Conference Call Services - Money Saving Tips

Conference call services have become one of the most advanced ways to make business conference with the help of internet. Nowadays there are several businesses which seek the help of conference call providers to set up conference call services to their current infrastructure. Conference call services can vary from simple audio conferencing to video conference calling and web conference calling. Let us see how one can avail conference call services in the most economic way possible.

Generally, the cost of conference call services is quite affordable, mainly when compared with the expenses of a business travel and hotel accommodations. Setting up conference call services is the most effective way to arrange a trans-continental business meeting.

In a web conference call services people can take questions and give answers, which can be recorded and later used for further interaction. With web conference calling, all the meetings which were conducted in the conference hall can now be conduced in individual offices. This helps to save both time as well as money.

Nowadays there are several companies offering cheap conference call services. This helps the users to buy minutes in bulk. Majority of these conference call service providers offer large volume discounts. This helps the customer to purchase more monthly minutes and save large amount of money by getting the services at a cheaper or discounted per minute rate.
Another cost saving factor with conference calling services is that the customers need not have to purchase any additional equipment other than a conventional telephone system. Using conference calling, a customer can arrange conferences for two to 200 people.

Selecting the ideal type of conference call according to your needs can save money. If you need to transfer illustrations and other data then web conference calling is the best choice.

These days there are several companies offering online conference call services. The rates and the schemes offered by one conference call provider vary from the other. Therefore, it is advisable to compare various conference call providers a before selecting any conference call provider for your service. This helps you to select the best deal available in the market. Selecting a good web conference call service provider will help you to get conference business conference calling service at affordable rates.

Conference Call Decision: Web Conference Calling vs Offline Conference Calls

Web conference call is in its infancy and many people are not aware of its multifarious application. Initially, web conference call was used as an audio conference call and was limited to presentation calls. Live video conferencing became possible with the arrival of broadband. The right amalgamation of several features of Internet, computers and software has transformed web conference call to the level of face-to-face meeting.

The greatest advantage that web conference calling has over offline conference calls is that it gives real time interaction with several people. When implemented properly it is just like having a discussion in your conference hall. Unlike most offline conference calls, in web conference call the people engaged in conversation can share and exchange ideas by illustrating it on the whiteboard. This becomes very handy in cases where only drawings can clearly explain the idea. Since this is done in real time with the support of audio, the effect it has is far reaching and cannot be matched by offline conference calls.

Web conference calling is an ideal conference call service for business as it gives the opportunity to discuss issues and put them to vote and fix the issue on hand. This means that by sitting in your office in Manhattan through the conference call you can talk with your subordinates in any part of the world and discuss the business plans. There is no limit to the number of people who can take part in the digital web conference. Offline conference call has the limitation of number and when there are more than three locations it throws up several difficulties. The number of location is never a problem in web conference calling.

Conference call through web has certain limitations like web cam positioning. It also requires high amount of concentration from the participants. Most of the limitations associated with web conference call can be easily solved. Several business establishments now prefer web conference call over offline conference call as it saves money, time and energy.

Conference Call Service Options and Their Advantages That Will Save You Money

Conference call services are very beneficial to those who have groups of people who need to collaborate from various locations. The choice about what type of conference call service is needed depends on the needs of the group.

A basic audio only service is sufficient for some. For others, a web solution providing video or application sharing may be necessary. Some find a combination of the two to be most effective. What combination is the best depends on what the group needs to accomplish during collaboration and what resources are available.

For multi-party conference calls, the audio-only option is ideal. Conference call participants dial a central number in order to connect to the conference call. The party who is conducting the conference call can pay for every participant who joins the call or they can have the conference call set up that callers pay their phone companies for long distance charges.
For greater impact, the web conference call option is a good choice. In web conference calls, the moderator can show participants visual presentations such as slides, videos, clips and graphics. With the visual aspect added to the conference call, it is like conducting a standard meeting in the conference room.

Businesses and organizations can benefit from using conference call services. Perhaps the greatest benefit of using a conference call service is that meetings can be held whenever possible. There are no travel costs, a host of other unnecessary expenses, and lost productivity. Those who are not able to participate in conference calls can listen to conference call recordings at a later time.

Many businesses today remain competitive and are able to compete globally because they take advantage of various communication technologies. Communication technologies like conference calls help many businesses avoid unnecessary expenses and increase productivity.

Conference Calling as a Sales Tool

So you're in business. Whether it is micro, small, medium, or enterprise; you know the one key element you need to succeed in your business ... sales.

Now, you have studied and learned many practices on succeeding in your arena, but there may be something still overlooked. You most undoubtedly have strained to learn every technique possible to gain the competitive advantage for ultimate return on your investment. What you may be missing out on is what you use to communicate during your sales process, more specifically; what communication products you currently use to implement your suave techniques of sale persuasion.

Recently a client in Florida phoned me requesting a way to consult with a large potential client and his peers overseas in Africa via telephone. He was a well traveled business man and was used to flying over to leads himself, but he thought he might try something new, something with less overhead; after all, it was still just a potential client. Well that request was a no brainer for me when I talked to him. I automatically suggested conference calling.

He was a little skeptical of using conference calling in place of face to face until I mentioned one of the conference calling services we offered. Being he had many international business leads and clients I mentioned CogniConference which offers toll-free conference calling from over 50 countries. He saw the opportunity the service presented and signed up right after we hung up with one another.

It was only two weeks later that he called our office to rave how wonderful the service was, and how if it wasn't for the international conference calling he would have never closed the Africa based client, a 4.5 million dollar deal! Expenses totaled under $200.00, a fraction of the cost of just one plane ticket alone.

How exactly did conference calling help save the day? Well, beyond increasing ROI and reducing CPL (Cost Per Lead) by saving on travel and lodging expenses, he leveraged a telecommunications product to warm up his potential client that ultimately closed the multi million dollar deal. He showed them that they were important enough to be given a free way to discuss business with his company across the entire globe. Needless to say, to this day he uses conference calling for his international leads.

Not in all cases, but in many, it is the options your leads and clients have to contact you that can make or break the initial beginning of a sales process. To convey you care about your client and not just their business may not always be as simple as using a communications service, but there are many services out there that can provide the additional morale boost and incentive your clients may need to get into their comfort buying zone.

An example where you might not want to offer toll free conferencing might be if your business is MLM or Network Marketing. Example: Perhaps your offer is good and was advertised well .You might not be interested in paying more money just for the curious. In other words you might want to only attract the "serious ready to go" individuals. The use of a non toll free conferencing solution might make the better option. You're saying to your leads, "I am giving you an opportunity to learn more about this offer in a group environment, but I need to see your level of dedication." That level of dedication being the willingness to pay a little out of their own pocket to learn more about your opportunity. It can be a great prescreening tool on who will be effective in the future for your marketing team.

All in all, information is key in virtually all sales processes. Conference calling gives you the ability to get all of your knowledgeable personnel in on the sales call to get questions answered at the most vital point of contact. You may only get one chance to prove your case to win over that client and the voice conversation is your biggest chance over most any other method to win that prized sale. The personal approach is a big winner, ask any successful salesperson and they will agree.

Conferencing is the one tool specified in this article, but of course, it isn't the one and only solution. You might just need an unlimited long distance calling plan to do cold calling. Maybe you need a catchy 800 number for advertising and taking in leads. Perhaps you need toll free forwarding to spare your potential client the hassle of leaving a message and playing phone tag. Whatever it is, you might just realize that telecommunications is very much apart of your selling process as is your breath to carry your voice. Be creative in meeting the needs of those who may become your customers as well as in reducing the costs to do so.

In closing, the lesson is very general here aside from conference calling benefits. How do you want your company viewed in the eyes of your future clients? Whether it's how you're dressed or what joke you use, be thoughtful of customers needs in advance and plan ahead to leverage your selling power, because as you already know ... selling is business.


About the Author

This article was written by Aaron Siegel of TopSavings.Net which offers Conference Calling Services to residential and business customers.

Why Is Conference Calling An Important Business Asset?

Operating and profiting from a business has never been exactly what you would call easy, even in the best of times. But it seems like in today's global business environment that the margins have been squeezed even thinner. Even the tiniest gain in efficiency and effectiveness could have an impact on your bottom line. That's why conference calling can be considered an important business asset. Your business's profitability will be improved any time you can achieve the same or even greater effectiveness at a lower cost.

Business travel and physical business meetings have become more expensive and more dangerous. The price of oil has risen to historic highs and the cost of airline tickets and even road travel have increased accordingly. The threat of terrorism and the phenomenon of kidnapping for-profit have made large gatherings, especially at offshore locations, dangerous and unwise. Yet at the same time, companies have become more geographically dispersed. Workgroups that may have formerly been located in different parts of the building might now be located in different parts of the world. Product supplies, developers and customer support are often located away from the executive core.


E-mail can help but it will never replace personal contact. There's no way to be sure that you have communicated your ideas effectively in writing. There's no guarantee of understanding on the other hand. Even Internet chat cannot replace the give-and-take of a real face-to-face conversation. Conference calling provides the best solution to this dilemma.

Actually, conference calls have been around for decades. Announcing that you had to return to the office for a crucial conference call was like wearing a badge of success. Conference calls were serious business. But in the beginning they required operator set up, allowed only a limited number of participants and were not the most reliable form of communication. Today's conference calling is a quantum leap above your father's conference call. Internet technology and computerized automation make setting up a conference call as easy as calling home.

There's no argument about whether conference calling is amazing technology or not. The real question is how can conference calling be an asset to your business? First of all, conference calling is an excellent way to provide highly secure conferences. This is not just about the attractive terrorist target that a gathering of important businessmen might make. What about the hotel worker who comes in and refills your water glasses during the meeting? Is he really part of the catering staff, or is he listening in for valuable business intelligence? Conference calling offers secure, encrypted security for your crucial company communications.

Does your business have employees or workgroups scattered around the country, or even the world? Conference calling provides an inexpensive way to link all of your remote workgroups. It allows them to collaborate on the creation of documents and share presentations. Your business may include committees, an executive board or satellite chapters. Conference calling is an outstanding way to accomplish a quick gathering of committee members or board members. If you need to discuss an issue and get a quick decision, you can't do better than conference calling. You're not requiring anyone to travel or even leave their office. Their participation is a simple as picking up a telephone.

With the constant introduction of new products, software and other productivity tools, effective training is vital to the success of any business. But what if your employees are scattered out in different locations? Conference calling, videoconferencing and web conferencing can enhance the learning process. It doesn't matter if your employees are located in different cities or just different parts of the building. By not requiring them to physically attend a training meeting, you'll save time and money. Training can be accomplished quicker and can be scheduled on shorter notice.

Companies of all sizes can benefit from conference calling. There are many conference call providers that offer a complete range of services for different budgets. Most provide the capability to set up an online account and get started in minutes. Take a look at your business processes and see if the introduction of conference calling could make those processes more efficient, effective and profitable. You owe it to your bottom line.

By: Jim McDonald

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

This conference calling article was produced for www.call-conference-services.com

The Best Conference Call Services For Business

Q. I truly think that a conference call service is something my business can use. What are some available conference call services for business needs?

A. Conference call services for business need range from very to simple to very elaborate. Whether or not you are able to benefit from these services is entirely dependent upon the type of business you are in, average budget and also whether or not this is a one time thing, or is it going to be frequent? Since none of this information was specified, I'll just cover them all. First of all, the question as to what exactly is a conference call service?
Well a conference call service is basically a company that does all of the legwork involved in a conference call for you. All you have to do is decide what time you want the conference call and who you are inviting. They handle everything else. A lot of conference call services for business provide walk through and instructional information on how to get the most out of their service. Answering questions like how will callers get connected? What in session option are available? How to go about using those options? The list goes on.

What a conference call service does is simply make all of this available to you as easy as possible. Some conference call services for business offer the option to use advanced services. Services like audio and video web conferencing are becoming more popular and are becoming more affordable. As far as the service options available, again it depends on the type of business you are involved in. Will you be able to communicate effectively using only audio conferencing?

Is it possible you will have some visual information that needs to be shared? If so consider web conferencing. Web conferencing allows for the sharing of visual information while on a conference call. Do you have clients that would like to meet you but travel would be too costly? Consider using the video services. No matter what you choose conference calling services for business providers should make choosing a very simple process.

Reservationless Conference Calls

In this day and age, there is no reason that a company should settle for anything less then reservationless conference calls from their service provider. With all of the advancements made in conference calling software, service providers that require that all conference calls be reserved in advance should be avoided.

Your company's sales are fueled by your ability to meet the needs of your customer in a quick and efficient manner. Whether you use conference call services to collaborate with other offices or to keep your client updated as to progress you should not have to put things off because you forgot to reserve a time with the conference calling company. Naturally it is to your advantage to pick a time in advance so that your attendees are able to make time in their schedule to attend the meeting, most conference calling companies offer software so that you can schedule times of the Internet for your meetings.

A company though, should always have the option to initiate a meeting within a matter of a few minutes. Things happen, businesses have emergencies and sometimes those emergencies make telephone of calling and leaving a phone message time consuming and unacceptable. Setting up emergency, reservationless conference calls can literally save a company money, time and even ensure that your client sticks around at least a little while longer.

Reservationless conference calls should be included in the basic package with a company. If you are choosing companies that charge a simple flat rate (which of course you should be) then double check the conditions of such a plan. Make sure that not only do they claim to be wireless, but they also need to make sure that it is easy for your company to initiate a conference call "on demand". This is important, as many companies will tell you just about anything to get your business. What many users find is that after they sign up for a contract or even if they just start using the services temporarily that almost none of the extras were included in the base price. Double-check the figures you are given and never accept a quote over the phone. Know exactly what you are looking for and make sure you clearly show your companies desire to have the option to start up a reservationless conference call.

Conference Call Guide - From Scheduling To Summing Up

A conference call is similar to a conventional telephone call in some extend, but with a conference call you can communicate to several people at a time. There are several types of conference calls such as audio conference calling, video conference calling and web conference calling. One can customize his/her conference call using any these different types of conference calls. One of the major advantages of conference calls over conventional telephone calls is that conference calls are quite easy to use and can save money, especially when compared with the expenses of a business travel and hotel accommodations. In this article, let us see everything about conference call-from scheduling to summing up.



Generally, conference call services are provided by dedicated conference call service providers, who offer the services at a fee on a per hour or per minute basis. Once the user subscribes with the service provider, he/she is provided with a toll free number and a PIN, which can be distributed to all the people who are supposed to participate in the conference call. Don't forget to mention the participants about the exact date and time of the conference call. Most conference call providers ask to book a time slot so as to avoid a clash or dates; there is a possibility for customer to ask for the same time slots on a particular date.

After getting a particular date and time, each of the participants can join the conference call meeting by dialing the toll free number and authenticating oneself with the given PIN. Once logged into the conference call, people can also take questions and give answers, and communicate each other as long as they want.

The entire session of the online conference call will be controlled by the host, and the host can decide who are should be online and who all must not at a given point of time. Generally, if the host hangs up, the conference call will be terminated. However, these days there are several alternative options so as to continue the conference calls even if the host leaves the conference.

The billing process of conference calls is usually done per minute by most conference call service providers. However, this varies from one service provider with the other. Most conference call providers have a 30 day billing system.

A subscriber can cancel a web conference call service at anytime he/she wish to do so. Majority of the conference call service providers offers accounts on a monthly basis; hence there won't be any complex formalities to cancel your account.

Polycom Communicator for Skype Released

The latest product released to work with Skype is the Polycom Communicator. Polycom is a leader in audio conferencing and video conferencing equipment. The product connects and powers through an integrated USB cable (no batteries needed) while also providing convenient buttons which enable you to launch Skype, pick up and hang up calls, and control volume with relative ease.
What this does is allow you have the ultimate hands-free Skype experience. The Polycom Communicator is based on the same technology used in Polycom's legendary SoundStation conference phones enabling crystal-clear, natural conversations when using Skype. No more restrictions using a headset while talking. You can also plug into a built-in stereo headphone port for private conversations.
Skype is used for business and personal use. Businesses using Skype can really benefit from the Polycom Communicator for their conferencing needs. The Polycom Communicator delivers high-fidelity wideband voice quality that sounds like you are in the same room with the people you re calling. Two high-quality microphones provide excellent range for group conversations with up to four participants. Polycom s Acoustic Clarity Technology eliminates echoes and feedback, maximizing your Skype experience.