Online Meeting Etiquette at 30,000 Feet

July 27th, 2009 by admin Posted in Uncategorized

The other day, I flew on my first Delta flight where Wi-Fi was offered. After just a few clicks I was online, right in seat 35C. Within moments I was checking Facebook and sending IMs to my friends.

As more airlines enter the era of sky-high Wi-Fi, I began wondering what this might mean for our customers. Beyond checking e-mail and surfing the web, flyers are now able to connect to meetings – even at 30,000 feet!

And I wasn’t the only one. USA Today interviewed our Chief Marketing Officer Jackie Yeaney about online meeting etiqette while aboard a plane. Since phone calls are still blocked on planes, Yeaney suggests that business travelers to use instant messaging and “emoticons” to respond to certain ideas or ask questions. AirTran Airways has an online guide to what it calls “Internetiquette” in the air.

While this new venue for online collaboration will allow business travelers to be even more productive, it does raise security concerns. Participants should be aware of other passengers catching a glimpse at proprietary information. As long as business travelers are mindful of how they conduct business, the new onboard Wi-Fi offerings are allowing our clients to connect from just about anywhere.

etiquette, meetings

Is the Real You on the Line? Conferencing Thieves Can Rack Up Huge Bills

July 20th, 2009 by Trisha Zimmerman (@Trish_Zimmerman) Posted in Tips and Tricks

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Imagine opening your conferencing bill to find that $2,500 has been generated on your account in a single weekend. It’s your name, your dial-in numbers and even your passcode, but it wasn’t you on the line. Think this couldn’t happen to you? Think again.

Fraudulent usage has become prevalent enough in the conferencing world that PGi offers an “Enhanced Authentication” feature on its international automated GlobalMeet® service. Enhanced Authentication is mandatory for clients who have participants joining from Brazil, China, India and Malaysia. However, all GlobalMeet clients may subscribe to the feature – free of charge. Enhanced Authentication uses the following features to make it more difficult for fraudulent users to access a conference:

A system-generated 10 digit random passcode for both the moderator and participant.
Music on hold until moderator joins ensures conferences are not occurring without the presence of the moderator and moderator passcode. This feature will prevent fraudulent users from starting a conference even if the participant passcode has been compromised.

A conference summary email will be sent to the moderator upon the conclusion of each conference. This email will alert the recipient if their passcode is used without their knowledge.Although conferencing fraud is more likely to occur on global accounts, these same features are also available on regular automated ReadyConference® for U.S. usage. Other precautionary steps include:

1) Setting a Conference Security Code, in addition to your passcode, by pressing *31.
2) Disabling International Dial-Out except when absolutely necessary.
3) Not posting conference information in public locations or on social media sites.
4) Changing your passcodes on a regular basis. Or, changing your Conference Security Code if you would like to maintain your same passcode.
5) Deactivating any passcodes you are not using.

Uncovering the identity of an imposter is very difficult. Don’t wait for smoke to put out the fire. A little foresight now can save you big money later.

Let me help you protect your conferencing account. Was this information helpful to you? Please email me with your questions or stories at trisha.zimmerman@premiereglobal.com.

Enhance your Meetings with Meeting Management Features

July 8th, 2009 by admin Posted in Meeting Tips

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If you’re a PGiMeet customer, there’s a good chance you’ve already experienced our reliable, crystal clear audio services. Our goal is to provide tools that allow you to have meaningful meetings virtually anywhere in the world.

To make sure you are squeezing the maximum value out of your meetings, we want to ensure you know the features available to both meetings hosts and guests. Next time you’re in a meeting, try out these features to enhance your conversation:

Guest Meeting Management Features:

• Press *1 to hear a help menu.

• Press *0 to reach an operator.

• Press *6 to mute or “un-mute” line.

• Press *4 to increase conference volume.

• Press *7 to decrease conference volume.

• Press *5 to increase your voice volume.

• Press *8 to decrease your voice volume.

Host Meeting Management Features:

• Press *91 to hear a participant count.

• Press *92 to hear a roll call of participants.

• Press *93 to disconnect all participant lines.

• Press *94 to lock or unlock conference.

• Press *95 to dial out to participants.

• Press *96 to mute all participant lines.

• Press *97 to un-mute all participant lines.

• Press *21 to activate Subconferencing.

• Press *22 to initiate record and playback (*22 again to pause/stop the recording)

• Press *31 to turn Conference Security Code on/off.

• Press *32 to record your Conference Introduction.

meeting expert, PGi, PGiMeet