News Release: February 1, 2012
From now through February 29, TelSpan, the Indianapolis-based provider of worldwide conferencing and communications services is offering $50 off each Concierge Event Conferencing Package. Eligible events must take place between February 1 and February 29, 2012.
Understanding that the success of Conferencing Events is critical to the achievement of client goals, TelSpan launched its Concierge Event Management Service in 2011. This service was created to assist clients with the planning and execution of each Concierge Conferencing Event, allowing the client to focus on the event content. A TelSpan Event Concierge will handle all logistical details of each Concierge Event, including event technology selection, consultation on media presentation, event registration, coordination and training of speakers, PC compatibility testing, customization of introductions and scripting, facilitation of pre and post-event surveys, conduct roll call, other participant screening, and polling, provide event recording and archiving, customize branding, provide transcriptions, and more.
TelSpan was established to provide clients with “best-in-class” conferencing and communications technologies and offers a full line of web, audio and video conferencing solutions as well as online registration, streaming, and other communications services. Concierge Event Management Services are a natural extension of TelSpan’s commitment to provide world class care to its clients.
Try TelSpan’s Concierge Event Service for yourself, save $50, and experience our E3 (Excellence Exceeding Expectations) service for yourself!
To learn more about this offer, please visit www.telspan.com or call 800-800-1729.
About TelSpan
Founded in 1989, TelSpan is an Indianapolis-based primary provider of conferencing related services, including web, audio, and video conferencing, streaming, recording, online registration, and operator-assisted event and Q&A conferences. TelSpan focuses upon providing high quality conferencing services to organizations worldwide with guaranteed E3 (Excellence Exceeding Expectations) service. For more information, please visit TelSpan’s website at http://www.telspan.com.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Marie Nolan at 800-600-6458 ext. 650 or e-mail Marie at nolanm@telspan.com.
We have a client in the financial industry that regularly holds luncheons with a presentation to prospects about the services their firm offers. Realizing that they were missing out on additional prospects who were unable to physically attend for one reason another, this client reached out to TelSpan for assistance.
With a variety of platforms available, we were able to craft a solution enabling this client to broadcast out the audio portion of the event as well as the slide presentation, live over web and phone lines in real time. In this case, due to a lack of internet access at the luncheon facility, a TelSpan operator assisted offsite with pushing the slides for the remote audience, and coordinated the entire presentation with the speaker via the audio line. Remote attendees are able to access the presentation from anywhere with their pc and telephone.
Talk to us about how your next live event can reach an even larger audience!
Several weeks ago during a conversation about what I do at work, I had someone ask me with a straight face if as an operator I plugged people in and out of their conferences. I received a good chuckle out of this perspective. Mostly because I was picturing a woman with her Victorian Updo literally plugging wires in and out of a large switch board, and knowing the next direction this conversation would take would be about party lines. But, at the same time I realized that not everyone, probably not even most of our everyday clients knows how we really function and the technology and tools we use.
I could provide you with all the technical terminology, but I can assure you that I am not completely sure what all of it means, so in an attempt not to lose everyone through this post, I will keep this simple.
At TelSpan, we are equipped with a variety of conferencing bridges. In the audio conferencing world, a bridge is a piece of technology that serves as a point of connection for multiple individuals joining a single call, handling multiple calls from multiple organizations at once. In all reality, we never have to physically touch a line for it to connect to a conference call; our bridges do all the work. The only time your line would be ‘touched’ would be when a call participant has requested assistance from an operator, or if there was difficulty with a line entering a conference. And when I say touched, I mean touched by a mouse, on a computer. All of our bridges have a physical presence on a server, but what we work with is a real-time visual composition on a computer screen. When we assist someone trying to enter a conference we literally drag and drop and icon representation of their line to their desired location and viola, they enter their conference.
TelSpan allows conference participants to connect via TDM, SIP, and VoIP connections, no plugs required. A TDM connection in this case would be a standard phone line, where a SIP connection is a line that starts from a standard phone connection and then along the way to its destination is altered. For example, if you are in Boston and need to dial into a conference call, you could dial a toll free number or dial a local Boston 857 number and not be charged long distance rates. It would be like making a call from Boston to Boston even though you would technically be calling Indianapolis, our conferencing headquarters. This same SIP principle holds true for our International Toll Free Numbers only with countries instead of cities. The most fascinating connection is VoIP. A Voice over Internet Protocol connection allows you to dial from an internet based phone and interact with our conferencing bridges and with all the other SIP and TDM connections. Who would have ever thought this was possible? But it is possible through today’s advanced technology and it happens every day.
In conclusion, I can promise you this; we have updated our hair, left the party lines to rest and are dedicated to providing you with the most up-to-date conferencing technology available.
News Release: September 27, 2011
TelSpan, the Indianapolis-based provider of worldwide conferencing services, recently announced the promotion of Dan Keller to the newly created position of Vice President, TelSpan. In his new role, Mr. Keller will oversee the acquisition of conferencing clients as well as the improved retention and penetration of existing conferencing clients. TelSpan’s Sales, Marketing, Client Services, and Corporate Quality Care departments will now report directly to Mr. Keller.
Mr. Keller has been with TelSpan since 1997 and has assumed a variety of roles over the years including Client/Operator Services, Sales Manager, Client Quality Care Manager, and Director of Quality Care.
Keith E. Locke, President and CEO of TelSpan adds, “Mr. Keller has proven himself to be an outspoken defender of clients, and a practitioner of TelSpan’s E3 Service and is well qualified to lead TelSpan’s efforts towards greater growth in the conferencing business. With more than 14 years of service at TelSpan, Dan knows and serves our clients well, knows our processes in-depth, and motivates and trains our employees to our expected E3 service level. His previous contributions to our success are many, and we look forward to even more success in the future with Dan as our first Vice President.”
About TelSpan
Founded in 1989, TelSpan is an Indianapolis-based primary provider of conferencing related services, including web, audio, and video conferencing, streaming, recording, online registration, and operator-assisted event and Q&A conferences. TelSpan focuses upon providing high quality conferencing services to organizations worldwide with guaranteed E3 (Excellence Exceeding Expectations) service. For more information, please visit TelSpan’s website at http://www.telspan.com.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Marie Nolan at 800-600-6458 ext. 650 or e-mail Marie at nolanm@telspan.com.
News Release: August 22, 2011
TelSpan, the Indianapolis-based provider of worldwide conferencing services, recently hired Kirk Lovell to fill the newly created position of Manager, Project/Product Development. In this new position, Mr. Lovell will focus upon conducting research and developing new products and services for TelSpan. Keith E. Locke, President and CEO of TelSpan adds, “In today’s quickly evolving world, it is critical that TelSpan keep abreast of worldwide trends, as well as the evolving needs of our clients. We are lucky to have Mr. Lovell, who brings an open-minded and entrepreneurial orientation to this new position as we continue striving to bring innovative products and services to market.”
Mr. Lovell comments, “I am excited to work for a progressive and forward thinking organization such as TelSpan. The opportunity to be part of the team’s long term growth strategy and to aid in creating and launching new products and services is an honor.”
Mr. Lovell has a BS in Business from Indiana University and has over 14 years of experience as a Business Development Manager, including recent projects dealing with commercial development, airport development, and business opportunities in such diverse geographic areas as Southwest Florida, Washington DC, and Kunming, China. Over the past 14 years Mr. Lovell has had the opportunity to work with both government and private sector entities from around the world. Mr. Lovell will work in the offices of TelSpan’s headquarters in Indianapolis, IN.
About TelSpan
Founded in 1989, TelSpan is an Indianapolis-based primary provider of conferencing related services, including web, audio, and video conferencing, streaming, recording, online registration, and operator-assisted event and Q&A conferences. TelSpan focuses upon providing high quality conferencing services to organizations worldwide with guaranteed E3 (Excellence Exceeding Expectations) service. For more information, please visit TelSpan’s website at http://www.telspan.com.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Marie Nolan at 800-600-6458 ext. 650 or e-mail Marie at nolanm@telspan.com.
News Release: August 16, 2011
TelSpan is proud to announce the launch of its latest conferencing solution, TelSpanVenue. TelSpanVenue is the premiere solution for webinar, webcasting, and web conferencing needs for audiences up to 1200 participants.
Combining web, audio, and video conferencing in one robust platform allows users to easily manage their online meetings, give presentations, and share documents while interacting with their audience. No downloads are required to host or attend a webinar, only Adobe® Flash® Player is required. TelSpanVenue is cross platform and browser compatible making it easily accessible for a variety of participants.
TelSpanVenue is feature-rich, and offers high quality video, screen sharing, custom branding, up to six webcams, PayPalTM integration, surveys and testing, built-in registration and more. Participant interaction and engagement is increased with interactive features including instant messaging, annotation, white boarding, polling, and mood indicator feedback tools. A content library allows you to store your meeting content online, and accepts a wide variety of file types. Recording is available on-demand to allow you to archive your sessions for future use.
An online demonstration of TelSpanVenue is available at TelSpanVenue Video Demo
For more information on TelSpanVenue or any of our other services, visit www.telspan.com or call 800-800-1729.
About TelSpan
Founded in 1989, TelSpan is an Indianapolis-based primary provider of conferencing related services, including web, audio, and video conferencing, streaming, recording, online registration, and operator-assisted event and Q&A conferences. TelSpan focuses upon providing high quality conferencing services to organizations worldwide with guaranteed E3 (Excellence Exceeding Expectations) service. For more information, please visit TelSpan’s website at www.telspan.com.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Marie Nolan at 800-600-6458 ext. 650 or e-mail Marie at nolanm@telspan.com.
Having a successful self-managed conference call can happen for you if you are armed with the right information, and take a few minutes to help your participants be prepared.
There are a few common problems that happen on conference calls that are easily avoided with proper preparation, and one of them is hold music playing into the call. If someone in your conference call puts their phone on hold to answer another call, they might just be playing hold music into the conference call. This will make it very difficult for everyone else to hear, so the best way to avoid this is to simply inform your participants ahead of time. If they have another call they must take, they can simply disconnect from the conference and call back in when they are free. They are missing everything that is happening on the call, so they have nothing to gain by staying on the line. Remember, if someone is playing hold music into your call, you can utilize TelSpan’s *0 feature to get assistance from a Client Service Professional.
Another common problem in conferencing is background noise. Sometimes a person needs to get on a conference call when they are in the airport or at a restaurant, and while it may not sound too loud to them, the background noise is very distracting to other participants on the call.
TelSpan’s *1 feature allows each participant to toggle between mute and un-mute so that they are able to fully engage in the call without the distraction of the final boarding call preventing everyone from hearing. As the host of the call, you have the power to mute all participants at any time by utilizing the *5 feature, and if you need help finding the source of the disturbance, remember to press *0 and a TelSpan Client Service Professional will isolate the problem and work with the participant to achieve a solution.
Today we'll finish up our series by examining how the host's presentation skills can dramatically impact the success of a conference call.
Tip #3
Improve your Presentation Skills
1. Open Strong. Immediately open with a friendly greeting. Speak loudly and clearly and designate yourself as the moderator for the call.
2. Outline Your Presentation. Start with the agenda for the call. This will not only inform your participants of what's to be covered in the call, it will also keep everyone on track as well.
3. Stay on Schedule. Try not to dwell on any certain issue too long to ensure you are able to complete your agenda within the desired time. One thing that will surely reduce attentiveness and participation is running over your scheduled time.
4. Provide Interactive Tools. Offering question and answer opportunities throughout your call will keep your audience engaged and will allow them to discuss any questions they may have during the call. Poll your audience! With a webinar, you can easily ask your audience multiple choice questions and have their feedback almost immediately.
5. Close Your Call Well. Clearly state when your presentation is concluding. Review the main points of the meeting, go over any goals or expectations you outlined earlier, and then formally end the call.
As you can see, it just takes a few simple proactive steps to help assist you with hosting successful conference calls in the future. Hosting successful calls can provide an environment where participants can be free from distraction and can focus on the message you are presenting.
Have you recently hosted a conference call that didn't go so well? There's no need to panic. However, how well you host your conference calls can be a reflection on yourself and your organization. So, to avoid repeating the same mistakes, we have plenty of helpful tips to help you to recover from a bad conference call. I will present tips over the next few days:
Tip #1
Eliminate Background Noise Disruptions
1. Remind your participants to press the mute key on their phone when not speaking. This small step can greatly reduce background noise on a call.
2. Take advantage of the features TelSpan offers to allow you to minimize background disturbances on your calls. Options are available for the host to mute and un-mute all participant lines. An option is also available for the participants to mute their lines individually.
3. Use the command to flag for operator assistance and one of TelSpan's operators can identify and eliminate the disturbance on your call while it is occurring.
4. Designate an operator to be on the line during your call to monitor for any audio disturbances.
Tomorrow we'll discuss ways to increase attendance and engage your participants.
At TelSpan, we know that we will never be the lowest-cost provider of audio and web conferencing. We do know, however, that we will always be one of the best, if not the best, in client service and system performance at very reasonable rates that are easily acceptable for the quality of service you receive. In our opinion, top quality, client service and performance, combined with reasonable rates, equals value to you! Because of the value we offer, we have a large core of outstanding clients that continually provide positive feedback to us regarding our service quality and asking for even more services.
TelSpan simply provides the best overall service at the lowest rates possible in order to provide the best value possible to our clients. Even as we work to provide even more services and improved technologies, our clients tell us that there continues to be a need to contact a live person quickly, to have an easy way to dial out to participants, and to have someone to speak with to make sure they can have the most professional event possible. Our Concierge Service allows you full access to professionals that have years of industry knowledge that will create the perfect conferencing event for you, each and every time.
What is value? Our clients tell us it is not having the lowest price, but it is that difficult-to-obtain combination of outstanding quality, great client service, and reasonable pricing that keeps them coming back to TelSpan.
