Until recently, “innovation” was not a word associated with audio conferencing. It has seen very little change since its introduction in the 1980s because Ma Bell had it hidden away in her distant call centers. Enough engineering was done to offer some basic services, but everything else was done manually and users paid a premium. As a result, small and medium-sized companies rarely used it. The good news that emerges from this sad story is that a populist revolution has begun.
As the decades passed, Ma Bell’s austere audio conferencing services conditioned users to have low expectations. When AT&T disbanded in the mid-1980s, the Baby Bells repeated the practices with very little change in addition to unreserved conferencing that issued a permanent call on PIN and 800 number. The current rate for services has not progressed from here .
The crazy thing about this circumstance is that we discerning consumers in general stopped asking a long time ago if audio conferencing could work better. Ma Bell’s drill sergeants had beaten us so badly that we simply lined up, cup in hand.
Audio conferencing has never had a champion in technology. Historically, the market leader was the lethargic AT&T whose once-innovative Bell Labs dabbled in web technologies and then parted ways. The Baby Bells continued this tradition. Therefore, the industry has never had an advocate for innovation. A new generation of entrepreneurial innovators is starting a populist revolution.
The cornerstone of innovation is being able to offer more services at a lower cost. The convergence of phone and web technologies enables a richer user experience. However, this convergence is easier with two-way phone calls, but much more complicated with audio conferencing. Each conference call is unique. A conference call can have 10 participants while the next has 400. Normal telephone switches and Internet routers cannot “bridge” such calls. This requires specialized audio conferencing technologies.
Web 2.0 audio conferencing has finally brought the benefits of web-based services. Unlike the same old thing, these services enable features such as:
- Group call-With a tap on your iPhone calling 10, 50 or 100 people at the same time without have to notify them, send a PIN and dial a number, set a time, wait for stragglers, etc.
- Add participants “on the fly” – Add additional participants during a conference call without interrupting the conversation.
- Record – Get an MP3 recording of your weekly sales training to provide to new hires.
- Web console – Web controls for online contact lists, call monitoring, video training, help, technical support, account details and billing.
- Security and Privacy – Ability to easily select the appropriate level of privacy to prevent intruders on important calls, or where privacy rules require (such as HIPAA).
None of the above features were available with traditional services. Why? It is the nature of technologies. Traditional telephones are used to connect cables with switches. Web technologies are about managing “data packets” that pass through routers. Also, traditional phone networks are regulated by the government, while Internet systems are not. All of these differences give rise to technologies that were historically apples and oranges. None of the big players were investing in audio conferencing R&D until intrepid entrepreneurs began looking at this communications problem in the late 1990s.
Web 2.0 audio conferencing combines the best of both worlds. Keep in mind, however, that many age old audio conferencing providers are building websites in front of your traditional, old fashioned boxes, pretending to be connected to the web, and luring you in with all sorts of “lures and changes.” “Bargains. Cheap is not beneficial if it hurts your productivity and that of the people you want to gather. The cost of staff time is your biggest expense, not the small cost of your conference call minutes. Invest in your productivity. You are warned. warned.
For more information, see “Web 2.0 Audio Conferencing.”
© Copyright 2010. Leader Phone® and Michael McKibben. All rights reserved.