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Web Conferencing in Health care and Medicine

Posted by vividh

A conventional meeting involves a lot of preparation prior to the meeting and its success depends on several factors such as, presence of all the meeting participants in one room. With the advent of the web conferencing tools, the very idea of a meeting has changed. One of the industries that have benefited the most from this technology is the health care and medicine industry. With advancement in web meeting and conferencing technology, doctors are no longer limited in their ability to treat and interact with remotely located patients.

Since the health and medicine professionals are required to maintain confidentiality about their patient’s history and background, they look for conferencing solutions that are reliable and secure. Ease of use is another important factor since the patients should be able to use the web meeting software with ease.

1. TREATING PATIENTS REMOTELY:  A major advantage of online meetings is that you don’t have travel to remotely located patients as this would take a lot of time and time could be an issue depending on the severity of patient’s condition. Through a web based conference system a doctor can interact with patients via the web and evaluate their condition online. Using the audio conferencing tool, patients can provide details on their problem and the doctor can make analysis and diagnosis.
2. COMMUNICATING WITH PATIENTS REMOTELY: Patients who have internet access and a web conferencing tool can easily reach their doctors, regardless of where the doctor currently is. This way doctors can easily follow up with their patients even when they are on a move.
3. SHARING PATIENT REPORTS, PRESCRIPTIONS VIA WEB MEETINGS: When it comes to sharing patient reports, a doctor doesn’t have to organize a regular meeting but can simply resort to a web conferencing tool and conduct a virtual meeting. Over a web conference, the doctor can share reports, prescriptions and other related data.

Rehabilitation Systems, extensively uses web conferencing via Fuze Meeting to conduct online training for their cancer, heart failure, diabetes and pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Below are some of the benefits of web conferencing in the health care industry as quoted by Roger K Campbell, Director of Program Development at Rehabilitation Systems-

As the graying of America continues to increase, our day presses forward to develop and utilize increased efficiencies in health care through web conferencing and telemedicine, as the merger of technology and medicine.  The ability to smartly outreach and serve the advancing requirements of chronic disease is imperative for stability in a rapidly changing health care system.  As 2011 approaches and the fist of the baby boomer generation retire, our national health care resources will become strenuously taxed.  Yet, with this health care crisis, we see the emergence of bright minds, ways and solutions.  New web conferencing software developers, Fuze Meeting and medical scientists at Rehabilitation Systems, have created the merger of technology and medicine which represents a maximal online outreach of rehabilitation program development and rehabilitative health care for people suffering from cancer, heart failure, pulmonary and diabetes disorders. These advances in online training and conferencing are poised as a substantial cost containment solation to a burdened health care system.

Increase Efficiency and Profitability in Restaurant Business by Web Conferencing

Posted by vividh

Training is an ongoing process in the restaurant and fast food business and it has undergone a massive change with the advent of new software and technology. Have you ever wondered how Pizza Hut or McDonalds stick to their standards in the way they serve, treat customers and have a uniform attitude of service that their customers are used to? The credit goes to the owner of the company who has some preset standards and strives to see that his employees are polished to that perfection. The usual method of training or having an in-person meeting to keep everybody posted on recent development or modifications has been overridden by the concept of web conferencing and desktop sharing. Restaurants and famous food chains seem to be taking advantage of this advancement in web collaboration technology.

The process involves all the employees of a particular branch, for instance, to spend a weekend over a training class that they can access together or individually from their personal computers or other internet access points. During the training course, restaurants and food chains have the benefit of also exposing employees to basic etiquette or behavior patterns that should be uniform across all outlets. These real life situations are created via videos, images and case studies and files that can be shared online. Ever since its advent, the web meeting concept has brought in a high demand because of it’s quick accessibility. Web meetings also host tools for desktop sharing where a trainer could share his desktop, rather than video, power point or image files on his system with others. A free web conferencing access to the employees both for their feedback and for small tests taken from time to time could increase communication and pave way for a better employee training. The topics could vary from simple to complicated:

1. A web conferencing solution helps lower the training costs significantly as the interaction takes place via the web and involves no travel.
2. The web meeting solutions enable having meetings where the training center can bring together geographically separated employees from different branches to inform them of upgrades and latest changes in the menu items, pricing and other related information.
3. Choosing the best web meeting software is very important for the company as most employees aren’t technically trained and they need an extremely user-friendly online meeting solution. Web meeting services that are easy to use even for a beginner are ideal for a restaurant or a fast food chain.
4. A browser based training program is always much more accessible and useful when compared to a program that requires a software download. The software download depends on the internet connection, speed and download permissions on the employee computer, which can sometimes be a problem.

By blending the advancement of science and their training needs, restaurants and food chains have been able to establish superior standards for themselves.

Seven Steps to Conducting a Web Conference

Posted by vividh

With a new product launched in the market, many business magnets resort to the web conference way of promotion. This is indeed an ideal and exclusive way of conveying to an audience of prospective buyers or companies what their product is all about. Through online presentations and webinars, a product could be extensively studied and understood. This has become a novel way of reaching out to your clients with help of the latest technology.  The major advantage with this kind of a web conference is that no matter in which part of the world, your audience is, product promotion will never require their physical presence in a particular place. The virtual arena has indeed made this world a smaller place, with the convenience of being able to access and reach anybody anywhere.

Online meetings and this kind of web conference promotions have taken off with tremendous acceptance from a lot of people around the world. People’s communication and faster access to things and people’s opinions could be enhanced through the technology of web conferencing that facilitates two or more people to discuss, display or share information on a particular subject or high priority. These web conferences are scheduled very conveniently with the facility of the lightening speed of the internet that can be accessed almost in every corner of the world today. In order to conduct a web conference effectively, a briefing on the seven basic steps could prove useful.

1. Being informed and educated on the usage of the web conferencing tools, along with desktop sharing could be the basic necessity for all those who wish to be a part of the web meeting that is hosted by the product company.
2. Before the host begins the web conference with his product presentations, he must emphasize on the objective of the online meeting as things become more explicit then.
3. The web conference host must take care that while displaying the presentations, they have naturally convincing points and not something that seems like a camouflaged sales tone.
4. Rehearsing the whole process before hand and anticipating the probable questions from the audience during the conference could help a lot in bringing quality to the presentation you wish to present live.
5. Have an automatic generated survey form that could help you get a clear picture of what your audience opines on the presentation. This would help you gauge whether this method of promotion through an online web conference has really worked or not.
6. Since one should be able to generate a client base, it is important that a follow up of the web conference is done to ensure that you haven’t ignored a seriously interested client.
7. Make sure that you haven’t lured people into any hidden charges on the product. Being open and sincere with what you can offer is an ideal way to get people to be more open minded to your web conference.

Employing these tips with the right online meeting etiquette and could amplify your business tremendously.

Online Meeting Etiquette for Effective Decision Making

Posted by vividh

The code of conduct or etiquette for a formal meeting involves everything from your dress code, behavior, attitude and style of presentation. Meetings that are online today with less scope for people to see each other face to face surprisingly haven’t made things any different. The etiquette of having an effective meeting online is something all professionals must be acquainted with. These online business meetings demand certain behavior and by putting into practice the same, it indicates the respect you have for your co-employees present in the web conference that facilitates worthwhile outcomes and decisions. This indeed does justify the purpose of such meetings.

While in an online meeting it is advised that concentration should be totally on the topic that is being discussed without frequently being tempted to open other desktop applications. Since a computer could open scope for us to multitask between other applications and a web meeting, the very concept of doing so while in an online meeting is considered indecent or an undesirable etiquette. By doing so, there is a chance that you could get distracted from the main stream of discussion and may need clarifications on and off . This could send uncomfortable vibes to all the others participating in the web meeting. At times this irresponsible behavior could give people a feeling that you are disinterested or are not giving the issue genuine importance and thought it should get.

The meeting could happen in different ways. It could be a simple chat session amongst a group of people through the web conference facility or it could be a video conference where one gets to see the other especially if it is a meeting involving only two people. Video conference interviews are very common and an ideal way of knowing a person personally even if they are miles apart. While in an online meeting where people from different places communicate through the voice chat option, the basic etiquette for the listeners is to mute their own voice so that their mic doesn’t catch all the different sounds in their environment be it an office or home. This could cause disturbance in the thought flow of the individual who is speaking at the other end.

Following the required rules that could enhance the effectiveness of your online meeting becomes inevitable especially when the topic discussed aims at arriving at a substantial decision that could help. The World Wide Web consists of numerous softwares that could help you install the set up for a web conference. After installing one, you could run the executable file and get ready to be accessed and access all your colleagues on a web meeting that you could have scheduled. Numerous free softwares are available but to make the best choice, a survey could help. The mic, speaker, headphones, web cam and the basic conferencing software are the minimum requirements along with the best etiquette for an online meeting to take place effectively. Improvement in technology should in no way take a toll of our behavior or manners in any given situation.

Attend a global meeting while walking the dog

Posted by vividh

” Why would I want to attend a web conference on my phone? My laptop goes wherever I go.”

Sometimes, I get this response from people when I talk about attending a web conference via an iPhone or Blackberry. While I have my own reasons, it’s always much more interesting to hear the reasons customers give.

This is what we discovered while presenting FUZE online meeting to a UK-based multinational corporation.  They  specialize in infrastructure development and with projects taking place around the globe, the concept of “business hours” has become meaningless for them. Employees in multiple time zones simultaneously participate in meetings so somebody is always working “after hours”. Attending a team conference call at home after hours is stressful enough but it is even worse if you need to hunch over your desktop or laptop while following the meeting online. In this situation, attending a web conference via a mobile device makes a lot of sense. You can follow the audio conference and view the online presentation from a device that fits in your pocket instead of being tied to your laptop. Using your mobile phone to participate in the meeting minimizes the impact on your personal life – you can roam around the house or even attend a meeting while someone drives you to dinner.

In a recent personal example, I attended a team meeting on my iPhone while walking the dog! Think of how this technology can change your world. As the lines between personal and work life blur, mobile meetings are just one more tool to help keep things in balance.