Opening a conferencing gateway |
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| Technology | |
| Written by Tim Duffy, CEO, MeetingZone | |
| Thursday, 18 December 2008 | |
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Do you read about audio, web and video conferencing and think that these technologies are probably the most written about, but yet continue to be the least deployed; that they are complicated and only affordable by large enterprises? If you do, then now is the time to think again!Why? Because in the short term no other technologies can contribute more to helping you remain competitive at the same time as cutting costs. In today’s tight economic climate, these are two issues that may just be keeping you awake at night. Audio, web and video conferencing are, quite simply, communications tools that allow the bringing together of the right people at the right time, especially important in today’s fast moving business environment, when it is not possible, or necessary, to meet face to face. To reduce costs and not just the hard but the soft costs often not taken into account, of the ‘dead time’ associated with travelling, all you need to do is to choose a conferencing solution that meets the individual communications requirements of your business. The right choice will improve productivity and efficiency by increasing the time that your employees are at their desks handling your customers’ requirements, instead of being on the road. Increased customer service levels boost competitive edge. When you hold a meeting with your employees, suppliers or customers do you need to ‘see’ them? If the answer is yes, then you need to be looking at video conferencing. But, budget constraints may be an issue. Video systems range from high-end room based, to those for large or small conference rooms to software applications that run on your lap top or PC with a webcam. Costs span from £500 to £750,000. If you regularly hold meetings with three or more participants then you will need video conferencing bridging capability (some systems have embedded bridging functionality) that enables you to connect all of the participants. Depending on your usage you may consider purchasing your own bridge or to use a video conferencing service provider who delivers bridging services. Another crucial issue to consider is whether your IP network is video ready? Will this potentially bandwidth hungry technology play havoc with your existing mission critical applications? Do you have the resource to manage the video conferencing systems plus the network itself? If it not necessary for you to see those you meet with, then a simple and easy to use audio conferencing solution is the answer. All you need is access to a phone! Most desktop phones/PBX’s allow you to hold internal and external conference calls with a limited number of participants. But depending on usage, the specific application and the number of participants in your meetings, you should consider using an audio conferencing service provider who will provide you, and your meeting participants, with a single dial in number to access the service and individual PIN numbers to join specific conferences. Costs are usually based on a price per minute, per line. Most meetings include the need to share information whether that is a sales forecast, a presentation or a contract, etc. A cumbersome way of handling this is by e-mailing the information to be shared to all of the participants. However, a more efficient and productive solution is to use a web conferencing application from a service provider. All that is required is access to a phone for the audio element and the Internet for data sharing. A service provider will issue you with an individual url and an access code to be used by each participant once they click onto your url. Again cost is based on price per minute. There is no time to waste, talk to a supplier or service provider today who will help you determine what conferencing and collaboration solutions best suit your business communications needs. You can be pretty sure that your competitors will be doing the same! This article first appeared on www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk Comments (0)
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