| Conference calling services provide a way to | | | | educate your sales force about your new product |
| release information to your sales force, train your | | | | immediately. Not only will everyone learn about |
| employees and link your scattered workgroups. | | | | the features and benefits of the product, but |
| The conference call eliminates the need for costly | | | | conference calling could allow real-time |
| airline tickets, lost productivity due to travel time | | | | brainstorming on sales pitches. All of your |
| and expensive meeting costs. Training cycles can | | | | salespeople would have the same information at |
| be quicker with conference calling. | | | | the same time, and could collaborate on the best |
| A friend of mine in Dallas used to work for IBM. | | | | way to present the product to the customer. |
| One day he was complaining about the amount of | | | | What if your business has a large customer |
| business travel that he had to do. His most recent | | | | support division, and you just decided to install |
| trip involved travel to New York, probably at a | | | | new software for their workstations? The |
| cost of hundreds of dollars and certainly at a cost | | | | software part is easy, it's distributed through the |
| of lost time and productivity. Do you want to | | | | network. But what about training? Again, you can |
| know what the subject of the meeting was? It | | | | bring everyone in for a training meeting. But who's |
| was all about the need to reduce unnecessary | | | | going to do your customer support while your |
| business travel! | | | | representatives are traveling? You could send |
| Large companies always been willing to spend | | | | trainers to all of your customer support locations. |
| millions of dollars for business travel and company | | | | But how much will that cost, and how long will it |
| meetings. But travel costs have risen so much | | | | take? Conference calling services make it possible |
| that the days of the road warrior may be coming | | | | for you to train your personnel at their own |
| to an end. And what's the replacement? The | | | | workstations. There's no travel involved and very |
| conference call. Conference calling services are | | | | little downtime. They will get hands-on training in |
| changing the way companies large and small are | | | | their own familiar environment. You can schedule |
| conducting their business. | | | | a conference call as soon as the application is |
| Personal contact and networking have been the | | | | ready for use. |
| basis for business since business began. | | | | Imagine your business has expanded to the global |
| Conference calling makes it possible to conduct | | | | level. Your product development team is in |
| business without the need for physically traveling | | | | California, marketing and advertising is in New |
| to one location or the other. An audio conference | | | | York, your programmers are in India and the |
| call can bring together almost any number of | | | | product is assembled in Mexico. What's the best |
| people, from two to hundreds. Although today's | | | | way to link all of these workgroups? Does |
| audio conference calls provide the same basic | | | | anybody in your company really have time to |
| services of the old-fashioned three-way | | | | spend 22 hours on a plane flying to Asia? And |
| conference call, they are much more powerful | | | | how productive is someone living with 12-hour jet |
| and easier to arrange. | | | | leg? A strategically scheduled conference call |
| So how could conference calling services save | | | | would allow all of your company's workgroups to |
| your business time and money? The possibilities | | | | meet in real time and collaborate on the project. |
| are limited only by your imagination and ingenuity. | | | | Documents and presentations could be developed, |
| Let's say that your business relies on large sales | | | | miscommunication could be avoided and |
| force. Your sales force may be scattered from | | | | everybody gets to sleep at home. |
| one end of the country to the other. How do you | | | | Now if you really like to travel and you actually |
| train them on the benefits of a new product? In | | | | enjoy putting your shoes into an x-ray tray, then |
| the past, you would probably fly your sales force | | | | you may want to avoid the use of conference |
| into the home office for a meeting. Not only did | | | | calling services. An effective conference call is |
| you incur travel costs, hotel costs and meeting | | | | easier to set up than a plane reservation. And it |
| costs, think of how much business you that was | | | | will certainly be less expensive than the cost of |
| lost in the days that your salesmen weren't in the | | | | even one airline ticket. The conference call may |
| field. | | | | very well bring a day when all business travel is |
| Conference calling services, especially if you add a | | | | unnecessary. |
| video or web component, would allow you to | | | | |