Member Article

Businesses cutting costs by conferencing

Making a solitary landline phone call to a client, partner or potential investor that lasts for around half an hour or so might not sound too costly, but if a business makes several of those calls every month, then it could add up to a hefty phone bill. To get round paying hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year on them, more businesses are looking to cost-effective alternatives, one of them being conference calling. One provider of conferencing technology has seen significant growth in sales recently, and has recently secured a big loan to expand further.

Powwownow, one of the biggest conference calling companies in the UK, recorded a sales increase of 30% and total sales of £7.5m in 2011, and received a £2.5m loan from Barclays through the National Loan Guarantee Scheme, which recently closed. The loan was used to finance a takeover of a rival firm, which has served to increase the company’s standing in the conferencing marketplace. Bullish about Powwownow’s future, new chief executive Simon Curry, who joined from BT Global Services last year, explained what they plan to do in the coming months and years:

“We’ve seen our market share in audio conferencing increase, but we would also like to expand our video and collaborating shares. We plan on developing new high-definition video and audio conferencing products that could help to engineer further growth.

“As for my role, I hope to make sure that the next stage of our growth is even better than the current one. As we have grown, we have to make sure that any future expansion is managed carefully, and that we continue to respond to market demands.”

Conferencing has many advantages for businesses of all sizes. It’s cheap, easy to use and can help to save additional costs associated with travelling to and arranging meetings. It also helps to save time by cutting out the need to travel and it also helps any employees who want to do their job at home. Conference calling technology is becoming more popular for those reasons and more, and could become the norm in years to come for companies looking to communicate more effectively.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jonny Marshall .