Teleconferencing is a process of virtual communication. In terms of the
equipment used to establish a connection it can be of different kinds:
audio-, video- or web-conferencing. Besides, teleconferences can be
divided into managed and reservationless ones in terms of a third-party
assistance. Reservationless teleconferences are made on-the-fly, while
managed teleconferences are conducted with the operator’s assistance
and should be pre-booked.
Managed teleconferences It is when a company plans to hold a
high-profile and more complicated teleconference with a large number of
participants that it resorts to operator-assisted services. Providers
usually have a team of professionals, who are ready to help you
organise the conference and customise it to suit your needs. You should
contact the provider beforehand to decide on the best format for your
conference, which depends on the number of participants, the number of
languages used, etc.
The provider gives you a dial-in number, which you send out to the
invitees. You also inform the prospective attendees about the date and
the time of the conference. Or you can submit a list of participants to
the operator with specified timing, and the latter will do that piece
of work for you. Usually, no registration fee, local area or access
codes are required. Everybody just dials the dial-in number on the
exact time of the conference and enters it. Or you can dial the
invitees out. It’s useful to ask attendees to identify themselves, when
they join in.
You can create a participant access code for the invitees to gain entry
to your private teleconference and eliminate the possibility of
unwanted intrusion.
Some operators of managed conferences offer 3 types of conferences,
including standard operator-assisted, event operator-assisted and
auto-event ones. Standard operator-assisted is designed to accommodate
up to 50 lines. Event conference is aimed at connecting over 50 lines.
Support staff provides pre-call planning and advice, proactive
monitoring of the conference, follow-up and assessment. Auto-event
conferences are similar to the event-managed with addition of a PIN
code sent to each participant. At the designated time, a participant
dials in and is put through to the conference without any need to talk
with the operator.
After everybody is in place, you can give the conference any direction
you like. Among the most popular methods to employ are Yes/No polling,
sub-conferencing, etc.
You can also negotiate a recording (CD or a transcript) of the
teleconference for later review (can be especially useful for those who
missed the event).
What is good about managed conferencing is that you don’t have to
purchase expensive network, equipment and hire support staff. There are
differences in payment schemes. Some charge per minute (British
VideoCentric charges 12p per minute of audio-conferencing and 25p per
minute of video-conferencing), or per minute per participant, while
others offering high-usage customers a comprehensive hassle-free plans
go for a monthly fee.
Managed conferences are a wise and easy choice, as they take off a load
of concerns from you and offer professional handling of the event. Let
them entertain you.
