Wake up people. It’s the 21st century!
Audio conferencing is experiencing a new technology renaissance, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Conference calls have traditionally been the domain of Fortune 500 companies for one simple reason: Ma Bell managed them from large call centers dedicated to supporting her large customers. The features offered were minimal: a phone number and PIN and some basic phone controls. After AT&T broke up, the Baby Bells copied these services and invested little in R&D improvements.
That’s when enterprising companies rolled up their sleeves and began introducing Web 2.0 audio conferencing with a host of new productivity features. You really don’t have to settle for the same old, old services of the past. Could you do it better. Here’s a list of things the new Web 2.0 audio conferencing providers are offering.
1. Web Console
Manage your calls and your account directly from the web. This feature replaces the maddening calls to the operator and prevents your call from going endlessly from one operator to another. However, be careful. Some providers with the old technology are trying to polish their image by adding some web pages to their sites. What separates the men from the boys is whether you can actually manage the call from the web console. If you can’t, find a new provider.
2. Conference call
Security Not all conference calls are created equal. Some don’t need privacy, others do. You should have options and the new services offer them. For example, call barring prevents new participants from joining a call if everyone is already present. One of the big security problems with the same old services is that the PIN becomes insecure over time. Unauthorized people get it. This means that intruders can eavesdrop. Call blocking helps prevent this.
3. Multiple PINs
The new services allow you to manage as many PINs as you want on your account. Gone are the days of having a single PIN. For example, you can issue separate PINs for each of your stakeholder groups, such as Board of Directors, staff, sales, engineering, etc. In this way, need-to-know discussions are kept private and Joe, in engineering, cannot get into board policy discussions regarding R&D.
4. Call now/Star*1/Invite now
Setting up a conference call has been tedious. One must provide a PIN and dial-in number, contact participants about an hour later, and then wait for latecomers at call time and call others to the side after the call has started. It’s a hassle. Web 2.0 audio conferencing automates these processes. Call now allows you to choose from a list and touch Call now. Ready! Everyone is on the call. No PIN. No phone access numbers. Star*1 allows you to add new participants after a call begins without interrupting the conversation. Invite Now automates the process of notifying participants of a future date and time. If all of these services are not included with your provider, find a new provider.
5. Advanced controls
Audio conference calls are quite technologically advanced behind the scenes with features like noise suppression, latency compensation, and the like. Newer services include human response detection, group volume control, and nice education-related features like conference mode, which mutes all participants except the host. Conference mode allows you, as a host, to have everyone participate in a call, for example, an online learning classroom, and then switch to conference mode so that the call does not experience barking dogs, crying babies and noise of dishes in the background. A common occurrence in such environments is the battery dying on a cordless home phone, introducing static that everyone hears. Reading mode eliminates that distracting background noise.
If your current audio conferencing provider doesn’t offer all or most of the features listed above, they’re not Web 2.0. What does that mean? It is the convergence of the best of the telephone world with the best of the data world. Those were separated in the past. Audio conferencing is a rich environment that needs specialists; do not phone people dabbling in web-based systems or data programmers dabbling in VoIP phone technologies. Web 2.0 audio conferencing providers do both well. Find them.
For more information, please Google “Web 2.0 Audio Conferencing”.
Copyright 2010. Leader Phone and Michael McKibben. All rights reserved.