With web conferencing save time and have meetings without meetingWeb conferencing is a broad term defining live PC-to-PC communication over the Internet. Components may include video (to see your face), audio (to hear your voice) and data (to see and share your computer). Web conferencing tools are generally designed for planned meetings and scheduled events, with many features, modes and buttons. Extensive training is often required to learn various options like scheduling, white boarding, pen control, erasure control, permission to have the floor, application control, view synchronization, chat, side chats, hand raising, polling, web co-browsing, snapshots, file transfers, emoticons, archiving, etc. There are various types of web conference software available on the market. Web conferencing vendors compete on features and functionality. Many offer a ‘complete solution’ incorporating many components into one product. While this is appealing at one level, there is value in having a tool that just does one thing simply, quickly and reliably. An 18-wheel truck is useful for many situations, but is excessive for a quick drive to the corner store. Advisors use this technology to save time and money to have meetings without meeting. Yes it is important to be in front of clients and prospects. This is what your business is built on. However, leveraging your time by web conferencing could be very beneficial to both you and clients in the long run. Advisors have used web conferencing in their practices to:
Another thing you can do with Web-conferencing services is to work with other advisors your client might have. For example, you might be recommending a particular planning strategy and want to go over the strategy with the client's accountant. Meet online view documents discuss the strategies. Think of the time you will have saved especially if the accountant is across town or in another city. The prices for Web conference services can vary significantly. Some charge a flat rate per month per license for unlimited use, some charge a lower fee per month and limit the number of participants you can have on one conference, and some charge per-minute fee per user. The important thing to do is check the terms carefully. One of the web conferencing services you might want to consider is Glance Networks. Glance Networks adds a simple live viewing experience to any telephone conversation. Glance is an Internet service for showing a live, instant view of your PC screen to anyone with a Web browser. Financial advisors use Glance to show portfolio updates, spreadsheets, fund analyses, and other on-screen information to their clients while talking to them on the phone. Before Glance, an advisor would email (or fax/FedEx) a document, wait for it to arrive and then guide her client through the presentation. With Glance, the advisor engages the client directly while guiding him through the on-screen information. After the meeting, the advisor will often email the documents as reference. How easy is it to use? In under a 30 seconds, a Glance session is started and the client is viewing the advisor’s screen. Beginners learn how to use Glance in less than five minutes. Advisors use Glance software to host the session; the client uses a standard Java-enabled Internet browser to join. There is no special software download required for clients to join a Glance session. What do clients have to do be part of the web conference? The client simply ‘surfs’ to the advisor’s Glance web page address, like advisor.glance.net Once at the page, the client enters a four digit ‘session key’ from the advisor. Seconds later, she sees the advisors live PC screen. A few minutes of web conferencing from most vendors pays for a whole day of Glance. Glance starts at $49.95/month for unlimited use (about $1.65/day). Typical Web conferencing prices range from $0.30-0.45 per minute per person. Other price plans are flat rate, ranging from $150-200 per participant per month. Many vendors charge a fee based on the number of people participating in a web conference, as well as overage charges when that number is exceeded. Glance allows 15 people to join a session at a time. Glance's high-speed servers forward screen updates as fast as participants' networks allow. Updates arrive as frequently as the slowest-connected participant can download them. Should one person join a session over a congested or dial-up connection, everyone’s view stays in sync. No one is left behind. Advisors find Glance to be a simple, low-cost screen sharing tool. With a click and a browse, a client is viewing their PC screen. The ability to see your screen in seconds is the main benefit of Glance. Glance is quick, simple, reliable with no viewer download. Glance is priced on a flat rate basis. Subscription prices are for the host only; there is no charge for guests. Each subscription allows an unlimited number of Glance sessions of any duration, one session at a time. Up to 15 guests may join each session. And guests always connect for free. Glance offers two pricing models, Glance Personal and Glance Corporate. Many customers purchase a mix: Glance Personals for advisors and account managers who are on the phone all day and Glance Corporate for everyone else in the company to use when needed. Glance Personal, designed for frequent users, starts at $49.95/month or $499/year. Each subscription may be used on one of two registered PCs, one session at a time. Glance Corporate, designed for companies with many ‘infrequent’ users, starts at $119/month or $1199/year. Each subscription enables one member of a group at a time to host a Glance session. Each additional subscription allows another group member to host an additional session at the same time. Many Web conferencing vendors charge hefty overage fees and strictly enforce capacity limits to encourage customers to purchase more than they need. Glance has no overage fees and never charges for sessions that exceed your capacity. If actual usage exceeds your limit three times within a 45-day period, we’ll give your account administrator a call. You then have the opportunity to either purchase additional capacity or have Glance enforce your capacity limit. Remember Web conferencing won't replace your face to meetings nor should it, but it is a tool that can lower costs and increase client satisfaction.
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