Conference Calling, Telecom and VOIP

On of the major current activities among internet marketers is the growing use of teleseminars to introduce new products, provide value-added services to existing customers and gain recognition as experts.

The popularity of the technique has led to a proliferation of services that can be used to set up, manage and promote teleconferencing as a marketing tool. Conference calling has always been a valuable modality for businesses with multiple locations - and, where it’s been available at a reasonable price, a valued consumer service for family consultations and phone meetings with friends.

The increasing use of internet phone systems (Voice Over Internet Protocol -VOIP, broadband phones) and the creation of peering connections from VOIP or broadband into the regular landline and cellular phone networks, have added a new dimension to this marketing strategy.

For minimal fees it’s now possible to use VOIP to access teleconferences presented in the US (the most typical location) from anywhere in the world. The enduser needs a broadband phone or a VOIP softphone and therefore a high speed internet connection to use these services, but the current wide availability, the decreasing pricing structure and the promise of explosive growth in high speed internet access make this a marketing technique with an incredible future.

As internet access speeds grow the probability that today’s conference calling based techniques will migrate to real-time high quality video also increases. Current technology and bandwidth availability limit the usefulness of real-time video, though many teleseminars also use what are essentially slide presentations or low bandwidth compressed video to demonstrate aspects of a product or highlight the points being made.

Multi-way, interactive audio and video conferencing over the internet are posed to become a valuable addition to a variety of businesses and eductional institutions. As a single example - consider the current demand for distance education. Education - whether formal, i.e. leading to a degree or some form of licensure or certification, or non-academic - hobbies, technology, software, etc. - is a market that will only continue to grow. People’s hunger for information has never been stronger and it shows absolutely no signs of doing anything but increasing. The possibilities for full scale real-time distance education with interactive multi-way audio-video connections are nearly limitless.

As always, there will be problems as the technology developes and is deployed, but the popularity of live audio and recorded video presentations suggests that this is the right direction and that early adopters will be more than well rewarded.