Conference Calling: Personal, Yet Affordable, Communication

By: Aaron Gerber
Date: 11/1/2007

Email may be convenient, but it isn't always the best way to create the personal connection to clients, candidates and colleagues that is vital in the recruiting and staffing field, and face-to-face meetings can become quite expensive.

A growing number of recruiting and staffing firms are finding a happy medium in the form of multi-featured conference calling services, which allow them to create a personal connection at a much lower cost than in-person meetings - with the added bonus of eliminating the frustrations and logistical challenges of meeting planning.

Why Use Conference Calling? 
Conference calling helps get a firm's message across quickly, professionally and securely, making it the next best thing to meeting face-to-face. With the power and flexibility to connect with fellow associates, clients and candidates locally or nationally, it is the perfect solution for firms of any size, and with any budget.

Particularly for growing firms and those with multiple offices, conference calling offers a way to keep everyone connected on a regular basis.

In addition to meetings, staffing and recruiting firms can also utilize conference call services to provide affordable candidate training on such topics as acing an interview, writing a great resume, etc. Conference call training sessions are more convenient for all participants and eliminate costs associated with travel and lost productivity.

Above and Beyond
The latest audio conference call services allow firms to connect anytime and anywhere for as little as $99 per month. Firms receive a permanent dial-in number without the need to make reservations.

Conference call hosts can mute and un-mute certain individuals or all participants. These features are ideal for supporting both lecture modes for training and fully interactive conference calls for meetings.

Participants can be announced as they join a call, either by their name or a tone, or the option is available for no announcement at all - and no operator assistance is needed. Detailed reports on who called in, what time, the duration, etc., are also provided.

Finally, conference calls can be recorded and used immediately for replays, transcription, etc. Replay lines offer individuals 24/7 access using a replay dial-in number and access code to listen to the conference at their convenience.

A Team Meeting in Action
The convenience of conference calling is illustrated by Kober Staffing, a fictional staffing and recruiting agency with 25 employees in three offices, which uses the service for its staff meetings.

Each week recruiters and support personnel from all three offices dial the conference call number. Since the meeting requires team member participation, no individuals are muted. After the call is complete, team members are able to get  right back to work, taking immediate action on tasks that arose from the meeting.

For those who miss the scheduled meeting due to conflicting client appointments or absences, they are able to access the recording at a later time by utilizing the replay dial-in number, ensuring that they are up-todate on firm activities or announcements.

With the power of multi-featured conference call services, recruiting and staffing firms  are able reduce their meeting costs while maintaining the highest quality interpersonal communications to keep their businesses running smoothly and their staff informed on all the latest news.

Aaron Gerber is the Sales and Marketing Manager of COA Network, Inc. He can be contacted at 800-305-8138 x 100 or by email at Aaron.Gerber@COANetwork.com