10 Advantages and Benefits of Online Conference Calling Services

10 Advantages and Benefits of Online Conference Calling Services

This articles describes various benefits of the conference calling services. We will focus on the need and importance of conference calling services in the today's business life. We will describe 10 reasons to choose online conference calling services.

Around the world business people are constantly trying to do as much work possible in the least amount of time. Deadlines are constantly looming, and the closer they come the more you notice ways to maximize your time – and therefore your employer's money. Companies nowadays have to increase their efficiency any way possible, which is why so many organizations are deciding to hold meetings online instead of using precious company resources on travel expenses. We have compiled some of the reasons we feel conference call services can benefit a number of companies and perhaps how it can help you.

1. Familiar Equipment

Participating in web conference calls allows users to access the conference from their own personal computers. This will become a great asset in that it keeps all of their resources at their fingertips. As the presenter, it is also calming to know that you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the tools on your own computer before the conference. When you travel somewhere new to make a presentation, it is never a guarantee that they will have equipment you are familiar with or the tools you need to present everything you have prepared.

2. Spontaneity

After deciding that an emergency meeting is in order to discuss a huge change at the company, how do you quickly gather together people from every office? Without worrying about travel time you can send out an email requesting them to join you in a conference call and within minutes you will have the floor. Web conference calling allows for spontaneity and meetings in minutes whereas without this option, the meetings and the big announcements would have to wait.

3. It's Green

Web conference calls are more resourceful and have proven to be an earth-friendly option for conferencing. Holding a conference call online requires no paper for handouts or agendas. Everything necessary for the meeting is transferred electronically. This eliminates the need to purchase paper and ink to print countless copies of documents that will no longer be needed after the conference. Conference calling also requires no gas; everyone can join from their current location. Just think how many pollutants you're sparing the environment by meeting online instead of at a physical location.

4. Productive

Through the virtual meeting space employees have the opportunity to become more involved in the conference. Office chatter and unnecessary communication is cut out of conference calls as people sign in yet are unable to communicate with one another until the host begins the conference. With all conference data on a personal screen in front of them, employees are more easily drawn into the conference and engaged in the discussion or listening to what the presenter is saying. This heightened participation means the ideas will begin to flow as employees feed off of one another and the conference material.
 
5. Excellent Seating

With employees joining a web conference from a number of locations, many will take advantage of the opportunity to sit at their own desk. All of your employees can have the best seat in the house as their personal office and computer screen allows them to join the conference, view the presentations and shared documents, and take part in discussions and polls. Nobody will have an excuse for why they couldn’t see or hear. Web conference calling also accommodates persons with disabilities as they too are able to sit in a preferred location with their computer of choice.
 
6. Record and Replay

Web conference systems offer a feature that allows the host or presenter to record their conference call. This feature seldom goes untouched. During a conference the recording can be paused and replayed immediately. After the conference the recording can also be saved and shared later with employees that were unable to make it to the meeting. If the conference was a training seminar or another presentation that you would like to share with all new employees, it is easy to share or replay the recording at any later point in time. While this feature is either too expensive or not available for conferences held in person, it is available through nearly all web conference services.
 
7. Extended Reach

Conference calling services will allow your company to reach more people in less time. Whether you are making a presentation to potential clients, training employees in a variety of offices or communicating with hard-to-reach stakeholders, web conferencing gives you the opportunity to fit more meetings into your day and extend the reach of your company. Through this efficient method of web conferencing you will participate in more conferences and meetings in less time than ever before.
 
8. Unification

With companies growing and opening new offices in a number of locations, the challenge presents itself: how does everyone work together? Through web conferencing employees have the opportunity to see faces, hear voices and become more familiar with their coworkers. Becoming more comfortable with one another will open up the floor to brainstorming together, building off of one another’s ideas and creating a stronger business. No matter how remote your offices may be, through web conference calling every employee has the opportunity to work with others, get ideas, and strengthen the business in their area.
 
9. Virtual Equipment

Instead of purchasing equipment that will need to be handed out, gathered up and stored for each conference, why not use the virtual equipment supplied by one of the many web conference providers. It is easy to take a poll, get results and share them in real time with your attendees; this option is provided with no extra charge and no hassle of setting up, passing out and storing the equipment. There are a number of tools, like building a survey that can be distributed and received quickly and efficiently. The data will already be in your computer so there is no need to enter it again, and many programs will create graphs and charts for you with the information they gathered. With all of the tools available through web conferencing, why choose anything else?
 
10. Reduce Travel Costs

Few people in the world would turn down a nice Christmas bonus or raise to go on a quick three-day business trip. After all business trip expenses are accounted for – airfare, gas, hotel and food – a three-day business trip has taken a nice piece of company funds. There are plenty of other ways to spend the company funds you save by using conference call services and give employees another reason to work hard for the business.