Thankfully, there is a reliable, easy-to-use and cost-efficient solution: conferencing!

Conferencing services – be it audio conferencing or web conferencing – allow you to reach out, communicate, and interact with your partners, customers and employees anywhere in the world, for significantly less than standard business travel. Like it or not, there are certain times when conducting a traditional face-to-face meeting just isn’t possible; whether it is due to time zone or scheduling issues, sick or injured employees or any other number of reasons. Luckily, with the advancements that have been made in modern conferencing technology, you can now have the ability to conduct a conference without the inconvenience of requiring everyone to be at the same table.

By bringing your team together for an audio conference or a web conference, you not only eliminate the costs and time associated with business travel, but you also help your company become more “eco-conscious” by shrinking your business’s carbon footprint.

Audio conferencing provides a quick and easy way to connect with any number of people using either a telephone or smartphone. No matter what size your business is, there are a number of top conferencing providers – such as InterCall, the largest conferencing provider in the world – who offer a robust, comprehensive collection of services with valuable and effective features. For example, some audio conferencing services provide one or more toll-free numbers and passcodes for your participants to call and join your meetings. But what if one of your participants is unable to make the conference? Well, some audio conferencing solutions allow you to record your conference and store it for future playback.

From simple, two or three person meetings to large, operator-assisted audio conferences, there is a solution available to meet your business’s unique requirements. And here at ConferenceShopper, our wealth of expertise and established industry relationships with the leading audio and web conferencing providers allow us to off you unbiased, carrier neutral advice on services from the finest providers of audio and web conferencing.

• Prepare – create an outline or agenda for your meeting and send to all of your attendees along with a few specific review items or tasks you would like them to go over. In addition, gather any additional hosts or presenters and perform a few trial runs to get everyone acquainted with the available conferencing features. This will prevent any confusion on the day of your meeting and help iron out any unforeseen issues.
• K.I.S.S. – stands for Keep It Simple (Stupid/Smarty/any other ‘S’ word you see fit). The last thing anyone wants to do is be stuck in a meeting that should have ended 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes ago. If all you require is a brief conversation, don’t feel as though you need to entertain everyone on the line as long as possible. As a general rule of thumb, larger web and audio conferences should be kept around the one hour mark, while smaller more intimate conferences typically last around 30 minutes.
• Watch – if you’re holding an audio conferencing call and are concerned that one or more of your participants are on the call but not engaged, consider integrating web conferencing into your meeting. With real-time video feeds you’ll be able to see each participant throughout your meeting, which leads to less sneaking off or multi-tasking on the job.
• Inform – prior to starting your meeting, send out an email to all participants that covers the topics that will be discussed and provide a clear list of objectives and expected outcomes that you are looking for. As a side note, it wouldn’t hurt to add in a few reasons why your meeting will help make their day/week/etc. easier and enhance performance.
• Ask – unexpected questions will keep participants on their toes and focused, making them less likely to multi-task. It’s not unusual for one or more attendees to hold off on making comments or suggesting ideas because they are unsure of when to jump in and add their input. If you feel you are not getting enough participation from certain attendees feel free to direct questions specifically at them.
• Audio conference hosts, might want to try asking all participants to leave their mute buttons off so they are less likely to be tempted by distractions (although if mobile workers are located in an area with a lot of background noise this might not be an option).
• Provide – web and audio conferences require just as much planning and forethought as face-to-face meetings, so be sure to offer your participants an informative, memorable experience.

More Information

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Event conferencing lets you to view your meeting participants in real-time on the web. Interactive features, such as a question and answer sessions and polling, make it ideal for product roll outs, sales kick offs, employee seminars or webinars, and press releases. With the addition of power point demonstrations, white boarding and document sharing, event conferencing offers quality that rivals face-to-face meetings. A record and play back feature give participants the ability to return to the event, even after it is over – to assist in information retention and so those who missed the meeting have a chance to catch up on their own time.

Many of today’s service providers continuously develop their audio and web conferencing solutions in order to meet the requirements of modern business presentations. In addition to conference solutions, providers often supply ‘extras’ essential in a web conference, such as lighting, sound, projection, recording, video layouts, etc. Their main goal is to create a realistic atmosphere virtually, while saving you a colossal amount on travel time and expenditures.

Audio conferencing software enhances the power of virtual connections, and is especially useful technology for today’s businesses. A professionally designed audio conference is an efficient, cost-effective alternative to travel, and considered a “green” solution because it decreases your company’s carbon footprint.

“…And let’s put it below this paragraph here.”

“What if we changed this color to green?”

“Then we’ll need to adjust this, too.”

Sound familiar? While it is possible for projects to be finished in this manner, having multiple team members huddle around a single computer screen is far from ideal.

What if everyone on your team could sit at their own desk while working? Web conferencing services provide real-time interaction across the hallway – or the country – so you can receive instant feedback on your creations without the messy fingerprints on your monitor or straining your neck trying to see the monitor.

Web conferencing rivals face-to-face meetings, and is quickly becoming a standard tool for businesses of all types and sizes worldwide. Anything you can do in an in-person meeting can also be accomplished in a virtual meeting – while reducing overall expenses (including travel costs, materials, etc.) and increasing productivity. For example:

The creative process could go so much more smoothly. When that’s done, send the marketing director an invite to the virtual meeting for final approvals.

Let’s compare:

• An in-person meeting requires pricey projection equipment in order to let attendees view and share information on the same screen; web conferencing permits desktop sharing where attendees can view and share information and files with the click of a mouse from the comfort of their own computer.
• An in person meeting allows participants to take control of a desktop to present and share data or for web browsing; a web conference provides participants with the same functionality from their own personal computer.
• An in person meeting provides presenters with crucial eye contact and the ability to read body language, allowing them to alter their meeting to keep their audience engaged; with web conferencing, presenters are able to pick-up on those same important visual cues via webcam. In addition, web conferences services often provide special features, including real-time Q&A, interactive whiteboard and annotation tools, as well as the ability to record your meetings for future playback.

In a ReadyConference Plus, one account is required for each person who will be hosting the conference. The person to host is given a toll, toll free number and a unique passcode to be use every time call is held. There are several features included in a ReadyConference Plus conferencing such as lock conference, special security options, mute lines, record your conference and etc.

Premiere Global Services ReadyConference® Plus Benefits:

• Dedicated dial-in number, passcode and Web link – for easy and convenient access, dial-in number, passcode and Web link is provided.
• Easy to use – This allows you to handle your meeting through phone or Web Audio controls, so no more training needed.
• Cost Effective – you only have to pay the time you use in a low, per- minute rate. The price for Web and audio is separate, giving you the option to choose only one or both.
• Add Visuals on Demand – provides a full support for slide functions and allows   incorporation of audio and video tool.
• Uploading Presentations is Easy – can easily access and store numerous presentations from your own online library and also allows addition of presentations before or during your meeting.
• 24/7 Customer Support – customer service is available anytime.

Premiere Global Services ReadyConference® Plus Features

Moderator Control Panel – that allows you to handle particular action such as:

• Controlling the slides being viewed by participants.
• Making point with Annotation Tool.
• Jumping to a particular slide within your selected presentation.
• Loading presentations before or during your meeting and storing unlimited number of presentations.
• Displaying slides with full animation support.
• Expanding /collapsing audio management window.
• Controlling audio including individual line muting, volume control and disconnect.
• Displaying presentation slide notes.
• Inviting attendees after the meeting has started
• Contact an operator for live support (or dial *0).

Dynamic Indicators – that makes the meetings more productive such as:

• Participants -joining meeting by just a-click entry through an email invitation web link.
• Icons – indicating that participant had already joined the meeting whether by web or phone.
• Active Talker Icon – identifying who’s speaking.
• Chat and Raise Hand controls – allowing participants to communicate with Moderator without intervening the meeting.

Several years ago, conferencing was limited to analog signals sent through copper cables. Conventional conferencing technology largely involves the use of basic telephony for the implementation of calling conferences between geographically separate locations. Modern conferencing technology greatly advanced with the onset of the World Wide Web. Nowadays, modern fiber optic and wireless technologies has drastically revolutionized conferencing options for all sectors of society. It is now infinitely faster, considerably cheaper, and highly accessible to more and more consumers in the whole of the communications industry.

At present, conferencing technology is available in a large number of specialized applications. Now, consumers can select from a large number of conferencing options to address their unique conferencing needs. From operator-assisted conferences to webinars to sub conferencing options, the face of modern day conferencing is far different from conferencing technologies a decade ago. Businesses who want to have an edge over their competition can take advantage of highly specialized conferencing services like web conferencing to effectively expedite business communications.

Conferencing Solutions Have a Wide Number of Business Uses

Today, communications involving multiple parties are essential for the success of many a business. From promotional sales presentations to company-wide announcements, businesses can make use of conferencing applications for more efficient information dispersal to the most number of constituents in with the least effort and time involved.
Correspond with partners to discuss company strategies and objectives by using a highly specialized conferencing tools. Inform and train employees through highly interactive online discussions. Connect with clients from geographically dispersed locations simultaneously and in real-time. These and a lot more are only some of the most vital functions of next-generation conferencing technology. ConferenceShopper.com provides your business with all of your conferencing needs.

Take Advantage of Converged Audio and Video Conferencing Solutions at Conferenceshopper.Com

Conference Shopper also provides clients with the latest advances in converged audio and video conferencing solutions. At present, unified audio/video conferencing technology is much more accessible to a wider range of businesses. The advent of cheap conferencing technology by reason of the World Wide Web has caused the development of highly specialized conferencing applications to service the unique and varied needs of every business type. At ConferenceShopper.com, businesses can choose from a huge selection of conferencing services for the perfect conferencing solution.

More and more learning institutions have been using audio and video transmission to communicate with students and fellow educators. Classroom videoconferencing is becoming more and more popular especially for higher education students with limited time, money or with physical disability.

Distance learning is often confused with classroom videoconferencing. However, they are not synonymous. Distance learning refers to the method of teaching between teachers and students in two different locations, while videoconferencing is a tool used to bridge the gap caused by lack of physical interaction in the classroom. And how videoconferencing really works in a classroom depends on how the teacher uses it.

Maximizing Videoconferencing

Here are some tips to maximize the use of videoconferencing.

• Plan your conference for early in the day when the Internet is less congested.
• When in a building, tell everyone that you need all the bandwidth and so if it is possible if they stay off-line during your scheduled conference.
• Strategically assign the placement of your students on camera.
• Test your connection to your partner or class. Use a direct connection if possible.
• Conduct trial runs with your students so they would know how to be in the conference.
• Be proactive. Expect for the worst. If the server is down, postpone it.
• Beware of unexpected incoming hook-up requests.
• Mentoring is a great experience for young learners and can be done with videoconferencing. They get to compare and exchange ideas with each other.
• Arrange for your computer specialists to conference with your class and answer technical questions.

On top of these tips, classroom videoconferencing involves careful planning and preparation on the part of the teacher and the students. For it to be effective there has to be a purpose for each conference. A well planned videoconferencing can be one of the most exciting and motivating learning experience for students.