Conferencing Service

By Robert Poe

Traditional conference calls can be among the most boring and user-unfriendly experiences in the business world, as they consist mainly of listening, pressing phone keys and trying to be heard. Add a Web interface, though, and a conference call can perk up considerably; moderators and users can set up and join conferences through their browsers, and they can even communicate with each other in different ways besides voice during the conference itself. A new service from iotum Inc. called Calliflower provides a good example of how Web-based conference calling can increase both the usefulness and the ease of use of group phone calls.

Calliflower is actually an expansion of the conference-calling application that iotum has offered through Facebook since September 2007. The company's purpose in launching that original service was to offer conference calling that incorporated an awareness of what other people were doing, according to CEO Alec Saunders. Calliflower provides such awareness to callers in several ways. For example, a Web-based "dashboard" lets participants see who else is on a call, as well as who has been invited but not yet joined. During the call, conferees can text message one another through a "wall," which is basically a shared chat window. Participants can insert URLs into the window to provide further information about the subjects that they're discussing. Overall, the experience is far more engaging than traditional conference calling, Saunders said.

Easy to Use Plus a Variety of Features

Calliflower is also easy to use. After registering, you can immediately log on and create a call. Simply specify a subject, an agenda, and start and end times, then choose whether the conference should be public or private. Next, add participants from your contacts list or enter them manually, then click the Send Invitations link. Delivery options include email, Facebook invitations or text messages. The invitations contain the call-in number and the PIN, plus a link to the call dashboard, which provides other connection options, including Truphone and Sitofòno.

The dashboard also shows the call information that you entered and more. Even before the call starts, callers can see confirmed, possible and invited participants. During the call, conferees can see who has actually joined. In addition to the aforementioned text-chat ability, participants can choose to "raise [their] hand[s]" to request an opportunity to speak. The conference moderator then puts users in a queue so that they can talk in turn. The moderator can mute or unmute participants, and they can do so themselves. The moderator can also opt to record the conference, including chat sessions. Participants can revisit the recorded conference at any time.

Iotum sees a variety of potential uses for the service, Saunders said. One use that is already popular is to present e-seminars that teach various subjects. Some campus political groups are currently using the application to coordinate their activities in the U.S. presidential campaign. One well-known blogger is holding public conferences, which anyone can join when they receive the call-in information by such methods as email or Twitter. The blogger is turning the recordings into podcasts that resemble talk-radio programs, according to Saunders. Iotum is also delivering a series of Calliflower Communiques, or call-in seminars, that feature such public figures as William Shatner and Alan Alda.

The application that accounts for 80 percent of the service's use to date, however, is conference calling in traditional organizations, Saunders stated. Iotum is particularly targeting SMB (small- to medium-sized business) users such as individual professionals and law firms. The current beta version of Calliflower costs nothing but the price of a long-distance phone call, and there will always be a free version, Saunders said. Later, iotum will start adding premium services that are still to be determined.

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