Posts Tagged teleconferencing
CASE STUDY: A Million Minutes in a Day
Posted by Jacqui Keep in News on 29th April 2013
With the first quarter of the year firmly under our belts, we are strongly on track to meet our ambitious targets for 2013. This follows on from a momentous 2012 for Powwownow, with not one but seven ‘Million Minute Days’ being achieved. This meant that on those days, Powwownow users spent over a million minutes using the conference calling service.
To achieve such a traffic rate in normal economic times would have been an achievement. To do so during today’s recession is something worth shouting about.
First it is important to note the key reasons why people choose to use conference calling: to save time and money. Simply put, conference calling cuts out the hassle and expense of travelling to meetings and using a video call even adds that personal touch.
© Zvonkomir | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
Motivations for using a conference call service covered; why choose Powwownow as the provider?
There is obviously a range of factors considered by businesses when making this choice but primarily this again comes down to time and money: Powwownow is simple and affordable to use. With a clear one step sign-up for making a conference call it is easy to use and also explain to other potential call participants. The affordability comes from customers only paying the cost of their own phone call, without any additional contracts or bills.
It becomes even more prevalent to save these resources during an economic downturn, such as now. Since 2008 when the recession first hit, many companies have had to introduce stringent cutbacks. Affordable tools and services that enable businesses to save money and potentially avoid unpleasant cutbacks have therefore become even more appealing.
Similarly, with many companies unwilling to offer the salary increases that would usually be expected, it has become increasingly popular to offer non-monetary incentives, such as remote working. This is made significantly more effective through the use of reliable and affordable conference calling, video and web calls.
Powwownow’s products have been able to help companies facilitate this increased demand for money-saving tools and effective remote working. The product range has also been expanded through the development of new collaboration tool, Powwownow Engage. This has a range of functionality such as screen sharing, instant messaging and HD video calling, which makes engaging, communicating and working together easy.
As a result of this increase in service demand, Powwownow has actually bucked the economic trend, growing in size from being only a handful of people in 2004 to having more than 60 members of staff in 2013. In 2012 alone the company saw 30% growth, with Powwownow achieving an impressive annual turnover of 10.2 million per annum.
When asked about how Powwownow has succeeded and grown as a small business through the recession, CEO Simon Curry commented: “The achievement of our first ‘million minute day’ at the end of 2012 was a massive milestone for us. Testament to all of the hard work and man hours that our team has put in to growing and developing the company, especially through these economically gloomy years, this really is something that we are hugely proud of. Never satisfied to sit back and take our industry leading position for granted, we are always striving to better ourselves and are now looking for the next challenge. We believe that conference calling shouldn’t be seen as an expensive luxury but as an essential, practical and reliable money-saving tool.”
Business benefits of unified communications
Posted by Jacqui Keep in Opinions on 18th May 2012
Unified communications allow employees to work more efficiently and in a timelier manner, whilst being free to work from anywhere, bringing with it countless business benefits. With the Olympics around the corner, there is a greater need for flexible working, resulting in people needing a more unified communication strategy within business to cope with these changes.
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.
© Yanc | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
Should businesses care that the government wants to monitor all communication channels?
Posted by Jacqui Keep in Opinions on 10th April 2012
Most people are aware that internet activity is monitored, either by organisations, employers, businesses, marketers and the government – but oddly, a new study by Ofcom shows that as a nation we are less concerned about security on the internet than ever before.
A huge eighty per cent are no longer worried about online security and fraud, with only a mere eight per cent being kept up at night by fears for their online privacy. If those eighty per cent aren’t worried about security and fraud then maybe they’ll be worried about this.
The Government is proposing a new legislation that plans to launch a digital surveillance that would allow for real-time monitoring of all phone calls and emails in Britain. The situation currently, is that although all web and email activity is monitored, the government must obtain a warrant to access any information from businesses or personal accounts. However, with real-time access to personal information and accounts, how will this work in terms of access? Will the government simply be able to access the information they want, whenever they want, without any prior warrant or warning?
© Walstraasworld | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
Are you ready for UC?
Unified Communications shouldn’t just be another buzz phrase you don’t fully understand; instead, it should be in your business strategy, spoken about in the board room, and appreciated for what it really is – arguably the most revolutionary development in the way we work and converse this side of 2012.
Due to the fact at Powwownow we are currently combining our web and audio conferencing capabilities with a new video conferencing offer, we thought it great timing to take you through some interesting facts and figures regarding all things UC.
Speaking ahead of London’s Unified Communications Expo in March, event organiser Hugh Keeble said that by investing in UC systems, businesses can take advantage of synergised communications systems that boost efficiency. “Unified communications allows organisations to do business wherever they are, by bringing fixed, mobile and desktop communications together,” he said. “This is particularly important in the current economic climate”, he added, “with many companies looking to invest in systems that facilitate new working practices to improve cost-effectiveness”
© Sqback| Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
What counts?
So it wasn’t only the passing minutes and hours that we were counting during our World Record Three-way conference call. Take a look at this list; maybe you can spot some other records;
0 audible snores!
2 “stalker” fans who watched for hours on end
3 cases of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts devoured
7 different dogs jumping on the beds
14 varieties of chocolate nibbled
17 cups of coffee consumed
20 cans of Red Bull slurped
59 toilet breaks
157 tweets from the public
223 comments or questions submitted via the website
899 photographs taken
At least 3,000 annoying train announcements
19,000 unique visits to our websites
35,000 page views on our websites
And 45,000 oyster card wallets distributed.

That’s not all! The ‘Pow’, ‘Wow’ and ‘Now’ characters continued to spread the word, handing out over 16,000 Oyster card wallets on 13th October at Bank, St Pauls and Holborn. And they’re now warming up to share another 30,000 around London. Get yours at:
Waterloo, Kings Cross and London Bridge Stations on 21st October
OR
Liverpool Street, Barbican Station and Farringdon Station on 26th October
Does there have to be a green tax on everything?
That’s how it seems sometimes. If I want to exercise my right as a purchaser and buy the green/ethical/morally upright option, I have to pay extra. Someone somewhere is taxing me for my beliefs.
Maybe I’m being too sensitive about this. After all, if I go into my local supermarket, I’m presented with normal coffee or fair trade coffee. I accept that fair trade coffee will be more expensive, but I don’t mind buying it because (a) I can afford the extra few pennies and (b) a decent price is paid to the farmer. In short, it makes me feel good. I like to think that Western consumers like me are doing our bit to divert wealth from multinational companies to small producers.
The real cost of air travel

Here at Powwownow, we don’t mind a bit of honest competition. But recent advertising from the people at Flybe.com seemed a little less than truthful. So we felt we ought to take a little direct action with our own ad, published today in the London Metro.
OK, so it’s a little cheeky of us to take their ad and throw it back at them. But we felt there was something important missing in their claim that face to face meetings – and particularly face-to-face meetings that involve air travel – are ‘better’ than conference calling.



