Thanks to you, our loyal and very-much-appreciated customers, LINK enjoyed significant growth in 2007. As in years past, we did everything we could—going Above and Beyond the Call wherever needed—to enhance your collaboration experience. Along the way, you showed us how we might serve you better—so we made plenty of adjustments, with more on the way for 2008. Here’s a rundown:
- We just re-organized our Client Relations department into multiple teams, each focused on a specific type of call, event, or web support. By specializing, each of our team members can develop greater expertise—and that means faster, better assistance for you when you need it.
- To enable our specialists to “go deep” into each of our service offerings, we have also launched new training programs for Client Relations consultants. With a greater depth of knowledge, these experts will be ready to take even better care of you.
- In Q1 ’08, we’ll deploy new reservations software that will simplify—and improve the accuracy of—the reservation process.
- Also during the first three months of the year, we’ll launch a new billing platform capable of providing you more detailed invoices (if you need them), and delivering some on-line billing options as well.
Thanks again for your support and loyalty in 2007. We hope the changes we’re making will help us to serve you even better in the coming year!
 Why web conferencing tops many lists for ’08.
Hey, it’s not just us—everyone seems to be singing the praises of web conferencing as an alternative to high travel costs, work disruption, and other aspects of in-person meetings.
According to Liz Winfield, co-author of The Web Conferencing Book, there are at least six reasons to choose web conferencing:
- Lower cost. Of course! No travel costs, no premises expenses, lower insurance premiums, and a host of other savings.
- Time savings. Employees and team members spend less time traveling, giving them more time to focus on critical tasks—and they can get them completed sooner, as well.
- Greater agility. When something needs doing, employees can connect with others inside and outside the organization without extensive planning or advance notice.
- Better teamwork. Because teams that are geographically scattered can communicate more easily and effectively, they meet goals more easily—and enjoy enhanced morale along the way.
- More skilled team members. Lower training costs mean you can train more people or deliver more training to a given group.
- Less disruption. People are more productive when they’re in their primary office location; travel means getting less done.
Naturally, we agree with Liz. When you’re ready to start taking greater advantage of what web conferencing offers, check out LINK’s conferencing solutions here.
The surprisingly high cost …
of using low-cost teleconferencing services.
Yes, there are “free” and extremely-low-rate teleconferencing services out there … and, yes, your initial out-of-pocket costs for a given conference might be less with one of these services. But your overall costs will be just as high, if not higher—and you’ll get less in return. Here’s why:
More hassle. Some of these services require you to re-register your account every few months. Note, too, that this means changing conference numbers every few months, which causes confusion and missed conferences. Is that how you want you and your colleagues to spend their time?
Less participant-friendly. Some services don’t offer a toll-free option, so you and your participants must pay long distance charges to join in. A toll-free option will eliminate that one problem, but you’ll pay as much as for a premium service, without any real premium benefits.
Limited recording capability. Some services let you record a conference … but won’t let you download it in a convenient, reusable format. Others let you download, but be quick—your recording could disappear in a week or a month, long before you might have the need to access it. And some services only retain your most recently recorded event, so if you have conferences with any reasonable frequency, you’ll keep losing the recordings of all but the most recent.
Small conferences only. Most of these services limit the number of participants. While you might save a few dollars on some kinds of calls that regularly involve only a few people, you may still need to hold larger conferences—and maintaining accounts with multiple services costs you time and productivity.
Add-on fees. You’ll pay extra for 800 numbers … the ability to store multiple recordings or host multiple, concurrent events … conferences over a specified duration … and events that involve more than a minimal number of participants (if the service will accommodate them at all).
It all adds up to more work just to set up, track, and re-use content from your teleconferences—and, in some cases, a much less satisfying experience for you and your participants. That can cost you in employee productivity, customer loyalty, and prospect conversion.
Next time you consider going the “free” route, think about the true costs. We think you’ll find that full-service providers like LINK give you more business results for your conferencing expenditure.
The latest from LINK:
2007’s most popular Webinar is still packing them in.
Okay, so maybe we can’t prove it was the most-watched Webinar in all of cyberspace for the year … but it was the most popular one we know about.
“8 Creative Ways to Keep Online Learners Locked On” drew rave reviews when it first aired in early summer—and saw quite a few second- and third-viewings by the same participants as the year drew on.
So we’ve kept it online for your on-demand enjoyment. If you haven’t seen it, don’t wait any longer. Point your browser to https://reg.linkconferencecall.com/Linktrainingevent/ and learn:
* How to get learners involved in the first 15 seconds
* Keys to keeping learners engaged—even with complex material
* Three techniques to help learners teach themselves in the class and later on
… and more. Check it out!
Here’s to a great ’08!
Thanks again for reading this year—we look forward to sharing more with you in 2008. If you know someone who might find it personally rewarding to receive LINK Connect, please feel free to forward this edition.
And remember … drop us a line to tell us what’s important to your business. We’d love to hear from you, and we’ll use your input to make LINK Connect your very favorite e-newsletter.
See you next time – and thanks for reading.
LINK Conference Service, LLC
3245 146th PL SE, Suite 230
Bellevue, WA 98007
©2008 LINK Conference Service LLC
All Rights Reserved.
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