Maximize your conferencing ROI by implementing multiple platforms

When investigating various (web) collaboration platforms, many companies make a gross assumption that a single platform can meet all of the various needs throughout the enterprise. Or that you must sign up individual contracts with providers of various web conferencing platform providers (e.g. WebEx, Microsoft Live, etc.) Is that so? No. 

Enterprises are better off consolidating all these services through a single, conference services provider to gain cost reduction, process simplification, and billing consolidation. This consolidation can be facilated very well by a trusted "Telecom Advocate".

Because of the changing  technology and products available today, a hybrid approach can be the most economical and dynamic conferencing solution for your enterprise.

Companies that have implemented multiple platforms conferencing solutions, in my experience, have enjoyed multiple benefits. These benefits range from better customer engagement, efficient inner-organizational communications, simplification & consolidation, automated on & off boarding of employees, and overall reduction in "toatal cost of conferencing".

Are you in the process of selecting a conferencing platform? Why not consider the hybrid alternative? This white paper will explore multi-platform approach and why implementing multiple platforms through a single-source Conferencing Service Provider (CSP), as well as implementing multiple price models will help you achieve maximum enterprise conferencing ROI.

After reading the provided White Paper you should have all the information needed to understand:

• How to approach a collaboration platform provider decision
• How to establish key decision criteria
• The advantages of implementing multiple platforms through a single-source Conferencing Service Provider.

Would you like download the white paper now?

 

Image courtesy of Flickr user the promedia group

6 Things to Look for in Business Video Conferencing Services

One of my former hats in Corporate America was as a Worldwide Marketing Manager for HP. As a result, I am very interested in the changing marketing landscape as we embrace "The New Rules of Marketing," and how agency's are using technology to leverage and differentiate themselves.

I found this particular white paper titled, "SimpleVideo Meetings: How Agencies Bond with Clients, Build Stronger Teams & Do More with Less, " written by  PGI,* loaded with useful information for marketers as well as small and medium businesses interested in exploring how they can develop stronger relationships through the power of video conferencing.

According to this white paper, the following six tips will give the necessary insight and strategies when considering a video conferencing service:

1. Ease of Use: Ideally, a video conferencing service should be as easy as making a phone call or signing into a website.

2. Affordability and Reliability: Many corporate video networks are costly, complex and prone to technical difficulties. Internet-based services largely avoid such issues.

3. Simplicity: Online meeting platforms typically distract users with too many features, clunky interfaces and required downloads. Focus on technology that is ready for everyone, emphasizes the people communicating, and allows sharing of simple content, like videos, documents and social media links.

4. Privacy: Marketing users should have a private room or space to preserve confidentiality.

5. Always on Availiability: Because schedules are tight, look for tools that enable spontaneous video meetings, without arduous set-up or scheduling process.

5. Support for Multiple Users: Meetings often require more than two people; make sure the service can integrate the entire team.

6. Mobility: User-friendly mobile interfaces and seamless integration with smartphones, tablets and other handheld devices.

There's never been a greater need for agency's and small/medium businesses to differentiate themselves for relevance and competitive advantage. In my opinion, this white paper will help you decide if video conferencing is the right fit for you and provide you with a low cost video conferencing solution.

 

 

 

*PGI-Premier Global Sevices Inc.

Photograph: All rights reserved by the promedia group

One Thing That Could Hurt Your Company Image!

Don’t confuse me with the facts, or the conferencing details for that matter!

Of all the details in life that I have to deal with, the intricacies of conference calls are not some of them.

Just like your name, your company’s image is the most valuable thing it owns. It takes years to establish and just a few moments of carelessness to ruin it.

Have you ever contemplated a teleconferencing service in the same context as office decor, caterer, donuts or hand outs? Probably not. Those costly business expenses are not on my radar or my budget.

“Uhha, for that conference call, how many donuts do we need?”

So many details!

Is there damage to my companies’ image is if the conferencing costs participants more than the hosting company? Does your company become a walking billboard for a service that is allegedly “free” to you but is costly for the attendees?  That can’t be good, could it?  Are your products and services free to your customers, as your conferencing is to you? I don’t think so.

In conferencing, whether it is voice, web or multi-media do you really want to trust your company’s image to a conferencing service that has “free” built into its name. Unlike the song “Born Free”, free doesn’t have the ring it should if your image is at stake.  Contact us to keep your companies image intact at a price for which you won’t be surprised.

5 Ways to Avoid Taking Your Conference Calls to the Lavatory

At one time or another, we have been on a conference call that has, in a manner of speaking, taken a turn
into the wrong room.

“Back in the day” when wireless microphones started to be in vogue, our conference speaker stepped into the lavatory to get freshened up before he was to speak.  With a filled conference room awaiting the main event, suddenly there was a roar of water over the audio system.  This became the first documented case of a public toilet flush being broadcast to a live audience.

Today, many of us have flexible work environments. This can be a challenge when in engaging in a business conference call. How can we, regardless of our environment, keep the quality of our conference calls up to  “conference room” standards?

Here are 5 Principals of Conference Call Etiquette that will help keep your call in the “right room.”

1. Become familiar with the mute function of your conference technology. Always pretend that your phone is live and any unplanned event will be taken care of.
   
   
2. Plan your lunch around the conference call, not the other way around. Conference time is not the time to multi-task.

Hearing me munch on a BLT can have two reactions. It can make you hungry or irritated that I have thought so little of my conferencing peers to not give them my full attention.

1. Hold your conference call in your “quiet place” and leave all the distractions to others who have not yet learned from the mistakes of the past.

It may be easy to find a quiet place at the office. But do you have a quiet place to work from at home? With 2 dogs, 2 cats and an active grandson to contend with, that is quite a challenge for me.  I schedule my conference calls the days and times I am at my elderly parent’s home, where peace and serenity reigns. This has become my “quiet place”.

1. Be on time, to the point, organized and prepared.

There is nothing worse than a moderator who “punts” or (pardon the pun) who “calls it in” by not being prepared.

5. Set the rules of engagement and protocol.

Conference call attendees should know that a presenter has an allotted time before responding. When questions are asked there should be enough time for the audience to think of a response. When a participant begins to dominate it should be suggested that the conversation should be taken “off line” for a more lengthy exploration of the topic.

All in all, these five principals of Conference Call Etiquette should help you to be a more effective conference leader.

Are “Free Conferencing Services” really free?

Have you been considering using a free conferencing service but have wondered, what’s the catch? After all, we’ve all heard the saying, “If sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Does this old saying hold true for "Free Conferencing services?"

You may have wondered then, what’s the skinny on free conferencing services? Does it make sense for my small business? Is there something they are not telling me? Fortunately, there are only two things to take into consideration: the real cost to your pocketbook and the real but intangle cost to the integrity of your brand.  

Your pocketbook: Free conferencing services can be completely free but only under the following one condition: If all your associates, your customers and clients have  access to unlimited toll free plan on their phone or mobile service. Otherwise, if you have a 6 cents per mintute long distance plan from your phone company, that is your per minutes cost of "Free Conferencing! Multiply that by the number of participants on the call with similar plans! Another question, how will your clients and prospects feel about having to pay for toll calls in order to connect with you? How about the corporate conference rooms that don't allow long distance calls?

Your brand: This is what I call the intangible, tangible, because the impression you make will eventually find its way to your bottom line. Free conferencing call services will diminish your brand by announcing the magic word, FREE to your participants as they enter the call. And no one ever misses the word FREE! Does your organization sound “too cheap” or “small” to risk working with?

The Free Conferencing services try to overcome both those barriers by providing you with a customized greeting and  800 toll free plan. However, this toll plan can cost as much as 10 cents per participants per call. Ten participants on a call for 60 minutes can easily cost you $60.00 an hour. Twenty such calls per month will cost you over $1200 a month! This cost is twice the cost of a  traditional full service conferencing plan with rates under 5 cents per minute, per user, and lower if under a contract!

The bottom line:

Are Free Conferencing Services too good to be true?

Unless you and everyone you employ as well as do business with have 24/7 access to unlimited toll free services, the answer is a resounding YES, it is too good to be true! And, it can cost you twice as much or more than traditional conferencing services!

Want to know more about small business conferencing options?



Five things to consider about your telecom services when moving

Five ways to improve telecom costs, productivity, and experience when moving:

Telecom services are rarely a proactive consideration in site selection when mid-sized businesses are moving.  And  yet, this could be a costly mistake.  Here are five smart decisions:

1. Move to a “LIT” building to reduce costs & installation time.
2. Consider switching from point-to-point circuits to MPLS.
3. Consider a VoIP Phone System to improve productivity
4. Consider Dynamic IP or VoIP/SIP network services to increase flexibility and reduce cost.
5. Co-location of voice & data infrastructure at a carrier neutral data center.

It is amazing to note that many businesses leave one of their most important business assets behind i.e. their phone number or settle for a very expensive call forwarding option, simply because they did not get good advice before the move. Especially given the telecom options that are available today, why should one compromize?

If you knew that you could reduce your total monthly costs by 20% or more, would it be worth considering telecom as a part of your site selection and move plan?

Your creative insights and inputs are welcome:  If you have found other ways to lower overall monthly costs as a result of telecom planning in site selection, your comments are welecome and will be appeciated by all. Thanks.

Contact US if you are planning a move and would like some telecom advice about your move.

Does your Telecom Carrier deserve your loyalty and recommendation?

 

Is your Telecom Carrier improving the relationship and earning your loyalty? Understand and compare the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and decide for yourself.

What is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and why does it have the power to leverage relationships? The NPS gauges how likely your customers are to refer you to others. This helps leading corporations keep a pulse on customer satisfaction levels. (Visit www.netpromoter.com for more details). 

Many leading businesses actively seek ways to leverage customer relationships and increase their visibility.They appreciate the power “word of mouth” and referrals have.They use NPS scores as an indicator of their success. According to Fred Reicheld in his book, " The Ultimate Question”, the average U.S. company has an NPS score of 15. Industry stars such as Costco, Apple and FedEx’ score 50 or higher. So how is the telecom industry doing? While the good news is that some of the smaller  telecom companies have NPS scores of +17, the  larger ones have scores in the range of -14 to -27? Would you believe that the average NPS score for the telecom industry is -4! Is this acceptable?

As we maneuver through this New Economy, we are all looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity. Unfortunately, It is  not uncommon to hear telecom industry stories where companies  have had to settle for less than stellar service and a lot of pain.

When customers are not likely to refer telecom service providers or telecom agents to others, what are the chances the customers are getting the best bang for their dollar? 

What is your telecom provider's NPS? Are they leveraging you?

Isn't it time we demand higher Net Promoter Scores from the telecom industry? Why should your business be deprived of the service you need and deserve? 

Do you agree or do you disagree? We'd love to hear your story!