Christmas Time is Here!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ev’rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”

With thanks to Johnny Mathis and others who croon this song into the hearts of all at this time of the year.

As the years go flashing by, 2011 and has been challenging for many and for all sorts of reasons starting with tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. With dictators deposed and further hope for democracy in third world countries, this globe and the people on it have suffered again while others prosper and it is the endearing human spirit of never giving up, constant attempts at improvement that drive us forward.

Currently it is all quiet with hopefully less dramatic weather conditions and some improved economic stability in Europe and the USA. While our politicians beat each other (internally and externally) into senseless negativity.

Our mining and China fuelled economy is performing better than most, unemployment is low and interest rates moving down, none of this enjoyed as fears for 2012 become hedged against production and performance with the populace very wary.

Chorus Call Australia has had an interesting year more than holding its own and continually striving to provide better, faster and smarter solutions to our existing and future clients.

Teleconferencing remains strong and the backbone while Videoconferencing moves faster up the rungs as improved and less costly hardware and software begin to open up the world even more than before.

We wish all of our customers and staff a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! What more can we say?


“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.”

The Move To Video

The Question: When will Video conferencing finally dominate over telephone conferencing?

The Background:For years people inside and out off the conferencing industry have been proclaiming the arrival of video conferencing into the Anglo markets. I say Anglo markets because much of video adoption has been a cultural issue. Japan already has a 90% penetration rate of video and uses it far more than just audio and this is largely due to the cultural issues of wanting to see the people they are dealing with. Angle nations do not have the same sensitivity and are driven more by ease of use and cost. I digress. Historically, video in a corporate environment have been hampered by the expensive Tandberg and Polycom units that they are convinced to invest in and many times end up gathering dust in board rooms. They were temperamental, badly supported and you needed to have a 18-23 year old at call to help you make a connection. It is widely known within most video support help desks that the busiest week in video support was the week after the Melbourne cup because the tv’s had been commandeered for the big race. For many large corporate and government departments the use of the tv was the most valuable aspect of the 30-50k systems hoisted upon them by IT teams wanting a toy.

Recently Cisco bet big on video in a couple of ways. Firstly there is Telepresence, a high definition and, quite frankly, an amazing video experience. The HD video monitors are moulded to the table to make it feel like the other site is actually sitting right across from you. The audio is great and the video the clearest you will see when working properly. It is so good I have found myself forgetting that it is video. But this experience is not cheap (multiple 100k’s) and the interoperability to other systems, while growing, is still very limited. The other aspects of Cisco’s bet is the purchase of Tandberg. Tandberg has the premium end of the video hardware market and worked hard to make sure that high end video clients can only use their expensive and IMO substandard equipment. Some of the ratios of this purchase seem crazy to me. The purchase price was over 22 times earnings, and a 25% premium on the three month closing average?! All this before Cisco had to up its offer another 10% to appease some investment funds who knew they had a gun to Cisco’s head with the requirement for 90% acceptance for the deal to become compulsory. While I have seen 3 or more Hollywood movies lately with nice product placement for Cisco video, their bet on Tandberg was badly timed and they will eventually write down a large portion of that investment, if they haven’t already.

The answer: Will we adopt video at a corporate level any time soon? I believe the answer to this is yes. For the first time technology is being driven by consumer requirements. Much to their horror IT and Security managers are being told by their executives to adapt the Iphone and Ipad platforms. This is being driven from a consumer experience of the platform wanting to have it available in corporate world. The same is set to happen with video. With Skype and the video chat functions of the IPad 2 executives will start to demand the same functionality for their businesses. Trying to hold back this tide are the hardware sellers, fearful of the software solutions (at a fraction of the price), and the IT managers worried about their capability to deliver such a huge amount of data.

The video we know of booking a time in the board room, having a service provider bridge 3 or 4 sites with much testing and expense will not be the model. The model will be software solutions where you can choose to deliver audio or video through an application on your desktop, smartphone or tablet with the click of a button. This solution is out there and being adopted at the flexible SMB now much to the consternation of the hardware sellers. I have tested 4 or 5 software solutions and while there are a variety of experiences and models being adopted, the simplicity, cost and flexibility is a compelling argument. The standards will be sorted out because interoperability is in everyone’s interest and it will quickly be adopted into larger corporate as bandwidth cheapens and executive demand continues to grow.

Voice and video will be delivered through the same applications with cloud based bridging either from service providers or the applications providers themselves. People will choose to allow video to be transmitted from their device of choice, or not, depending on their state of dress and if they want to do their email while someone prattles on. Unification is on the way.

The prediction:
In 5 years time the software video application sales will outweigh hardware unit sales 5000 to 1. We may see high end video units in conference centres but when you mention the words “video unit” to your child in 10 years their look will remind you of your reaction to the term 8-track. Sorry Cisco.

…Should Have Had a Chorus Call.

Industrial Disease

“Now warning lights are flashing down at Quality Control
Somebody threw a spanner, they threw him in the hole
There’s rumors in the loading bay and anger in the town
Somebody blew the whistle and the walls came down”
Courtesy of Dire Straits – Industrial Disease

The Global Financial Crisis continues to keep people scared and controlled with superannuation diving, house prices falling, commodity prices rising.

We have Carbon Tax, water tax, soon it will be fresh air tax and yet people are working and companies are making profits in spite of increased share market fluctuations.
Australia’s Big Four Banks have all registered ‘record profits’ BHP, the largest corporate profit in this country’s history.  So with these fantastic results Australia’s economy continues to bubble along with low unemployment and medium level interest rates.

So the media paint a picture of a train wreck when all things considered, Australia is traveling well and punching above its weight.
So there are proven tools required to convey the success achieved by these organisations including;

• Managed teleconferencing with Questions and Answers
• Live & archived video/audio streaming

Much planning and effort by the corporate world, AV engineers and companies like Chorus Call Australia ensure the events are run smoothly and the message is clear. This enables analysts and shareholders to make better informed decisions after viewing theses multi-media presentations.

Chorus Call Australia is very proud to be part of these events and we understand the sustained effort to get it right and to ensure that we protect our client’s brand.
Your brand is our brand!

Effects of the Qantas Strike on Business

With the sudden cancellation of all Qantas domestic and international flights business will wake up on Monday morning with big logistical problems. Will staff be able to get to the planned meetings? What about the staff away for the weekend or holidays? Will any of our products be delayed? Is there any part of our logistics that is dependent upon Qantas?

This type of disruption is akin to the SARS issue faced in the early 2000′s. Business scrambled for video conferencing services, remote office space and voice conferencing accounts to manage the fallout. A day and a half in we are already experiencing a significant jump in conferencing activity.

How a company adjusts and deals with this type of type of disruption can win or lose customers and long term revenue. The obvious is Virgin. They will get access to clients that have never used their service and have a chance to prove to them that they have a good offering. Less obvious are manufacturers who can provide product while international imports are delayed or cancelled.

Whatever the product or service, communication within your company with key decision makers is key.

This is an opportunity for many to differentiate themselves in the market, don’t miss out.

…Should Have Had a Chorus Call.

1800 from mobiles…

Many users of conferencing services are unaware that when they phone a “free call” service from their mobile that their service provider can slug them airtime charges that sometimes are in excess $1 per minute. To make this issue even worse the provider of the 1800 service will also be charging the receiving company, or conference provider, for the pleasure of receiving this call. This is a legacy issue that the dominant carriers have taken advantage of over the years and finally the communications regulator is going to regulate the charging, if any, that can occur here.

Telstra and Optus, being the dominant mobile carriers, will be working hard to thwart this initiative as it will will cost them millions in lost revenue. They will argue that much of the usage is already captured in “capped” or “unlimited” plans and there is not much savings that will be achieved by the end user. Beyond this being absolute garbage the issue goes back to the marketing of the number as a “Free Call” service. People don’t expect they will get charged similarly to some 0055 service when they phone a 1800 number. This can be especially hurtful in the conferencing environment where call lengths are more like 40 or 50 minutes instead of the average of 2-3 minutes on a typical person to person mobile call. We can only hope that the regulator has the fortitude to make the right decision here and not bow to the inevitable pressure.

At Chorus Call we have many organisations that we have worked with to minimise these unfair fees from mobile carriers. We have always offered no connection or booking fees so customers with large mobile fleets have used our operators to call out to mobile users so they don’t get any charges. Similarly, we have systems in place where advanced users can operate their own conference and dial out from our infrastructure to the end mobile, thus avoiding these unfair charges. The crux of the solution is that you have to arrange for our services to dial out to your mobile services to avoid the charges. Charges can really add up. Hopefully we will see the end to this cash grab in the near future, and customers can feel confident that the conferencing charge is the only charge they see form their mobile.

...Should Have Had a Chorus Call.

Chorus Call Australia: the “complete suite” of conferencing services

While 90% of your conferencing requirements may be one area I encourage users to look to the ability of a provider to quote across all services in the conferencing platform. While you may not need them now an astute provider will recognise and suggest conferencing solutions for your organisation.

Can your provider quote on IP and ISDN video? Do they have extensive links to video room providers around the globe? Have they experience in investor relations calls or product launch calls? Do they have an in house application sharing product? Do they have a disaster recovery solution? Regardless of your needs these things should be explored with your provider.

On the service side of the equation customers need to think about on-line billing services. Can we export detail directly into our cost management systems? Can we receive summaries by cost code or receive instant usage summaries on conference break down? What is not used now may become a necessity as your organisation moves forward.

I noticed the other day that a competitor (who shall remain nameless) has been up to the same old tricks. The modus operandi is to have multiple brands with varying price points, with no service differentiation. Clearly this is misleading at best and unethical in the worst case scenario. I count 4 brands that they are working on at the moment, I suspect there are more to come. Don’t be fooled this cheap advertising. Mainstream providers are much more capable and cost effective.

…Should Have Had a Chorus Call.

Teleconferencing Over Travel: iPad 2 Winner tells her story

Recently we announced the winner of our iPad 2 promotion.  

We decided to follow up with a recording of Ruth telling her story in her own words.  

Click to listen.

Once again, congratulations Ruth! From Chorus Call Australia.

More promotions soon at: www.choruscall.com.au

EU, USA Economic Turmoil

Oh, a storm is threat’ning
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away

Gimme Shelter – Jagger/Richards –Rolling Stones

Once again the world as we know it finds itself in economic turmoil with the European PIGS, Portugal, Italy, Greece & Spain defaulting on debt to sustain lifestyle. The mightiest nation of them all the USA is teetering on the brink of economic suicide as investments worldwide tumble and the people’s future funds once again devalue.

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

People generally are wired for greed; it is in many persons nature, what is enough? Who knows? One thing we all know is you can sell anything to make money, eggs or CDF’s. Eggs exist, CDF’s do not. If it looks too good to be true, perhaps it is. Boom and Bust, never have the cycles been so close together though they have had worse recriminations as we ride this one out.

War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Communication continues to be the best way forward and many companies have lost some serious market capitalization and yet are still reporting good profits in this reporting season. Chorus Call provides cost effective, professional solutions to communicating your results in the marketplace and many companies take advantage of this.

• Web Streaming
• Event operator assisted teleconferencing
• Compatible software
• Experienced highly trained staff
• Valuable AV partnerships

Call now on 1800 98 88 99 and discuss your needs with our team

The floods is threat’ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away

Working from Home.

 

Congratulations to Minister for Broadband and Communications, Stephen Conroy for recently spruiking the idea of more Australians working from home.

 Monday to Friday millions of us file like so many ants from our suburban homes into the concrete jungle of the CBD, almost every car on the road containing one lonely individual accompanied only by the inane dribbling’s of the breakfast radio presenters.

As scooter riders, my wife and I like to think that we are making a small contribution to reducing our impact on the planet; imagine if 10,000 Brisbanites were no longer compelled to drive to the CBD for even 1 day of the working week, surely that would be a good thing.

As with every change there are winners and losers, the losers in this scenario would be the coffee shops and lunch bars, petrol companies and transport companies amongst others. The winners would be the environment and the people who get to work from home, and of course people in the communications industry.

Technology today makes working from home a breeze, internet, the cloud, video conferencing from desktops or mobile devices and telephone conferencing all available at the drop of a hat to make sure that there is no lack of communication. There is no reason to expect a drop in productivity when working from home but it will require a massive change in mindset from company managers who still have a “bums on seats” mentality.

There are of course things to be aware of, such as OH & S measures and insurance liabilities, the employer still has a duty to provide a safe working environment even when the place of work is at home, is the cost of this going to deter employers or is it just another cost of doing business. Employees also have a responsibility to make sure that the environment they are working in at home is appropriate.

On the whole a great idea with many benefits to workers, employers and the environment and don’t forget if you are working from home and need to have a telephone conference…………….call Chorus Call Australia.

What is the Economic Impact to your Business using HD Video Conferencing?

In today’s economic climate, businesses want real tangible justification when looking to invest in communications technology. Most organizations know that video conferencing solutions can help reduce travel and labour costs, increase productivity and collaboration while decreasing environmental impact. But the question remains – What is the real financial outcome?

Here at Chorus Call Australia we make companies and people successful in their job on a daily basis by advising how technology can be successful in their business by taking on technology today.

So what does economic impact mean to your business?

By this I mean, calculating the ( Return On Investment ) ROI that companies can realize when investing in technology. This takes into account cost v benefit over time, % return on investment and payback return to name a few things. As you are aware, the hardest thing to measure or predict as a business are the soft benefits. By this  I mean, the productivity benefits and being able to adjust the focus of your organization to using technology. In addition to this, the hard dollar costs, dollars invested and saved on goods and services purchased or acquired.
Customer Benefits of implementing HD Video Conferencing to your business:

• High quality definition without needing in most cases to invest in more bandwidth
• Usability, manageability, reliability
• Improved productivity – more employees working rather than travelling equates to less people needed on the payroll
• Sales teams more coordinated as they will communicate more
• Lower cost of operations
• Reduced travel = major cost savings and productivity increases while doing your bit for the environment
• Reduction in carbon emissions
• Improved field selling capabilities
• More efficient and improved working experiences ( projects, training, Learning & development etc)
• Typical payback period 12 -14 months – imagine what you can do with that extra cash in the bank ?? Have a think about it
• Great ROI – especially when you are needing to get more productive, increase communication, decrease costs and drive bottom line performance

For a complimentary consultation on High Definition Video Conferencing contact Chorus Call Australia www.choruscallaustralia.com.au the trusted authority in Conferencing collaboration services and High Definition Video Conferencing.

Remember our goal is to make you and your teams more successful and profitable by using technology so call us today by visiting the link attached   www.choruscallaustralia.com.au and start investing in your future tomorrow.

Guess Who's Back?

‘Been away so long I hardly knew the place 
Gee, it’s good to be back home
Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone
I’m back in’ Brisbane! 

Courtesy of the Beatles’ Back in the USSR’ with some poetic license

Chorus Call Australia established an office in Sydney in May 2010 and the writer flew down to find a site, furnish it and find some key staff to operate it. Another staff member came with me but unfortunately could not go the distance and missed his home town of Brisbane far too much.

Sydney is the only world class city in Australia and like the rest of the world has been affected more by the current global issues than other parts of the country and despite this we are very lucky to have found two very talented, committed conferencing professionals in Craig Aspey & Darin Smyth. They are perfect for the role and there is no doubt that they will do their part to ensure the continued prosperity of the organisation and succeed and grow as individuals.

What they don’t know about the Sydney market and the needs of clients is not worth reporting here as they are consummate professionals. The Sydney office is perfectly positioned and well fitted out for client engagement.

All our clients or prospective clients are more than welcome to walk in to Level 7, 48 Hunter Street Sydney and meet Craig and Darin.

Meanwhile the writer is back in Brisbane it is 23C and brilliant sunshine which compares more than favorably with Sydney today – cold, windy and wet!

Winter in Brisbane may well be the best place to be anywhere in the world for that season!

‘Back in the US 
Back in the US
Back in the USSR’

iPad 2 Winning Story!

As mentioned in last week’s blog Ruth Patching was the lucky winner of the iPad 2 for the best story relating to business travel and here it is;

“I had to travel from Melbourne to facilitate a training program in Wollongong on one day and another in Sydney the following day. Thank goodness I decided to catch a flight from Melbourne early on the day before. What should have been a four hour trip, at most, turned into a seven hour saga of traffic jams, delayed flights, missed transport connections at the other end and the loss of my car booking because I hadn’t been able to contact the car hire company while I was in transit to advise of the delays.

The following evening I had to drive from Wollongong to Sydney. Most of the trip was fine, until I got to within four kms of my destination. That final stretch took almost two hours as the traffic was at a standstill, for no apparent reason! On line training and conference calls will always be my first preference from now on!”

This is a good news story and we will have more from Ruth very soon and as Kool and the Gang sang;

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate)
There’s a party goin’ on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Congratulations from Chorus Call Australia.

Everyone’s a Winner

Well dear readers and other interested parties Chorus Call’s – ‘win an IPad for your best travel story’ has delivered overwhelming responses and It has taken our judges much deliberation until finally they agreed on the best story.

It is with pleasure that I announce the winner – Ruth Patching from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Next week we will publish the story and provide pictures of the happy winner (and she is extremely happy) along with a recorded interview to share Ruth’s thoughts and feelings.

As that old 70’s band, Hot Chocolate sang – ‘everyone’s a winner babe, that’s the truth’ and Ruth certainly is as we believe our customers are too! The last line in the song is ‘you never fail to satisfy (satisfy)’ and that is what is dynamic about Chorus Call as an organisation and its people.

We always endeavour to deliver superior customer service with our product offerings and strive very hard to solve any problems that may surface and this comes at competitive pricing, innovation and promptness. We do not sell and run, we back up and believe in this as a successful recipe for success ensuring indeed that everyone is a winner.

NEWSFLASH
Chorus Call will be launching an new service unique to teleconferencing in Australia, stay tuned as the launch will be next week on our website. That’s all I am going to say at the moment but we are certain this service is a winner and will become integral in many of our clients business’

…stay tuned…

Ash and disaster readiness

What do you do with the airlines grounded and it looking like it will affect travel for days, if not weeks? Companies need to assess their readiness for no travel.

Do you have emergency audio conferencing accounts ready? 
Do you have access to video rooms for high profile events? 
What happens if a key employee is stranded?

During the Asian flu crisis there were conferencing companies charging huge premiums to companies that were unprepared and needed last minute assistance. Video rooms in Sydney were being charged out at 3 and 4 times the usual rate.

Chorus Call Australia will activate accounts in minutes. Ash or no ash business needs to continue and video, data and voice conferencing can be the answer!

www.choruscall.com.au

Sun Tzu

My last blog touched upon leadership in the modern world and as we know that new technology challenges many of us; people have remained similar, emotionally, for eons.

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
Sun Tzu

And therein lies the secret of true leadership and yet many supposed leaders rely on rhetoric, spin, fear and bullying.

The market place can be likened sometimes to a battleground and fiscally the global environment is struggling, perhaps parts of Europe on the brink of hemorrhaging much more than before.
Two paced economy in Australia masks the true position as the mining industry continues to boom and other industry struggles as the delivery costs for goods and services continue to rise.

Interesting the cost of teleconferencing has proved to be in the reverse as competition has driven the price down over the last few years, sometimes at the cost of reduced or no service.
Chorus Call still offers competitive pricing aligned to true account management where we provide solutions to our clients needs thereby offering a true-value service.

That surely must be the value proposition we all seek. The next quote from Sun Tzu can be re-interpreted as corporate leadership and translated into seeking new boundaries, higher performance by delivering on the above-mentioned value proposition.

The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
Sun Tzu

‘the times they are a changin’

“Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’”

Courtesy of Bob Dylan’s timeless classic

iPad, iPhone, iPod -  iwots next! 

Soon the phone and the pad will replace the laptop or notebook computer – surely not? Has its lifecycle shot thru like lightning in the sky? It seems like yesterday when they were introduced and have become cumbersome and somewhat clunky in a flash! (The good news is that one of our customers won an iPad at the recent conference in Adelaide and more on this next week.)

 The National Broadband Network is being implemented promising ever faster internet speeds for all and this will no doubt help deliver more innovation and these innovations will need to be understood and delivered to business and community with speed, precision and effect.

Australians seem to embrace change relatively well and are very early adopters of new technology and we at Chorus Call are continuously looking at ways to improve our business and provide better more efficient service to our clientele. Soon we will have more telephonic capacity than all our competitors thereby delivering an Australian solution to Australians in Australia!

Many organisations are also doing the same as we continue to shine a light over the world in terms of economy, safety and efficiency. Leadership is important and perhaps its best summed up by another verse from the same song….

“Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’’

Continuing Education Technology

This past weekend I spent 2 or 3 hours with a client of ours, ESSA, at one of their annual conventions. ESSA is Exercise and Sports Science Australia. The vision promoted by ESSA is that they will “enhance the health and performance of all Australians through the support of exercise and sports science professionals”. A very noble vision. The group I spent time with was the continuing education group that had representatives from each state and territory in Australia. Even in the brief time I spent with this group the focus I saw on providing better outcomes to their constituents was really great. Most impressive was the great demographics they had. Almost 90% of their growing membership was under 40 years old. To my mind this bodes well for the growth of their profession and organisation. More importantly, I think it bodes well for the adoption of technology to deliver continuing education programs to their members.

ESSA is focused on many of the problems that many similar organisations face. How often do we run events? How can we provide better value to all out members? How do we reach out to our regional and remote members more effectively? I spent about an hour running through some options for using Chorus Call’s services to better reach their constituents. Chorus Call supports many organisations in the delivery of continuing education. The improved penetration of broadband, coupled with the decreasing cost of technology has allowed many of our customers to deliver high quality video tutorials, with slides, live and archived on demand. The ability to control content delivery and access across geographic divides and allowing the end user to participate at a time convenient to them, is a game changer in the CE industry. As video becomes more and more cost effective we will begin to see organisations of all sizes using this high impact medium to provide value to their clients. Other mediums that have been used for years are the voice conferencing and more recently data sharing or web conferencing.

My belief has always been that you need to mix the delivery between the use of technology and face to face. Video does not replace the need for live tutorials, it supplements it. Having a 45 minute voice conference at lunch once a week does not mean that you don’t need the full day workshop once a quarter. These communication tools allows your clients to learn at their pace and take advantage of the medium(s) that are best for their personal situation and learning style.

Teleconferencing’s Unique Diversity

At the RACS Conference in Adelaide

Recently I returned from a week long stint in Adelaide where I attended the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) annual conference.

How does a teleconference specialist find herself at a medical convention in Adelaide you ask?

Well, they happen to be a wonderful customer of ours and we wanted to take time out to visit with them and show our support for what they do.

I mention this trip because I still find it amazing the variety of clients we work with here at Chorus Call Australia. One minute I might be connecting Fortune 500 companies from Sydney, and the next farmers from Fremantle. In my time connecting teleconferences and managed events from our headquarters in Brisbane; I have had the opportunity to speak to people from over 50 countries with professional backgrounds too numerous to estimate.

At Chorus Call Australia we believe that conferencing is not only Green, but an extraordinarily beneficial tool. Our services are available 24/7, 365 days a year and are very easy to use.  All you need is a phone for audio conferencing and/or a computer with internet access to use our state of the art DataShare ®. Whether a global corporation, national government entity or a small business, immediate increased productivity can be achieved by saving travel time and maximizing resources.

I’d like to thank the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for an engaging 80^th conference and look forward to seeing you again next year.

‘Tangled up in Blue’

Recently I was at a conference in Adelaide supporting a long term client group who do some amazing work and contribute first class teaching and training to ensure the future is bright and the legacy of their work continues to save lives and enhance quality of life with new break skills and techniques.

The work they do is world class and well recognised internationally and while the individuals are well rewarded the importance of their ongoing engagement cannot be understated. They have been clients of Chorus Call for more than 6 years and we have learned just how hard and how many additional hours these people work to ensure their practices remain at the elite level.

One of their General Managers was telling me how a council in an eastern seaboard was frustrating their attempts to build a world class training facility on their old site.

Blue tape, delays, legal issues have ensued and as Bob Dylan sang in his song ‘Tangled up in Blue’ ,“ Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through, Tangled up in blue”

So while the council delays the facility is now many months overdue and not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel creating once again roadblocks in our fields of commerce.

Bob Dylan may just have summed it up with the last verse of the same song,
“We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
 Tangled up in blue”

The Royal Wedding of William & Kate

The global village is preparing for the Royal Wedding of William & Kate in London, today (their time) and what a wonderfully celebratory occasion it is for people to be distracted from the usual day to day issues where gold carriages, crowns and tiara’s are prominent in the streets of this great city. Or is it?

The television audience is estimated to be 2 billion people and it is a public holiday in Britain and for the first time it seems there is an air of negativity regarding this type of event in the ‘home’ country. Employers are bemoaning the lost production and revenue; demonstrations will undoubtedly occur and in Australia talk of republicanism will be bubbling away again as evidenced by Q and A last evening.

With the event carefully stage managed an Australian comedy group, ‘the Chasers’ have been banned from the event. Surely they cannot be serious. 10000 journalists are descending upon London and yet no ‘Chasers’ absurd really and I quote Jerry Seinfeld –

“It’s a classic English thing of let’s play dress-up. Let’s pretend that these are special people.
“That’s what the royal family is – it’s a huge game of pretend. These aren’t special people – its fake outfits, fake phony hats and gowns.”

And yet many Australians will enjoy the coverage and many more magazines will be sold as people from over 60 countries around the world tune in.

With Chorus Call’s teleconferencing we have available for our clients, toll free access to many of these countries around the world, and if we don’t have a country connected with a toll free number and you need it – we will get it.

Time for a Chorus Call?

Queensland Is Changing

South East Queensland is changing in many ways as the world globalises and migration of all types and reasons continue to occur.

Recently I was at a meeting with another Chorus Call employee held in a Queensland government office, there were four people in attendance, all have chosen to live and work in Brisbane and surrounding suburbs and yet the origins of all in attendance was as disparate as could be.

One from South Africa, another New Zealand and another from Wales in the UK while I, the writer of this blog was born in the bush in Victoria.  (blog posted by an American)

Many years ago the US opened its doors to migration and became a ‘super power ‘delivering the world’s first ‘Melting Pot’ of peoples. This trend continues today in many places and enables the wider community to celebrate diversity.

As the community grows and choice becomes more wide and varied, competitiveness and innovation coupled with high service levels become more important and this is what we are working to achieve at Chorus Call Australia, Brisbane based, office in Sydney and a Queensland company.

If you need a Chorus Call you should now know where to come!

Business Continuity

Recently I was talking to one of our clients across the ditch in Christchurch New Zealand, her name is Elizabeth and she quite graphically conveyed the horror of the earthquake in Christchurch, last February. Of course Japan’s experience was even worse, but Elizabeth described the terror of being in their office, first, flooring underneath them moving, objects falling, brains scrambling trying to remember the training they had received and what to do.

Outside the roads were bubbling, cars driving, buildings moving, shaking and debris falling with all of this happening in a short real period of time but our minds seem to slow motion these events for reasons not known to me. Their small and very beautiful city was being attacked and as someone once quoted, “mother nature does not know right or wrong, only balance and imbalance”

It is now 45 days since the tragedy and as the rest of the world moves on our friends across the ‘ditch’ continue to deal with issues following the quake like insurance damage and payouts, parts of the city remain unsafe and around 10% of housing has been either destroyed by the quake or will be by hand as many properties are unsafe.

We at Chorus Call have developed a product specifically to assist business communicate during these times of disaster and other stress tests with the launch imminent and the product being more than useful.

Check our website – its launching very soon!

Do you have a Business Travel Horror story?

As part of our new marketing campaign, Chorus Call Australia has been soliciting Business Travel Horror Stories.  In exchange for taking our quick 5 photo survey and submitting a story, takers are entered into our drawing for the New iPad 2 .

If you have a travel story you’d like to share, or would like to enter our random iPad 2 drawing, please visit: http://bit.ly/winiPad2 – Hurry, contest ends 12 April!

We have been receiving some excellent stories so far, below is one of our favourites.

Submitted Story:

"I had to travel from Melbourne to facilitate a training program in Wollongong on one day and another in Sydney the following day. Thank goodness I decided to catch a flight from Melbourne early on the day before. What should have been a four hour trip, at most, turned into a seven hour saga of traffic jams, delayed flights, missed transport connections at the other end and the loss of my car booking because I hadn’t been able to contact the car hire company while I was in transit to advise of the delays.

The following evening I had to drive from Wollongong to Sydney. Most of the trip was fine, until I got to within four kms of my destination. That final stretch took almost two hours as the traffic was at a standstill, for no apparent reason! On line training and conference calls will always be my first preference from now on!"

Qld Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund

Chorus Call donates to the Premier's Disaster Relief Fund

Chorus Call is proudly based in Queensland.

Today Chorus Call Australia Managing Director Morley Foster and National Sales Manager Tanith Gordon met with Labor State Member for Brisbane Central, Grace Grace to make a donation to the Premiers Disaster Relief Fund. Ms Grace (middle) complimented Chorus Call on its generosity and talked about the areas of her electorate that had been affected by the floods. Ms Grace is an active member with strong links to local schools, businesses and the community.

Managing Director Morley Foster said that 10 years of being headquartered in Queensland had led to deep roots within Queensland businesses and government. “This donation is seen as the least we could do to support our city and state.”

Have A Chorus Call

Surely the crisis in Japan is the most horrifying and visually graphic event seen on TV around the world since the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in NYC!

As the 5 Man Electrical Band sang, “sign sign everywhere a sign blocking out the scenery breaking my mind, do this don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”

Our complex world with international flight, communications, broadband and other innovations help change the world while some things just remain the same and nothing can be done about it.

We try to control our world and the people in it but will never be able to control ‘Mother Nature’ which goes to prove that no matter how advanced the world becomes some of the tried and true always prevail.
The simple telephone works, is inexpensive and connects people all over the world; Alexander Graham
 Bell had an idea that has lasted the test of time.

Sometimes it is practical to keep it simple – have a Chorus Call!

Chorus Call Australia and Lifesize HD Video Conferencing

We have just finished helping a customer implement videoconferencing in their business. They came to us looking to utilise videoconferencing for a project they were working on with their partners in another country.

As they were working on a bid, and not certain of getting the business, they were looking for a cost effective solution, that would allow them to meet face to face and present plans and documents across the conference connection on a regular and ad hoc basis. Most importantly, they wanted the solution in place within 2 weeks. We immediately met with them at their premises and surveyed their facilities. Discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of their particular setup and the best possible solutions were open and honest. It was decided that hiring a Full High Definition Lifesize Videoconference unit for a long term, was suitable to their business financial model.

We quickly agreed on the suitable system and price and were able to source and install the unit within 2 business days. Testing onsite with the customer, they were very happy with the High Definition Videoconference link using their existing business grade internet connection to multiple test sites, as well as to their partner organisation overseas. A surge in interest in Videoconferencing is leading to a large uptake of the technology. We look forward to helping other clients embrace videoconferencing as a time and cost effective way of doing business.

www.choruscall.com.au

Take Our Survey!!!

As we embark on a developing a new marketing campaign we wanted to call on all our loyal friends and customers to help us understand what drives your conferencing usage.

Is it the trials of business travel? Perhaps you enjoy the travel and use it as a mini break from your day to day work and home life. Maybe you are indifferent to business travel and use conferencing services to augment the relationships and business you do while traveling. Whatever it is we will be running a few polls out over the next few months in an attempt to understand what drives your travel and conferencing usage.

If you have a great business travel story, share it with us and go into the running for a new iPad2.  We will be sharing the best stories on our web page and blog.

 TAKE OUR Survey ---->  bit.ly/winiPad2

iPad 2 Give Away

Chorus Call Australia is beginning a new marketing campaign and we are requesting your help. 

It will only take 30 sec. of your time.
 
As thanks, you'll have a chance to win the new iPad 2!

Please assist us by filling out our short survey 
---> http://bit.ly/winiPad2
 

or Scan with your Smart Phone

Communicating during a natural disaster

Recently I met with one of our Chorus Call Australia clients after the flood events in Brisbane whose entire 8 Floor building was not able to be accessed by staff for in excess of a week.

So how did they continue business throughout this natural disaster? They used Chorus Call Australia Teleconferencing services to communicate with staff nationally and internationally several times daily to keep their business operating even though they had no physical access to each other.
The client was full of praise in being able to access Chorus Call Australia’s services as their main telecommunications provider, one of Australia’s largest Telecommunications providers, had substantial congestion issues, therefore our client was not able to communicate with their staff effectively.

So what lesson can we take from the above experience?

Australia’s largest telecommunications companies rely solely on their own networks to provide services to their clients. If their networks go down or suffer congestions issues, how does that affect you and your business?

The benefit of dealing with an organisation such as Chorus Call Australia is that we utilize several different carriers to supply services to our clients to ensure there is no impact on their ability to carry on with business on a day to day basis.

Conferencing Services available with Chorus Call Australia.

Australia's Teleconferencing, Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing and Investor Relations Specialists. This slide presentation is an overview of our products and services.

Connections to all major cities around the world, teleconferencing services available 24/7 - 365.

For additional info, please visit: www.choruscall.com.au

Who is Chorus Call Australia?

View more presentations from Chorus Call Australia.

Does your IR provider have the right stuff?

Well we are smack in the middle of IR season in Australia and we thought it would be a good time to talk about the ins and outs of quality investor relations conferencing services. If you were looking for a provider for your announcement what do you need to know:

First and foremost there must be capacity. Look for the ability to handle double the expected volume of participants in case you have a hot topic or become a takeover target and people are more interested than usual. Don’t take their word for it, make them prove it and don’t accept being charge for all ports unused. You should only pay for a the operators needed to answer the forecasted incoming callers.

Next is experience. A good group of operators will increase the professionalism of your announcement. The flow and control of people asking questions is paramount to a smooth call and there is a vast difference between a good and bad operator. Don’t skimp here as the voices controlling your announcement are seem by participants as your people.

Remote access to participant lists. A good provider will allow you to view the participants on line and in the queue for questions, in real time. This can be done through a web interface and will allow you to screen out people or questions you do not want to take during such a public event.

Online and telephone replay. For continuous disclosure you should be providing an online or dial in playback of your announcement. Some companies archive playback on their website for months, others for weeks or even days. Whatever your requirement this capability should be delivered seamlessly by your conferencing provider.

Reporting: Within a VERY short time of the completion of your call you should receive a report outlining participant numbers, names, questioners as well as confirmation of the availability of the playback. Time is of the essence in the digital age.

While there are many other issues you should look at the above are the starting point to see if your potential provider has the right stuff.

My Country!

That famous Australian Poet, Dorothea Mackellar summed up our beautiful country in that ageless and often quoted poem, My Country!

Most people know it for only a few of the verses, in particular;

I love a sun burnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding plains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

But there is another verse that almost sums up the last 2 or more years in Australia;

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back three-fold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze

Queensland has suffered more than their fair share lately with floods and cyclones and so has Victoria with fires and floods and now Western Australia meets tragedy head on!

Throughout all of this, communication remains crucial and as we have mentioned, in previous blogs, Chorus Call have through careful planning and management ensured that our customers have had access to uninterrupted coverage for all of our services including Teleconferencing and Videoconferencing. The sum of our business is the commitment of our team to deliver to our customers a robust, competitive and cutting edge solution 24/7 and anywhere in the world!

100% Uptime During QLD Floods

Last week we talked about the devastating impact of the floods in Queensland. This week we wanted to expand on our ability to maintain our services during this once in a generation disaster. As a dedicated supplier of conferencing services we have the ability to take services from multiple telecommunications carriers. Currently we have 4 that provide for our telecommunications needs. This gives us unprecedented redundancy. Big telecommunication carriers have just their own telecommunication services for their conferencing. As we have seen with recent events carriers do have outages. To leave all your eggs in one basket is a huge risk.

We also have in place UPS and backup generators to ensure continuation of electrical service. As a last, and complete back up, we have bridges around the country and around the world, in other Chorus Call offices, capable of handling our traffic if we needed to shut our Brisbane services down. All of this careful planning has ensured our Qld customers had access to their services when they needed them most, and our customers around the country were not disrupted. While we all wish these floods never happened we are happy that when our systems were pushed we were able to maintain a 100% uptime.

We are encouraging staff, suppliers and customers to get on board to help communities in Qld recover from these devastating floods. – http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/initiatives/disaster_recovery/index.aspx

Chorus Call Australia is supporting the Qld Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal

As a proud Brisbane company Chorus Call Australia has seen firsthand the devastation of the recent floods. Many of our people have been personally affected. We would like to thank all of our suppliers and staff for their dedication during this busy time. We are happy to report that our systems have been disruption free during this time.

Chorus Call Australia is supporting the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal by donating 5% of all February 2011 revenue to the appeal. Our staff have been involved in the floods like all Queenslanders, either in it or helping others and we decided to make this donations to help the community recover. Queensland has been great for our business we feel this is the best way to give something back.
http://www.choruscallaustralia.com.au

We are encouraging staff, suppliers and customers to get on board to help communities in Qld recover from these devastating floods. – http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/initiatives/disaster_recovery/index.aspx