Goodbye Phone Conference Calls – Hello Webconferencing!

My first phone conference call was a disaster. I had prepared my presentation notes in advance, consumed enough coffee to fuel an army, and set myself up in my cozy private office thinking that nothing could possibly go wrong.

What a lark! Everything that could go wrong did and memories of the first conference call I attended flooded back into my mind. Callers were making noise, I couldn’t figure out how to mute them without muting myself, and when the lines were finally open for feedback the lack of participation was incredibly discouraging.

Of course, this experience had put me in a unique position. I’d now been on both sides of the phone conference equation – as a presenter and a listener. Aside from the technical difficulties I had experienced, I also knew based on observation and listener feedback that my presentation had been viewed as dry and boring. I tried to console myself – after all, what does one really expect from a phone call?

Web Collaboration + Phone Conferencing = Success

My attitude was all wrong. Instead of trying to find a solution to my problem I spent time justifying my mistakes. What I didn’t realize was that there were plenty of things I could have done to enhance my phone conference. Communication is essential to the ultimate success of any business, especially when you’re working with people from all over the country or even the world. Why hadn’t I taken the time to think outside the box?

My research led me directly towards webconferencing. I couldn’t help but marvel at how much more useful my notes and drawings would have been had my listeners been able to see them, and I was astounded to find out that with a web conferencing solution I could have shared those and more with everyone participating on my call!

I was more than prepared for my next presentation – a training session for a group of around 100 people. I had arranged for webconferencing tools through a popular provider and had prepared a presentation that I uploaded in advance. I’d also had time to prepare handouts and worksheets which were uploaded to the webconference server for my participants to download before, during, or after the presentation – whichever was most convenient for them!

Combining Webconferencing Tools to Enhance Communication

During the presentation I was able to not only share my ideas verbally, but I was able to clearly illustrate my points with colorful graphics, charts, and demonstrations that wouldn’t have been possible had I relied solely on a phone conference call. This time my participants were able to communicate with me via instant message both during and after the meeting, while others were able to wait in the phone queue with their questions and comments. The positive feedback I received was overwhelming – a complete 360 compared to what I’d experienced after my first session.

The moral of the story is that with a pleasant combination of both phone conference calls and webconferencing you can put together a meeting or presentation that leaves your participants feeling informed as well as engaged. I have personally made it a goal to help business people like you learn as much as possible about the best webmeeting tools on the market, including services like Netspoke.

Want to learn more about phone conference calls and internet web conferencing? Simply dial our toll-free number and a Message Impact representative will be ready and waiting to answer your call!