As communication needs become more critical, the conference call becomes a solution. Yet, conferences quickly lose their value if not done properly though. It becomes essential to find providers who will offer good service at low prices. The process can be very confusing though, and anyone should benefit greatly from a few simple tips.

First and foremost, you need to ensure that you will have good support from your conference call provider. Find a provider who is known for good customer service. Many larger businesses sacrifice customer service quality in order to keep prices low, but it isn't worth it in the long run. In the hope of saving a few dollars, you could be messing up major deals due to delays in getting the call in order.

Second, look for a provider who is keen to please. Ask him for the latest developments in the conferencing world. In particular, you should make sure that you are getting a nice VoIP connection. This somewhat advanced technology is the version that actually allows virtual meetings through conference calls, as opposed to the old static-filled speaker conversations.

Third, don't just get any package. See what technology your company is using. If possible, you should try and buy a plan that allows for instant messaging through a secure web conference setting. It is even better if you can get a secured storage center that will allow your employees to share necessary files with each other over a secure line. Clients in general would be happy with your efforts at protecting their info, even if there is nothing worth protecting.

The technology that they offer is also a great gauge for the true quality of the provider. How advanced are they with the equipment that they use? You will preferably seek a company that offers the latest technologies to its customers, since this service will be much more likely to led the way in advances and make sure that you remain on the cutting edge.

Fourth, price shouldn't be the deciding factor, but you also have to make sure that you aren't going to be overcharged for your standard use of the line. When you are choosing a package, try not to go in for one where you pay on the basis of time. A major business doesn't need its employees counting the minutes during a major discussion with a client. A good provider should offer an option to just let you establish a set number of users with effectively unlimited use of the internet and phone connections for a reasonable monthly fee.

Fifth, ensure that your service provider is a genuine one. Just because a provider says that they are global doesn't mean that they really are. Ideally, you should look for a package deal with a provider with a worldwide network. Then they could offer real assistance in the event of any communication issues. It is at least worth a few phone calls or internet searches to see if they really have as wide reaching of a network as they claim.

The next time that you have to go shopping for a conference package, keep these pointers in mind. You should soon be able to make the best choice for your organization.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ajeet_Khurana

In this day and age, audio conferencing is the need of the day. Business houses are using it to communicate with its people in other parts of the world. If you are attending your first conference you may have a false idea of the real process. It is just a virtual meeting. There is nothing informal about this call. Treat it like a business meeting.

A personal conference from the comfort of your home may grant you some leeway in your appearance and dress, but that is all.

What is the key to a successful conferencing? Read on to find out. You have to understand the differences and similarities that it has with a normal conference or meeting.

Ensure that you have done your homework and are ready for the conference. There is no excuse for unpreparedness. You need to have reviewed all of the related materials and have an established understanding of the issues before you go into the meeting. One of the best ways to ruin a teleconference is to have an uninformed audience barely comprehending the speakers. There are some other processes that you will have to take care of at this point.

You should have your dial-in code in an accessible location to avoid the last minute panic to find your number. Your teleconference equipment should also be checked to ensure that everything is how you want it. The microphone should be set at an audible volume that isn't too loud and any loud noisemakers around your desk or on your person should be turned off or put away.

The ideal audio conference is one that has been carefully planned. Your attendees do not have indefinite time to spare, remember. You should take a few minutes and understand just how the meeting is going to break down so that you can adopt your questions and speeches to meet the agenda.

A conference itself mainly just requires basic etiquette that you would show at any other meeting. Make sure you take it seriously. Don't think that you can multi task or do what you want during the boring parts. You should be attending to the call itself.

Background noise is often very clear during a audio conferences and eating a bag of potato chips during your boss's speech is probably not a good idea. Remember to speak clearly since your audience will rely solely on audio cues for information since your facial expression will not be seen by anyone outside of the room. Be involved in the call and prove to the participants that you are valuable to the organization.

There are certain functions that must be carried out by the person hosting the call. The host should log on early to greet members as they sign in and introduce them to each other. Remember to introduce new speakers and clearly give a little background information on anyone involved so that listeners have a good understanding of all the information.

The host is entrusted with the job of making sure that there are no digressions. The focus should be on discussing a given matter in depth.

If you follow all of these basic tips you should find yourself on the path to a good conference. All the best to you as you have a conference call of your own.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ajeet_Khurana

How video conferencing helps Permira, a leading private equity firm, stay ahead of the game.

There are some things that live up to expectations, the birth of a child; a holiday maybe; and then there are those that don't. We've all fallen for it, stuff that just doesn't do what it says on the tin, like diet pills, obvious toupees, or anti wrinkle cream! Consider video conferencing, which has in the past suffered a lacklustre reputation as a boardroom luxury, and never really met expectations. Yet things are changing fast, technological advances are allowing video conferencing solutions to become powerful business tools that boost an organisation's ability to respond to market forces.

Specific developments, like high-definition, are driving major improvements in audio and visual quality. The latest video conferencing systems operate across both IP and ISDN, they are no longer difficult to manage or use and the new infrastructure solutions are reliable, interoperable and scalable. Reduced cost-of-ownership and technological advancements are making video communications available to the boardroom, the desktop and even the phone.

Indeed, the underlying infrastructure technology has advanced so much that video conferencing is, for the first-time, a cost-effective way to empower virtual teams and individuals, while managing the knowledge and information assets of an organisation. This certainly is the case for Permira, a leading private equity firm, which has over 100 investment professionals working out of 10 offices around Europe, the US and Japan. Permira has a reputation for providing creative and timely solutions to vendors. It has a partnership culture and works closely with management teams to create value by combining extensive geographic coverage with deep vertical sector knowledge. It's here, at Permira, that video conferencing has moved out of the Stone Age, to become a fully paid up member of its mainstream IT communications strategy. "For many years video conferencing has played a niche part of business communications, it never performed to expected levels, but this is changing - it has too - because knowledge transfer is crucial to business success," said Carolyn Lees, IT director, Permira.

As a private equity firm, Permira's ability to turn information into a tangible asset cannot be underestimated; the timely sharing of market intelligence is necessary for its ongoing revenue growth. Moreover, Permira's business communications are complicated by a need to collaborate with a diverse range of external business partners and professionals, as well as with its own internationally based teams. So, the use of video conferencing has always been seen as a useful tool to aid collaborative communications. Yet, just like other organizations, its successful use of this technology has been full of twists and turns.

Permira first introduced a video conferencing system in 2002 when, from the start there were seemingly insurmountable problems for multi-site calls; "Some of our video conferences are six hours long, the first systems Permira used just couldn't deliver against our need for quality audio and image. Also these original systems were difficult to use and far too complex to configure and manage. If we had one technical or network hiccup, at one site, then the whole conference was affected," said Carolyn Lees.

Permira's experience of video conferencing will not be an isolated case. Traditional video conferencing systems suffer inherent problems with delivering a consistent service to multi-location conferences. This is because all participants are forced to join at the same speed and resolution, with the poorest, setting the standard for all participants. Generally, these systems only offer single pane voice activated switching which means that 'he or she who speaks loudest' is the person that appears on all participant screens. This limitation delivers a less than satisfying meeting experience, which is why there is a move towards systems that offer Continuous Presence for all participants. This allows everyone to be seen, all of the time, usually in a variety of layouts, determined by the individual. With Continuous Presence, it is also possible to have voice activation to place the current speaker on to the centre panel of a screen. It is also this feature, which offers participants a greater feeling of real-life involvement, allowing for body language and reactions to be seen in totality, just as if they were all sat round a single table. Of course, near real-life interaction is the ultimate aim for video conferencing and Telepresence solutions alike.

Another key limitation for users of traditional multipoint systems is that they are not usually endpoint agnostic, and so there can be interoperability difficulties from the start. Not good if you need to communicate with other business partners and customers. To prevent such difficulties it has always been a default that endpoints and infrastructure typically come from the same manufacturer. Up until now, this has been the most practical user environment, avoiding the hassle of integrating disparate systems. All in all, it is no wonder that video conferencing never quite did what it said on the tin; the products available to Permira in 2002 just could not achieve anything like a visually satisfying interaction let alone a competent audio one! Despite poor quality experiences, however, video conferencing remained a vital communications tool within Permira.

Carolyn Lees joined Permira in 2005; "The first objectives were for me to tackle the overall reliability issues and to ensure good quality audio. Even if you have a poor picture, people can still interact, but if you lose sound then the conference is rendered useless. We set about improving the reliability of the system by addressing some complicated network settings. In terms of the audio improvement, we introduced, what were relatively cheap, new endpoints that produced better audio. The combination of network settings and better audio output delivered an acceptable improvement in our video conferencing system capability. Having done this, at least we could stop sweating every time we started a video conference. However, there was still ample scope for improvements."

After audio, Permira's next step was to address the poor image quality. "Fortunately, Codian had just appeared on the scene and was hailed as the must-have piece of kit for video conferencing - we evaluated Codian's MCU [multipoint control unit], which it was claimed would solve all of our quality [voice and image] and technical issues."

Following its evaluation, Permira purchased the Codian MCU 4200 Series, which offers a unique video stream for each participant. This single feature, of the Codian MCU, meant that Permira could provide each of its participants with the best possible audio and video quality, for available bandwidth and endpoint capabilities. "Codian dynamically allocated the best resource it could to all endpoints, so sites were not communicating at the lowest common standard. This dynamic handling, also lowered the overall cost-of-ownership; no more complicated template configurations were necessary.

"Codian was impressive from the beginning, we had it out of the box and up and running in 15 minutes flat. It has an easy interface, so it is quite straightforward to set-up a conference and manage calls. Clearly, being able to isolate and solve an individual network or endpoint problem is a huge advantage, it meant that for the first time, any individual breaks in service, could be solved without impacting the other participants," Carolyn Lees.

Video conferencing was and remains a top priority for Permira, making it work to an acceptable standard was the first key objective. However, with an eye always cast towards improvements, it wasn't long before Permira decided to look at high-definition video conferencing, which became available in late 2006. "The Codian MCU 4200, with its inherent interoperability brought about significant improvements in reliability and overall endpoint quality. But then, Codian launched its HD [high-definition] MCU, which together with competitively priced LifeSize's HD endpoints, took the market by storm. This was a real opportunity for us to make dramatic progress, bringing us as close to face-to-face communications as we could, without hopping on a plane. It was an easy decision for us to upgrade from SD to HD and replace our existing endpoints with LifeSize."

The Codian MCU 4500, Carolyn Lees refers to, is hailed as the only true high-definition voice and video bridge. It supports the highest video resolution, speed, frame rate and codec of the latest HD endpoints. This includes full Continuous Presence for all conferences, including those with a mix of both HD and SD [standard definition]. Always mindful of existing infrastructure and market developments, Codian has ensured that its MCU will scale up to match future capabilities of forthcoming HD endpoints and that it seamlessly integrates with existing SD equipment as well as with other devices such as 3G, SIP and desktop video. Such clear investment protection makes it all the more compelling for companies such as Permira.

"Having now completed the transition from SD to HD with Codian, we have a video conferencing experience that is more lifelike than we ever imagined possible. The take-up of video conferencing throughout Permira is on the increase and is now an accepted part of our day-to-day operations. We have regular, weekly scheduled meetings with our teams throughout the world and user acceptance gains momentum with each conference. The interoperability of the Codian allows us to cater for external partners to join meetings, as and when necessary - plus there are rarely any technical hitches - allowing our customers and partners to experience a superior service too," concluded Carolyn Lees.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michele_Durban

In a technology driven world, constant communication is a necessity to carry on a business or a relationship. With Internet web conferencing, the world has become an interconnected place. The technology has become an important factor for the success and growth of a business. This is mainly because businesses today are conducted simultaneously across many nations. Also, the economy of one country is linked to the economy of another.

Internet web conferencing has enabled people to be in constant touch with each other. Irrespective of the country one is living in, web conferencing keeps them connected. It helps in conducting business across many nations just by sitting at one place.

Companies today have Internet web conferencing that can be done through video in their offices as it helps them in keeping touch with their clients on a regular basis. Many people can converse simultaneously with the help of the web conferencing technology. Web conferencing has reduced the physical space between people, and made the world a small place to live.

Advantages Of The Technology Used In Internet Web Conferencing

Internet web conferencing saves not only time but also helps save money. Now people are not required to go to far off places for business or personal purposes. Also, it saves one the hassle of getting a flight booked or finding accommodation. Not only for professionals but also for people who live away from their families, Internet web conferencing keeps them in touch with their families.

The technology has an edge over other technologies, as it not only enables you to talk to the people but also see their live images. Also, it is an affordable medium to communicate. A high-speed Internet connection, modem, web camera and a computer system are some of the important equipment that is used for conducting a web conference.

Just keep in mind, that it is vital that the Internet connection you select should be at least 1 Mbps as the speed provided will then be faster, as it allow you to get optimum results for Internet web conferencing.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ricky_Lim

Free web conference room enables businesses to communicate with clients and customers. Free web conference room are available with multimedia firms that specialize in Internet marketing and enable businesses to gain access to customers and clients around the world. In order to decide upon a convenient web conference room it is necessary that one should have technical feasibilities in terms of the web camera, visual display unit(VDU) and the audience that the web conference room can accommodate.

Web conferencing

Web conferencing enables people to communicate through the Internet about business objectives. It cuts through the barrier of time and space, and proves to be an innovative technology by bringing businesses together in the era of globalisation.

Web conferencing enables people to communicate over the Internet. At a particular broadband speed of at least 256kbps, a business can stroll through high speed streaming videos. The technology need in a free web conference room is a web camera, connection to the Internet and a visual display unit. Since the visual of the individuals that one is communicating to going to be displayed on a screen, a large screening is needed to enable individuals to view the contents on the screen.

Some of the advantages of web conferencing can be stated as follows

- Enhanced business processes: In a globalized world it is necessary to be in touch with associates and clients so as to facilitate business processes. This web conferencing saves businesses considerable amount and money.

- Market accessibility: Instead of sending business associates around the world, one business can update clients and customers through web conferencing.

Free web conference room enable businesses to cut the cost of management and communications. These web conference rooms are available by an agreement among business associates in a particular industry to share the resources. For example organizations specializing in IT can reach an agreement to share web conference rooms that will be available for free.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ricky_Lim