Teleconferencing is, possibly, the most efficient communication breakthrough of the 20th century. The thinking is to enable a group (three or more people) interactive communication through an electronic medium between people at many locations!

Teleconferencing is being used in the following ways nowadays: – Audio conferencing, making use of telephones – Video conferencing, employing interactive televisions with sound, – Computer conferencing, employing printed communication via computers and keyboards.

Bonuses:

Voluminous cost saving on group meetings that includes cost of traveling, setting up the venue, food, and other related costs.

Meetings are focused and a lower amount of time is lost.

People and speakers who cant spare effort for face-to-face meetings can participate.

Disadvantages:

The most basic problem with teleconferencing is technical failure. A nightmare for all organizers, teleconferencing also requires basic training or orientation for participants in use of resources. Teleconferencing is also a hindrance in interpersonal communication required for negotiation and bargaining.

It is also cumbersome to break ice during a teleconference and establish a rapport between participants. A profitable teleconference depends on detailed planning of the event.

The upcoming tips can help you have a better teleconferencing session:

Think through the Agenda

It is positively imperative that you plan your items on the agenda. The agenda itself ought to be clear, well defined and should spell out the expectations from the participants. Keep in mind the participation and if you expect an input from everyone on every item, then make sure that you have built in sufficient time for the meeting. Also, indicate to the participants that they go through the agenda before the teleconference.

Technically Sound

It is necessary that all participants have prior access to dial in number and pass-codes. You must also convey if you are offering a toll-free number. Check all materials before the conference and ensure that you have a back plan for technology failure.

Getting there

If you are the facilitator, it makes sense to be the first one online. A team-building activity could help get the meeting to a good start (specifically if the group is diverse and is meeting for the first time!). Be careful to substantiate the protocol and the talking order to avoid confusion and an arrangement where one person monopolizes the meeting.

Teleconferencing Etiquette

Least disturbance should be the decorum of all teleconferences. As a participant it is your job description to insure that you dont introduce noise in the form of noisy background, buzzing sounds of low grade cordless phones, reception errors of cell phones any other noise like rustling paper or tapping pens. If the calls are long, the organizers must offer breaks at previously decided times.

If the call is an international one, be aware of accents and avert speaking too fast.

Other Tips for Organizers – Use names to get notice. – Use more than one user to break monologue and boredom. – Involve everybody and if required go around in circles asking for input. – During breaks, pair off people to facilitate interaction. – Share duties, like taking notes, with participants to encourage interaction. – Do take constructive criticism for which you need to be ready with constructive criticism forms.



Thanks to John Thompson for contributing this article to our Conferencing blog:

How To Video Conference

If you want to make money in an online business, then you need to find a product or service that is fresh, up-to-date and that hasn’t been beaten to death with hundreds of copy-cat affiliates. Web and video conferencing are relatively new applications, and becoming a reseller of online conferencing services could be a good way to start up or add to an already existing online business. Let’s take a look at the prospects for this type of online enterprise.

First of all, web and video conferencing is an up-and-coming field of activity. Business is becoming increasingly globalized and many companies now have staff or clients located in distant locations, sometimes in other countries or on other continents. Online meetings are being used by some of the leading enterprises, but there are many more organizations that have not even begun to take advantage of web or video conferencing.

This is a huge market waiting to be tapped, and with the increasing penetration of broadband use both in the workplace and at home, the market grows larger with each passing month.

Just as there are relatively few companies using web and video conferencing, there are comparatively few resellers or affiliate sellers of these services to compete with. If you would like to get into this business then you should do an online search for web conferencing resellers or affiliates, and choose a program that you can effectively handle.

Typically, affiliate programs for these kinds of services are easy to enter. In many cases all you have to do is sign up and get an affiliate code or url and paste it onto your website and you are in business. However, if you want to be an effective affiliate for web and video conferencing, or for that matter, any other product or service, the best way to sell it is by using it yourself and really knowing what it is all about. Only then can you truly recommend the product in a convincing way.

A step above an affiliate is to become a reseller. Usually this requires a comprehensive training in the web and video conferencing system and there may also be an entry fee attached to becoming a reseller. Whereas affiliates simply refer potential clients to the conferencing service, Resellers are responsible for signing up the clients themselves. The advantage though, is that a reseller is likely to get a higher percentage of the signup and monthly subscription fees paid to the conferencing service by his or her referred clients. If you are successful as a reseller then you will earn a residual income for as long as the people signed-up by you subscribe to the conferencing service.

Whether you decide to become an affiliate or a reseller, the key to cashing in on the coming boom in online conferencing is to study the market, know the product thoroughly and then place it before your web visitors or mailing list audience in a compelling and convincing manner. Another key factor to success is to make a timely move, a product or service that is “new” today will be commonplace tomorrow.



Thanks to Dan Richmond for contributing this article to our Conferencing blog:

Web Conferencing Solution

Can you answer Soph’s Mommy’s question about Conferencing?:

Generally, what can you assume most people know about video conferencing for business?

Web Conferencing Solution

If you have a large sales force, spread out over wide distances, or if you have a small staff in various locations, then video and web conferencing is an ideal way to train, manage and support your team. In case you are wondering what online conferencing has to do with managing and training a sales force, here are a few ways to utilize this new technology.

1. Hold Virtual Online Sales Meetings

Instead of calling all your representatives to one physical point, you can set up a web conference and meet with them online. Your sales people only need a computer and a broadband connection to the Internet and they will be able to take part in the online sales meeting. The newest conferencing systems have a real time notepad allowing online brainstorming.

2. Hold Meetings More Frequently

Whenever your organization holds a physical meeting, then you have to pay a cost in terms of travel as well as in time lost from normal work. For this reason meetings have to be scheduled carefully and not too frequently. When the meetings are held online, the “opportunity costs” of your meetings are reduced because no one has to leave his or her location in order to attend. This should make it possible to hold your sales meetings more frequently, and take advantage of improved communication with lower costs.

3. Show Your Staff How to use Video Conferencing to Sell to and Support Customers

As you get more accustomed to online conferencing with your staff, you can use these meetings to train your staff in online conferencing skills so that they in turn can reach their contacts, clients and customers using the same online conferencing technology. Your sales people can meet a contact “face to face” online, demonstrate products and even perform after-sales service without leaving their offices once they become familiar with online conferencing. Your regularly scheduled online meetings offer a great opportunity to impart these skills to your staff.

4. Get Valuable Feedback From Your Team With Online Conferencing

Meetings do not have be a one-way street where only the organizer or presenter gives information or instructions to the attendees. Rather, online conferencing makes it possible for the executives to get valuable feedback from the field. For example, you can take a poll of your organization or get information via an online survey using the new instant polling and survey features of the newer web conferencing systems.

5. Inspire Your Team With Guest Speakers and Special Presentations

Once you have your online conferencing system set up, you can announce and hold meetings whenever you like. Use this channel of communication to educate and inspire your staff with the best speakers in your particular field of activity. Your guest presenters do not even have to come into your office, they too can participate online which will save you a lot of money in transportation and lodging costs.

Once you get the hang of online conferencing you will probably be able to add to this list and come up with even more ideas on training and supporting your sales team.



Thanks to Dan Richmond for contributing this article to our Conferencing blog:

Web Based Video Conferencing

Can you answer Cait’s question about Conferencing?:

So I understand that it is free to call other Skype users from computer to computer.
If I call a cell or landline, how much does it cost me and how much does it cost the person I’m calling? (per minute or hour)
Does it cost anything extra to call internationally? (I’m going to Costa Rica for a month and I’m wondering about making calls back to the US and having people call me there.)
How about video conferencing between computers?

Best Video Conference Software