Web Based Conferencing Saves the Day!

Last week I was talking with a colleague who used web based conferencing to stay in touch with out-of-state clients. She finds web based conferencing saves time and money by avoiding travel. She also finds it helps her stay in touch with clients better than just a phone call.

She told me a story of how web based conferencing saved the day, even with an in-state client who was only a few hours away by car. Seems after a long rainy spell the river that goes through her client’s city flooded the downtown area. My colleague literally could not get across the river to visit with her client. At stake was a high-dollar contract that had to be worked out right away.

Not to worry! My colleague used her web based conferencing subscription to work through the contract with her client in real time, just as though they were sitting together in a meeting room.

These days, web based conferencing can even be accomplished via your WIFI enabled iPhone or Blackberry. Fuze Meeting lets you host and attend web conferences, view multimedia content in real time, plus chat with co-workers and friends – all with enterprise-grade security — and the iPhone and Blackberry apps are free!

How to Choose An Online Meeting Provider

We small business owners have to be careful.  We need to invest in growing our business, but not waste a cent.   Web conference software can help, if you understand what to look for.

Often, owners are afraid the service will cost too much. They worry they might get locked into a fee for something that doesn’t do what they need. Sound familiar?  If so, read on.

The good news is that web conferencing vendors have pricing plans geared for small business owners. For example, Webex’s MeetMeNow prices out to as low as $39 a month for an unlimited number of meetings (15 participants per meeting). The other top-tier companies (Cisco, Adobe) have similar plans.

The trick to deciding whether the finances make sense is to figure out what you’ll save.   Are you traveling to meetings? Internet web conferencing will save travel dollars.  Are you always pressed for time?  Web conferencing lets you be in “two places at once.”  When you calculate your savings in dollars and time, you’ll probably agree that web conferencing is a good investment.

Next, determine what features you absolutely must have.   If you’ve used internet conferencing before you probably already know what you need.  If this is new technology to you, take advantage of free trials to see which of these features make the most sense for you.

• Audio Conferencing: If you’re interested in VoIP calling (calling over the Internet) you’ll want to check whether the vendor provides this.
• Video Conferencing: If you have a webcam on your PC and are comfortable using it, you’ll want a vendor that allows for video streaming.
• White Board: Virtual whiteboards are a great tool.  Your group works together to draw out a new concept, just as if they were in the same room.
• Annotating Documents: Do you want to read and edit documents together?
• Number and Size of Meetings: We like a plan that allows unlimited meetings.  Some vendors will limit the number of participants per meeting, but how often do you need more than 15 people on a call anyway?

Bottom line: You’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose by taking advantage of online meeting vendors’ free trial offers!

Save Big Bucks With Online Meetings

According to US News, Mark Fritch, owner of Fritch Custom Log Homes in Sandy, Ore., has a problem: The office of his engineer is dozens of miles from his own office. To have a face-to-face meeting with his engineer, Fritch says, “I can figure it’s going to take three or four hours out of my day and 50 miles of driving.” With today’s gas prices, traveling that far is also a drain on Fritch’s wallet. But Fritch has a solution that saves him time and money: He uses a Web-conferencing program to set up a virtual meeting with his engineer. It allows them to view on their individual computers all the documents and photos of their latest home-building project as if the materials were spread out in front of them on a table. Fritch says that holding virtual meetings, which he has done for the past three years, has substantially cut his travel costs. “When I look at dollars and cents, I’m saving time, I’m saving fuel – it’s a win,” Fritch says. Web-conferencing software is an example of how technology has made staying in the office–and saving on fuel costs–work for more and more business people. And the technology has become increasingly affordable for the small fry. A monthly subscription can be as low as $39/month. Less than the cost of filling up your SUV!

Want to know more?  Click here to read our reviews of the top online meeting providers.

5 Advantages of Online Meetings

Whether we like them or not, meetings are an essential activity of business life. It does not matter if you are a one-man/woman operation or work in a conglomerate, meetings with suppliers, colleagues, subordinates, and/or superiors are required.

In the old days, there were two ways to meet: Face-to-face or over the phone. Then there was video conferencing, but the other ways were still more practical, because they were far less expensive. Nowadays, however, thanks to technology, all one needs is a computer and access to the Internet to conduct an online meeting.

Online meetings have several advantages over the traditional methods.

1. Online meetings can be conducted with little advanced notice since the participants do not need to leave their workstations to meet.

2. Online meetings are cost-effective: You don’t have to reserve or prepare a meeting room. Neither you nor your participants need to travel outside of your office, thus no money is spent in order for the participants to attend the meeting.

3. Today’s online meeting vendors have powerful tools that enhance real time collaboration among the participants. For instance, you can transfer keyboard and mouse control to a participant to allow her/him to fully explain their points and call up documents as needed to assist in explanations. Participants are also equipped with chat facilities so that they can communicate with the other participants without disrupting the proceedings of the meeting.

4. Powerful moderator tools allow you to completely control the meeting. For example, mute functions can prevent hard charging participants from unnecessarily butting in on the discussion. As any facilitator knows, face-to-face meeting moderation is not so easily accomplished.

5. It is easy to record the meeting’s proceedings for future review, playback, and broadcast. There is no need for special recording and reproduction equipment.