5 MORE Ways to Revel in Your Fuze Web Conference

Halfa Sponge Saves Trees by Web Conferencing

What’s that you mean 5 more ways???Ah, well for a list of the first five – look here!

1)     Coming Soon – Remote Control – Control freaks rejoice!  Anyone screen sharing in a Fuze Meeting can now grant remote control to other meeting participants.  Remote control is great for technical support, interactive product demonstrations, remote training and more.

2)      Software Presentations –With Fuze Meeting, you can use the lag-free desktop sharing to showcase that product that you’ve been toiling over. And without having to travel to show it off, you can afford the time and the money to get it in front of zillions*. (*rough estimate)

3)      Review and approve work – Interdepartmental mail, FedEx and messenger services can take a back seat. Share and approve work online, you’ll save a day and a wad of cash on every approval. From xrays to high res image corrections; from in-process Powerpoint to HD video editing – you can keep you review process online and on time.

4)      Sync your team –  Fuze is great for internal team meetings, and with everyone’s schedules everywhichway, you can make your life a little easier. Cut out a step and use our Outlook plug-in to get your Fuze Meeting directly into their calendars.

5)      Have an impact and reduce your impact. $aves on travel and hassle, but it also saves this big blue planet. One round-trip flight between JFK and SFO (about 5K miles) adds up to about 2500 pounds of C02. That’s equivalent to 15% of one US home’s electricity use for an entire year!

5 Ways to Indulge in Your Online Meeting

Web Conference screen shot, starting page

Is Fuze Meeting better for individuals to present, train and sell, or would you say it’s better for collaborating among a team?

Well, yes to both.

Fuze Meeting is a great way to put your self in front of a crowd for any presentation no matter what the brilliant idea is that needs sharing. That said, businesses around the globe have found Fuze to be invaluable for syncing internal teams – their plans, their thoughts, their visions.

And that’s not all – here’s 5 ways that you can use Fuze Meeting to squeeze every ounce of juice from your work day.

1)      Internal Team Meetings – You’ve got a talented team. But one of them is in Boston, two are in Minnesota, and yet another is in Silicon Valley. Get ‘em all on the same page with a daily 20 minute online sync up. You’ll get more done and have fun doing it.

2)      Creative Pitches – Need to show off your sleek design work or next big campaign?  You’d better be using software with high res image and HD video capabilities. Hey. Have you heard of this great product called Fuze Meeting?!?! Make sure your work is presented the way it should be seen…in high resolution, including video, images and more.

3)      Conference Calls – Yep, use our super cheap telephony without even logging onto a meeting. Just dial into Fuze, enter your room number and you’re all ready to go! Does this mean that you can save even more money because you can cancel you cash guzzling conference call service? Yes. Yes it does.

4)      Sales Demos – Give sales presentations, demonstrate applications, and even review contracts online. It’s wicked easy for your attendees and taking the meeting online means that you get in front of more people, ace more pitches, and close more deals.

5)      Mobile Meetings – Don’t be shackled to your desk 24/7. Go to the App Stores and grab the fastest and slickest meeting in the industry for your iPhone, the only app that provides hosting capabilities from a Blackberry, and the ONLY web conferencing software available on Android devices. Are you an iPaddict? Well then sit tight because iPad meetings are just around the corner.

Fuze With Skype: What to Consider When Choosing A Web Conferencing Headset

Just this afternoon, some of the team here were in a Fuze Meeting webinar and I noticed almost all the callers were on Skype. That said, either they were home alone, annoying the rest of their office with loud voices emanating from their computers, or on a headset. And since I’ve done my best to swear off telecommuting, I’ve been on a constant search for the *perfect* in-office web conferencing headset experience.

I’m not in love with my headset choice YET (Freetalk Everyman Headset – more on that later) – but 4 headsets in the last 3 months make me somewhat of an expert on headset rejection – so here’s a short list of features to consider when finding an online meeting headset solution.

When choosing a headset for web conferencing, be sure to pay attention to how it will connect to your computer

#1 Connection

Headset rejection #1 was because, foolish me, didn’t realize that not all computers have a mic jack. Headphone/mic jacks and USB connections both work really well in terms of sound, but you’ll probably have to mess with the input/output settings a bit if you use a USB connection. On the other hand, all computers have a place to shove a USB cable, so you won’t be stuck there like a cross-eyed buffoon staring at your headphone jack in the headphone port with your mic jack dangling of the edge of your laptop. (Sore subject)  My recommendation: go with the USB.

Found yourself with the double-jack and a computer that won’t work with it? Don’t worry – they have converters and (let’s be honest) it’s probably not a bad idea to have a stereo headphone converter handy in case you only have your iPhone set with you.

How well do you want your attendees to hear you? Choose your mic for an online meeting wisely!

#2 The Boom Boom

Chances are, you don’t really notice that your headset mic isn’t working for you until you start getting annoyed with all the ‘could you speak up’ complaints. Finally, someone had the good sense to suggest that the problem was my mic and headset #2 was out the door. I switched from an on-cord mic to a boom mic, and the audio complaints went away. A plus side of the boom mic? Feeling like a pop star and asking people if they’d like fries with that. My Recommendation: Boom

#3 Headphones

Headset #3 got the boot because it only had a speaker on one ear, and I just decided I’m a surround sound girl.

But – there’s all TYPES of headphones. In-ear buds, foam headphones, and the very intense gamer-style foam padded headphones. This is a personal choice, but, for me…the buds fall out and the gamer headsets do too good a job of cancelling out the noise. I work in an office, so I actually like the ambient noise and currently use the Freetalk Everyman Headset that SKYPE suggests, but…I’m not in love.

Why, you ask? They’re a bit flimsy and they only come in black. I’m still on the hunt for the perfect headset and I gladly take suggestions!

Note: Fuze doesn’t necessarily endorse the products shown or mentioned, but – if you’re looking for them here are the links: Input/output Converter, Stereo Converter.

The Hybrid Meeting

With throngs of engineers camped out behind their computers like it was going out of style, the engineer folk are turning out technology and applications faster than the blogosphere can keep up with them. So, then what we get is a world where things exist even before they have names. THEN, amidst all the chatter, a name ARISES. And this one really caught my eye.

Fuze Meeting attendees can join a meeting from anywhere

The Term: Hybrid Meeting

The definition: A meeting where there are some participants sitting together in a meeting room AND some participants are attending the meeting remotely via web conference. Think of it as a mash up between virtual and in-person meetings.

And when you think about it, most of your online meetings (especially the important ones) are probably just this. And while we’ve offered tips (and more tips) on optimizing your meeting for web conferencing, they weren’t specifically directed to the very frequently occurring hybrid situation.

However, you don’t need a list of tips this time. When presenting in a hybrid meeting, just ask yourself one question: Could I still give this presentation if I was sitting down?

I don’t suggest you forsake your well practiced hand motions and charming smiles. I’m not even suggesting that you *do* stay in your seat. I’m just noting that, if you’re going to get up, be aware that the people attending your meeting virtually don’t know what “this here line” is. Just like on a web conference, use your annotation tools to highlight what you’re talking about…or go old school and just use your words “I hereby give you: the PURPLE line.”

Got any tips for navigating the hybrid meeting? Comment!

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