With unified communications, multiple modes of business communications are seamlessly integrated; it is not a single product but a collection of elements, including web, video, phone, email, applications and systems.

Unified Communications.

Unified communications allows your business to reduce business costs by either the means of office based costs or by time management. It is often the case that many businesses lack efficiency and manual processes are time consuming and inconsistent and often filled with human error. Driving unified communications allows businesses to be effective in their approach to working practices, therefore reducing time, costs and ineffective practices.

The other great thing about unified communications is that it allows for a greater freedom in business, which in turn allows for more flexibility for workers. Presenting a superior employee offering through non-monetary benefits is something that’s becoming increasingly prevalent to staff as budgets are cut and salaries frozen due to the recession.

For your business to strive using unified communications, it needs to be like you are in the same room with the people you are talking too. There is a need for more than just a conference call, there is a need for integration of real-time communications such as telephony, video conferencing, data sharing and unified messaging such as instant messaging, email and SMS.

The benefits of using unified communications is that communications can take place at any point, so you are not bound by the constraints of your desk or your office; you can start a video call on your desktop, transition over to your tablet then carry on an audio call on your mobile as you walk out the office to another meeting. It allows greater flexibility for staff and with greater flexibility comes happier staff, which all results in better business outcomes.

Do you use any unified communications in your workplace? How effective have they been for you?

The revolution of technology within business has made it possible for the way we work to completely change. The adaptation of things such as the smartphone, tablets and high speed broadband and Wi-Fi now allows you to be on the go 24/7 and choose your working patterns. You don’t have to be bound by the 9am-5pm drudgery of office working and commuting. Instead, this technology allows you to stay in touch with colleagues, suppliers and customers all around the world, whenever and wherever you are.

Work Wise Week 2012

We no longer need expensive hardware, or dedicated conference rooms, or even offices for businesses to be able to function. We have customers who use our service who don’t have offices and some who work with staff they have actually never even met in person… now that is business development if you ask me. The ability to be able to run a successful business with staff based on the merit of talent, not on geography or convenience – what a revelation for the business world and especially business owners!

The recent CBI/Harvey Nash employment trends survey 2011 supports the evidence technology is enabling a change in working. The survey found that there has been rapid development in recent years in the use of teleworking, with now 59 percent of employers using this form of flexible working, increasing from 46 percent in 2008 and only 14 percent in 2006. We too have noticed an increase in demand for our services, with 30% year on year growth.  This is phenomenal and clearly cements how businesses are looking for alternative ways of working – something that we see is only set to continue, especially with the Olympics around the corner. It will be interesting to see what impact this summer has on businesses allowing flexible working to cope with the increase of people in our capital and whether as a result of this, people start to integrate remote working much more into their business ethos – it is definitely something we will be watching closely.

Our type of services allows businesses greater flexibility. Powwownow is free, easy to use and accessible 24/7 and we offer a free mobile app to schedule meetings, meaning you really can fit business in with your life, not life in with your business. We have big plans for the future within our business; we actively encourage and promote the ability for people to be able to work remotely or with flexible working. We are also working towards a fully unified communications approach; integrating web, video and audio conferencing, meaning people really won’t need to leave the home or stay stuck in the office to interact with colleagues. With broadband speeds being enhanced across the UK and Wi-Fi now being offered freely across major cities and soon to be on underground stations, long gone are the days of internet drop outs and pixelated images. High definition cameras and fantastic broadband speeds mean that people will be able to interact with each other over the web and it will be like they are in exactly the same room – Our unified communications plans aim to work towards a more flexible working Britain, spearheading our nation to a truly 21^st century approach to business.

This week Save the Children hosted a global live interactive video conference using Powwownow technology. The global conference gathered a host of influential global mothers including Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post and Shabana Azmi, Indian Bollywood star to discuss the state of motherhood and child survival in 2012.

The conference, which was streamed live on the Global Motherhood 2012 website, covered issues that mothers face, such as health, nutrition and educational barriers in what can be some of the most difficult places to live in the world.  Save the children used Powwownow’s video conference service, which is currently in Beta testing and due to be officially launched later this year.

The HD video quality eliminated delays and distortion, meaning that the conference had limited dropped calls resulting in a completely natural experience for those involved and those watching the live streaming from across 83 countries.

Global conference covering issues faced by mothers and children around the world.

Ben Hewitt, Global Operations Director for Save the Children Said: “We’re thrilled with the success of the Global Video Conference set up by Powwownow. It enabled us to bring together mums and supporters from different time zones, and portray the global nature of our campaign with over 70 countries tuning in to the event. It is inspiring to see the linkages between communities from different countries all working to make the world a better place for mums and children.”

If you are interested in finding out more on this product please get in touch via our website.

Are you a fan of social media? Are you constantly on Twitter and like to have the answers to your questions at your fingertips? Then our new dedicated customer service handle on Twitter is for you. You can contact us via @Powwownow_Help and have your questions answered by one of our friendly customer service team. Operating Monday to Friday 8am-6pm BST.

To keep up to date with the latest industry news and what is happening at Powwownow, check out our Twitter and Facebook page.

Twitter streams flooded with the hashtag ‘Strategy’ as Azhar went into overdrive using the term, which ended up in his demise by being the unlucky fired candidate.

We are strong believers in having a strategy for business success, but there comes a point when you need to have a strong strategy that works, not just talk about one so much it makes your ears want to bleed!

Last night’s show saw the candidates go back to Lord Sugar’s roots in Essex and every stereotype came out of the woodwork – fake tan, fake nails, fake lashes!! But it seems that stereotypes work and sometimes a simple plan is the best plan as seen with team Sterling’s ‘Strategy’ of selling fake tan at a shopping centre clinching victory. With their takings almost hitting the £1,000 mark it wasn’t  a bad profit from the £150 starting point.

The candidates look for locations to sell, sell, sell.

As stock started to sell out, two very different selling strategies emerged, and although the overuse of the word strategy was slightly humorous, it became evident that there were two very different approaches to selling. The show really did demonstrate the effect of what having a good plan in place can have. As one team scrambled to sell stock for whatever they could get the others kept selling well at full price, resulting in their win.

It seems the hero of the show was Nick Holzherr. As Project Manager for the winning team he thought about how they were going to sell, what they were going to sell and who their market audience were. In our opinion it was a well-deserved win for him and the team!

It was a close call this week in terms of whether Azhar or Jade should leave. In our opinion neither was going to win the show, so it just depended on who deserved another week. We are a little saddened that Azhar went though, as who is going to provide us with the strategy next week?

1. Take More Risks. Be brave. Take a chance! Approach a stranger. Who knows what conversations lie on the other side of a courageous question? Who knows what sales lie on the other side of a courageous close? Who knows what romance lies on the other side of a courageous approach?

“Nothing in life is worth having that doesn’t lie on the other side of a risk”

Columbian Proverb

2. Raise Your Profile. Get your name out there more. Let people know you’re there. It doesn’t serve your purpose to think small, and it doesn’t help your cause to be the best kept secret in the world. Your strategy for survival is visibility, as on old mentor once taught me. Profile yourself with my three Ps – publish (books and articles), present (speaking, seminars) and party (networking).

3.  Keep In Touch. Stay connected after the initial connection. Many relationships are like the seed that falls on stony ground. They never take root, and never get the love, attention, water and nourishment they need to grow. Anyone can say hello once. It’s finding reasons to stay in touch, finding ways to help and offer value, finding things in common that is the mark of a great relationship builder.

4.  Be a Connector. Be a conduit that people go through to get to others. Good mavens (as they are called) are good at joining the dots of people’s careers, interests and desires. They make great introductions. If you can be a networking hub, people will come to you for advice on who to talk to for all kinds of things.

Get this right, and before too long, you’ll be the talk of the town. Your business relationships will blossom and both your personal and company reputation will go sky high!

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Rob Brown is one the world’s leading authorities on personal marketing, networking, executive presence, referrals and reputations. He is Head of the Global Networking Council and author of the bestseller How to Build Your Reputation. As well as doing a lot of executive one-to-one mentoring on executive presence, gravitas, reputation building and networking. For a complimentary copy of his powerful 93 page Special Report: The 13 Commandments of Turning Relationships into Profits (value £47) go to www.rob-brown.com

It is Friday… and what better way to bring in the weekend, than by eating some waffles? And what better way to reduce the guilt of eating naughty food, than by giving the proceeds to charity, as the waffles were being sold for donations for Sarah (Marketing Executive) and Asfer’s (Web Developer) cycle from London to Paris in July, in aid of Action Medical Research.

Waffles cooking

Action Medical Research – the leading UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children. For 60 years they have contributed to some of the most significant medical breakthroughs in recent history beginning with the polio vaccine which has eradicated new cases of the disease in the UK.

Today, they continue to find and fund the very best medical research to help stop the suffering of babies and children caused by disease and disability.

To find out more about this life changing charity go to http://www.action.org.uk

I am sure there will be many more fun filled (possibly food related) events over the coming months as they try to raise as much money as possible for this worthwhile charity.

The show is now in its eighth series and provides more than just a fly-on the wall insight into the business world. Now the show is about characters and who can simply say the most outrageous thing!

The candidates that are competing to be Lord Sugar’s business partner are supposedly the so-called entrepreneurs of our country, and honestly, if these are the people that are apparently going to help drive us out of this double-dip recession, frankly we are worried.

Candidate Katie asks tourists in Edinburgh, 'What do you think I am selling?'

Phrases such as when Jenna asked “What if people come to the stand and speak Scottish?”, and when Katie asked to a bus full of tourists, “What do you think I am selling?” whilst wearing a pizza fancy dress outfit and getting the answer “pizza?” replies with “No, you have to think outside the pizza box…..it’s Meatballs!” makes us seriously doubt the business mentality of these candidates.

Dancing in the street, wearing a pizza outfit to sell meatballs? Costing street food at £5.99? It is a wonder these people got to where  they are today! Where are all the sensible, level headed business entrepreneurs that set up successful businesses? Well, running successful businesses it would seem!

It gets to a point where you start to wonder whether the show is just about making a show or whether it is about actually finding a person with real business acumen?

At least Lord Sugar still seems to possess enough business integrity to question the approach of the candidates, and we for one would be really interested to see the unedited version, to see just how much he really pulls apart the candidates’ businesses strategies and approach.

But thankfully, last night’s show definitely saw the better ‘business’ team win, which was encouraging. The branding was better, the ingredients were better and the sales strategy worked, plus there was good leadership and they strived to clinch the win. It was a risky strategy to make the dishes with such costly ingredients, but if you have faith in your sales team and you know they are going to do well, then sometimes in business those risks can pay off.

A good product, rightly priced, no gimmicks, no fuss. Just a good, honest product will always shine through. Did you watch the show? Is there anything you’d like to get off your chest? We’d love to hear from you!

Official figures released today show that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of this year, which followed contraction of 0.3% in the last three months of 2011.

So what does this mean for UK businesses, especially the private sector that is trying so hard to drive the economy out of this situation? Well, one positive note to take from this report is that these stats only account for 40% of the full information that will be used to reach later figures, so things may not be all doom and gloom.

Double Dip Recession.

But it certainly looks like our penny pinching; belt squeezing ways need to continue, at least for a short while. Here we give some of our top tips to help small business reduce costs

1. Use technology

• Use teleconferencing and web conferencing services (such as ours!) to keep in touch with colleagues, clients and suppliers, reducing travel costs and time spent away from the office.

2. Go paperless

• The cost of printing (paper, ink, printers, postage etc.) may seem like small costs, but over a month the costs can really mount up. Try going paperless, sending emails and making calls, filing all your documents on a shared server to allow colleagues to share documents electronically, can greatly reduce costs.

3. Focus marketing activities online

• Create a business blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn page to get your messages into the public domain and interact with your audience. At the same time online advertising costs are a fraction of the price of print or outdoor.

4. Allow remote working

• Allowing employees to work from home means you greatly reduce your overhead costs in an office, less electricity, less floor space and less tea and coffee!! The benefits of offering remote working, doesn’t only just benefit you, but it also makes your employees feel valued and gives them greater flexibility which in turn means higher levels of retention (less training costs, as you have a lower turnover!).

5. Create and stick to your business budget

• We all create a business budget and divide our money between different activities, but it is so important in these times that we stick to these budgets. Make a commitment to reduce debts, stick to the plan of how much you intend to spend on different activities such as marketing, software, wages etc.  Go back and use this budget, don’t just write it and file it, look at it weekly/fortnightly, check you are on target and if not, make cutbacks where necessary so that you don’t exceed your budget.

How is your businesses fairing during the recession?  What do you think the future holds? We guess now, we sit and wait for the final figures and see what happens in the future.

Powwownow Senior Marketing (Social) Executive Job Description

Salary: £35k

Start Date: ASAP

Introduction:

Via-Vox is looking for an experienced and motivated marketing professional to help lead its marketing activities on a day-to-day basis.  Working in a fast-growing telecommunications company for a leading B2B brand the role will involve further raising the company profile, primarily in the UK market, through the delivery of effective integrated marketing communications campaigns.

Company Information:

Via-Vox Ltd was founded in the UK and has been operational for eight years. Turnover for 2011 was over £7m and the company employs approx 50 people based in Richmond and Manchester. The primary operations of Via-Vox are audio conference calls, web conferencing and video conferencing.  The largest market is the UK where Via-Vox holds 3% market share of the unattended audio conference market. Significant overseas operations also exist in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Via-Vox has three main conference call brands; Powwownow, AllConferenceCalls and All-Call plus a web conferencing brand; Yuuguu. Powwownow is the leading free conference call provider in the UK and was included in the 2011 Sunday Times Tech Track 100, the league table that ranks Britain’s 100 private tech companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years.

With quite a flat organisational hierarchy and a flexible approach to the workplace the company culture is laid back, entrepreneurial and social.

Job Summary/Purpose:

Reporting to the marketing manager, the role will involve using your current knowledge and experience to integrate PR and social media with the offline and online marketing programme which involves paid for media, e-marketing, website management, collateral, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).

Working closely with marketing, sales and technical teams, the role will be responsible for strategic and creative input with the objective of improving the marketing performance and consequently Powwownow’s revenue. You will also mentor other members of the marketing team being directly responsible for driving a highly efficient, organised and motivated department.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Use PR and social media to help drive the execution of the marketing programme within budget and agreed timelines
• Maintain active understanding and awareness of issues, marketing objectives, technology and products
• Be responsible for online and digital communication channels including: website, email, blog, twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and video across the portfolio
• Manage day-to-day media contacts, including proactive off and online news generation and reactive media requests, maintaining high-profile influential relationships within the PR industry, national, media/advertising and business press
• Propose ideas (timing and content) and educate on broader marketplace to gain press coverage and fuel social media channels.
• Produce internal marketing and promotional materials including: presentations, reports, newsletters etc
• Lead market and product research: supporting product development and user proposition via client feedback, focus groups and surveys to help shape the product roadmap
• Profile users to help define strategies to manage conversion, reduce churn and maximise retention
• Identify key events and exhibitions for sponsorship and attendance
• Identify and develop partner and affiliate programmes
• Day-to-day mentoring of other members of the marketing team

Key Skills & Experience:

• Experience in PR and/or Social Media
• Understanding of a broad channel mix (offline & online media, email, PPC, SEO, CRM, PR, social media)
• Experience in executing successful marketing plans
• Experience in managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong people management skills
• Ability to create and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders including senior leads
• High level of initiative and enthusiasm
• Strict attention to detail and very organised
• Confidence in making decisions
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal
• Team player
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a similar role
• Experience in B2B desirable
• An interest in technology