The Conference Call Monster: How to Tame It

Whether working from office or home, leading and participating in conference calls are essential for doing business in the twenty-first century. Some key points to keep in mind when participating in conference calls are noted below.

- Be on time whether the organizer or participant.

- Make sure you introduce yourself including name, organization or company and why you are relevant to the call.

- If you are the lead on the call, be clear as to the purpose of the call, the agenda and the time limit.

- An agenda sent out in advance of the call is always helpful.

- Additionally, any background material should be distributed to and reviewed by all participants at least one business day in advance of the call.

- Listen to others.

- Do not multi-task. If you are too busy to be on the call or if it is not important to you, assign someone else to participate and represent your function or role.

- Mute the call when you are listening. Others do no want to hear your dog, child, sneezes, lips smacking, etc.

- When you do break in to speak, state you name first and be clear and concise.

- Do not speak over other people or "step on them".

- It a debate breaks out on the call, the lead on the call should moderate and put the item on a parking lot for follow-up if appropriate.

- Someone should document the purpose of the call, participants, agenda and key decisions made. It is not a court transcript word for word.

- Five minutes prior to the end of the call, the lead on the call should wrap-up. This should include a summary of any decisions made, any to doรขโ�ฌโ�ขs including who owns what and by when, any open issues and how they will be handled and when the next call will be scheduled.

Following these steps makes calls more productive for everyone and better spends the money related to the business or organizationรขโ�ฌโ�ขs people costs.

George F. Franks III is the founder and CEO of Franks Consulting Group - a Bethesda, Maryland based management consulting and leadership coaching practice. George is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and the International Coaching Federation. His web site can be found at: http://www.franksconsultinggroup.com His blog is: http://consultingandcoaching.blogspot.com

Be Confused No More - A Definition Of Video Conferencing

You forever hear the term but do you really understand it? The definition of video conferencing can be stated as the integration of audio, video and peripherals for the simultaneous communication of two or more persons who are connected by a particular telecommunication line.

In video conferencing, synchronized images and verbal communication are transmitted between two or more locations. Now that we have videoconferencing defined, how does videoconferencing work?

Why Video Conferencing Works For Many

For video conferencing to work, you would need microphones, video cameras, the necessary computer software, hardware and peripherals, along with the transmission lines for sending video conferencing information amongst video conferencing participants.

When holding a video conferencing event, a codec translates the analog information received by the microphones and video cameras into digital information, which is then transmitted to another codec that translates the digital information back to the original sounds and images, which the video conferencing participants can understand.

Video conferencing used to be more expensive than it is today, because T1, ATM and ISDN lines were used for video conferencing, and all of these were very costly. However, the emergence of the Internet has provided a cheaper solution for video conferencing, using web video conferencing. As a result, video conferencing has become more present in small businesses.

The problem with video conferencing is that the conversion of information from analog to digital format can result in the decreased video quality. The compression ratio is the most important factor in video conferencing. The higher the compression ratio, the faster the video conferencing information is transmitted, but the lower the video quality.

Video conferencing can be used for communication among groups of people. Video conferencing is also very useful in education. Video conferencing can make learning more fun, and video conferencing can work for different learning styles. Video conferencing also allows experts from remote places to talk in classes.

Video conferencing is the wave of the future. Make video conferencing work for you, know more about video conferencing, and make a step forward on improving your conferencing services.

When the subject of conferencing is confusing so many, Jon Butt's site at http://www.conferencing-explained.com does exactly what it says on the tin. Explaining the facts and fiction about web, video, audio and teleconferencing, how this latest technology can save you money, the equipment you need or don't need, the best call plans and where to find the best prices and value online