The Great Expert Blog

Video conferencing facilitates learning by allowing remote or distant learners to meet regardless of their location. Students can take classes at multiple universities. In essence classes that are not available at one location may be available at another through video conferencing. Video conferencing can also benefit non traditional students who are not able to attend classes during normal hours.

There are various types of videoconferencing; which is suitable for your application will depend upon the IT structure available and what it is that you actually want to achieve. Video conferencing has in the past been relatively expensive, but prices are coming down and it is possible for anyone with a fast enough internet connection to operate a video conference.

There are excellent quality video conferencing systems out there. Many of them are well worth the dollars that they cost. And, because technology continues to grow, you’ll find that prices for video conferencing will become more competitive. It is the way of the future. Is your company in the future? Using video conferencing can help to insure that it is there.

Most video conferencing terminals also require what is called a codec or Compressor/Decompressor interface. This piece of equipment helps compress information being passed from audio to video to make transmission of materials feasible over the Net. Without this piece of equipment most files would be too large to send from one computer to another. The process of compression data using a codec machine is often referred to as decoding and encoding information.

Finally, a computer and reliable internet connection are also necessary to facilitate video conferencing. A high speed connection is recommended to make the video conferencing experience not only endurable but also enjoyable. The actual computer you have is not as important as the size of your display. Remember that when using video conferencing equipment, the larger your display the better your picture and the more easily a time you will have ‘conferencing’ with other people on the Web.

For meetings to consistently deliver the required performance and hence outputs, it is critical to have a prepared communication process in advance of the meeting.

This enables participants to be aware and where appropriate prepare for the meeting in advance.

It also allows for them to circulate any preparatory information and pre-reading before the meeting to minimise any information-giving during valuable meeting time.

This time when all participants are together must be devoted to the interchange that can only happen when people are together.

The agenda format may vary, but it will need to have some components which are common, as follows:-

* Location and time and who * Preparation required * Review of previous agreed actions * Objectives * Items to be discussed * Next meeting location and time * Review of meeting

By having this structure, it becomes possible for the right people to attend and to:-

* Focus completely on outcome and purpose * Be prepared * Develop meeting skills

Exercise

1. Review meetings you hold, however informal, without agendas.

- How focused are they?

- How sidetracked do they become?

- What do you notice about behaviours of people who attend?

- Describe how you feel at the end of three different meetings this week - some with and some without an agenda.

2. Plan one meeting this week for which you would normally not have an agenda using the agenda detail provided in the workshop.

3. Discuss the benefits and concerns about using an agenda

- What is better about having an agenda?

- What might be negatives about using an agenda?

- How might you ’sell’ these in a positive way?

Meetings are hugely valuable contribution ot business life, as long as they work well. Preparing people in advance is ‘one giant step for meetings, one giant step for value-creating interactions of like minded people’.

A few years ago, I was trained as a mediator. Having been involved in different ways in a couple of neighborhood disputes, I thought it would be valuable–and perhaps healing–to learn how to guide others through the process of resolving their particular challenges in an open and supportive manner.

The first thing we learned was that neighborhood issues are rarely what they appear on the surface. Instead, individuals tend to swim in repeated waves of ideas around privacy and respect and too often get caught in a rip tide of disappointment and anger.

Your barking dog might prompt Bob next door to call the dispute resolution center’s number, but it’s likely that a series of seemingly connected events compelled him to pick up that phone.

Maybe he approached you one day, tentatively and awkwardly, and you assured Bob that you would keep your dog quiet–even though you could sleep through an all-night howl session and have never once heard your dog bark in the wee hours.

Perhaps the next time Bob saw you, he waved but you didn’t respond–he didn’t know that you hadn’t seen him through the glare of your windshield.

A few days later, Bob came over to deliver some mail that had arrived in his box by mistake. He stood on your doorstep ringing your doorbell for several minutes, but you never came out because you were in the shower. A few minutes after that, Bob watched you get into your car and drive off without so much as a nod in his direction.

And now, maybe poor Bob has had two nights in a row of sleeplessness and he got up this morning feeling angry about his insensitive neighbor–YOU, who are quite unaware that Bob is so upset.

Mediators spend a lot of time asking questions to get to the very heart of the issues, but mostly, they listen to the way these neighbors tell their stories. Often what seems like anger is really disappointment and hurt. After all, Bob wants to get along with you, and he is bewildered by how you seem to be avoiding him–and his concerns.

Once we start drilling down into the complex feelings and ideas involved, the whole situation starts looking like a comedy of errors, except that it isn’t funny to the participants.

The pivotal role of the mediator is to present the pieces of the puzzle in a way that resonates with all parties. By unraveling the stories, everything becomes clearer and instead of avoiding each other, neighbors actually begin to understand and respect each other, even if they have different perspectives.

More than once, I’ve seen that barking dog become a non-issue once neighbors have made the effort to build a relationship that is open and respectful. And that’s what everyone wants, really–to be able to discuss any concerns in a way that is civil or even friendly.

We all have our own symbolic “barking dog” that annoys and hurts us. We weave together isolated and often misinterpreted incidences to create a story with the ending we choose. “My neighbor is a jerk.” “My partner is attracted to someone else.” “My boss is out to get me.” “My parents are ruining my life.”

Mindfulness makes it possible to clearly see what is going on around us, and more importantly, within us. Think of it as a personal live-in mediator, asking questions and helping us unravel our carefully stitched stories.

By paying attention to your barking dog stories, you see those threads as just that–pieces that have been arranged by you to create only one of many possible tapestries. To play with mindfulness and mediation, try this:

*Look for loose threads. Is everything stitched together neatly? What doesn’t fit?

*Start pulling gently. Ask questions. Did this really happen in this way? Is my reaction reasonable–or just understandable? How many layers have I built based on this one thread?

*Step back. Gain perspective on the way things look from different angles and in different light.

*Delight in discovery and connection, even if it means releasing your attachment to your favorite barking dog scenario. Remember that to be mindful, first we must be willing to open our eyes and see the real world for ourselves.

If we view the process as illuminating, uplifting, and even enjoyable, we can begin to see that barking dog as simply that–without the added clutter. Cooperative and friendly relationships become our vehicle for engaging in the world more fully and meaningfully.

And that makes life a whole lot more fun.

Internet has today transformed almost every part of our life. Internet service providers are increasing day by day as more and more homes make their way towards getting Internet access. Whenever we talk about high-speed Internet connection, broadban d comes to our mind. It is an Internet connection that runs at 256kbps or at 512kbps or even faster. The term “broadband” can be defined as a “A class of communication channel capable of supporting a wide range of frequencies, typically from audio up to video frequencies”. From the time of Internet’s advent, people began demanding faster data transmission. In the past, there were only dialu p connections, which could transfer up to 56kbps of data and that too with the help of a high-speed modem. So, to keep up with the average person’s demand for Internet speed, broadband was invented. It not only carries a wider range and type of frequencies but also helps in a faster data transmission. With broadband, you can download audio and video files within seconds. It is much faster than a dialup connection and thus enables you to use the Internet faster and more efficiently. As the demand for broadband continues to increase year on year, so do the number of broadband providers and this leads to increased competition. The increasing significance of Internet in people’s lives has given rise to the expansion in broadband products and services. In the competitive environment of broadband, providers are dropping prices, giving attractive offers and offering incentives to retain customers.

Finding the best broadband provider may become an easy task if a little effort is made in that direction. Firstly, give a thought as to what you really need from a provider and for how much time do you access the Internet. Decide if you need only the Internet service or the bundled phone and Internet service. List your needs according to your personal or business needs. Compare prices of different broadband providers; compare the offers by different broadband providers and their services.

With excellent deals on offer, broadband is now becoming more affordable for the average consumer. The future sees Internet leaving a mark by its presence in each person’s mind and replacing televisions, radios, and telephones. So make use of this great Internet experience provided by broadband.

In the world today, if you don’t have a cell phone you’re out of
touch. How do you pick the right phone, the right plan or the
right company? There are many factors to that should be taken
into consideration. If you have a large family, one of the many
family plans could be the ticket. Some family plans share a pool
of minutes. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how
good your family is at sharing. If you have teenagers who tend
to talk quite a bit on the cell phones (and most do these days),
this may not be the best way to go although buying a separate
plan for each teen could be very expensive. One idea is the
“pay-as-you go” plan. These plans use minutes from a pre-paid
bank of a set duration. At least this way you have control over
how much you spend each month. Another type of family plan lets
family members pay for their own calling, but if family members
sign up, everybody gets a better price then if they had signed
up individually. Some plans also give you a break on the price
of the cell phones themselves. Be sure to check out these types
of plans carefully. If you are just shopping for yourself;
carefully evaluate what you think your cell phones usage will
be. If it’s just for emergencies or occasional use the afore
mentioned pay-as-you go plans may be sufficient. You could also
buy the cheapest plan available. Some are as low as $20 a month.
Most people however, use their cellphones a lot and need many
minutes. If this is the case, pay-as-you-go plans can get very
expensive and it makes more sense to buy a plan that gives you
several hundred minutes worth of time each month. Another thing
to consider is the options. Does the plan come with roaming,
long-distance, text-messaging, etc. included? Are these extras
important to you? If they are then be sure to total up the costs
of each plan. Some include extras in the plan cost, some don’t.
Don’t sign up for a plan only to find out that you have to pay
additional costs for the features you want that another plan
included free or for the same price. Lastly, do the cell phones
available for the plan come with the features you want or need.
Cameras, games, two-way radio functions are just some of the
many new functions being added to today’s phones. About the
author: Jon Wilder is the owner of www.cellvelocity.com This
article may be reprinted on condition that the source box is
included and the article is unedited. Copyright 2005 Jon Wilder

Question: Is Satellite TV, Such as Dish Network, Really Better Than Cable?

As the war in video entertainment continues, one thing is for sure: satellite television is here to stay.

When the satellite distributors first began marketing to consumers, the cable industry didn’t give their new opponent much thought. Dishes were expensive, they were bulky and their program offerings weren’t all that impressive. Cable on the other hand had been around for more than a decade and offered a familiar and reliable solution to home entertainment.

But oh how things have changed.

The satellite industry quickly replaced those bulky dishes with sleeker, smaller systems that could be mounted just about anywhere. Prices dropped, programming grew and pretty soon, switching from cable to satellite TV wasn’t such a far-fetched idea after all.

Today, the Satellite TV industry and providers, such as Dish Network, enjoy a steady and continued growth in subscribers and services, gradually closing the gap in video entertainment market share. Where the cable industry has reported an annual growth between 10 to 15 percent, top satellite companies, such as Direct TV, boast a market share increase of just under 30% according to a study from The Media Audit.

So is satellite and providers such as Dish Network really better than cable?

Satellite TV customers seem to think so. Studies show that satellite customers pay an average of $10 less per month than their cable counterparts. Satellite programming is also all-digital, meaning the reception and picture quality is much better than that of traditional analog cable. Cable subscribers do have the option of upgrading to digital but this incurs an additional monthly cost and doesn’t guarantee all the channels will be included in the upgrade. And, with the healthy dose of competition in the satellite industry, consumers can be assured of continued competitive pricing. Your cable provider doesn’t have any competition. Do you suppose that affects your rate increases?

Satellite TV subscribers also tout a higher satisfaction rating with customer service issues, one of the primary reasons cited for making the move from cable.

For details, visit dish-network-sate llite-tv.ws

Looking for a free phone card? Thinking there a catch? This article shows you what to watch out for when looking for a free phone card online. Learn a couple of free phone card tips on how to avoid a prepaid calling card scam.

Well, you’re not alone. There are plenty of people just like you, looking to find a free phone card online. In fact, 5787 people typed in the keyword phrase “free phone card’ in yahoo’s search engine, just last month. If you factor in all the online search engines this number could be six to even eight times that number of people looking for a cheap prepaid phone card online. So don’t feel like you’re the only person looking to find a deal with a really cheap free phone card online.

Free Phone Card Tip #1

You Have To Earn It.

Big companies know the value that a free phone card can offer to its customers. That’s way companies will sponsor corporate promotional phone cards as a way to run a special promotion. Most times you have to buy a certain amount of there product or do some type of task to get your free phone card minutes.

Some online sites will say that they offer a free phone card but in reality they built a system that you earn the points kind of like airline miles buy doing certain things that make the company money. So if you don’t mind being the mouse to chase the free phone card cheese. Then play the maze to win free phone card minutes.

Free Phone Card Tip #2

Read the Fine Print:

Unfortunately some phone card customers have bin ripped off when not reading the fine print when buying a prepaid phone card. Reading the terms and conditions is your first step in avoiding prepaid phone card scams.

In one case, a large online prepaid phone card business was offering free 50 minute calling card. This company had a sneaky tactic card of charging your credit card on an automatic monthly recharge basis. This happened after you used your 49th minute of the free 50 minute calling card. Some online prepaid calling card business will want you to verify your information to receive your free prepaid phone card. Be careful when anyone ask for your credit card information as a qualification for a free phone card. Sometimes its understandable for a business to request this as part of the free phone card trial, just remember to read the fine print!

Sometimes you need to take a lesson from good old grandma. Nothing in life is for free! But some of these companies might be offering you corporate phone card promotion that is used to promote there brand. Because sometime you might actually find a fair deal for free long distance calling minutes online. So yes, there is a catch! But not when you know what to look for.

Panah Mosaferirad is marketing intern for Pingo’s International calling card business that provides virtual VoIP prepaid calling cards online at www.pingo.com/aboutus.do

How many times have you been interrupted from watching your favorite television show, tucking the kids with a bedtime story or unwinding with your significant other, with a call from someone offering a free estimate on new windows? Perhaps you were the lucky winner of a Las Vegas vacation (if you attend a special seminar on timeshares). Maybe you were really unhappy with your current long distance provider?

The telephone is the most immediate personal mode of communication but often the most intrusive. Unsolicited telemarketing calls have been a national problem since the coupling of telephones with free enterprise. The telemarketing industry has evolved through a series of technological advancements that spun the growth of unwanted calls out of control.

After receiving countless complaints throughout the nation about uninvited calls, the federal government took action. Two years ago the National Do Not Call Registry was launched. It is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state law enforcement officials.

Telemarketers who call a number on the national Do Not Call registry could be fined up $11,000. The new FTC rules also require that telemarketers have Caller ID enabled and limit abandoned ‘hang up’ calls from predictive dialers. Consumer phone numbers will remain on the registry for five years from the date of registration. Telemarketers must register to obtain the list and pay a small fee per area code for the privilege.

According to the FTC, during the 72 hours before the Do Not Call Registry became available to telemarketers, more than six million consumers added their telephone numbers to the list. Since inception the total number of consumer telephone number on the list has soared to approximately 88 million.

Exempt from the law are political organizations, banks, airlines, insurance agencies, realtors, telephone carriers, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship. Thank goodness I still have the choice of switching my long distance provider!

Shrewd telemarketers have turned to other venues including internet & email advertising, direct mail and sales promotion. Other firms are working within the confines of the law by utilizing the loopholes. Telemarketing firms have started implementing new and innovative ideas to bypass the list. Some are offering special discounts or payment terms if customers agree to accept telemarketing calls. Others are making strategic mutual agreements using the “established business relationship” clause to market product to each other’s customers. Conglomerates that own many companies to market their products are consolidating their marketing strategies in order to sell products to channels of all their affiliated companies. Additionally, if a consumer makes an inquiry, telemarketing firms still have the right to solicit their business for a period of three months. Indeed some consumers may get even more calls because the pool of available numbers is shrinking.

Some surveys suggest that eventually 97 percent of all homes will sign up to the registry. But are consumers really opposed to telemarketing calls? The key is relevance to the consumer. If a consumer has an interest in the product then the call may not be seen as intrusive. A common example is buying a car. During the purchasing process the consumer might contact a number of dealers about information. But once he has purchased a car, calls from dealerships may be considered a nuisance.

The Do Not Call registry seems to have a number of loopholes that can be exploited but the registry seems to be reducing annoying calls. In a survey released in February of 2004, Harris Interactive found that 92 percent of those who signed up for the registry had fewer telemarketing calls, and 25 percent of those registered indicated they had received no telemarketing calls since signing up.

Now if only I could get my mother in law to stop calling…

Rito Salomone is the president of Resource Software International Ltd. (RSI). He has 17 years experience in the field of communication management solutions.

For more information you can review: http://www.telecost.com or http://www.callaccountingsoftware.com or contact the author at rsalomone@telecost.com.

Ask some Danes in the street of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, about what is important to them. Many will answer you that it is important that we have a country that is safe, that all people get their basic supply of food, have a decent place to live and have free access to the hospital and to education. Many will formulate that it is important to them as Danes that we have a well-functioning democracy without corruption.

If you talk more with people they would possibly argue, that they appreciate a free press. Everybody should be allowed to speak up and give their opinion on all kinds of issues in the community, including on religion. In fact in most cases religion isn’t a big issue for modern Danes and in Denmark people have a right to practice their own religion.

As a very small country Danes are aware that we are just a small sand corn in the global sea of sand. But due to the focus on democracy and how to improve equality globally Denmark has for many years been keen on developmental aid. The later years this has ceased a little but still it is a fundamental thing among Danes to try to make the world a little bit better.

As an example I can mention that I was assigned to be a part of an effort of the Ministry of Thailand to ‘Strengthening Environmental Education in Thailand’ (The SEET Project). This 4 years work was initiated by the host country, Thailand, and partly funded by 0.80 USD from each of the 5 million inhabitants in Denmark through the tax system. Formally the project was funded under the agency DANCED, later under DANIDA, and the project had very strong democratic aspects build in.

For Danes it is difficult to separate the importance of democracy from the long term caring for the environment in Denmark and world wide. Back in the late 1960s the environmental movement in Denmark would never have had that important impact without the free press in Denmark. All Danish newspapers are independent of the government and most are more or less independent of political parties, too. But of cause they have their different basic attitudes that for each newspaper will be closer to some political parties than to others.

The environmental movement in Denmark was for years in strong opposition to the government and to the establishment of business. But with the critical attitude to community issues we love the newspapers for keeping the public debate going. In the case of environmental matters it sparked a strong environmental priority among some political parties and in the government as such at that time. Effects of that are still highly viable: Denmark is regarded as the ‘windmill hub’ of the world, and we escaped from having nuclear power plans in our small country.

That would never have happened without democracy and a free press in Denmark.

Most of the communicating sales professionals do is wordless. The moment you enter the presence of another person you start communicating. Your physique, your clothing, jewelry, voice qualities, facial expressions, posture and many other factors pass along important information. They give information or clues as to social, marital and financial status, your sex, and personal taste.

When you speak, your voice speaks in ways that go beyond words. Your accent may give away your national or regional origin. Your tone of voice will tell people whether you feel elated or sad, excited or bored.

Through verbal communication, people learn about your thoughts, ideas, products, and services. Through non-verbal communication, they learn about your feelings.

About 93% of your communication is non-verbal. Much of it is unconscious, but you can bring a great deal of your wordless communication under conscious control.

Often, how we say things conveys more meaning than what we say. In fact, voice quality is said to convey about 38% of your meaning.

When George Bush ran for president in 1988, he hired a voice coach to help him lower his voice an octave. Why? Because the candidate’s high-pitched voice had helped saddle him with the “wimp” image, even though Bush had proved his valor as a Navy combat pilot during World War II.

Fairly or unfairly, we impute strength and confidence to the person who speaks with a low-pitched, well-modulated voice. When the voice rises to a high pitch, we sense excitement, panic, and lack of control. That doesn’t mean that we should all go around cultivating baritone voices. It simply means that each of us should use the lower end of the voice range when we want to communicate calmness, confidence and competence.

We convey feelings, moods and attitudes through a variety of voice qualities, which are sometimes called paralanguage. Among these qualities are volume, pace, intonation, stress and juncture.

Volume and Pace

Volume and pace should be used in a careful, controlled way. These qualities can work in unison to achieve powerful effects, especially when selling and persuading from the public platform. You can let your voice rise to a crescendo, the pace and volume quickening until you reach a peak of excitement. Or you can drop to a dramatic whisper.

Volume should always be great enough that you can be heard by everyone you’re trying to reach with your voice. When addressing a group through a microphone, that generally presents no problem for you. When speaking without a microphone, keep checking the people farthest from you for signs that they’re straining to hear, or indications that their attention is straying.

Pace should be adapted to the message. Some simple but telling points can be made effectively in rapid-fire sequence. Others can be made by slowly drawing out the words, or by long pauses to let the points sink in.

Intonation

Intonation refers to the voice pitch. We usually speak in a range of pitches from low to high. The range between high and low intonations varies from individual to individual, and from one linguistic population to another. The English generally have a greater range than do Americans.

Stress

Stress is another important element of paralanguage. The way you emphasize words can change the meaning of your sentences.

As you speak, be conscious of the effects of sense stress on the meaning you’re trying to convey. Use stress to help your listener understand the sense in which you use words and to show which words you consider to be important.

Juncture

Juncture refers to the way vowels and consonants are joined in the stream of speech. If you listen to someone speaking in a foreign language, it sounds like a continuous flow of syllables. That’s because you haven’t learned to recognize the signs that tell you where one word stops and another begins.

Speakers of other languages have the same problem comprehending English. As I’ve spoken on different continents, I’ve formed a great admiration for the translators who have had the task of rendering my speech into other languages. Once I was translated simultaneously into seven different languages. Either my juncture was good or my translators were superb. The audiences laughed at the appropriate points and applauded at the appropriate points.

Inattention to juncture can make your speech indistinct or hard to understand. If you tell a carpenter to build a greenhouse, make sure that you don’t end up with a green house. The difference in appearance and cost can be substantial. If you ask your secretary to get you the night rate and have it on your desk the next morning, be sure it doesn’t sound like “nitrate.” Otherwise, you may find a sack of fertilizer in your “in” basket.