Leveraging the power of communication technology to promote and support your business is the rule and not the exception today. Whether your organization has five employees or 5,000 employees located on every continent and in every major region of our planet, a conference call service can effortlessly connect your entire organization much like Ma Bell’s party line of yester years.
Today’s conference call services are highly sophisticated feature-rich communication models that work on land lines, cell phones, on the Internet through Voice over Internet Protocol also known as VOIP, as well as a combination of all of the above. The design and features may be sophisticated but they are extremely easy to use. The conference coordinator in your organization responsible for the smooth operation of your conference schedule will first set up an account on a conference call service provider’s website. We recommend free call conferencing services such as FreeConferenceCall.com, ConferenceCalling.net, GroupMe, Rondee or Wiggio where the coordinator can send out invites to colleagues announcing the conference while at the same time getting used to new ways of connecting with the rest of the company. Participants are provided with two options. They can either participate in the conference call by logging on to the service provider’s website and use their headphone gear to take part in the proceedings. Conference attendees can also dial the conference phone number and enter their PIN to access the conference hub through an interactive voice response system known as the IVR. Their entry into the virtual conference room is clearly announced through an audio alert and the attendee is now ready to interact with the other members of the conference much like a webinar which is essentially an enhanced version of call conferencing.
Conference Call Services that Transcend Protocol
The ability to coordinate and host conference virtually can generate additional windfalls. You can arrange for the entire proceedings to be recorded in MP-3 for use by those colleagues who were unable to attend. Additionally, there is provision for live video conferencing and online document collaboration in real time as well as the ability to integrate full motion video and PowerPoint presentations into the call conference. While some service providers offer these services as a part of their free service model, other conference call services charge a monthly fee on a sliding scale for the premium services they provide. Value added services such as 800 conference call service, for instance, is considered a premium service and is therefore chargeable. Other features, both standard and premium, depending on the service provider, may include:
- 24X7 service using an automated conference engine
- Digital quality live audio much like the quality we receive from Skype
- Integration with Google Calendar before, during and after the virtual conference
- MP-3 recording of all proceedings and downloading capability
- File transfer capability
- Integration of full-motion streaming video
- RSVP through e-mail and the ability to tally the responses against the master attendee list
- Reminder messages on a customized schedule
- Moderator control and housekeeping through the conversation, presentation and Q&A modes
- Mobile access and the ability to connect through an app such as the Android app for call conference services from NetTalk
- Full-featured web-based dashboard and control panel
Conclusion
Regardless of whether your business functions and operates in the online or offline space, conference call services can play a concrete role in channelizing employee communication, reducing expensive travel costs, and eventually helping the environment while impacting your bottom line the right way.