Digital Nomad Tip #4: Pulling the Plug

July 29th, 2011 by Cora Rodenbusch Posted in Cora the Digital Nomad

Last Friday we started our journey around the world with a small vacation. We met my husband’s family just outside of Victoria, B.C., for a family reunion and some time off before my first day in the Clonakilty, Ireland, office.

The trip was near perfect. Our accommodations were adorable, the views were breathtaking and the company was entertaining. The only thing missing was the Internet.

I was startled by how difficult it was to unplug from work. Not that I had any option. We were in the middle of nowhere without cell towers, land lines or routers. I was pretty much helpless. Our relatives even noticed the constant “scan for wireless networks” commands on my computer/cell and would console me by saying, “Don’t worry, Cora. We’ll find internet for you.” It was bad and I was embarrassed by how much it affected me.

More information on smartphone addiction can be found in a recent Mother Nature Network article, here.

digital nomad, teleworkers, work balance, Work from anywhere, work from home

Telehealth puts the “care” back in healthcare with video conferencing

July 28th, 2011 by Blakely Thomas-Aguilar Posted in Collaboration, GlobalMeet, iMeet, Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing

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Social media outlets are buzzing about a new key trend: telehealth. After seeing this phrase all over Twitter and blogs — and hearing the buzz throughout PGi’s own sales team — curiosity got the best of me. We have telephones, television, teleworkers, telepresence. So just what is telehealth, and why should we all take notice?

Thanks to Google (4 million search results!) and a quick chat with my family physician in Georgia, I understand why this topic is blazing through the medical field. Telehealth brings back face-to-face house calls — virtually.

The new era of telehealth changes everything.

doctors, iMeet, innovation, medicine, patients, physicians, teleconferencing, telehealth, telemedicine, video conferencing, web conferencing

GlobalMeet and iMeet: Different tools for different meetings

July 27th, 2011 by Lea Green Posted in Collaboration, Conferencing, GlobalMeet, iMeet, PGi, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Web Conferencing

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At PGi, we enjoy meetings. We have tremendous tools at our fingertips, and we have fun exploring their extensive business capacities—and getting to know each other in the process. Part of the work during our meetings is to identify their characteristics; one insight we have gained is that there are several different meeting types. Different meetings require different tools.

Because people need the right tool for the job, PGi offers two powerful but divergent tools for businesses. GlobalMeet, a conferencing solution for business of any size, provides companies with a complete solution that features audio and web conferencing in a simple, intuitive interface. You choose what you need. You aren’t forced into a web conference if you don’t need it. The whole system works independently or together—that’s the point. With GlobalMeet, you can host up to 125 people and schedule meetings from an integrated Microsoft Outlook toolbar, even for multiple accounts. With GlobalMeet, you can collaborate, share and edit documents real-time, creating an ideal environment for optimal productivity.

How to Make Your Sales Professionals … Professional

July 26th, 2011 by Todd McCormick Posted in Collaboration, iMeet, PGi, Video Conferencing

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How to elevate the professionalism of sales reps and help your sales team succeed—regardless of sales model with PGi’s video conferencing solution, iMeet.

In recent posts, I discussed how video conferencing technologies put the human back in the selling equation and give today’s sales-centric enterprise a leg up as it responds to shifting market trends.

For many companies, an inside sales model increasingly represents the solution to current economic pressures: cutting costs and increased productivity. For others, outside sales people continue to represent strategic human capital investments in transformational market share and multiplying revenues.

But as Peter Coffee at Salesforce recently said…

Regardless of sales model, one thing is clear: Today, buyers increasingly demand to be connected with the community of their choice. As the floor of what’s easy continues to rise, what companies must do to add value becomes a more sophisticated skill set, and they have to be more and more intimately familiar with their customers’ requirements.

sales cycle, sales force, sales model, sales representative, salesforce, selling power

Conquer their Fears: Improve IT Adoption with a Meeting Specialist

July 25th, 2011 by Blakely Thomas-Aguilar Posted in Collaboration, Conferencing, iMeet, PGi, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Web Conferencing

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People are terrified of change — change in physicality, career, geography, politics, economy, relationships and pretty much everything else. So when it comes to new technology at work, people, well, freak out.

If you scroll through this blog, you’ll see exciting information about web conferencing tool GlobalMeet and innovative video meetings tool iMeet. You’ll see why our tools are perfect for your training, customer service, HR, executive, sales, marketing, advertising, teleworking and social media teams. You name a department, and their working day is better (and your bottom line lower) using PGi’s tools. We’re not bragging — customers and industry experts like Fast Company, Inc. Magazine and The New York Times agree.

adoption, audio, conferencing, globalmeet, iMeet, IT, meeting expert, Meeting experts, online conferencing, online meetings, ROI, small business tools, TCO, telecommuting, training, user, user adoption, virtual meetings, web conferencing

Vote early and often!

July 22nd, 2011 by Sara Pilling Posted in PGi

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It goes without saying that PGi is proud of iMeet. But don’t just take our word for it. The folks at Small Business Trends and Small Business Technology (with sponsorship help from Blackberry) have nominated our group video product, iMeet as an ‘Influencer of the Year’ product.

We couldn’t be more thrilled. Now get out there and vote… for iMeet.

Digital Nomad Tip #3: A Notch in Your Digital Tool Belt

July 22nd, 2011 by Cora Rodenbusch Posted in Cora the Digital Nomad, iMeet, PGi, Telecommuting, Tips and Tricks, Virtual Meetings

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Remember Al Borland?

As I prepare for a year away from the office I’m making sure my digital tool belt is fully stocked with the tools I need to stay connected. Like most digital nomads I have nightmares of empty battery icons, and “No connections found” pop-ups. Although I will have the luxury of a temporary office, I’m sure we will find ourselves in train stations and coffee houses praying for a rogue WIFI connection. Here is how we’re gearing up for a year abroad:

Digital Nomad Tool Checklist:

Kindle 3G Provides Free Global Cellular Internet: Earlier this year we purchased a Kindle 3G. Will was excited about bringing his library on the road, while I was excited about the free global cellular internet. That’s right. I’ll say it again, “FREE global cellular internet!” Kindle provides free global wireless for users to download books on the go. However they recently opened up an “experimental” web browser giving Kindle holders access to GMail and other sites for monochrome web browsing. It even has support for javascript. We haven’t been out of the country since we bought it, it looks like we should be able to check email almost anywhere in the world.

access, connection, global, google voice, headset, iMeet, internet, kindle, logitech, pay as you go, tools, travel, voip, wifi, wireless

The Power of Presentation: How GlobalMeet Uses Video during Web Conferencing

July 21st, 2011 by Lea Green Posted in PGi, Tips and Tricks, Web Conferencing

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A funny story found me yesterday. It seems that a political party in Switzerland is seeking to outlaw PowerPoint. The Anti-PowerPoint Party asserts that meaningless presentations have cost the Swiss an estimated $2.5 billion in lost productivity. PowerPoint may become a criminal activity.

Many of us who have sat through droning bulleted lists, kitsch clip art and special effects, or subhead after subhead of quarterly objectives might eagerly sentence the accused. This raises an important question: what makes a presentation good? For all the ways there are to bore or irritate, there are myriad more to inspire, connect, teach and lead. TED.com features hundreds of free twenty minute presentations—TED talks—exploring a vast variety of topics, all of which focus on engaging and stimulating an audience. TED provides global teachers, communicators and innovators in every discipline you can imagine the tools for bringing their presentations and creativity to life. If you don’t know TED, I strongly recommend that you check out these courageous, inspiring, funny and fascinating presentations. They prove that presentations can change your life. For the better. And yes, many of the TED speakers use PowerPoint to convey their message artfully. Others use flipcharts (as recommended by the Anti-PowerPoint Party) while others use only the power of their own voice and a compelling story.

Active Talker, improving presentation, meetings, presentation, video, video intergration, web cam, web conferencing, web conferencing software

Blogging with iMeet

July 21st, 2011 by George Hart Posted in Meeting Tips, PGi, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings

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Throughout college, I nourished my nerd tendencies through blogging. As I’ve transitioned into the real world, I’ve continued to find time for it. One of my blogs focuses on music, art and design. My other blog focuses on more of a lost cause, though one that is (sadly) equally important to me—the Kansas City Royals. I work on each of these blogs with a different friend. Whether we’re critiquing the new Bon Iver album, summoning the courage to be optimistic about the Royals’ youth movement,or posting travel photos, blogging has become a core element of our identities.

blog, blogging, blogs, iMeet, PGi

eLearning Expert Uses Web Conferencing for Dynamic Online Training

July 20th, 2011 by Blakely Thomas-Aguilar Posted in Collaboration, PGi, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Web Conferencing

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Pete Lubeski, Sr. Manager of Learning Development for PGi, experienced the evolution from in-person training to eLearning throughout the 1990’s and into the new millennium. Pete shares his experiences, industry trends and expert advice to help corporate trainers deliver dynamic eLearning using the newest technologies, like web conferencing solution GlobalMeet.

PGi: How did you get into corporate sales training?

Pete: I started by accident in 1997, working for a company that was later acquired by a major financial institution. The company wanted to engage in eLearning to save resources, so we had to convert everything we did in person and figure out how to do that online. I helped implement that strategy for PGi’s sales teams.

PGi: How can corporate educators deliver eLearning that is just as effective as traditional classroom training?

Pete: In face-to-face training, you have the trainees trapped inside four walls and there’s one door. When you’re online, there are only doors and you have to figure out how to keep them in their seats. A couple easy ways to do this are:

corporate training, development, eLearning, global meet, globalmeet, learning, online conferencing, powerpoint, training, web, web conferencing, webinar, webinars