Web conferencing has become a widely accepted technology in most businesses yet many law firms find themselves late to introduce web meetings and webinars to their user community.  With a wide variety of options available and a user community that can be resistant to adopting new technology, selecting a web conferencing service that is easy to use, affordable and supportable can be a daunting task for many information technology professionals in law firms.

Although it is tempting to compare web conferencing services side by side by looking at available feature sets, there are some key decision filters that will increase the satisfaction level and adoption of web conferencing in the firm.

Get past the firewall

Marketing departments in a firm use web conferencing to highlight the expertise of their attorneys, to offer CLE classes, or to hold virtual events.  Any web conferencing service that requires a download to attend the event limits the ability for certain participants to join because of firewall restrictions.  Select a web conferencing service where there is no requirement for a participant download to minimize issues joining the web call.

Works with Mac or PC

Although Macs are not the most prevalent technology in firms, many marketing departments use them consistently.  Select a service that will work with a Mac or PC to create flexibility so that any call leader or participant can access web conferencing regardless of the operating system.

Integrate with audio

Many audio conferencing vendors integrate with market leading web services versus offering their own in-house web conferencing technology.  Web and audio integration allow synchronized meetings and recordings and web conferencing help if the user selects *0 on the audio conference call.  Web and audio integration offers the user a seamless conferencing experience.

Avoid feature creep

Survey web conferencing users and you will find that the vast majority of them use only a few features, especially for meetings, status conferences or document collaboration.  Web conferencing can become quite complex and expensive if you purchase a service for the most sophisticated of your user community.  Consider getting the standard version of a service for most of your meeting users and the event or professional version for those key users who will host events vs. meetings.

Offer multiple layers of support

Support for web conferencing should be a key consideration and should go well beyond the firm’s IT department.  If web conferencing is purchased from an audio conferencing provider, users generally have access to multiple levels of support.  The audio vendor will offer training on the service as well as help while on the audio conference call.  Additionally, the major players such as Adobe, WebEx and Microsoft offer 24 X 7 online and live support at no additional charge.

Pricing Flexibility

Do not purchase any service unless you are allowed at least 30 days to “test drive” it.  Consider services that offer both per minute pricing along with a subscription for unlimited usage.  You can mix both pricing models within the firm avoiding an annual commitment until you have an established pattern of usage.

Web conferencing allow users to collaborate on documents, share information, execute depositions, train remote office personnel and promote the firm.  Unlike most video conferencing solutions, web calls are executed right from the desktop on a PC or Mac at a fraction of the cost.  Considering participant access, ease of use, support and flexibility will help ease the firm’s user community into a comfort level that can make the web conferencing experience an integral part of the firm’s communication strategy.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to businesses in all industries. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance in audio and web conferencing services and online account management. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls to highly interactive webinars and special event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

pr@copperconferencing.com

Copper Conferencing

As a conferencing company focusing on the small to mid-sized business market, the Inside Sales team at Copper Conferencing is primarily staffed with recent college grads, eager for experience.  Although claiming to be willing to be developed and tutored, the introduction into the world of sales can often be a bit of an adjustment, if not downright uncomfortable.  That first sales job means confronting new expectations, quotas and revenue demands, and making your own living that is entirely dependent upon your efforts.  It can be a greater jolt than expected, with a steeper learning curve than anticipated.

Bringing fresh-out-of-college salespeople up to par involves both personal and professional skill development:

• What defines a workday?  What are reasonable work hours if you are to succeed?
• What is appropriate office attire? What is appropriate office language? What is appropriate office interaction between co-workers?
• What is the correct protocol for business email?
• How do you sound on the phone?  Do you sound professional and friendly when you speak?

Of no less importance, the effective manager of such an organization must know the difference between intention and results.  New salespeople often erroneously see these as equal.

• Following training, sales managers of a young sales team must model every direction given to their team:  show them what you are asking them to do – how to research a lead, how to call/prospect, how to set a sales appointment, how to execute a sales appointment.  Let them model their behavior after yours.
• Setting clear expectations with frequent feedback is critical to the success of a young team. The manager is responsible to hold up a mirror so that the salesperson can see the connection between behavior and results – a key to this is doing so on a more frequent, rather than less frequent, basis.
• Micro-management of these hires is not only smart, it is absolutely necessary.  From experience, I know that allowing someone to veer off-track on results without immediate course correction establishes a habit that can be nearly impossible to break.

One great benefit of a young sales team is the energy and enthusiasm they bring to the job. If eager to learn, they willingly take on any challenge and work like crazy to be successful. Having no previous experience, old habits are non-existent, so training can be geared toward the focus of Copper Conferencing’s ideal customer.  We are confident that we are providing a great opportunity in an increasingly expanding market when we hire inexperienced salespeople, knowing that the sales experience they receive from Copper Conferencing will set a solid sales foundation for their future sales careers.

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Carolyn Bradfield

It’s rained more in Atlanta in the last 30 days than in the last 3 years.  One of my dear friends has a wonderful house with a sloped backyard that flattens out at the basement door.  Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been helping take out wet carpet and the most absorbent carpet pad I’ve ever seen.  Although much of the furniture remained intact, she decided it was time for a furniture upgrade.

Copper Conferencing has a number of young people working for the company with several of those individuals living on their own for the first time since college.  What you and I might consider furniture cast offs, they consider those cast offs a great way to furnish an empty apartment.  I took two of our young people over to her house and they instantly fell in love with the older Rooms To Go green couch.  A few minutes later, it was strapped down and loaded on the top of my Murano.   Since it was only going a few miles, I considered this would be a simple, quick exercise of getting the couch over and into the first floor of the townhome  – no big deal, right?

Jace and the couch

Quite a bit of time passed and I started to get worried.  It seemed secure on the roof, but did it slip off?  What was the delay?  They came back and I was on the phone so keys were passed over and I didn’t think any more of it until one of the young men came out of the office and sheepishly let me know the couch had gotten stuck in the front doorway.  Not only could they not get into their townhome, but their neighbor couldn’t get in as well.

The way is clear

I called my very handy husband who loaded all kinds of tools in his car and hurried over.  I envisioned having to hack through the door frame and all types of disruptive activities to dislodge this wedged-in couch.  He went to his toolbox, pulled out a handy-dandy Philips-head screwdriver and in moments the legs were taken off and the couch slipped inside.

What’s the lesson in all this?  Think before you act?  Call for help and advice?  Don’t force it if it doesn’t fit?  I think all of these lessons are good, but the one I took away was that sometimes all it takes is a simple tool to do the job.  When people ask me about what I do for a living, conferencing may seem like a simple tool, but sometimes that’s all that is needed to do the job.  It works from every phone, doesn’t require instructions, and doesn’t require any set up.  Dial the phone and you’re in – a simple tool.

But over a conference call or webinar, you can cement business deals, reorganize your company, set sales strategy, and train everyone on the latest product.  Conferencing is that simple tool that gets a lot done.

By the way to the gentlemen who now own the couch, I have more furniture, but if you take it, then let’s think before you act, look before you leap, have a plan and some simple tools to get the stuff through the door!

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Carolyn Bradfield

Sometimes in our business, companies will engage in an RFP process.  For those of you who don’t know what this is, it stands for “Request for Proposal.”  This usually is a fairly painful process where you are asked a million questions, have to write a term paper and usually have to compete with the “big guys” who can kill you on the price per minute.   Copper Conferencing participated in an RFP process in the spring, but lost out, primarily on price.  We were bummed, especially since this was a valued customer.  But we understand the desire to gain some cost advantages.  Times are tight.

Despite our loss and licking our wounds, our customer care department kept up the high level of service and care even in the face of a certain departure by this customer.  We responded to requests quickly, continued to offer training and support, created and delivered custom reports.  This is an area where nobody can beat us.

Well, it seemed that the “big guys” weren’t nearly as responsive.  They were hard to do business with, were slow to respond to requests and didn’t seem to value the customer nearly as much as we did.  Despite not winning on price, were just told that they’re staying with Copper.  It goes to show you that customer care does matter and if your needs aren’t being met, you have a choice.

Congratulations to our customer service representatives, our billing department, our technical group and to all those Copper employees that do a superior job everyday.  Kathleen Thompson quarterbacks this team and is one of our customer-service heroes.  Good job Copper!  This is a real win for the little guy!

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

But, how do you start up a business while maintaining customer happiness with an audio and web conferencing provider? That’s a great question for the great entrepreneur, Bill Gates.

First, with passion as the foundation, you need organization as your backbone. They go hand in hand. As an entrepreneur, you need a summary of how you intend to organize and operate your endeavor and implement any activities necessary: A business plan. By this, I mean several pages explaining every detail; for example, Copper Conferencing’s business plan is over 100 pages. It varies among different companies: photography, audio and web conference providers, software businesses… etc. Provided that you have every aspect covered, you have everything in place to decide whether it will be a success or not. Not all business plans are realistic, which is why it is so imperative to create one before taking the next steps. The key is to stay focused.

How did I know it was going to be a success? After thoroughly analyzing my business plan, there was no doubt about it. I have passion and am focused, I want to deliver exceptional service and I have the organizational and technical skills necessary. It was time to follow through with my business plan and bring it to life. There was no way it would not succeed, especially by using Copper Conferencing as my guide in the processes of running a business.

Maintaining Brita Photography is not an easy feat; however, with the experience working in the audio and web conferencing industry, I can apply my organizational and technical skills while keeping a few things in mind:

• Passion leads to success: it is the foundation of your business.
• Focus and organizational habits will keep you on the right track: this is the backbone of your business. Create your business plan, now.
• Follow through with your business plan and strive to keep the customer happy: with this, everything else will fall into place (word will spread, customers will increase, and profits will skyrocket)

Although photography and audio conferencing may not be your passion, find out what is and begin the steps to starting your own business. With these steps in mind and passion in your heart, there is no business that can’t succeed.

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Conference calls should be one of the most collaborative and engaging communications experiences in business.  It seems like some of our conference call leaders need a little help living up to that goal, so here’s my recipe for a good conference call.

• Keep your calls to no more than 1 hour.  Most people don’t have the attention span for calls that last for hours and hours.
• Develop an agenda.  Let your participants know what your agenda is and stick to it.
• If a side issue develops, then agree to take that issue off line and not make it part of the conference call.
• Engage your participants by directing questions to specific people.  As an example, “John, how is the competition affecting your territory?”  “Bill, could you expand on that?”
• Give up the podium to others.  Ask someone else to lead a portion of the call and prepare the material in advance.
• Manage distractions.  Gracefully learn how to move on from the individual that wants to dominate the conversation.  Make sure people learn how to mute their lines if there is background noise.
• Recap the action items at the end of the call.  If there is going to be a next call in the series, preview what you will cover on the next call.

To me, the best conference calls are ones where most of the people have an opportunity to contribute.  They’re the ones that don’t last forever and stay focused.  They’re the ones that use the medium to collaborate, train, strategies and engage.  Hopefully this helps conference call leaders step up their game.  By the way, I still need some followers on Twitter.  Maybe the next time I go looking, people will be happier about their conference calls.

Audio conferencing has become a mainstream medium for meeting with remote clients , prospects and extended business partners from the comfort and convenience of your own phone and/or computer. In today’s economic business climate, businesses are more aware than ever that saving time and money is paramount to their success and survival.

The indirect sales effort is a very innovative and cost effective way to promote audio and web conferencing. Telecom agents and resellers already have established customers that rely on the agent’s expertise to advise and manage their existing wireline and wireless services. This relationship is invaluable to Copper in that the door is already open to the client and makes the presentation of audio and web services that much easier.

Agents have virtually hundreds of audio and web conferencing vendors whose services they can sell, so what makes Copper different? Agents and resellers clearly recognize the opportunity they have to promote Copper’s audio and web conferencing services but often ask how to introduce this new product to their base. Copper has designed and implemented a unique set of tools to support the indirect partner in a way that no other conferencing company has considered. Copper’s Connect to Copper™ agent portal allows the agent to monitor their client’s accounts, place online orders and even design and launch an e-marketing campaign using Copper Link™ in just a few clicks.

But what about the channel relationship? How important is that when all Copper’s processes are so automated? Copper’s cutting edge portal allows their Channel Managers quality time to interact even more with their channel partners. Instead of waiting for the agents to bring prospective clients to Copper, Copper Channel Managers personally help their partners to find the business and close it…together!

Copper’s Channel Managers reach out daily to support their agents. Whether to introduce new portal features, train agent’s staff to implement an e-marketing campaign or just assist in the sales process with a prospective client, Copper Channel Managers are constantly developing and reinforcing these relationships. With so much valuable information to share, Channel Managers have many reasons to remain engaged with their partners, reinforcing a strong and lasting relationship.

When a new agent considers their prospects, they focus on industries that have the most need to communicate remotely and also those that provide continuing education to their sales or medical staff. An agent’s primary target industries include healthcare, medical, bio-tech, education, manufacturing and insurance. These organizations most likely utilize audio and web conferencing today. Copper Conferencing can enhance their services with portal access for administrators that allow them to view their company’s usage and even pay their bill online. As with the Copper agent portal, these are unique offerings that other conferencing providers have yet to develop.

Copper Conferencing prides itself on the most important component of all for any successful business….Copper is EASY to do business with. Channel Managers reinforce this fact by leading their channel partners on a journey that will result in a successful experience of conferencing sales and revenue generation. This is a business relationship that is sure to last.

For more information about Copper Conferencing or to contact a Channel Manager, call 866-382-0592.

Believe it or not, even in Atlanta, we had a lot of connections to New York that day.  Marlene’s daughter Heather had her long-time boyfriend on his second day in his first job at Morgan Stanley report into work on the 65th floor of one of the towers.  We couldn’t reach him as we saw the tower fall.  Our key vendor, Raindance had all their executives in New York AND Washington, DC.  It was unbelievable.

Heather’s boyfriend made it out just in time and the Raindance people made it back to Denver intact.  9/11 changed the way our company saw the relevance of our conferencing business and the conferencing industry forever.  People who had never conferenced, called up and asked for accounts.  They stayed home.  They found new ways to engage with each other without jumping on an airplane.

Why did this come to the front of my mind?  No matter what the catalyst is that keeps us at home, we’ve got to think about how to do business without jumping on an airplane.  I already said I was going to travel less.  I really mean it.  I’m really good at meeting over a conference call and I’m going to make sure other people get way better at it.

When I look people up on Twitter, I’ll see them talk about how much they HATE being on a conference call.  Come on people, it’s not that hard and we all need to get way better at doing it.

Follow Copper Conferencing on Twitter @CopperConf or visit our website at http://www.copperconferencing.com

Here is why I’m going to cut back.  There are plenty of stupid people that get on airplanes.  I have to deal with them about half the time because I’m fortunate enough for Delta to upgrade me to First Class.  But there are going to be a lot more people that get on the airplane sick.

Unless you travel a lot, you probably are not aware that the air in the plane recirculates all the time.  Someone sneezes all over the place in row 40, seat G, and you get their germs, even if you’re in First Class.  Now, I already said I haven’t had the flu in as long as I can remember – at least 20+ years.  I just think this may be my year so I’m going to use the full range of our technology and hang out in Atlanta for a while.  The Denver guys may be relieved.  I do suck the air out of the room when I’m around!

Follow Copper Conferencing on Twitter @CopperConf or visit our website at http://www.copperconferencing.com

How time has changed that philosophy!
InterCall has bought up just about everyone in the industry, including my former company Raindance, and in my opinion has just about choked to death on the acquisitions.  Most of the people that maintained those customer relationships have been exited from the business.  Once that happens, InterCall has a nasty habit of significantly raising customer rates, believing that these customers won’t go anywhere else because InterCall is just so big and dominant in the industry.

When they have the slightest slip in minutes or growth, they make it up by putting in crazy charges.  This is especially true of the customers that were unlucky enough to be part of an acquisition.  If you use their service take a good look at the invoice.  Rates are probably substantially higher if they bought your prior provider; there are minimum charges and even charges for things that used to be free such as a paper invoice or a post conference email.

And try calling customer service.  You could be delivered to any of a number of far flung operations that don’t really know each other’s services and take forever to answer a simple question.

Now you know why small companies like Copper can compete against the giants like InterCall.  We live our value system – the customer is always first; their needs are always urgent; and we are very easy to do business with!