The Lucky 13. of International Conference Calling. 13 Critical Capabilities Your International Conferencing Provider Should Offer

Transcription

1 of International Conference Calling Critical Capabilities Your International Conferencing Provider Should Offer

2 of International Conference Calling International Calling: Growing Need For Better Service Joel looked carefully at the prototype mountain board he d just received from the manufacturer. graphics were stellar, the new shocks were in place, and the amount of packaging had been reduced, which should save shipping costs. It looked good, but there was definitely a problem. He had sent an update on the brake design months ago, and the one he d just received didn t have the changes. He wasn t looking forward to notifying his brother Jason (one of the co-founders of the company) of this issue. It wasn t just that they needed to figure out what had happened. He dreaded the round of international calls between his brother in the U.S., the manufacturer in China, and himself in Australia. He d probably have to get up in the middle of the night and disturb his family just to be able to talk to everyone involved at once, and the call quality was frequently so bad they might not be able to communicate the issues effectively, especially the nuances. He might as well start packing for a trip to China. of International Conference Calling Image source: Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

3 of International Conference Calling Joel s unhappy situation is common these days. Whether you run a small or very large business, international calls are likely playing a larger and larger part. Perhaps your research and design division is in Toronto, your highest-producing salesman in Dallas, and your manufacturer in New Delhi. Or perhaps your whole operation is in the U.S., but you have international clients. re are many reasons you might need to communicate worldwide, and unfortunately that can add several layers of difficulty. Besides the typical language barriers like strong accents, businesses operating internationally often have issues like: Long lead-times for setting up service Inability to use mobile devices for calls Confusion about what number to dial from international locations Difficulty getting a connection from international locations Poor audio quality Fraud Tolls Disconnections Lack of fast and competent service after problems are reported to the provider It s no wonder someone would dread picking up the phone to solve a problem... no wonder attendance for weekly conference calls is poor and no wonder the results for your business aren t always the best. of International Conference Calling Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

4 of International Conference Calling We at Adigo have heard true stories like Joel s often, from businesses of all kinds and sizes, and we knew there had to be a better way. That s why we ve focused on making international calls as easy as possible. Even when conducting business internationally, you don t have to settle for substandard quality, needless hassles, and other barriers to communication (except the inherent barriers in languages and accents). In fact, your international calls can be every bit as simple and sound just as good as your domestic ones. So how do you make sure yours are? of International Conference Calling We ve identified critical capabilities your provider should offer. Look for these to be sure your international calls are just as good as your domestic calls! 1. Multiple Carriers for Each Country. Multiple Access Numbers for Each Country, including both Local and Toll-Free. Customized Web Page with Country-by-Country Call-In Numbers. Web Form for Fast and Easy 1-Click Access. Ability for Hosts to Dial Out to Participants mselves of Int l Calling. Many Options for Participants to Join the Call. In-Country Line and Number Reliability Testing (by Humans!). Proactively Resolving Touch-Tone Issues of. International Active Talker and Disconnection Indicators Conference Calling. Fraud Controls 11. Immediate Provisioning of International Services 1. Ability to Contact the Operator without Interrupting the Call. Superior Sound Quality Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

5 11 of International Conference Calling of International Conference Calling alling Evaluate Your International Conference Call Provider For se Critical Capabilities 1 Multiple Carriers for Each Country International participants are sometimes blocked by carriers. Mobile phone users may have this challenge even more often than landline users. So it s important to have more than one carrier available. (This also gives participants options if the sound quality on the first attempt isn t ideal.) Question to Ask Provider: How many carriers are available in each country? Note: re should be a different number for each country. of Int l Calling of International Conference Calling We suggest a minimum of carriers with a different number for each. Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

6 1 of International Conference Calling 11 1 Multiple Access Numbers for Each Country, including both Local and Toll-Free Participants want to be able to join a call in the manner most convenient for them, and they often prefer toll-free access. However, with international calls, participants efforts to get into a call may be hampered by many factors. For example, the number they need for the country they re in may be different from the one they were originally provided. Additionally, only some numbers are mobileenabled. Thus, international participants need plenty of options. 1 Question to Ask Provider: How many access numbers are available in each country? How many are local and how many toll-free? We suggest a minimum of access numbers with a balanced distribution of local and toll-free. Customized Web Page with Country-by-Country Call-In Numbers Participants don t always have the call-in information handy at the time they need it, especially if they travel between countries and thus need to change dial-in numbers often. How about a customized web page showing the appropriate number for each country from which your participants might need to dial in? Having a customized page with a unique URL for your company helps keep dial-in information easy to access and understand. Since not all international numbers work with mobile phones, the page can also help participants by showing which numbers are mobile-enabled. Do you offer a unique website specific to my company that lists access numbers for the countries in which I do business? Yes! Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

7 of International Conference Calling Web Form for Fast and Easy 1-Click Access International participants won t even need a dial-in number if the conference provider offers a web form for them to request a call. No more country-specific access numbers or conference IDs to dial! Participants simply fill in their information on a simple web form and the conference calls them at the requested number. This is wonderfully convenient and costs the participant nothing. Additionally, the dial-out web forms can collect participant names for the host, which may be helpful, particularly for identifying important participants. Does the provider offer a web form unique and specific to each host where participants (including international participants) can request the system dial-out to them? Yes! Ability for Hosts to Dial Out to Participants mselves Sometimes the host needs to call participants directly. This might be for international participants, last-minute inclusions, when the participant doesn t know in advance what location they ll be in at the time of the call, or for those times when it would be ideal to extend red-carpet service to an important participant. Can the host dial out to every international country without an operator? Yes! Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

8 of International Conference Calling Many Options for Participants to Join the Call Participants may need many different ways to join the call, both because of potential difficulties in international call handling and for their own convenience. It s all about making it as easy as possible for clients, vendors, and suppliers to do business with you. How many ways can participants join a call? What are those ways? Options might include: Host dial-out without an operator International toll-free number In-country local access number USA toll number Web form for the system to dial out Operator to dial out All options are critical for international calls. If a participant can t get in through one method, they should have back-up options at their disposal. In-Country Line and Number Reliability Testing (by Humans!) As a user of conference call services, you probably haven t thought much about the technology that lies behind it, or what makes that technology reliable or non-reliable. technology for international calls in particular may be complex since the phone lines in many countries don t adhere to the standard systems of the U.S., and thus the technology tends to be unreliable. That s why it s important to ensure your provider tests their international lines and numbers. Actual humans should be involved in the testing since automated testing is unlikely to replicate human interaction well and thus may overlook problems. How often are the numbers tested? How are they tested? If I have an issue, Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

9 of International Conference Calling how long will it take to verify with a live person that the number is working? International line and number performance should be verified through a non-automated test on a regular basis. Support should be readily available when issues are encountered. Proactively Resolving Touch-Tone Issues Touch-tones are less reliable on international calls, so using long ID numbers might mean your participants can t join the call. Additionally, mobile lines often don t pass the touch-tones through correctly at all, so it s important to have an operator available to assist participants when they have issues. Finally, if you want to troubleshoot what went wrong with the touch-tones your participant entered, it s helpful to use a provider who can check the entry logs and find out what the system recognized versus what the participant attempted. Can I use a -digit conference ID to make it easier for international participants to enter? Does an operator assist users having touch-tone issues or does the call disconnect? (Consider calling your own access number and entering a bogus ID to see what happens.) Will the provider help you troubleshoot if touch-tones were not recognized? Shorter conference call IDs, such as -digit ones, should be available. When you try to enter an incorrect ID, an operator should assist the caller rather than the call automatically disconnecting after a certain number of attempts. Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

10 11 of International Conference Calling Active Talker and Disconnection Indicators Sometimes participants don t realize they re interfering with everyone s ability to hear the host. An Active Talker indicator for the host, ideally in a real-time browser, allows them to bring the issue to the participant s attention or to mute the line. (This is usually available for web-hosted calls, but what about for audio-only?) Is the host notified of active talkers and disconnections in real time? How so? You should be able to see which line is speaking into the call and receive indication of a disconnection immediately. Fraud Controls Fraud is a frequent issue for international calls, and those surprise charges can be very expensive. One way to prevent fraud is to assign international numbers and access codes only as needed and only to the individual users who need them in the specific countries they need them. Can you provide individual access numbers from specified countries and restrict them to specific user accounts? International calls cannot happen from other countries or from other user accounts than those requested. As an example, if you request access from countries for specified user accounts, your conference call provider should be able to accommodate the request. Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

11 of International Conference Calling Immediate Provisioning of International Services Sometimes your international calls can t be planned far in advance. It s not uncommon to have to wait six to eight weeks for international service to be provisioned! If it takes your provider a long time to provision international service, this could be very inconvenient and could affect your ability to do business with new clients, vendors, or suppliers. How long does it take to provide access for a country? If the country is already live (e.g., they already provide services in that country), no more than minutes. If it s for a country they don t already offer, no more than 1 to weeks to set up service. Ability to Contact the Operator without Interrupting the Call Sometimes hosts need operator assistance. Having an operator monitoring the call is ideal, but even when that service is offered, you might still need to contact them to ask a question or have them call out. On an audio-only call, pressing a series of keys like *0 removes the host from the call to speak with an operator, but what s happening on the call in the meantime? Operator assistance should be available via chat without call interruption. Do you allow hosts to chat directly with an operator while staying in the call? Yes! 11 Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

12 of International Conference Calling 1 11 Superior Sound Quality Perhaps this sounds overly obvious, but if you ve ever been on a call where international participants sound distant or the line quality is poor, you know how important this is. Your conference call provider should focus on sound quality for conferences even for international participants. What do you do to ensure my international calls sound just as good as my domestic calls? Your conference call provider should take ownership of, and ensure high quality for, every aspect of the call, even the lines and carriers they use in other countries. of International Conference Calling 1 of Int l Calling 1 Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () - of International

13 of International Conference Calling Ready to Evaluate Your International Conference Calling Needs? Your clients will associate your calls success or failure with your business, not with your provider. Does your conference call provider meet the standard you want to project? Use our to help you ensure success before the call. Critical Capabilities for International Conference Call Success #1 Multiple Carriers for Each Country Carriers may block participants from connecting, especially on mobile devices. How many carriers are available in each country? minimum with a different number for each. # Multiple Access Numbers for Each Country, including Local and Toll-Free Adds convenience and accessibility options for callers. How many local and toll-free access numbers are available in each country? Minimum of - access numbers with a balanced distribution of local and toll-free. # Customized Web Page with Country-by-Country Call-In Numbers Offers a customized one-stop shop for participants to find information on how to join the call, no matter what country they re in. Will I have a customizable web page listing dial-in numbers by country? You should have a unique web page that shows the appropriate access numbers for the countries in which you do business. Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

14 of International Conference Calling # Web Form for 1-Click Access Participants can have the system dial out to them at their convenience with no hassle. Will I have a web form specific to each host that generates a call to the participant? A web form for participants to request a call-out (including to international numbers) should be offered. # Ability for Hosts to Dial Out to Participants mselves Easier for hosts, international participants, participants with fluctuating schedules, and as a red-carpet service. Can the host dial out without an operator? Hosts should be able to dial out without an operator. # Many Options for Participants to Join the Call Keep it as easy as possible for clients, vendors, and suppliers to do business with you. How many ways can participants join a call? Participants should be able to join calls different ways. # In-Country Line and Number Reliability Testing (by Humans!) Ensures the technology behind a successful call is in place. How often and by what method are the numbers tested? Numbers should be verified through a non-automated test on a regular basis. 1 Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

15 of International Conference Calling # Proactive Resolution of Touch-Tone Issues Touch-tones are less reliable on international calls. How do you ensure international callers can get through on touch-tone systems? Shorter conference call IDs and operator entry when touchtones fail. # Active Talker and Disconnection Indicators Allows the host to recognize whose line is interrupting a call and when participants disconnect. How is the host notified of active talkers and disconnections in real time? You should be able to see which line is speaking into the call and receive indication of a disconnection immediately # Fraud Controls Fraud is a frequent issue for international calls, and those surprise charges can be very expensive. Can you provide individual access numbers from specified countries and restrict them to specific user accounts? International calls cannot happen from other countries or from other user accounts than those requested. #11 Immediate Provisioning of International Services If it takes a long time to provision international service, it could affect your ability to do business. How long does it take to provide access for a country? minutes for countries the provider already offers. 1- weeks for countries not already offered. 1 Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

16 of International Conference Calling #1 Ability to Contact the Operator without Interrupting the Call Hosts should not have to leave a call to talk with an operator. Do you allow hosts to stay in the call and instant message directly with an operator? host can communicate to an operator without leaving the call. # Superior Sound Quality Inferior sound quality interferes with communication and frustrates participants. What do you do to ensure my international calls sound just as good as my domestic calls? High quality sound for every call, even international ones. From a user perspective, conference calls aren t that complicated... when they go well. However, as you can see, there are a thousand small details you rarely think about that can make your whole call either excellent or abysmal. With international calls, this is even more true. It s not a service to be tacked on as an afterthought and minimally managed. A company offering international calls should focus on ensuring excellence. International business is becoming ever more prevalent, so it s especially important to consider how well your conference call provider can cater to your international conference call needs. After all, trips to China aren t cheap! Anticipating a need for excellent international conference services or want more information? Contact us today or join us for one of our upcoming educational webinars! Lori Albers Manager Business Development lalbers@adigo.com 1 Adigo Conferencing adigo.com () -

17 When you re ready to get more from your conferencing service, visit Adigo.com, or contact us at or call () -. Brad Volin President About Adigo Adigo believes in making the world a better place by connecting people and ideas worldwide. We provide audio, web and video conferencing for businesses that need reliable, scalable collaboration tools. We optimize configurations for each account so conference calls can start faster, run trouble-free and increase organizations productivity. With Adigo, you get flexible conferencing features, enhanced functionality and superior international calling, along with a responsive and dedicated account staff. While quality and service are deteriorating industry wide, Adigo provides crystal clear fidelity and industry exclusive VIP accounts where participants drop right into conference without having to enter anything. People that value their time and want the utmost simplicity choose conferencing and collaboration tools with unrivaled quality and premium service. y choose, to Talk with Adigo. () - adigo.com