Conference Calling – Your Safe Alternative to Costly Travel Expenses

To read this article in our HTML-based e-newsletter, ATX Dialogue, please visit http://www.atx.com/dialoguejune2003/conferencecalling.html
Today, travel, both domestic and overseas, involves more planning, time, inconvenience – and some might say risk – than ever before. Safety and security are a primary concern in everything we do, certainly including our business activities. Add to these factors a less than robust economy and it’s clear that safe, efficient, cost-effective business communications are becoming more important than ever before.

Fewer and fewer American business people travel to see vendors, customers, or branch offices, opting instead to conduct meetings by remote conferencing rather than face-to-face interactions. The Wall Street Journal, quoting from a recent National Business Travel Association survey, reported that over 38% of corporate travel managers indicated they planned to decrease their travel spending this year.
That being said, conference calling (and its various high-tech variants) is still considered a less than optimal substitute for the “everybody in one room” type of meeting. The common perception is that despite its lower cost, convenience and safety, a conference call just can’t replicate the results that having all the participants in one room can provide. The reality, however, is that current technologies are making that conventional wisdom a little less wise all the time.
Conference Calling Features
Traditional audio conferencing has been around since the early ’70s, but most businesses are still not maximizing the potential of today’s audio conferencing features that can add tremendous value to a simple phone call. Did you know, for example, that with digital recording of calls, people who missed the initial call can listen to a replay over the phone, by tape, or on CD at their own convenience? With in-call tools like Lecture Mode, Question and Answer, and Polling, meeting leaders can control the flow of a call more effectively than if they were physically present. Some providers even offer real-time translation services for international conference calls. These are just a sampling of the features and options available to today’s audio conferencing customers.
Web Conferencing
If you want to go high-tech, perhaps the most compelling and under-utilized feature is the Web Conference. Web Conferencing is a relatively new feature, that works in conjunction with standard audio conferencing. Through the use of a web browser and some Java applets, Web Conferencing allows all call participants to see and work in documents, spreadsheets, databases, etc. together in real-time. This ability to work collaboratively over the phone is unmatched even by physical meetings (unless all of the participants bring their laptops into the conference room with them).
ATX Assembly
If your business is using or considering conference calling as a convenient and less costly alternative to travel, make ATX Assembly Conference Calling your preferred and effective substitute.
ATX Assembly Conference Calling will bring your company together with customers and prospects, vendors and partners, investors, applicants, and fellow employees by enabling you to hold meetings, conduct trainings, and discuss important issues in the comfort of your own environment. Additional features are available to customers who require information beyond the traditional conference call, including roll call, transcripts, and more.
Contact ATX
To learn more about how ATX Assembly can help your business communicate more effectively, please contact an ATX Consultant at 800-220-ATX2, or visit the Conference Calling page on our web site at http://www.atx.com/atx_solutions_voice.html

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