Recording Conference Calls

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

Must Have Home Business Tools

If you have a home based business, there are five basic tools that you should have. Your home office is your communication center and working quickly and efficiently allows you to maximize profits. These five must have tools for your home based business will keep you working smarter instead of harder to maximize profits.

Computer

Obviously, you need a computer. But not just any computer will do. The basic features you will need in a computer are a good operating system, high-speed USB and a fast CPU. When it comes to operating systems, there are many business owners there who are not crazy about Vista. High-speed USB is needed for all your peripherals and a fast CPU will ensure you can jump from application to application with little waiting time.

Scanner

Scanners are usually needed for home based businesses, allowing you to eliminate the filing cabinet and lost paperwork. Be sure to choose one with auto-feed so you can quickly digitize multi-page documents. You can organize documents in folders by client or adopt a document imaging software that allows you to manage the documents into many searchable categories and subcategories.

Website

A business simply cannot compete without an Internet site that provides potential customers with information about your business and what you can offer them. A blogging site is the accepted norm these days, allowing you to publish material that shows the authority you have in your line of business. When customers read what you have to say about the business, they see that you are a professional who knows what you are doing.

Internet Fax

While fax may seem like a thing of the past, it is still alive and well for many. Having an eFax service is essential for reaching customers, especially in Business-to-Business environments. These services are usually low cost and user-friendly, allowing you to send fax messages by email.

Conference Calls

You can reach customers world wide with the Internet, but you can’t have a good conversation with multiple members of a potential customer’s business without conferencing. Conference call providers make it easy for the small fish to swim like a big fish, offering all of the services of fully integrated telephone and web conferencing systems. By choosing a reputable service that offers both reserved conference calls and reservationless calls, you get everything you need to present your services in the best light to potential clients no matter where they are located.

Do I Need Web Conferencing?

Web conference is an excellent tool for client communications, both for sales and customer service. However, not all situations are ideal for web conferencing. There are many times when web conferences are ideal and occasional times when in person meetings or regular audio only conference calls are preferable.

Save Travel Expense

Web conference saves thousands in travel expenses including airline tickets, hotel stays and meals for your employees. They also save enormous amounts of time for your employees. Travel time alone results in wasted productivity that you are paying for in your employees’ regular salaries.

Revising Information

These conferences also work well to replace calls when you need to cover the same issues again. By providing recorded copies of web conferences to clients, they can simply watch the conference again, saving your time. It also allows the client to share the information easily with others in the client’s organization without the necessity of a second meeting for higher executives who were unable to or simply did not attend.

Frequent Meetings

Frequent, routine meetings that must be held on a weekly or monthly basis benefit from web conferencing as well. Employees who attend these meetings do not need to be relocated so that they can attend such sessions. Save your company the employee relocation expense by holding a web conference every week or month instead.

When Pressed for Time

When time is short, web conference is much better than a face-to-face meeting. In today’s fast-paced business environment, time can mean the difference between winning or losing a client over a competitor. Web meetings save time allowing you to accomplish the business at hand quickly and efficiently, giving you an advantage over the competition.

When In-Person is Better

While teleconference is a tool that saves businesses travel and relocation expenses on a regular basis, while facilitating quick and convenient communication, it is not the ideal tool for building new client relationships or for discussing delicate issues.
First impressions are vital to building trust and friendships with new clients. The web conference cannot replace in person meetings for such situations. Only after a strong rapport has been established should you begin using web conferences with your clients. Salespersons can miss vital physical cues from potential clients that would otherwise allow him to steer communications in a direction that leads to a closed sale. In addition, topics involving vital strategic business decisions, or sensitive employee issues should always be held face to face in a private location.

For more information on bundled web conferencing and conference calling services, visit FlyConferencing.com. 

Free Conference Calls - Reviews and FAQs

When Web conferencing first emerged on the scene as a communication option to bridge the geographic boundaries companies were facing, the technology was less than optimal. Connections were somewhat slow, communications were choppy and the ability to get a clear picture of the other party and important key elements to the conference was practically non-existent. These challenges certainly kept many from even attempting to implement this process internally.

Fast forward to today and the technology options available in Web conferencing make the experience almost as good as being in the same room. High speed connections, high definition video and digital audio all create a virtual experience that can also incorporate shared documents and applications to keep everyone on the same page. Despite these technological advances, however, some companies are still hesitant to implement this communication option.

The Benefits Examined
Whether it is a fear of the unknown or worry over the security of such communications, let's take a look at the benefits that Web conferencing can provide.
• Support - when a key player on your team is located in another city, state or country, you need to be able to collaborate on a consistent basis. Web conferencing provides the perfect portal so you can get - and give - the necessary support to keep your projects moving forward.

• Experience - when a project is on the table that can make or break your fiscal year, do you really want the weight of the entire thing solely on you? Web conferencing allows you to draw from your more experienced colleagues and bring them into the process.

• Safety in Numbers - some can always produce a better outcome than one. When you incorporate Web conferencing into the process, you can draw on ideas and opinions of others to produce a better overall result.

• Learning - it is always more productive to learn by talking and interacting with others than it is by simply reading on your own.

• Contact - regular contact with other members of your team is so important for optimal performance in any situation. When you take advantage of the technologies available to you, the outcome is better for all involved.
In an ideal environment, you have the optimal time to spend on projects or other initiatives that drive revenue for the company and move business initiatives forward. If collaboration with offsite team members is necessary and beneficial, Web conferencing allows you to have that access without spending wasted hours traveling. At the same time, you can schedule these conferences according to everyone's calendar to derive the most benefit. Streamlined communication really can drive results; take advantage of the technology to make it happen.

 

Non-Profit Conference Calling: Cut Travel Costs Today

Even small non-profit organizations often have employees, fund providers and volunteers located across the country and even throughout the world. Email and telephone communications will make up the bulk of your communication, but they are not well suited to brainstorming sessions or working out the details of funding initiatives and events.

Cut Costs with Audio Conferencing

It does not make sense for non-profit organizations to waste precious funding on travel expenses. It is much more cost effective to use toll free audio conferencing to communicate with groups on projects. All parties can meet together at the same time, facilitation quick and productive communication and planning.

How Audio Conferences differ from Traditional Meetings

There are some obvious differences between traditional meetings and toll free audio conferencing sessions. Travel costs are the most obvious. Lost productivity is another. Audio conferencing eliminates travel expenditures and reduces lost productivity due to travel time.

Audio conferences are also run a little differently than in -person meetings. Because audio conferences prevent visual connections between participates, a moderator will run the meeting and help attendees put names to voices during the meeting. He or she will also run the agenda and steer the meeting towards its goals.

Why Toll Free Conferencing?

Toll free audio conferencing will cost much less than traditional meetings. The toll-free number and conferencing service are the only costs. No more paying for hotel rooms and airplane tickets. By using a toll free number, you help reinforce your organization’s legitimacy and importance in the eyes of funders. For volunteers, it is only polite to offer a toll free number rather than making them pay for the cost of a phone call in addition to volunteering services.

Advantages to Audio Conferencing

Audio conferencing offers advantages beyond savings in cost. It is also better because these meetings are easy to record and transcribe, giving you valuable reference material for future meetings, planning and presentations. It allows those who missed the meeting to secure necessary information to move forward on initiatives.

Whether your non-profit organization is large or small, you will benefit from toll free audio conferencing. Occasional, smaller meetings benefit most from a pay-per use plan. Large organizations may prefer a monthly subscription service for the most economical rate. 

For more information on affordable conference calling services visit FlyConferencing.com.   If you need non profit conference calling services or discounts, check out http://www.c3conferencing.com. 

Discount Audio and Web Conferencing: Key Words and Definitions

Anytime we talk about technology, many of us get scared, eyes glaze over or we attempt to use language that is at best "fuzzy" to us and likely others. 

Whether you are an assistant looking at conferencing options to present to your boss, a manager looking to pitch conferencing services to their board or staff, or anyone looking to communicate their communication needs to their IT staff; we wanted to attempt to demystify the audio and web conference calling lingo.  Here are a few common key phrases and definitions to understand.  We will try to have a few blog postings this week on additional keywords.

Moderator - The person facilitating the conference or event. The moderator can be the person leading or hosting the event, however it is usually most productive if the moderator is a person other than the primary speaker.

Conference Quickstart. Conference Quickstart allows a host to turn off Music on Hold so participants may start the conference prior to the host joining.

Host dial-out.  Instant connect allows a host to dial-out from the conference to bring in an expert, other participants, or initiate a meeting "on the fly".  InstantConnect may be launched using a DTMF command or fly View.

DTMF or Dual Tine Multi-Frequency signals - Also called touch-tone dialing. The tones that are heard when you press the buttons on a touch-tone telephone.

Web conferencing - A term that describes the industry forming around the creation of virtual events. This industry is a convergence of technology developed to provide cost-effective interactive communication channels for individuals and businesses. Webcast A presentation in which a live event is recorded and streamed over the Internet, or archived for viewing at a later time.

You can read about more definitions and keywords at www.flyconferencing.com/glossary.