WEBconferences are just like normal meetings but they are conducted virtually over the Internet. Presenters can give PowerPoint presentations, consult documents, use interactive on-screen graphics and even vote or display the results of collaborative efforts.

This eco-logic axis, is a new challenger on the WEBconference industry, Tele-efficiency, who supports it. Their service, better known as Conferenceware, is registered in the technological ecosystem. It integrates with Outlook in order to plan a meeting and to invite contacts and with Skype a voice over IP worldwide network. It includes a free audioconference service, in which the participants just make a long distance call, with accesses in North America and Europe, even better, free, with Skype.

According to the Forrester consulting firm, the WEBconference market has had a 28% annual increase in the last 5 years and this progression should continue until 2011, going from 700 million to 2,8 billions a year. Better know for its applications on the public WEBinar, the eMeeting applications should experience in themselves the strongest increase mainly among the multisite companies, those regarding knowledge as well as associations.

The cost of WEBconference services is usually based on per-minute and per-participant rates and, therefore, these services are very expensive. However, Conferenceware offers a free 30-day trial period followed by a fixed-rate quarterly or annual service contract that includes an unlimited number of meetings. Companies that use WEBconferences can reduce their traveling costs and improve the synergy of their meetings, since the latter can be held at any time, anywhere and even at a moment’s notice.

Conferenceware has been launched simultaneously in three languages; French, English and Spanis, in 15 countries on all 5 continents. The address of its international English portal is .tele-efficiency.net. With an interface available in several languages and that can be personalized with a company’s image and logo, Conferenceware fosters cultural exchanges and international cooperation. An on-line demonstration is available at .demo.conferenceware.info. It should be borne in mind that the prospect of events such as an avian flu epidemic could lead companies to adopt WEBconferences as part of their continuity strategy.

Problems

Of course, the users have to read the training material; understandably, the reading can be monotonous. However, producing step-by-step videos for the purpose of instructing does not make economic sense. This is especially difficult if the user seeking assistance is extremely ill-informed.

Solution

An after-sales service team puts together technical demonstration online to explore and explain the problem. A panic button on the WEB site connects the client to a meeting room from where the presentation is made, simultaneously, by an agent. The agent might ask the client to go to a specific page of a knowledge database; for example, the one that describes step by step all the steps required to complete anoperation. Also, the usual questions, the FAQ (Frequently Ask Questions), are put together on prerecorded help clips that the clients can consult, as free service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Results

The audio-visual is without doubt the most powerful of all media. The television and cinema are proof enough for this. The level of comprehension is manifestly superior as is the level of satisfaction of the clientele. By converting part of the technical assistance requests to self-service, the cost per client can be lowered, thus enabling more resources to be available for the more difficult cases. Thus, with us, long distance technical support, in telework, is available just a click away.

Problems

Nevertheless, reviewing a proposition with the client will actually save time for everybody as compared to just emailing or using rapid delivery services. Coordinating the responses to bids that involve many different resources within the company (but which are not always available) in conjunction with the deadlines that approach rapidly is, without doubt, a Herculean task. Our services give you the edge here, with the added advantage that the sales team will not be the last to know if a competitor makes a borderline maneuver.

Solution

In some cases, it is more appropriate to conduct a virtual meeting with a prospect, a client, a distributor, or a partner. Through web conference, a PowerPoint presentation, a software demonstration, or consultation of a document may be done online. Also, it is a great way to review and reinforce a proposition already sent to a client by email. Thanks to the presence indicator of the voice over IP software, Skype, other colleagues can be reunited, according to their availability, in order to produce a bid offer. Finally, an alert on the competition allows the exchange of all information related to, and needed for, the sales force.

Results

Reducing the traveling time of representatives proportionally increases their sales time, thus allowing them to focus better on the task. The level of stress that goes with answering a bid diminishes with better coordination, resulting in the improved quality of a proposal, which may be evident even to the client’s eyes. Sharing of experiences among the sales team members, regarding the competition, better equips them to neutralize arguments and to go ahead successfully.

Problems

In such a situation, a training method that is a continuing formation adapted to the ever-changing needs of the firms would be illusory; also, efforts to manage all the information within an organization as back-up data would be unrealistic. Often, consultation with employees is usually nonexistent, too. Hence, it can be safely concluded that the research result which says that clients’ loyalty is directly proportional to employees’ motivation is true.

Solution

Pedagogical methodology has profoundly evolved during the last ten years. Virtual classrooms have appeared, with long-distance training. Closer to us, “coaching” has become a common practice. Both these methodologies can make use of the web conferencing technology. By constantly recording the training sessions as well as the meetings, information can be made widely available to everybody. Usually, these concern better practices or strategic visions that can be shared. Also, thanks to the polls and votes during a web conference, the management gets to know the personnel’s opinions which they can actively implicate.

Results

First of all, optimizing training to integrate new employees shortens the time needed for them to fully develop their capacities and to perform better. Profit targets are met faster as costs get reduced, as well. Moreover, the organization’s efficiency in the developing of exchanges and the sharing of best practices improves, too. This has a considerable impact on profits. The higher the individual motivations pyramid, the more the people will feel the need to belong, to be appreciated, and to accomplish something. In short, the key is bidirectionality.

Problem

The key people are committed to organizing brainstorming sessions and focus groups, and in conceiving and validating concepts. Press conferences, sometimes lasting several weeks, are also held during product launches. For the fruition of these efforts, the prospects have to be carefully identified as qualified. Otherwise, these efforts will be futile, and the team will have to begin again without being able to capitalize their exchanges and use them repeatedly.

Solution

The marketing team announces on their WEB site the online presentations (WEBinar), for which the visitors have to register in advance. The brainstorming sessions among colleagues, the focus groups, press conferences, and product launching are done long distance during webconferences. In addition, these events are completely recorded, both voice and images, and then copied by different means and placed on the WEB site, the local network, and on CD or DVD in order to be reused or replayed for new prospects, employees, and partners.

Results

The added advantage of WEBinars is that the participants are identified as qualified beforehand. It’s only later on that they are considered as prospects for the sales team - this produces better “closing” performance from the team. The time devoted to events is significantly reduced. The response rate of the prospects is faster. The audio-visual archives integrated through the years represent priceless collateral material that can support sales. In addition, we have the power of multimedia to the performance of polymedia, on different kinds of supports, regardless of the time.

Problems

Moreover, the absence of a management representative at a meeting (albeit due to an important situation such as negotiating an important contract) is not uncommon. Consulting your colleagues helps you to take better decisions for the company. To conveniently hold meetings anytime and anywhere (also in small groups), make use of Tele-efficiency’s superior service.

Solution

The statutory meetings that are planned by the president are automatically scheduled in his Outlook calendar, after which he asks the participants to confirm their availability. During the meeting, he introduces the other presenter who gives a PowerPoint presentation and submits a document on the screen, which is also transmitted to his coworkers. If there is

an absentee, the meeting is integrally recorded, both voice and images, and emailed to the absentee, along with the hyperlink and password so that it can be replayed. The voice over Internet software, Skype, along with the instant messaging presence indicator, allows the members of the management team to know, at a given moment, their coworkers’ status, i.e., if they are with a “connected,” “no show,” “not available,” or “do not disturb” signal.

Results

If some of the management personnel are frequently traveling, they can participate in the meetings via the Internet from their hotel room, airport, or an Internet caf