The Technology
There is an endless supply of companies that can provide remote meeting technology, including -
- Go To Meeting
- WebEx
- BeamYourScreen
- Microsoft Netmeeting
Your requirements will drive which provider you choose. In looking for a provider however there are some things you may need to consider -
- Security of connection
- Ability to record session (voice and screen)
- Download requirements of end participants
- License model
- Ability to interact via corporate firewalls
- Ease of use for participants
The more participants, and the more sessions you run (such as product demonstrations, or remote training) the more features you may need in order to help manage the service, such as -
- Ability to invite participants to sessions
- Charging of participants
- Survey tools
- Moderator \ panelist tools
- VOIP and PSTN services (or both)
- International and national dial in numbers
- Participant registration tools
- Participant follow up tools
Its worth understanding what your long term plans for the software may be, before committing to a investment.
My preference is always to look at a SaaS model. They generally provide good value for money, and let you leverage of the skills and knowledge of dedicated providers in a chosen market. As far as presentations are concerned I have used a SaaS model for quite a while and have never encountered down times, slow connections, etc.
Showing posts with label remote meetings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label remote meetings. Show all posts
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Implementing online meetings - Tip 4A
Tips for presenting
Ahh, Tip 4A! Tip 4 was about the presentation itself, this tip will be about the technology set up needed to get a good presentation happening. How do you set up your online presentation world?
Good audio equipment - No matter if you are using VOIP or a phone conference service you need a good quality microphone and headset. Get a good quality setup that will be comfortable to use, and, has great audio quality,. Set yourself up in a quite location also, as your voice will be the primary one, all the background noise from your office enviroment will be broadcast to all your participants also, yuk!
Set up your desktop - Remove all personalisation from your desktop, browser, etc. Your participants dont really need to see your bookmarked sites when you are doing a online demo, or pictures of your dog on your walpaper (reemember, they may be on a slower internet connection to you also, and this as your doggy wallpaper is rendered on their screen they are having to wait).
Test your enviorment - May sound simple, but people still do not test correctly before a presentation. Test everything you intend on doing on this machine, are all the plugins youneed there, are all the versions up to date? I have a machine set aside only to run demo's on, never to be used in production (on threat of death!) so I know what is there, and that it has not been randomly upgraded to a verison of something that is not compatible with other things I need to run.
Run two machines - Have one machine as the presentaiton machine, a second so you can see exactly what the participants are seeing. You will need to go as slow as the slowest internet connection (the Go to meeting product actually shows you what the participants can see, and lets you know when all participants are on the same slide as you or catching up)
Have a back up plan - If you can, have two seperate internet conenctions, and a second voice conference provider, just in case.
Ahh, Tip 4A! Tip 4 was about the presentation itself, this tip will be about the technology set up needed to get a good presentation happening. How do you set up your online presentation world?
Good audio equipment - No matter if you are using VOIP or a phone conference service you need a good quality microphone and headset. Get a good quality setup that will be comfortable to use, and, has great audio quality,. Set yourself up in a quite location also, as your voice will be the primary one, all the background noise from your office enviroment will be broadcast to all your participants also, yuk!
Set up your desktop - Remove all personalisation from your desktop, browser, etc. Your participants dont really need to see your bookmarked sites when you are doing a online demo, or pictures of your dog on your walpaper (reemember, they may be on a slower internet connection to you also, and this as your doggy wallpaper is rendered on their screen they are having to wait).
Test your enviorment - May sound simple, but people still do not test correctly before a presentation. Test everything you intend on doing on this machine, are all the plugins youneed there, are all the versions up to date? I have a machine set aside only to run demo's on, never to be used in production (on threat of death!) so I know what is there, and that it has not been randomly upgraded to a verison of something that is not compatible with other things I need to run.
Run two machines - Have one machine as the presentaiton machine, a second so you can see exactly what the participants are seeing. You will need to go as slow as the slowest internet connection (the Go to meeting product actually shows you what the participants can see, and lets you know when all participants are on the same slide as you or catching up)
Have a back up plan - If you can, have two seperate internet conenctions, and a second voice conference provider, just in case.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Implementing online meetings - Tip 4
Tips for presenting
Online presentations are not the same as live ones. Many of the skills you have for doing live presentations and meetings are transferable to Online meetings and presentations, however, I think there are some new skills needed also.
It is very easy for a participant in an online presentation to "tune out", you just shut the presentation window down, and do Email. With a large audience it can also be difficult for a participant to get noticed, and to get help, or ask a question, here are some tip to think about when doing online presentations -
Use two presenters - Two different voices on the call will prick peoples attention when you change presenters. It also helps to break sections of the content up, people understand that a new idea is about to be presented when the presenter changes. The second presenter can also be working the back channel communications while the other is presenting. They can be answering IM questions or using the built in tools of the chosen software package to assist participants.
Use large numbers of slides, with limited detail on them - Dont put two much detail on the slide, you may be tempted because hey, people can read the slide now that they are six inches from there computer screen, Vs the back of a room. People still wont read your slides in detail. Use a large volume of slides to keep things moving on the screen, but the information should still be in what you say. If all the answers are in your presentation then just Email the presentation, you are not needed!
Show me what you mean - You have the tools to show people what you are talking about, so dont use detailed slides, so if this is a demo of a new application, then demo the application! your tools let you, and there are limited numbers of participants, then let the participants run the application on your machine also. Hands on is always better.
Quick and simple - Limit the amount of time your presentation will go for. I never understand why presentations are always scheduled for 1hr, and then the slides are built to pad out the hour. Start with 20minute presentations, and maybe a few of them to get to your hour if you still need it. People can give up 20minutes, they can also then think about what you said in that 20minutes before your next scheduled presentation. If you say your presentation will be for an hour, then make it for an hour, no longer. As with face to face presentations you need to practice to hit the timing.
Arrive early - Have the session up and running to welcome participants as they arrive, dont just start the session right on the allotted time, as you will have to wait for participants to get in, and get set up. Also, as a participant you feel the session will start on time, if you arrive and find it is already started a bit early.
Online presentations are not the same as live ones. Many of the skills you have for doing live presentations and meetings are transferable to Online meetings and presentations, however, I think there are some new skills needed also.
It is very easy for a participant in an online presentation to "tune out", you just shut the presentation window down, and do Email. With a large audience it can also be difficult for a participant to get noticed, and to get help, or ask a question, here are some tip to think about when doing online presentations -
Use two presenters - Two different voices on the call will prick peoples attention when you change presenters. It also helps to break sections of the content up, people understand that a new idea is about to be presented when the presenter changes. The second presenter can also be working the back channel communications while the other is presenting. They can be answering IM questions or using the built in tools of the chosen software package to assist participants.
Use large numbers of slides, with limited detail on them - Dont put two much detail on the slide, you may be tempted because hey, people can read the slide now that they are six inches from there computer screen, Vs the back of a room. People still wont read your slides in detail. Use a large volume of slides to keep things moving on the screen, but the information should still be in what you say. If all the answers are in your presentation then just Email the presentation, you are not needed!
Show me what you mean - You have the tools to show people what you are talking about, so dont use detailed slides, so if this is a demo of a new application, then demo the application! your tools let you, and there are limited numbers of participants, then let the participants run the application on your machine also. Hands on is always better.
Quick and simple - Limit the amount of time your presentation will go for. I never understand why presentations are always scheduled for 1hr, and then the slides are built to pad out the hour. Start with 20minute presentations, and maybe a few of them to get to your hour if you still need it. People can give up 20minutes, they can also then think about what you said in that 20minutes before your next scheduled presentation. If you say your presentation will be for an hour, then make it for an hour, no longer. As with face to face presentations you need to practice to hit the timing.
Arrive early - Have the session up and running to welcome participants as they arrive, dont just start the session right on the allotted time, as you will have to wait for participants to get in, and get set up. Also, as a participant you feel the session will start on time, if you arrive and find it is already started a bit early.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Implementing online meetings - Tip 3
Where does it fit in?
There are many forms of communication, understanding where online meetings fits, within your enterprise's requirements will greatly assist during the rollout.
By understanding the various communication methods, and, where this one will sit, it is much easier to explain to people why you need it and how it will provide a benefit to them. So, what forms of communication do we have -
Face to Face - With visualisation the bulk of any form of communication (see here), face to face communication is the richest form of communication to use. All messages however don't carry the same value, so face to face is not necessary for all forms of communication.
Video (Telepresence, High def, or standard def). Nearly as good as being there, and depending on the requirements can be considerably cheaper then travel costs associated with face to face.
Online Meetings - No video, but being able to share materials at the same time, collaberate, and discuss using a voice conference.
Phone confernece - Missing the ability to share materials, and missing the viual clues of a video confernce or, face to face.
Email \ brouchure - One way communication, no collaberation, no visualisation.
The cost \ benfit model really stacks up for me for online meetings. None of the cost \ travel needed for face to face, but the ability to share and collaberate on materials, or, see exactly what is being discussed rather then to try and visualise it.
Understanding the fit is important. Dont use Online meetings for everything, they will replace some face to face, and some video meetings, and will add to voice conferences, but they do not replace these meetings all together.
There are many forms of communication, understanding where online meetings fits, within your enterprise's requirements will greatly assist during the rollout.
By understanding the various communication methods, and, where this one will sit, it is much easier to explain to people why you need it and how it will provide a benefit to them. So, what forms of communication do we have -
Face to Face - With visualisation the bulk of any form of communication (see here), face to face communication is the richest form of communication to use. All messages however don't carry the same value, so face to face is not necessary for all forms of communication.
Video (Telepresence, High def, or standard def). Nearly as good as being there, and depending on the requirements can be considerably cheaper then travel costs associated with face to face.
Online Meetings - No video, but being able to share materials at the same time, collaberate, and discuss using a voice conference.
Phone confernece - Missing the ability to share materials, and missing the viual clues of a video confernce or, face to face.
Email \ brouchure - One way communication, no collaberation, no visualisation.
The cost \ benfit model really stacks up for me for online meetings. None of the cost \ travel needed for face to face, but the ability to share and collaberate on materials, or, see exactly what is being discussed rather then to try and visualise it.
Understanding the fit is important. Dont use Online meetings for everything, they will replace some face to face, and some video meetings, and will add to voice conferences, but they do not replace these meetings all together.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Implementing online meetings - Tip 2
Why do it at all?
Sure, it all sounds very exciting to be able to share your screen with your fellow co-workers on the other side of the partition, or, other side of the globe, but really, why would you want to do it?
After taking into account the corporate culture of your enterprise, and determining that hey,everyone is going to love this idea and take to it like a duck to water, you may actually need to put together a business plan, or at least, try and work out what a successful implementation might look like. Some ideas to look at
Costs
Reduction in travel costs is an easy first win, and in many cases can secure the funding to pay for the remote service without much extra thought. Airline travel, accommodation, taxi and incidentals can all be reduced very quickly.
You may also be able to either remove FTE costs, freeze additional hires, or better use staff based in geographical locations where they are either under utilised, or, their skills are in demand and can be better utilised.
Service improvement
With a reduction in travel times for your staff, more frequent training \ promotion \ sales calls can be made using online technology. You can now also provide a better level of service to customers who are not in easy to reach metro areas, the customers who generally miss out on face time due to the travel times to get to them, or, them to you. Even metro customers will appreciate not having their day disrupted to much with your people being in their office, or, them having to leave the office to travel to a central location for training or updates.
Better collaboration
Everyone is used to the voice conference call now, and the endless "what page are we one" questions, or, having to explain to the people on the other end of the line what changes are being made to a document you are collaborating on. Online meetings make collaboration a much more simple and efficient undertaking, with everyone being able to see what is happening and being able to comment or assist in making changes. It means you are able to bring together the people you need, no matter their location, to collaborate quickly and efficiently on a project.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Implementing online meetings - Tip 1
I have been working with online presentations for quite a while now. Starting around 5 years ago where we purely aimed the technology at training customers on how to use and make the most out of the technology we were promoting and supporting, through to now where we use it for marketing, sales presentations, meetings or corporate communication.
I am going to base my next few posts on tips that I have come across over the past years working with this technology -
- Why use it?
- Where does it fit in with other communication methods?
- Tips for online presenting
- The technology
The technology is now quite mature, and can provide great number of benefits to an organisation. But like any technology there are a number of factors that will lead to a successful roll-out and take up -
- Enterprise culture
- Type of technology selected
- Expected outcomes
- Management commitment
Just as with the wiki implementation I posted on earlier, pre-work needs to occur before attempting a rollout, understanding what you want to achieve, and getting buy in from key stakeholders is as important, if not more important, then the technology itself.
In getting that key stakeholder commitment, don't forget to also talk to the end users of the technology, your customers, to understand what they need before embarking on the ride.
I am going to base my next few posts on tips that I have come across over the past years working with this technology -
- Why use it?
- Where does it fit in with other communication methods?
- Tips for online presenting
- The technology
The technology is now quite mature, and can provide great number of benefits to an organisation. But like any technology there are a number of factors that will lead to a successful roll-out and take up -
- Enterprise culture
- Type of technology selected
- Expected outcomes
- Management commitment
Just as with the wiki implementation I posted on earlier, pre-work needs to occur before attempting a rollout, understanding what you want to achieve, and getting buy in from key stakeholders is as important, if not more important, then the technology itself.
In getting that key stakeholder commitment, don't forget to also talk to the end users of the technology, your customers, to understand what they need before embarking on the ride.
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