Feeling guilty spending too much time at work even on weekends? Can't take a vacation with wife and kids because there are those weekly boardroom conferences that run like clockwork every Mondays? It's time to convince yourself to take a crack at audio conferencing.

Get that vacation!

It's been two years in a row since you had a really fun vacation. Business has been picking up and you cannot leave your workforce of 16 people on their own for a day, let alone a fortnight for a grand vacation in a cowboy ranch with wife and kids. Business can't run without you at the helm, so you'd better stay put.

It's your unhappy wife who introduces you to audio conferencing. She has heard about it from her niece who works for a big company. The niece says she can be at national teleconference even when she's at home filing her nails. No need for her to fly the long haul just to be stuck in a tedious meeting and it saves money for the company too.

Well, you grudgingly agree to look up an online information site on teleconferencing. It looked good. But how much would it shave off from your finances? Your wife glares at you and threatens to dump your dirty socks in the furnace if you won't take her and the kids away from the cold weather.

Audio conferencing

Soon it becomes clear to you that audio conferencing, a standard conference call, makes it possible for you to have a conference with 2 or all of your staff without your bodily presence, and with less cost in terms of international calls. You just dial a local number without having to schedule a conference if you got a reservationless program.

It is also convenient because you can use your mobile phone for the teleconference. The cinch that does you in is the greatly reduced fees for the teleconference compared to the standard long-distance calls you used to make.

You were not required to sign a contract. Yours is a small enterprise and you need that teleconference only twice - and until the next vacation your wife demands.

The next step is getting a dial-in number and a password, which you'll share with the people you'll have to teleconference with. You remind them to have their mobile phone batteries fully charged on the next couple of Mondays. The next step is planning the vacation, which of course your wife leads.

Family time in Texas

A vacation in Texas in November is perfect for your family - you all adore the great outdoors and want to try horseback riding. There are great home-cooked meals and great accommodations. You all start planning the trip and the kids are all worked up.

It has been a long time since you've enjoyed this kind of family planning. You didn't notice that you didn't make a dash for the computer. Instead, you and your wife had a fun evening with the kids for a change - something you should do more while your children are still little. Learn to relax because audio conferencing will make your vacation less stressful.