Conference More. Travel Less.

Posted by admin | Filed under Communications Tips

How Can Conferencing Keep You Connected?

It does not matter how small or large your corporation is communication is paramount to your success. Conference Calling will allow you to immediately connect to your clients, employees, vendors, and suppliers. Let’s face it, we are all looking to cut cost and increase revenues. As a result, corporate travel is way down. Just because you are not traveling to your remote sites and physically visiting your clients doesn’t mean that you have to lose that personal touch. Conference Calling is a perfect way to keep connected with out over spending.

Solutions by Use:

• Daily Conference Calls (reservation less)
• Web Conferencing
• Video Conferencing
• Sales Calls
• Outlook Plug-in to schedule Calls

What questions should you ask when choosing a conferencing firm?

How do I reach your company?

Ask them to provide their customer service phone number and email and try them both. Can you reach someone right away? What if you are on a live call and you need help immediately? Your time is important; do not spend it waiting on hold.

Do I need to sign a contract?

Is there a cost to sign up or a penalty to cancel? You don’t want to lock-in to a contract and discover a few months later that the quality isn’t very good or that the service doesn’t match your needs.

Do you have live controls?

These host controls allow you to manage your conference call. Ask if you can visually track participants using online controls on a web portal. This is important because it will provide you with the necessary control you need to resolve issues fast. One example, is when someone’s phone is making inappropriate noise, you will be able to see whose line it is coming from and automatically mute him or her so they do not distract others.

What service guarantees do you provide?

Ask if the company has a formal guarantee policy that is posted on their website. Ask about the technical support, the hours of operation, and how the company will solve your problems. Take note as to how fast they answer their phones. Did you have to wait on hold? That’s a good indicator of what kind of service you can expect.

Do you use voip?

Also known as “Voice over Internet Protocol” this is a technology that uses the internet to transmit your conference call data. VoIP has many uses and can be a great solution especially when sold at the enterprise level, however if you are using voip w/out any priority or cos then it can be the root of many conference call problems. This includes poor call quality. Free conferencing is attractive, and I have to admit that I have used it before but you can definitely tell the difference. In addition, some of the telephone bridges that they use are often blocked by large carriers such as ATT, QWEST, and SPRINT. This means that if your client uses AT&T, then they will not be able to join your “free” conference bridge.

Can we do a trial?

If their product is good, then they will not mind letting you try it.

I already have a conference provider.

Make sure you do a six-month review of your service. If you have been using a provider for a long time, chances are you are paying high rates. Conferencing is a very easy service to audit; just a little assessment can pay huge dividends.

We collaborate with a few top-notch conference firms, for more information or a free conference audit call us at 1-866-599-5522 or send an email to msmith@naturalnetowrksinc.com

Tags: Accuconference, AT&T teleconference, compare conference services, Free conferencing, How To conference, low cost conference, Qwest Conference, teleconference, video conference