Great America Networks Conferencing Blog

Recording your Audio and Web Conferences

At GANC we understand how important your web meetings and teleconferences are. They assist your company in developing products to market quicker, encourage creativity, make you more competitive through collaboration and facilitate the full potential of teamwork. Not to mention you can bring people together from anywhere in the world quickly, simply and cost effectively without ever leaving your office. But what if one of your clients or employees was unable to attend your conference? Are you going to have to redo the whole thing again for them?

GANC's recording feature for both its audio and web conferencing allows your meetings to be even more useful. Although a majority of recordings are made for the reason of participants being unable to attend  the live event, there are a couple of other reasons that recordings can be beneficial to your company.

-Recording Meetings for Training and Sales.
Use your recorded conference to train and educate employees and clients, saving time and money for your company.

-Recording Etiquette
When your participant are aware that they are being recorded they become more professional. They will bring their "A" game and contribute to a successful meeting.

To learn more about our recording features for both our audio and web services contact us! Also be on the lookout for our recording user guide. This guide will take you step by step on how to get the most out of GANC's recording features.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

QuickAssist Audio Conferencing Call Types

GANC's operator assisted audio conferencing is a customized service that lets you manage and organize your most challenging conferences. Whether your audience is a couple of executives or a multitude of companies, GANC brings everyone together in one seamlessly planned and managed event. We offer three distinct types of room to cover all of your operator assisted audio conferencing needs.

Private Call: Dedicated room for speakers, and private investors/ attendees. Speakers can have a pre-conference in their dedicated room, merged with the private room at the start of the call, and hold a Q&A at the end of the conference. After the Q&A session is completed, the private room can be disconnected and the speakers can convene for a post-event wrap-up discussion.

Public Call: Dedicated room for speakers, and public investors/ attendees. Speakers can have a pre-conference in their dedicated room, merged with the private room at the start of the call, and hold a Q&A at the end of the conference. After the Q&A session is completed, the private room can be disconnected and the speakers can convene for a post-event wrap-up discussion.

Bifurcated Call: 3 separate rooms are set up with dedicated dial in numbers, and are brought together for specific portions of the call. The call begins with the lead operator in the speakers' room keeping them up to date and making sure that they have everything that they need for the conference. The private, public and speaker's room are connected together for the first portion of the call; a Q&A session will be held for the public side. Once the public Q&A session is complete, they will be disconnected. A conference will continue between the private attendees and the speakers. Another Q&A will be held thereafter, and the private participants will be disconnected for the speakers to reconvene if requested.

As I blogged about last week you now have more control over your conferences with our QuickAssist Quarterback. This service works great with all three of our QuickAssist audio conferencing rooms. To learn more about the three room types we offer and how how our QA/QB service integrates with them contact us or visit us on the web.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

Video Conferencing

At GANC we want you to feel as comfortable as possible with all of our products, and with video conferencing you may hear words that you are unfamiliar with. Don't let it frustrate you, we are here to help. It is important to remember that video conferencing is not much different than your everyday audio meetings.  

As web cams are becoming more and more common on computers we want to make sure you have a full understanding on this technology. As your video conferencing needs change, you can contact us and we can go over what you are looking to accomplish, and recommend the settings that work best for you.

GANC's QuickVisuals offers four main resolutions of live video in your meetings from a small quick stream good for open environments or many people on the screen, up to an HD resolution window that is optimized for a closed environment with the focus on quality.

Keep in mind the bandwidth requirements of video conferencing, while you might be on a higher connection, some of your attendees might be on slower connections. You have to cater to the lowest common denominator if you want to ensure satisfied attendees.

GANCworks with you every step of the way. If you have questions regarding video conferencing or any other service we offer don't hesitate to contact us!

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

Branding Your Audio, Web and Video Conferences

GANC realizes that your company has spent a lot of time and money in building your brand identity. Therefore, we want to assist you in continuing to build your company brand to your employees and customers.

GANC gives you the ability to brand all of your audio, web and video conferencing tools to your specifications. Unlike other companies that offer branding, we do not display our logo on your branded page. If you pay for the branding package your employees, and customers will only be seeing your logo and information. 

Here are the branding packages we offer:

Audio QuickConnect- Your participants can be greeted with your company name when entering a conference.

Audio QuickAssist- Conference coordinators will greet your participants, speakers, leaders and guests with your specified company name or greeting.

Web, Video QuickVisuals- The meeting viewer, meeting invitations, registration pages, and recordings can all be branded to your company logo, colors and images.

If you are a current customer or a company that is looking for a professional look and feel to all of your conferencing tools give us a call to find out more about our branding packages and to see what package can work best for you.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

QuickAssist Quarterbacks Polling Feature

As I wrote about our new product, QuickAssist Quarterback, yesterday I touched on the feature of polling but didn't go into a large amount of detail on it. The polling feature that we offer with QA/QB allows you to have your operator ask pre selected questions in the conference to your participants.

Prior to your conference you and the operator can set up polling questions to ask your audience during the conference. The amount of questions you ask is up to you, but you have no restrictions as to how many questions you can ask.

After your question is shown to your participants they will be informed by the operator to respond by hitting * and a number. As your participants respond you can view the real time results with our QuickAssist Quarterback interface. The interface displays which answers your participants are choosing and how many participants still need to respond.

This is just one feature of many from our new QA/QB product that gives you the ultimate control of your conference. 

To learn more about our QuickAssist Quarterback and its polling feature contact us at 1.877.438.4261 or visit us on the web at www.ganconference.com.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

QuickAssist Quarterback

GANC received a call from one of our clients wondering if there was a way to get more control over their conference call. At the time we received it we didn't have an answer for them, but we've researched and developed a program to fulfill their needs.

QuickAssist Quarterback gives you complete control over your conference. From being in control of your Q&A session to seeing real-time results of your polling questions QA/QB is loaded with features.

The Q&A tab allows you to move your participants up and down in the queue or promote them to be the current questioner. When your participant is finished asking their question you have the control to remove them and promote the next participant.

The ball truly is in your court with this product. If you would like more control over certain features than others notify the operator prior to your conference and they will take care of whatever you would like them to.

To learn more about our NEW QuickAssist Quarterback service and all of the features that come with it contact us and we will give you a demo!

GANCis happy to work with our customers, and QuickAssist Quarterback is just another example of how we listen and work with you. If there is ever anything that you can think of that could improve your conferencing experience let us know.  

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

Theres No Better Choice for Audio Conferencing

Whether you are having an impromptu quick conference call, or a scheduled large Teleseminar, you can do no better than GANC. 

Conference calls allow companies and individuals to communicate efficiently and inexpensively. Whether you prefer to conference with or without a conference coordinator, GANC has the perfect solution for you. The audio conferencing services provided by us are easy to use, crystal clear and 100% reliable. Our audio conferencing is affordable with no hidden costs, set up fees or minimums; you simply pay for what you use.

Our audio conferencing is managed through our own digital conferencing bridges, which are housed in a secure co-located facility that sits on multiple power grids and utilizes redundant phone carriers. We have heavily invested in our infrastructure to ensure that your conference calls are clear and reliable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition to our full portfolio of audio conferencing services, we offer an entire suite of online tools to control, manage and monitor your audio conferencing at no charge to you.

To find out more about GANC's, QuickAssist or QuickConnect Audio Conferencing please contact us or visit us on the web.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/ 
Twitter: @ganconferencing
facebook.com/GANConferencing

Audio Conferencing Meeting Controls

GANC's QuickConnect audio conferencing service allows you to meet your instant on-demand needs. Its available 24/7 reservationless service is ready and available for you to use anytime, anywhere.

To make sure you are getting the most out of our QuickConnect service, we want to ensure you know about the features we offer during our meetings. Our audio meeting controls give you and your audience the ability to adjust and modify settings accordingly to fit the needs of the specific call. So the next time your hosting or attending a meeting, try out these features.

*0- Operator Assistance (Moderator & Participants)

*1- Moderator Dial-out (Moderator only)

*2- Start/Stop conference record (Moderator only)

*3- Participant count (Moderator only)

*4- Conference help (Moderator & Participants)

*5- Entry/Exit chimes (Moderator only)

*6- Mute/un-mute (Moderator & Participants)

*7- Lock/unlock conference (Moderator only)

*8- Toggle presentation mode (Moderator only)

*9- Roll Call (Moderator only)

61# - Mute all participants (Moderator only)

62# - Un-mute all participants (Moderator only)

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/
Twitter: @ganconferencing

PowerPoint Presentation Tips

Great, another PowerPoint presentation. You're not the only one who finds PowerPoint presentations boring. It is extremely difficult to create a presentation that is engaging, interesting and informative to your audience, especially creating a presentation to give over a conference call.

When I was in college I loved presentation days because the lights were off and the professor couldn't see me. So, you guessed it, I was sleeping in the back of the room, and Im sure you did the same. Unfortunately, now you cant do that because the information is too important to miss, although the slides at times are worse than they were in college.

After researching this topic for a bit I've compiled some tips for you to keep your audience engaged and awake.

Do NOT read right off of your slides.

Please don't do this. At this point in our lives we are all capable of reading for ourselves, so don't read whats on your slides word for word. Only put key phrases on your slides that you'll be able to go into more detail on.

Keep it simple.

Every slide in your presentation should consist of a max of 5 lines/ bullets. Use easy to read and understandable charts, and use images/ graphics that reflect and support what you are discussing.

Never restrict yourself to what PowerPoint offers.

You can go outside the PowerPoint Box. Bring in your own graphics/ images or upload a video of yours you can show.

Slide Designs.

As a designer this is a huge one for me. I have seen all types of slides that make me want to go blind. When you begin designing your presentation make sure you choose one layout style and keep it consistent throughout. Also make sure you keep your color schemes, and typeface and size consistent. And now for the part that really bothers me. If you have a low res image, PLEASE DO NOT enlarge it and make it a whole slide. It is going to be extremely blurry and impossible to make out.

Double check your work.

Always double check your work and make sure all of the slides are in the correct order. If there are videos or links within the presentation make sure they work. Also put yourself in your audiences seat, if the information isn't detailed enough or if something is confusing add to it or take it out. Last but not least check for TYPOS! There is nothing more distracting on a slide than a typo. It really does stick out like a sore thumb. So make sure you read through every slide multiple times.

Hopefully these tips will help you improve your future presentations. If you have anything to add that I might have missed please leave me a comment as I might have missed it while I slept through that presentation.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/
Twitter: @ganconferencing

QuickConnect's Live Conference Viewer

 
 Available anywhere at anytime GANC's Live Conference Viewer allows leaders to view and manage their QuickConnect audio conference call on a web-based interface.

Included free with every account this incredibly intuitive interfaceallows you to control your calls announcements, muting/unmuting of individual attendees, put the call into Question and Answer mode, or dial out to additional attendees, all from a web based graphical user interface.

Some of the key features that will come with our Live Conference Viewer are:

- Completely branded to your company and able to be branded down to your clients.

- Ongoing free training and support for your company and client end users.

- Allows the moderator/ administrator to view audio conferences in real-time.

- Allows for the naming of participants for both security and archiving purposes.

- Graphical interface allows for interaction within conference call without having to remember DTMF commands.

If you have any questions about GANC's Live Conference Viewer or our Audio Conferencing services please contact us and we will be glad to help.

Matt Auriemme 
Marketing
Great America Networks Conferencing
mauriemme@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/
Twitter: @ganconferencing