They are many computer headsets on the market which can make it hard to choose which the right pair is for you. You can get a computer headset for a little as €20 and pay up to €120 for the more expensive pair. Before deciding on what headset you should get, it is essential that you have an understanding of what to look for when purchasing a computer headset. You should take into consideration a number of factors such as: what do you want to use it for, comfort, headphone-specifications, features etc. Different headsets would suit better for different tasks such as listening to music, video conferencing, web conferencing, Skype calls etc.
Apart from a good sound quality, in my eyes the most important factor is comfort. If you intend to use the headset for prolonged periods (1 hour and more) then it must be comfortable to wear. High quality headsets provide a very good wearing experience.
When purchasing a headset for calling for your computer, video conferencing or web conferencing there are the three main types:
USB plug-in headsets
USB headsets give you very good sound quality on calls. Simply plug your headset into a USB port on your computer. They work with any computer. The sound quality of a USB headset normally is higher than the one of a standard headset with mini jacks. USB headsets should be recognised by your computer straight away. Two good examples of high quality and very reasonable headset are the Logitech PC Headset 960 USB: €20 Audio 610 USB Single-Ear Headset: €35
Mini Jack headsets
these plug straight into your computer’s microphone and speaker jack, and you can get a wide range of styles. They are the current existing standard and work well for online communication via a soft phone, Skype or video / web conferencing software with VoIP.
Wireless headsets
if you’re interested using a wireless headset, there will be a small USB transmitter that plugs into your computer’s USB port. Wireless headsets have the added benefit of being flexible where to go while you are on the call. Usually 10 meters is the maximum distance between headset and receiver. They work well for a trainer or a presentation and if the speaker is used to moving around while speaking. Make sure that the software for this is compatible with your computer. Wireless headset connectivity can be tricky when establishing for the first time, but once this is done they work seamlessly. Here is a good example Plantronics Voyager™ 510 USB: €99
With all headsets, always check your sound and microphone quality before making the first call.
It is best to look at these 3 types of headsets and choose which is best for you.
I recommend to shy away from cheap headsets. They might be good enough for listening to your favourite CD, but they are unlikely to deliver the good level of acoustic performance for yourself and your counterpart on the call. Your best option is to go with a medium priced headset that delivers a proven good sound, is comfortable and that is not too large so it doesn’t take away from you while you are in a video conference.
We are all aware of the volcanic eruption that occurred in the last two months and how these have affected people and businesses. With many flights in and out of Europe now regualry cancelled and not knowing when ”disaster” will strike again, we have to ask: How much has this affected you and your business and will do so in the future?
Having contingency plans and changing communication habits away from the dependents on physical travel is a must in the new economy.
With Meeting.ie, there are easy and cost effective ways to keep in touch with business partners anywhere, anytime! Meetings and decisions can be made without the aid of travel! Training and important communication can be delivered meaningfully and easily to anywhere in the world, even face-to-face without physically being there.
With Video Conferencing it is possible for businesses to attend meetings in different countries! Video Conferencing is not only easy to do; it also saves a lot of time and money spent on travelling. Video Conferencing not only lets you have meetings without leaving your office, it saves you a lot of effort and expense and is good for the environment. It gives more time back to executives and employees, allowing them to conduct vital business meetings without the cost and time implications of global travel. Video Conferencing is as good as sitting directly in front of a colleague, customer, or supplier and lets you have face-to-face interaction remotely with anybody.
Another way and the most accessible option of keeping in touch with your business partners abroad is having a Conference Call. All you need for a conference call is a phone, regardless of where you and your participants are in the world. Meetings and decisions can be made using call conferencing with anyone anywhere in the world. The latest natural disaster in Iceland has shown how travel can be affected and slowed down so easy. Unpredictable weather, natural disasters, regional crisis and travel delays around the world can also affect getting to your meetings and continuing with your business.
Counteract these unpredictable business interruptions now and be ready when they hit the next time. Give Video Conferencing, Call Conferencing or Web Conferencing a chance and see how it works for you and your business! All our solutions can be trialed for two weeks for free.
So Take Action Today And Don’t Let You Business Be Interrupted By The Next “Volcano”!
In our “Stand Out From the Crowd” web event we will bring global experts in the space of Webcasting and Video Messaging right to your desktop. We are starting on the 10th of March 2010, 01:30pm – 02:00pm GMT with the webcasting legend Gary Anderson CEO of Netbriefings and Webcasting Guru.
HERE IS THE LIVE LINK TO OUR WEBCAST ON THE 10th at 13:30pm GMT
In this event we will talk with Gary about
- The logistics of this and general live webcast deliveries
- How to interact with the audience in a live web event
- How to run live web events and record video messages with one solution
- How to use this in sales, marketing, training and corporate communication
- How does this fit into other forms of communication
- What is live collaboration and what are live webinars
- What is roll-in video and how to use it
- What reporting functions should you expect
- How does this fit together with a blog
- How does this compare to WebEx, GoToMeeting, YouTube and others
- Have a look at different camera options
If you are interested in attending this web event or have any questions or comments please leave a comment in the “Comments” option above or drop us an email to webcast’at’meeting.ie
Webinars and web events are becoming very popular with small and medium businesses across all industries. They are the most cost efficient and time efficient route to get your message, live, to your prospects, customers, staff, partners and suppliers. Time is precious and in today’s business communities, people are becoming “time poor”.
Whilst, in some cases, business people may enjoy travelling to meet customers or prospects, it is expensive, time consuming and inefficient. Instead of having to drive to a meeting, your attendees meet you from any location, across the corners of Ireland or indeed anywhere across the world via the Internet. Web events are also a green, environmentally friendly way to meet so it will you as a business to meet your commitments to be green and lower your carbon footprint which is a significant advantage.
Web Events can vary hugely in size of participants. They can be extremely effective with small groups for meetings, discussions, training or a business review. They can be equally effective for large worldwide groups with hundreds of attendees for product or service launches, promotions, broadcasts, Quarterly updates, announcements or new developments..
A webinar (web seminar) or webcast (web broadcast) is simple. The meeting is delivered live from your computer direct to the audience who are also joining form their own or a shared computer. The meeting or event is accessed directly through a link in the Internet. You set up an account, load your slides or whatever you want to use for your meeting and all you need in addition is a telephone, web camera, a microphone and a bit of practice! As with most things practice makes perfect and the more comfortable you feel with delivering the web event, the more natural and successful your delivery and your results will be.
You can also record your web event and re-use it on websites, in newsletters, in emails or blogs.
In the web event you can see who is attending; you can text chat with people, run surveys and share a large variety of content including live video, Power Point, Word and Excel files, your desktop or software sitting on your computer. People can also ask questions, either privately to the presenter or to the open forum.
Here are our top ten tips for choosing the right webinar, webcast or web event solution for you:
- Simplicity is key! Talk to an independent vendor that will help you to choose webinar software that matches your needs. Many solutions are over loaded with features and functions that can make them complicated to use and you will never need them. An expert will ensure you get the right start and succeed with your first webinar.
- Cross platform is important! The more platforms (Windows, Mac OS) and browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari) the software can deal with the higher the chance is that all your participants can connect across the country or the world.
- Try it! Join a demo with the solution you are looking at and see how your experience is as a participant. Watch out in particular how easy it is for you to join that demo. If you like it and it looks and feels good, your participants are going to like it too.
- Make sure you can be heard! Try the audio options available (conference call and VoIP or telephone conference only). Check the quality of the audio and how easy it is to use.
- Recording makes your event go a long way! Make sure the solution provider has a hosted recording solution or provides a playback hosting for your recording. This means you simply get a link which takes you back to your recording. It is then simple to re-use your recording in Emails, websites or newsletters.
- Video is good! Don’t be shy, look for good video capabilities for your webinar. Having a live video feed of the presenter makes your web event personal, people will remember it better, it feels closer to them and overall your web event will have more depth. Don’t shy away from video, your audience will thank you for it.
- Think clearly and brainstorm with your team what you want to achieve in the webinar and how will you get there. Your webinar provider can help with good input and ideas. Make sure you talk to them about your objectives.
- Don’t let the price of the solution dictate your choice. The cheapest solution is not necessarily the worst but likewise, the most expensive is not necessarily the best! Make your decision based on what fits your needs, where you feel you will get the support you need and what was good when you tried it.
- Flat Fee solutions are they way to go as they are efficient as you flex your meetings. Pay-as-you-go models work with small once off events but as soon as you get a larger group in one event or run more than three events a month, a flat fee is a more appropriate solution for you. Pricing for the solution only, can start from as low as €40/month and go to €4000 and more. For a typical self run SME webinar, with a basic webcast solution, you should be covered within the €100 per month. Conference calls, hosted recording or other features may be charged separately based on usage.
- Practice makes perfect. Run sessions with colleagues and people that you know before you go live with the real event. Look for honest feedback and take it on board. Webinars are a lot easier to deliver than live in-house events in front of a large group. With the right solution and a bit of practice you will be delivering your first live web event in no time.
Feel free to give us a call at anytime to have a chat about webinars, webcasting, web events, video conferencing or any other means of live, remote communication.
Find out more about easy to use webinar and web events solutions on our website
http://meeting.ie/2009/08/services-web-events/ and try our very popular solution here
http://meeting.ie/free-trial/?serve=Services:%20Web%20Events
Meeting.ie is delighted to announce a new and incredibly cost effective pricing structure for our conference calling plans. Our new Global Flat Fee is just 0.05c per minute per person anywhere in the world, from Ireland to mainland Europe, America to Asia and Australia. This service and price structure is unique to Meeting.ie and offers our customers all the benefits of global conference calls at the fraction of the price of standard providers with clear, easy to understand charges.
Traditionally call conferencing has been offered with one local dial in number where everybody dials into. Participants from another country had to do a long distance call to take part in the call. Many operators still work in that way. Increasing demand for global connected teams was the reason for conference call providers to set up local dial in numbers across the world in the most frequented countries that are the routed into the one call. These local numbers provide convenience and cost savings for the participant as nobody has to dial a long distance call to join a conference call. Local dial ins in foreign countries however are in many cases still charged at a premium rate and often the further the participant is away the higher the cost of its participation will be. Pricing for local dial ins can largely fluctuate from a high cost of 0.20c per minute person to an average low cost of 0.07c per minute. Prices are related to location that the participant dial in and overall cost structure of the provider. This pricing model makes it very costly and confusing for customers to understand the real cost of their calls and whether there could be saving and benefits achieved.
At a small additional cost we also offer free phone dial ins for most countries. We offer all customers a free trial of the service so they can test the high quality by them self. Try it today, switch your conference calls to meeting.ie and instantly start saving and reducing your communication and conference call costs.
