|
|
Web Conferencing: A Boon to
Businesses
by
Denise Bridgens
 It
is Sunday evening and you are preparing again to go on
a business trip. Monday morning the alarm goes off at
4:00 am, you drag your body and your briefcase to your
car, drive to the airport, wait in a long line, get on
a plane, get off a plane, and find your way to your
client’s office. When you finally get home Monday
night, you have spent more time traveling than meeting
and you have dozens of emails and several important
phone calls to return.
Continued
below...
|
|
|
Continued....
According to leading web
conferencing service providers, the typical sales cycle can be
cut two to three weeks with web conferencing. Providing a
virtual conference room environment, web conferencing eliminates
the need to travel, linking geographically disperse workgroups
and telecommuters. The return on investment for web conferencing
can be measured not only in dollars and cents, but also in
personnel efficiency, knowledge distribution and increased sales
opportunities.
The ability to virtually link
workgroups and project teams enables real-time collaboration, a
task that once required lengthy email threads or face-to-face
meetings.
Web conferencing enables
businesses to:
- Reduce operating costs
- Minimize unnecessary travel
- Close sales and negotiate
contracts faster
- Enhance the efficiency and
effectiveness of communication
- Deliver clear, concise and
consistent training
- Encourage real-time
collaboration between distant and local co-workers
- Engage in greater levels of
communication with clients and business partners
Since its inception, web
conferencing usage has expanded to a number of business
applications such as daily sales and marketing efforts,
interaction with co-workers and customers, corporate
presentations and training initiatives. Financial corporations
use web conferencing for internal meetings, customer briefings,
employee training, client consultations and investment
workshops. Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies use Web
conferencing for product promotion and marketing, sales
presentations and demonstrations, and product training and
development. Educational institutions use web conferencing for
project teams and student workshops. And, government agencies
rely on web conferencing for training and inter-agency
communication.
|
|
|
Continued....
Most organizations use outsourced
web conferencing. Why? Because of the quickly changing technology,
businesses opt not to invest in what could soon be obsolete. In
addition, on a day-to-day basis, it is more cost effective to have
web conferencing outsourced. Additional reasons include:
- Leading edge functionality
provides greater levels of security, moderator control, and
participant options.
- Your people can now focus on
your core business, not support systems.
- The external company makes the
investment in new features so that your fixed costs are
reduced and your overall expenditures are lowered.
- With no capital expense, new
technology can be implemented with minimal impact to the
bottom line.
When beginning the search for a web
conferencing solution, start with setting your objectives and
determining the features you require. Here are a few basic
questions that should be answered:
- How many participants do you
anticipate attending your online meetings or events?
- Will the number of participants
remain consistent from meeting to meeting or will the number
change?
- How many meetings will be
conducted each week, month, quarter? Will usage fluctuate
depending on the time of the year?
- What type of content will be
presented (Power Point slides, software applications,
web-based applications, documents, or spreadsheets)?
- What degree of interactivity do
you require (Q&A, polling/voting, application sharing,
text chatting, live video, file sharing, etc.)?
- Do you want your own software or
a hosted solution?
- How much technical support or
event management support do you require?
- What is your monthly budget?
- Are there any special security
requirements?
Once you have determined your
requirements, screen a number of vendors. Visit their web site,
review live demos, and seek client testimonials. Here are few
suggestions for choosing a vendor:
Select a pricing model. Determine
whether you want to pay-per-use (you pay only for the time you and
your attendees spend in web conferences) or pay-per-seat (you pay
a flat monthly fee for a certain number of “seats”).
Pay-per-use pricing is the better conservative choice for most
companies learning to how to use web conferencing for their
business. You avoid set up charges and you don’t have to monitor
the number of concurrent users in order to avoid overage charges.
You can always start with a pay-per-use plan and switch to a
pay-per-seat plan once there is a clear, long-term financial
advantage.
Get the features you need. Some web
conferencing solutions only support online presentations while
others offer full-featured packages that include polling,
chatting, application-sharing, white boarding and group web
surfing. Make sure that the product meets your needs.
Check into customer support levels.
Is training and ongoing support available? What hours? Is there an
extra fee? Is there a telephone number available so that you can
contact a support person or is only email support offered? What
are their support hours? Call each vendor’s customer service
number and see if you get a live person vs. a menu or voice mail.
You don’t want to be in a situation where an attendee has
technical problems joining a critical meeting and not be able to
contact a live person immediately.
Consider security requirements.
Depending on the audience and the information being sharing,
security may be a concern. Most solutions are secure enough and do
not store meeting data any place except on the presenter’s PC.
Participants only see a graphical representation of the data
through a standard web browser. Some services provide pass code
authorization, basic encryption, and the ability to lock and
unlock the meeting.
So, the next time Sunday night
comes around and you are faced with another week of travel, email
trails, difficulty in scheduling training and long lead times in
closing sales and negotiating contracts, do yourself a favor and
look into web conferencing for your business.
About the
author:
Denise Bridgens
has more than 20 years experience in product marketing and product
management for communications and is the founder of Argo Navis IT.
Argo Navis IT is a value added reseller of Premiere Conferencing
services and is their exclusive Minority Women Business Enterprise
partner. Premiere Conferencing has consistently led the industry
in developing the most advanced conferencing solutions, fulfilling
today’s business-critical communications needs and delivering
the highest levels of security and reliability. Argo Navis IT is
headquartered in Morristown, NJ and is opening an office in a HUB
zone shortly. The company contributes 10% of profits annually to
battered women’s shelters. To learn more about Argo Navis IT,
visit their web site at www.argonavisit.com
|
 |
Updated :
Make Cost Effective PC to Phone Calls Through VoIP
The requirement of a medium that can give us a better service in less money was always in need. This need was fulfilled after VoIP was introduced.
Publ.Date : Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:11:22 -0600
PC to Phone Calls is a Great Way Save the Hard Earned Money
Being a pivotal part of our life, no one can deny the importance as well as need for communication. Mode of calling through the mobile phones or landlines phones is undoubtedly a great way to keep in touch with each other. But, as a boon from the modernized technology we have got some really effective means of communication which are helpful in connection while keeping a check on the expenditure.
Publ.Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:25:28 -0600
Popular Programs to Make Calls From Your Computer
For many internet users, a computer is the best internet phone available nowadays. There are many different ways to make calls from your computer through the internet.
Publ.Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:35:18 -0600
Some VoIP Points
When you start to analyze any product or service, initially it is important that you take into account several basics points as to quality, costs, usability and convenience. Here are some VoIP points.
Publ.Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:33:04 -0600
VoIP is an Ingredient For Further World Globalization
In these times we live we tend to find many positive moments in our lives. Today, we have many new technologies products and services available to us that our forefathers would have only dreamt about. VoIP is a necessary thing of the present times.
Publ.Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:10 -0600
Ways to Make Cheap International Calls
International calls over mobile phone have never been so easy. Witnessing the neck to neck competition amongst various mobile brands, providers are rolling out various attractive deals and offers to entice callers. One can now make cheap International calls easily without fail. There are herculean ways to stay connected with your loved ones like online chatting, e-mails, phone chatting etc.
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:04:59 -0600
Beneficial Calling Plans to Eliminate All Communication Hurdles
Calling, being the strongest mode of connecting people across the world, holds very much importance. Without proper modes of connection, no one can express their thoughts and ideas in front of others.
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:38:12 -0600
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
