Good manners is always appreciated anywhere and is a matter of common sense and consideration for others, combined. In the workplace, protocol remains basic despite the changing modes of doing business. So, do you know your teleconferencing etiquette?

Starting the conference

There is not much difference from the old-fashioned meeting procedures and the present practice for teleconferencing. As always, everybody should be on time and ready with their reports. It is unprofessional and inconsiderate to arrive late for meetings, and that's exactly the same with teleconferencing.

If you are charged to facilitate a teleconference, do some tasks ahead. Part of your assignment is to prepare the venue and the equipment. For the venue, select a quiet place because background noise can be picked up by the speakerphones. While you are it, check the speakerphones if these are working, so these can be fixed or replaced days before the teleconference.

Proceed to prepare email messages. If it is the usual people meeting, you know who to inform through email the date and time of the teleconference. An omission is a costly mistake, as well as a slip of teleconferencing etiquette.

The information sent should include the agenda of the meeting. This will give the participants the time to arrange their schedules. Before the date, you call each of them reminding them of the meeting, as well as to give them the dial-in number and password.

On the Day of the Conference

There's nothing irritating like a late facilitator. Be an hour ahead of the appointed hour, enough time to give the venue a once over. You can also review your brief. The brief, pre-approved by the chairman, should contain instructions for all participants before the meeting is called to order.

Greet participants that come on line and when everybody is ready, read the instructions or announcements. Request the participants to mute their speakerphones until it is their turn to speak because a speakerphone can pick up the tapping of a pencil and paper shuffling. Such background noise can be distractive and a violation of teleconferencing etiquette.

During the Teleconference

During a conference call, do not interrupt unless the speaker is done talking. There are no visual prompters in a teleconference, so this teleconferencing etiquette must be observed.

Teleconferencing etiquette demands that those taking part in the teleconference should avoid making distracting noises, especially if their speakerphones are not on mute mode, and no calls should be put on hold while a discussion is going on.

Before the meeting ends, the Chairman should ask if there are other businesses to be taken up. This is your cue, as facilitator, that the agenda was already taken up. That's the reason why you should be all ears during the conference.

End of Teleconference

Announce that the meeting is over, so people will not linger waiting for further notice. Extra billing is charged if people still linger on their speaker phones; hence, your announcement that the meeting is closed. As facilitator, you must always be the last person to hang up because this is also part of your teleconferencing etiquette.



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The advancement in technology and thereby in the field of telecommunications has changed the face of the world considerably. Free online web conferencing is one such way of telecommunication that brings together people round the globe via the World Wide Web; it may be for educational, commercial or recreational purposes. Though there are also alternatives of online chat, instant messaging and message boards for communication, but web conferencing stands a way above all of these.

This is because web conferencing makes use of VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for a realistic interaction with more than one individual. There are also free web services, which enable both video and audio contact, and make the experience of interaction all the more pleasurable, and real.

There are various chargeable and web conferencing services providers in the market. Genesys, Microsoft, and Raindance are some of them. The cutthroat competition among these service providers is a great benefit to the users as they offer additional facilities to attract users.

Uses And Benefits Of Online Web Conferencing

These free online conferencing services are basically used to attend lectures and seminars for several courses that are offered online. This way an interactive session is held easily without any hassles, which gives an overall realistic experience. Furthermore, making an international call is a lot more expensive otherwise but these services are made available without charging a single penny. So, it also saves a lot of money.

There are various web conferencing software as well that are easily accessible. The first web conferencing software was made by Microsoft in collaboration with NetMeeting. Since then the market has been mushrooming with such software. Oracle, Macromedia, Interwise and Global services are some of the companies that have started making efforts to develop their free online web conferencing software.

With so many benefits of free online web conferencing at hand, no one will be willing to use the traditional ways of communication through phone lines or chatting and many others.



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Nobody works in complete isolation. In virtually all lines of business, contact with other people will be required in some capacity. Whether it is meeting with clients or colleagues; presenting new ideas or products; or giving or receiving training, good communication is the key to running a successful business.

However, in the modern world of commerce, business takes place twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Large, international organizations have sites across the globe and thanks to the Internet, even small and medium sized companies have found themselves trading on an international scale.

International markets and twenty-four hour business undoubtedly provide great opportunities, but they are not without their difficulties. Trying to arrange a seminar for a large number of delegates based in different countries, for example, can be a logistical nightmare. Diaries need to be synchronized, flights booked, accommodation sourced and meeting facilities organized. It is a major undertaking, and one that takes a lot of time, money and effort.

No Need To Travel

In this instance, the advantages of web conferencing are easy to see - nobody needs to travel anywhere. From the comfort of their own office delegates can participate in meetings and seminars without having to travel a single extra mile.

For smaller organizations, web conferencing can open up whole new markets. Where before, perhaps there was not the man-power to spare for long periods out of the office, web conferencing reduces the need for travel to allow face to face meetings. Proposals can be pitched and new business won without the need for lengthy trips away from the office.

The reduced need for travel that web conferencing brings has other advantages; staff spend less time traveling and more time at home - that should make for a happier and more productive workforce; thousands of dollars spend on air fares, car hire and accommodation are saved and less time is spent sourcing flights and making hotel reservations. All these benefits, simply by reducing the need for travel with web conferencing.

Saving Your Company Time

There is no doubt that organizing a meeting takes time. Even the smallest meetings, if they involve delegates from different geographic locations, require a degree of effort. Whether it is down to the delegates themselves or if it is left to the secretary or personal assistant, someone is spending precious company time making the necessary arrangements. Flights, hotels, catering, diary management - they all take time to organize - time that could be spent far more productively.

Take away the need for travel, days or weeks out of the office and the requirement for overnight accommodation and suddenly organizing the meeting or seminar is not such a major task. Diaries will become much more easy to synchronize, a quick email or telephone call is all that is needed to set up a web conference. Hours of time are freed up for staff to concentrate on making money for the organization.

Saving Your Company Money

Saving money is something that every company strives to do. Nobody wants to spend more than they have to. Think for a moment how much you spend on travel. Even if you are simply driving to the other side of town, your company will be incurring costs - parking tolls, dead time spent driving to and fro the meeting - they all have an impact on your company's bottom line.

Imagine reducing that pile of expense claim forms at the end of the month; the chances are you could be saving a significant amount of money. No organization, large or small, can afford to waste money and with web conferencing those costs are coming down.

The advantages of web conferencing to any business are clear; you can save time, you have a more productive workforce and, most importantly of all, you can save money.



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If you are thinking about getting into web and video conferencing, then it is important to know what is required to operate any proposed conferencing system. Some systems run on proprietary software and need special equipment, while browser based systems usually do not require the installation of special software or equipment. Many organizations and individuals will find browser based solutions easier to use. Here are a few reasons why this is so:

1. They work on all operating systems. Do you have some users on Mac and some on PCs? Do you have some users who have Linux? If you want to connect all of these people together in one conference it may be impossible if you have to install special software to run your conference. In this case a browser based system that can run on all operating systems and all browsers allows you to connect with all of your staff or clientele without any worries about what kind of computer they are operating.

2. You don’t have to download and install software. Sure, people are becoming more computer-literate as time goes on, but downloading and installing software and getting the software to run properly can be an obstacle to some people. The good news is that with many browser based systems there is no software to download, because the installation is done on the technology provider’s host computer. Participating in a conference is as easy as going on line to view a website.

3. People anywhere in the world can go online and join the conference. With no equipment installation and no software installation to take care of, the door is open to widespread participation in your conferences. The only thing that you have to do is to notify your people and provide them with a url and a password and they can join in.

4. There is no problem with firewalls. Most offices and many individuals protect their computers and networks from hackers by using a firewall. This is good for security but can become a problem if you are trying to join people together in a conference. Many web and browser based systems are not affected by firewalls and no special instructions have to be given to conference participants whose computers may be protected by firewalls.

All of these factors add up to one very strong advantage of using browser based conferencing systems: they allow you to get maximum participation in your online events. With little or no technical obstacles, such systems make it easy for large numbers of people, using diverse equipment and with varying degrees of computer skills, to take part in online meetings. So, take a look at the various conferencing packages on the market at the present time and pick out one that is both easy to use and powerful enough to meet your communications needs.



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The time is right for video and web conferencing to take off. While online conferencing is still seen as a technological novelty by some people, more and more businesses of all sizes are finding it be the solution to doing business and communicating with prospects, clients, employees and branch offices in an era of rising transport costs. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that are bringing web and video conferencing to a very wide audience.

1. Bandwidth speeds are increasing while prices for broadband web access are falling.

Video and web conferencing are more effective when users have broadband access to the Internet. Prices for various broadband connections to the Internet (DSL, Cable, T1s) are falling and more and more homes and businesses are now connected by broadband rather than dial-up connections. Broadband penetration in the US among home users has reached 60% and, especially crucial for online conferencing, in the workplace broadband usage has passed 85%.

2. Web cameras are more powerful and less costly.

Video conferencing is aided by good images. Just as high speed connections to the Internet are needed to view the videos, improved cameras providing clear images are also important. The least expensive web cameras today cost as little as $10 and even sophisticated tripod-mounted cameras are reasonably priced, placing video conferencing within the reach of millions of users.

3. The price of oil and transportation is rising, and business travel is more costly.

Rising energy prices means that businesses have to scrutinize their travel plans more closely. Video and web conferencing make it possible to hold meetings with staff in other cities without making expensive car or airplane journeys. In addition, some companies are also using web and video conferencing to meet new clients and provide service to existing clients. Improved video conferencing capabilities, combined with rising travel costs is a sure formula for online conferencing growth in the years ahead.

4. Businesses are improving productivity with online conferencing.

The gains provided by online conferencing are more than just the money saved by not buying gasoline for a car or spending it on airfares. When you sit in your own office and hold an online conference with associates in distant cities, you can get back to your other work within seconds of the close of the online conference. The lost time out of office, associated with business trips, is an important “opportunity cost” that can be reduced by the creative use of web and video conferences.

5. The cost of web and video conferencing has come down greatly in the past year.

Web and video conference services are now less costly than they were a few years ago and it is possible for a business to get a much higher return on their investment in online conferences. Monthly costs for some conferencing services are so low that even families and individuals can connect in informal web conferences. At the same time, for a reasonable price, businesses can even purchase their own internal video/web conferencing system and not depend on web conference services provided by an outside provider.

6. Schools and universities are holding online classes, exposing a whole new generation to the world of online conferencing.

The surest way of spreading any new technology is to get young people “hooked” on it. And that is exactly what schools and universities are doing with web and video conferencing. By holding more online classes and conferences, young people are becoming comfortable with this way of communicating. As today’s students enter the business and professional world, they are certain to bring with them a taste for the convenience of online conferencing.

Add up all these factors and it is easy to see why web and video conferencing are approaching the level of mass acceptance. If you are not taking advantage of online conferencing today, there is a good chance that you will be tomorrow.



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