The Future of Audio Conferencing

December 8, 2010

While the Internet changed the way we do just about everything, not much interest has been paid to audio conferencing, something that’s about to change, thanks precisely to its integration into the web platform. The next generation of audio conferencing adds web-based capabilities to the traditional infrastructure, making it easy to manage users and get real-time usage and billing reports, without the need and cost of human operators assistance.

There are currently numerous methods and technologies that support audio conferencing. For example, many telephone companies offer the capability of three-way calling to allow a person to call two other people on separate lines and join them together to form a group. Each person in the group who has three-way calling has the ability to expand the meeting by adding two more people.

It becomes clear that the next logical evolutionary step in audio conferencing involves the use of computers and the Internet. Participants may, for example, be able to record and later replay all or certain segments of the meeting. The system prompts that participants hear when they call may be translated into other languages. There are also some services that offer to publish the completed audio conference on the Internet so it may be accessed later.

More sophisticated services offer online audio conferencing options known as virtual meeting rooms. These may be accessed by numerous people without action being required from the host or the present participants. A virtual meeting room often offers valuable features such as the ability to make visual presentations, share files, and to allow private messaging between participants.

This convergence of phone and web technologies enables a richer user experience that cannot be achieved with legacy communications systems. All it requires is a specialized inexpensive audio conferencing equipment, such as a phone provided by RackNine that connects to your internet router. A voice conference is much cheaper than other means of conferencing such as video, and it is easily accessible to almost all people because all it needs is an ordinary telephone line. You can also audio conference from a mobile phone. Using telephone lines and mobile phones make it simple for even laymen to operate. Audio conferencing technology is very reliable and it has the potential to connect any number of  people. It takes very less time to set up and does not require installation of expensive equipment.

Audio conferencing is not meant to support visual images (although it could). But if you are a business that does not need to see the other people participating in a conference at all times, it is wise to consider audio conferencing rather than more expensive video options. There are businesses that require the capability of video conferencing along with file transfer capabilities. But if your conferencing requirements are limited to just touching base with a group of people regularly or holding discussions over the phone, audio conferencing may still be the best option for you.

RackNine has created a VoIP solution that couldn’t be easier to implement. You simply connect the RackNine provided phone to your internet router, then plug in the phone to a power outlet and you’re ready to go! It takes only a few minutes to setup. For complex phone banks, RackNine will provide you with a web interface to configure your phones or we can do it for you.

Once you receive the phones you can have them installed in minutes. All you do is connect everything and start using our VoIP service without the help of any technician. And unlike traditional phone service you’ll start enjoying the following features right away that come standard with all RackNine VoIP phones:

  • Call Waiting
  • Call Forwarding
  • Call Display
  • Voicemail to Email
  • Three Way Calling
  • Real Time Call Logs
  • Virtual Receptionist
  • Unlimited Free Extensions
  • Conference Calling
  • Black Lists

We are also able to offer your business the following upgradeable features for your core business needs:

  • Fax
  • Virtual Fax
  • Call Center Solutions
  • Predictive Dialing

Contact Us for more information