Best Online Services for the Businessman on the Go
The era of the mobile office has arrived. Employees are beginning to work more from outside the office full-time, to accommodate travel, illness, or as part of a green initiative. Many businesses have instituted an at-home Friday policy in which everyone works over the internet or through conference calls. No longer just a concern for salespeople, an expanding business needs to have the capabilities to encourage collaboration and productivity from a distance for every employee. Below are three of the top applications for web conferencing and sharing. Each brings certain features to the table, and each can help grow your business globally, while at the same time increasing employee morale and participation.
SlideShare
With a free and Pro option, SlideShare allows anyone to upload a PowerPoint presentation either publicly, or for private viewing within your company. It is also compatible with Open Office (a free Microsoft-office equivalent) and Keynotes. Once uploaded, slides can be viewed by any of the 60 million monthly visitors, generating a little free buzz and opening the door for new linking partners and connections. If you’re looking for ideas for your own presentation, visit SlideShare’s website to browse for ideas, or adapt an existing slideshow for your business. Add videos, documents, PDFs of whitepapers or company summaries to increase the available information; then synchronize with Facebook or Xing for an even broader viewership.
onConference
This application offers local and international conference calling and web conferencing services. Ideal for those looking for a little bit of everything, one of the most useful aspects is the ability to teleconference via phone line, as opposed to over the internet, for clearer connections and instant technical assistance. You’ll also have the option to record your meetings for later, and the free Meeting Manager Web service makes sending out call invitations simple, professional, and streamlined. Expand your candidate pool for interviews using interactive webinars. You can even share your desktop, so that potential employees and clients can see documents, data, and applications firsthand. You pay per minute and per user, instead of incurring a monthly charge or a minimum payment.
GoToMeeting
To get a good feel for GoToMeeting‘s potential for your business, consider their 30-day free trial. They offer online meeting and video conferencing for up to 15 people. Participants can join via computer, Mac, iPad, or with select smartphone devices.
Should you choose to buy, you can host unlimited meetings for a flat rate of $49 dollars monthly. It can be used by consultants as a presenting tool for prospective clients, for training, or to build relationships with global partners or branches that have been outsourced abroad. Their case study page boasts reduced meeting times, because of increased productivity, noting that it can be used in conjunction with face-to-face meetings. Like other web conferencing services, the obvious benefits are saving time, money, and avoiding the bureaucracy of travel vouchers and per diem, while simultaneously expanding your global reach.
[Image by FreeDigitalPhotos]
