Archive for the 'Web Conferencing' Category
October 5th, 2011 by Paul Carollo
Today, we are excited to announce the launch of ReadyTalk Quick Launcher – a tool available on your desktop that makes it easier and faster to start, join, and invite others to meetings. This tool will be a favorite for people who would like a quicker, persistent way to connect to their ReadyTalk accounts. If you are tired of logging into ReadyTalk through the browser to gain access to your account then this is definitely the tool for you. Quick Launcher gives you the ability to:
- Start an On-Demand Meeting with a single click. The Quick Launcher stores your account credentials eliminating the need to type in any numbers or codes.
- View a list of Scheduled Meetings in Conference Center and choose the meeting you’d like to start.
- Skip all audio prompts with the Start Audio Meeting feature. The Quick Launcher will dial you and immediately connect you to your Audio Meeting. It remembers the last 10 numbers you dialed so you can quickly select connect to your cell phone, desk phone or conference phone. Check the option to “Launch web controls on connect” to open up the web meeting controls for managing your audio meeting or for running an On-Demand Web and Audio Meeting.
- Instantly create an email invite with Invite Others. All the login information is included giving your participants a quick and easy way to join your ReadyTalk meetings.
- Join a Web Meeting faster when you’re colleague hosts a ReadyTalk meeting. Simply enter the 7 digit access code of the On-Demand meeting you’d like to join and the Quick Launcher will drop you right into the meeting, bypassing the registration process.
The Quick Launcher can be opened by double clicking on the optional desktop icon, left or right clicking on the tray ico. The goal of this tool is to be available for you anytime you need it, but to not be in the way when you don’t.
The ReadyTalk Quick Launcher is available today free of charge and can be downloaded for Mac or Windows here: http://www.readytalk.com/support-training/downloads. If you have any questions about the Quick Launcher or are having any issues downloading please contact ReadyTalk Customer Care at 800.843.9166. As always, if you have feedback, feature enhancements, or questions give us a call at any time or leave them in the comments below.
Paul was formerly an Account Executive at ReadyTalk gaining valuable experience with competitors and the state of the web and audio conferencing industry. Currently in his role as Product Marketing Manager, he is in charge of the competitive landscape, on-demand audio products, and the web meeting interface. Paul loves the outdoors, his pup Huck, his wife Jess, and getting to the ski slopes as much as possible.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Collaboration, Product Marketing, Sales, Teleworking / Telecommuting, Use Cases, Web Conferencing | 7 Comments »
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September 28th, 2011 by Anita Wehnert
While we knew that marketers and trainers were tired of the hassle of getting webinar data into their CRM system, we were surprised by the great turnout at yesterday’s webinar on the value of integration. If you had a chance to join us, we hope you found the event worthwhile!
Many thanks to Helena Brito from Mandiant, Jill Myers from OverDrive, and Pat Buchanan and Dave Kornegay from SchoolDude.com for speaking on the event. Each of them shared fantastic insight into how the integration has made a difference in their business and responded to questions from our audience during a lively panel discussion.
Because we had so many great questions, we couldn’t get to them all during the live event. In fact, we had such a high volume of questions that answering them all would make this blog post painful to read.
So, here is my take on the top 5 and you can access a full transcript of the Q&A here. You can also sign-up for a demo and learn more about ReadyTalk for Salesforce here.
1 – Q. How does sales use webinar information to close more deals? Did you face any resistance to adoption within your sales organizations?
A. By having access to webinar data directly from the Lead or Contact record, sales can instantly see which topics their prospect is interested in and tailor their message to speak to the prospect’s specific use case or pain point. And, because attendance data is captured in Salesforce immediately after an event, sales can strike while the iron is hot and capitalize on opportunities rather than delaying follow up until marketing can do the manual work to get the data into the CRM.
Each of our panelists shared that ReadyTalk for Salesforce has been very well-received by their sales organizations because it:
- Gives them timely and convenient visibility into valuable webinar data right from the Lead and Contact record
- Makes it easy for them to invite prospects and customers to webinars and online trainings directly from the Lead or Contact record
In fact, Helena from Mandiant shared this feedback from one of her account executives during the webinar:
“Awareness of participation in events by potential customers allows me to enter the conversation with relevance and value, thereby earning their attention.”
2 – Q. When I look at a customer record will I be able to see a history of their webinar interaction directly associated with their customer profile?
A. Yes, ReadyTalk for Salesforce attempts to match each participant with a Lead or Contact record in Salesforce based on email address. From the related Lead or Contact record, you can see all of that person’s meeting activity and drill down to the Meeting Member record for full details.
3 – Q. Is there a diagram or goal funnel (visualization) to see drilled down results quickly at a high level? Will we be able to see a report generated from an event?
A. Yes, ReadyTalk for Salesforce provides a high-level view of event stats including the number of people invited, registered, and attended as well as the details for each individual Meeting Member. We also include a dashboard and canned reports that provide insight into information like attendance rate by event and number of registrants for upcoming meetings.
4 – Q. Does ReadyTalk for Salesforce check for duplicates and create a new Lead or attach to an existing record?
A. Yes, ReadyTalk for Salesforce uses email address to attempt to match an event participant with an existing Lead or Contact in Salesforce. If it finds a unique match, it automatically attaches the Meeting Member to that Lead or Contact. If it does not find a match, you can have the application automatically create a new Lead or use our matching tool to try to find an existing Lead or Contact using additional information (e.g. name, company, etc.). And, if it finds multiple matching records, it will add the Meeting Member to a queue of “Unmatched Registrants” so you can select the Lead or Contact that you want related.
5 – Q. Do all of the panelists use Eloqua as well or do they use different email marketing tools in conjunction with ReadyTalk and Salesforce?
A. SchoolDude.com has used Eloqua for a number of years and OverDrive is excited about deploying Eloqua in Q4 2011. ReadyTalk also uses Eloqua as an integral part of our webinar marketing efforts.
While ReadyTalk gives you the ability to send email invitations through our system, you have the flexibility to use a marketing automation system or another email marketing tool for this task. ReadyTalk for Salesforce is designed to support this use case, so you can still capture registration and attendance data in Salesforce even if you don’t use our invitation capabilities.
Posted in Collaboration, Investor Relations, Lead Generation, Marketing, Product Marketing, ReadyTalk for Salesforce, ReadyTalk Integration, Revenue Generation, Sales, Training, Web Conferencing, Web Events | No Comments »
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September 20th, 2011 by Paul Carollo
Have you been looking for a quick and streamlined way to send a ReadyTalk On-Demand meeting email invite? With the ReadyTalk Scheduler for Outlook you can quickly and easily send a customized email invite through Outlook. Your ReadyTalk account credentials are stored in the scheduler giving you a one click experience to email and invite your participants. With the ReadyTalk Scheduler for Outlook you can:
- Send a custom email invite for a ReadyTalk Audio, Web, or Audio/Web meeting
- Start an On-Demand meeting with 1 click
- Store your ReadyTalk Account credentials
To download the ReadyTalk Scheduler for Outlook please visit: http://www.readytalk.com/support-training/downloads. As always, if you have a question or support issue, please call ReadyTalk Customer Care at 800.843.9166.
Paul was formerly an Account Executive at ReadyTalk gaining valuable experience with competitors and the state of the web and audio conferencing industry. Currently in his role as Product Marketing Manager, he is in charge of the competitive landscape, on-demand audio products, and the web meeting interface. Paul loves the outdoors, his pup Huck, his wife Jess, and getting to the ski slopes as much as possible.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Collaboration, ReadyTalk Integration, Sales, Web Conferencing | No Comments »
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August 19th, 2011 by Tracy Williams
For many people public speaking is very intimidating. You would think that speaking to an invisible audience on a webinar would be much more approachable; I’m here to tell you it’s not. Right before going on a live event last month I found my mouth dry, my palms sweaty and my heart racing and I was sitting in an empty conference room. Does this happen to you?
I can’t think of anything harder than speaking to an audience I can’t get feedback from. Sure, there’s a chat stream, but you’re so busy delivering content, you can’t respond to that, so your behind the scene team does. Need more ideas on curbing this nightmare?
Next Tuesday, ReadyTalk is sponsoring an AMA webinar, Webinar Best Practices: Engaging the Invisible Audience. Speakers Anthony Salas and Jamie Wallace are going to review actionable tips for engaging an audience you can’t see. Register for this event now.
About the Speakers:
Anthony Salas
As an event manager, Anthony works with clients on all aspects of their audio and web conferencing needs. Prior to working at ReadyTalk, he was a ReadyTalk customer, so he brings a great understanding of developing and running webinar programs. He enjoys spending time with his family and two dogs, watching movies, reading and exploring Denver’s top restaurants.
Jamie Wallace
As the founder of Suddenly Marketing Jamie, helps brands build profitable customer relationships through content marketing. From website copy and e-books to blog posts, social content, and webinars, she helps her clients reach more prospects, establish expertise, create conversations, and inspire customer loyalty. She believes in marketing that is clear, focused, and human. She believes in working relationships that are open, collaborative, and fun.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Web Events, Webinars | No Comments »
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August 17th, 2011 by Shawn Cardinal
So there you are, delivering the concluding remarks to end your very first webinar. You’re feeling quite good about your prep work, your marketing efforts, and the fact that a good number of participants actually showed up! Then, you read the very small number of surveys that were tuned in and your seemingly incredible presentation turns about to be “meh.” – meaning ho-hum or booooring. What happened!!?? Why are so many webinars painfully boring for the audience? Here’s why: It’s the speaker.
Remote presenting is tricky. After all, you have zero control over your audience; you can’t see them at their home office. This is not a scare tactic, but you truly have a big responsibility to keep your group engaged in your presentation. There are three main tools at your disposal:
- Your voice
- The visual presentation and content
- The web presentation software
In the upcoming series, we’ll concentrate on what I believe is the most important piece of conducting a great webinar: The Speaker’s Delivery. Good speakers can take boring subjects and make them palatable, if not enjoyable. Practicing and perfecting your inflection, tone, and your ability to connect with the audience are paramount in conducting a great webinar. You don’t have to be a professional public speaker to get high marks on your presentations and keep people engaged; in my next few posts, I’ll cover a variety of ways to turn your anemic webinars into the compelling presentations you strive for.
In the meantime, what tips would you share for being a good and engaging presenter?
Shawn Cardinal is ReadyTalk’s training guru. He’s hosted hundreds of webinars and train customers (and employees) on best practices for hosting polished webinars and engaging audiences. When he’s
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Professional Development, ReadyTalk Webinars and Events, Training, Web Conferencing, Web Events, Webinars | No Comments »
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June 29th, 2011 by admin
As government agencies begin to implement telework policies, managers are new to managing remote employees and challenged to avoid disruptions in day-to-day work as employees begin telecommuting. While it may be challenging at first, it is possible to maintain workflow and organizational processes.
In a recent white paper, “Best Practices for Managing Teleworkers: Changing Attitudes, Changing Ways,” analysts from Frost and Sullivan discuss practical steps managers can take to limit disruption and increase efficiency when rolling out telework programs.
- One-size-does-not-fit-all
Teleworking may not be a good fit for all employees and should not be implemented agency-wide. Managers and employees should discuss if it is good fit based on job role, personality, work style, etc.
- Location, location, location
Teleworking is great for location-neutral job roles but not all positions have this flexibility. Rather than eliminating teleworking across the organization, identify positions that can be successful despite location.
- Start slow
Rather than roll out the program for the entire work group, start small with a few employees. This will allow you to implement the telecommuting guidelines for your work groups and best practices and adjust management styles and expectations.
- Measuring success
Some managers may have to adjust their style to focus on results, not time spent on a project. As long as the job is getting done, employees shouldn’t be judge on where or when they’re doing it.
- On the right track
Develop career tracks that includes teleworking and remote employees.
- Group projects
Create collaborative group projects so that remote employees have the opportunity to engage and work with closely with colleagues.
- Leverage social media
Implement social media and communication tools to help remote employees connect and get to know each other outside of work environments.
- Technology tools
Give remote and telecommuting employees the technology tools for telework success.
Making telework work will require looking at your team differently – managing expectations while someone is remote and ensuring that collaboration continues are key to success. For additional insight, download the free white paper.
What has worked for your organization? What would steps would you recommend to other organizations? Are there missteps to avoid? Share below.
As the director of government sales, John is leading efforts to grow ReadyTalk’s government and public sector business. Away from work, John enjoys skiing and hiking in the mountains.
Posted in Teleworking, Teleworking / Telecommuting, Web Conferencing | 3 Comments »
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June 15th, 2011 by Bo Bandy
As government agencies continue to document and refine teleworking processes to comply with the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, managers are trying to identify and implement tools and services that remote workers need in order to maintain workflow and collaboration with colleagues.
In a recent white paper, industry analysts at Frost and Sullivan outlined key technology components that should be available to employees who telecommute including, laptops, instant messaging, VoIP, smart phones and more. The paper also looked closely at the importance of web conferencing in teleworking:
In a recent survey of 200 C-level executives, 53 percent said their companies use Web conferencing—more than any other advanced communications technology (including instant messaging, video conferencing and even Voice over IP). Better still, organizations usually find that while they start using Web conferencing as a replacement for in-person events and large group meetings, they very often continue to use it on a daily basis to improve the quality of meetings that would otherwise be held only on the phone or not at all.
ReadyTalk’s audio and web conferencing can help government agencies and department managers realize a variety of benefits:
- Employee engagement: Telework programs can boost employee engagement because workers get a more flexible schedule and the elimination of daily commutes, which saves them time and money.
- Reduced facilities and related costs: Because employees are working at home, they don’t need permanent offices or cubicles, which also reduces related costs including power and water bills, security, parking, maintenance services, etc.
- Reduced environmental impact: Eliminating or reducing employees’ commutes has a substantial environmental impact.
Technology can also go a long way toward helping managers as they roll out telework programs and manage remote workers. Download the free white paper from Frost and Sullivan, Supporting Teleworkers with the Right Technology for Success for additional insight on how web conferencing can compliment other technologies in your telework strategy.
As the director of government sales, John is leading efforts to grow ReadyTalk’s government and public sector business. Away from work, John enjoys skiing and hiking in the mountains.
ReadyTalk’s secure audio and web conferencing services, including webinars, enable federal, state and local agencies to meet with confidence. ReadyTalk’s tools are designed so that it is easy to collaborate with colleagues, share information, telework and train employees. Currently used by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and numerous other agencies, ReadyTalk is experienced in meeting the specific needs of government organizations and provides flexible, custom solutions to meet their needs. ReadyTalk services are available through our GSA contract number GS-35F-0084X on GSA Advantage! For more information, visit the GSA Advantage! site or contact our Government Sales team.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Teleworking, Web Conferencing, Webinars | 5 Comments »
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May 17th, 2011 by Mike McKinnon
“Spreadsheet hell” is what we call it at ReadyTalk.
It happens when your conferencing service data is isolated from your marketing automation service. It delays lead follow-up, lead scoring and the lead nurturing process. It complicates the entire process and can lead to data errors.
As a marketer, I am always looking for ways to accelerate lead conversion, arm my sales team with valuable information, simplify reporting and gain a solid understanding of metrics. The new Eloqua Cloud Connectors for ReadyTalk allow me to take advantage of Eloqua’s platform without falling into spreadsheet hell
.Let’s look at the old way vs. the new way:
|
Without Integration |
With Integration |
Additional Benefits of the Integration |
| Pre- Event Action Items |
- Send out invites with Eloqua (or our conferencing service) with a registration link hosted by ReadyTalk
- All registrants would flow into ReadyTalk
- All confirmation and reminder emails are handled by ReadyTalk
- If you want to take an action on registrants (nurture, score etc), you must log into the ReadyTalk system, download a .csv and upload into Eloqua
|
- Emails and registration match your company branding.
- ReadyTalk simply hands the unique meeting URL to Eloqua and Eloqua takes care of the rest:
- Registration is handled by Eloqua
- Scoring is instantaneous
- lead nurturing can be complex and segmented
|
The registrant information is placed into a pre-call campaign in salesforce.com.
As registration happens, our sales team is able to add the human touch to our webinars.The options are limitless now that Eloqua is handling the registration and confirmation process.
|
| Post-Event Action Items |
- Downloaded the attendee list from ReadyTalk
- Map the fields to match Eloqua requirements
- Clean up the data and upload it into Eloqua; at this point you can also segment the list based on title or department so they can be put into the correct nurturing programs or contact groups.
- Send appropriate post-event emails
Depending on how large the webinar was, this process could take a day or several.
|
- Attendee list is already in Eloqua
- Attendees are automatically scored and placed in the proper contact groups and nurture programs
- Measure attendee engagement on the webinar and refine their score
- Send to sales if needed
|
After refining the lead score again, sales can follow-up immediately and are well prepared with duration of stay and registration data.
No waiting, no .csv file and no tedious field mapping.
|
As illustrated in the steps above, integrating ReadyTalk webinar services with our marketing automation platform, Eloqua is saving us significant time and eliminating manual processes that can lead to errors and other problems.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about Eloqua Cloud Connectors for ReadyTalk.
What marketing automation platform do you use? Are there other marketing platforms that you’ve integrated and seeing the benefits? If not, what would you like to integrate?
As the senior demand generation manager at ReadyTalk, Mike helps manage and execute ReadyTalk’s demand generation programs, which include email, online advertising, telemarketing and tradeshows. He also oversees ReadyTalk’s lead management process and marketing funnel by using Eloqua and Salesforce.com to automate ReadyTalk’s nurturing programs and lead follow-up.
Posted in Lead Generation, Marketing, Revenue Generation, Sales, Use Cases, Web Conferencing, Webinars | 1 Comment »
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May 14th, 2011 by Bo Bandy
As you see, we’ve changed quite a bit of the site—giving it a new look a feel but also making it much easier to navigate and find what you are looking for. If you are interested in how we got here, check our past blog posts on the topic ( #1, #2, #3).
There few features that you’ll want to take note of:
ReadyTalk Homepage
On the Homepage
- Start a conference with the Chairperson Login or join a conference as a Participant.
- Test Your Computer now includes the test for both participants and chairperson/co-presenter.
- Chat with a representative or contact customer support 24/7 for help.
Support & Training
New support tools to manage your account
Web Events & Services
Audio Conferencing
Ever wonder what it’s like to work at ReadyTalk and what we’re all about? Check out the About section.
So, what do you think about the new ReadyTalk.com? We would love your feedback and suggestions.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Marketing, Recording & Syndication, Web Conferencing, Web Development | 8 Comments »
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April 22nd, 2011 by Paul Carollo
Start Your Audio Meeting Quicker than Ever
Today, ReadyTalk will release an enhancement to it’s web-based audio controls. As a ReadyTalk chairperson, you can now use the audio controls to start an audio meeting with the click of a button.
Who is it for?
This enhancement drastically decreases the amount of time it takes you to start your audio meeting. With this feature you now have even more of a reason to use the ReadyTalk Web Conference Controls to manage your audio meetings.Audio Quick Start will work for any On-Demand audio conference (less than 150 participants) and for any ReadyTalk subscriber. It is available in the audio controls section of the ReadyTalk Conference Controls every time you log in.
To start an audio conference with ReadyTalk Audio Quick Start:
- Click the Start My Audio Meeting button. This displays the Call My Phone dialog.
- Enter the phone number of the phone you will be using for the audio conference, beginning with the area code. Enter only numbers; spaces and special characters are ignored.
- If you are outside the U.S. or Canada, choose the country where you are located from the drop-down list.
- Click the Call My Phone button. In addition to adding a new number, Audio Quick Start will remember the last 10 numbers dialed and display those for selection. When your phone rings, answer it and follow the verbal prompts to join and start the audio conference.
Paul was formerly an Account Executive at ReadyTalk gaining valuable experience with competitors and the state of the web and audio conferencing industry. Currently in his role as Product Marketing Manager, he is in charge of the competitive landscape, on-demand audio products, and the web meeting interface. Paul loves the outdoors, his pup Huck, his wife Jess, and getting to the ski slopes as much as possible.
Posted in Audio Conferencing, Collaboration, Product Marketing, Web Conferencing | 3 Comments »
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