There is no substitute for a face to face meeting but if you want to improve your company’s green credentials, cut down on travel costs, time and improve your carbon footprint then audio, web and video conferencing could help your business. Conferencing is great for remote collaborative working as you can use the services for training, presentations and sales briefings without having to bring everyone together at great expense.

Audio conferencing is a dial in service whereby conference participants dial a specified telephone number which connects the caller to a conference ‘meeting room’ using a conference number and pin code.  Charges and the maximum number of participants per conference vary between service providers but as a general rule you will be charged a pence per minute rate per participant. If you pay a set up fee or monthly rental for your audio conferencing service then talk to us as we don’t apply them and provide market leading conferencing rates.  

Web conferencing usually combines audio conferencing with a web interface. Participants are usually provided with a URL address and login details for a web-based conference.  Web conferencing is very versatile as the interface can be used to host Power point presentations, worksheets and other documents which can be manipulated whilst they are being discussed. Good web conferencing tools are also collaborative allowing the host to share access rights with other participants so that they can add content or manipulate data whilst the web conference is in session.

Video conferencing can be expensive depending upon the quality of equipment, bandwidth requirements and the number of participants but it doesn’t need to be. At the very bottom end of the scale you can set up a video conference using Windows Messenger Live as long as you have broadband, a webcam and a microphone. Because the connection traverses the public internet, picture quality can vary significantly and I wouldn’t recommend it for important, external client calls. It is useful tool to stay in contact with your own home and remote workers. For professional video conferencing you can utilise web-based service providers, hire a video conferencing suite or deploy your own video conferencing equipment within your premises. The first option is by far the most cost-effective especially if you don’t hold many video conferences as you can pay per call, avoiding the high upfront costs to purchase your own equipment.  If you have a dispersed workforce or offices overseas and you have to make frequent trips then there maybe justification for a solution which encompasses owning or leasing your own conferencing equipment. If you have not considered conferencing as a communication solution before contact us to discuss your requirements and we will work out how you can get the most out of the available options.