structure is the antithesis of an
office setting, with no bosses, no work stations and no walls.
Virtual companies let go of the security traditional offices
provide. They trade the feeling of security for the advantage of low operating
costs. Virtual companies pay no rent or real estate taxes. All workers are on a
contract basis so there is no cost of benefits or costs for complying with employment
laws. These companies gain the advantage in competition since they can provide
services more cheaply than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. If you go
virtual, follow these tips to help you stay organized and keep your company on
track.
Use Web Conferencing
Be sure to employ web conferencing for your communications,
rather than depending on telephone calls and emails. This affordable solution
allows you to share desktops, applications and documents while discussing them
in real time with your employees, no matter where they are located. This makes
for easy sharing of ideas and clearer communication because you can easily show
employees what it is you want from them.
Ditch the Paper
Virtual companies can also get rid of the paperwork. With
web conferencing, you can share documents with your existing clients simply and
easily. For marketing, virtual companies find that marketing with web
conferencing is much cheaper than traditional snail mail marketing. By sending
targeted emails, virtual marketers also increase response rates over postal
campaigns.
Hire and Reward Talented Staff
The contractors you hire can make or break your virtual
company. Be sure the people you work with are technically savvy, not just in
their own field of expertise. Those with a broad-based knowledge of computers
will do well for you. Outfit you
employees with the newest and best technology and use the money you save in
overhead to provide employee bonuses that keep the most talented people with
you.
Posted by Kathleen S on Thu, Sep 03, 2009 @ 11:17 AM
A successful web marketer uses all the available web technologies at his or her disposal to communicate about a product, service or company. By using Power Point presentations with your web conferences, you supercharge your marketing efforts.
A smart PowerPoint Presentation presents an engaging communication tool for your web conference attendees. Web conferencing used with PowerPoint simply works. This web conferencing method will always deliver increased sales and leads when added to a promotional campaign.
PowerPoint has some amazing capabilities. It creates stunning visual imagery through various design templates and tools that add value to the audio of your web conference. These visuals engage audiences, making your message more readily absorbed and understood.
You can make slide shows or complex presentations with text, 3-D graphics, sound effects and animations. This livens the discussion and gives your presentation that "wow" factor needed to drive your point home.
It is easy to incorporate your brand messaging into PowerPoint presentations with graphics tools and templates. Presentations are highly customizable, making it a simple matter to present dynamic and exciting content that fits in with your overall marketing campaign.
If you are looking to convince buyers with facts and figures, PowerPoint graphs, charts and other reports make data presentation easy. You can add in slides with critical points from your data to reinforce the message as well.
Nearly everyone has heard of PowerPoint. This valuable tool makes your web conferences stand out as professional and well prepared. Sales professionals know that compelling PowerPoint presentations that include informative and useful content generate more leads and sales to an existing marketing campaign. They know that preparing a presentation and setting up a web conference is a vital part of their marketing success.
Posted by Kathleen S on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 @ 03:48 PM
Welcome to part four of our ongoing series looking at how businesses can use
audio and web conferencing to leverage the benefits of remote workers while avoiding the common
pitfalls of such work flow arrangements.
Time Management for Remote Workers
The biggest concern with virtual employees is how much they
work. Such workers often work too much and can suffer from burn out. Some may
wake up early and begin work. Without any distractions, they often find
themselves forgetting to eat and working well past office hours.
This is where an afternoon web conference becomes most
important. Have a quick meeting with your worker and ask about the day. Asses
the employee’s emotional state and be sure they are not pushing themselves too
hard. Casually asking what they had for lunch will help you be sure they are
taking appropriate breaks.
Another way to help your employees maintain structure is to
set up automated email reminders. Send one at break time, lunch and at the end
of the day, providing a friendly reminder that it is time to rest.
Stay Connected
Use instant messaging to keep your employees connected.
Allow a certain amount of freedom of personality in these messages. While they
must remain appropriate, employees also need a way to joke about their work to
release tension.
Include remote workers in company web conferences at least
once a month and be sure to include a social time in that meeting where some
simple game is played to encourage social interaction. You may also connect
workers who live near one another and encourage them to socialize after work.
Posted by Kathleen S on Fri, Jul 17, 2009 @ 11:21 AM
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.
