Check out this video with Greg Plum at the Channel Partners Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, Spring 2010.
http://www.varvid.com/channel-partners/
Friday, March 19, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Thank You For Your Support!
February 09, 2010
Conferencing Expert Tapped as Finalist for Executive of Year Award
By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, has been selected as a finalist for an industry publication’s Channel Executive of the Year award.
Plum, who is one of 10 finalists, will be honored during an awards ceremony March 1 at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas. The winner will be announced at the event.
Based in Newark, Del., The Conference Group (News - Alert) operates as a full-service audio, video and Web conferencing company. With a concentrated focus on collaboration, the company has been successful at creating a strong portfolio of satisfied sales partners and clients located in North America and internationally.
Driven by its collaboration services expertise, the Conference Group has developed tailored programs to meet a variety of its clients’ needs. Some of the main strengths of the company include a suite of online, real-time provisioning tools, as well as a strong international footprint providing toll-free access to participants located all over the world.
Plum joined The Conference Group in 2000, at which time he set out to further develop the company’s channel strategy. Since then, The Conference Group has experience substantial growth, expanding program to include hundreds of agents and resellers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Mike Saxby, a group publisher working for Virgo Publishing, said after a close race, "Where hundreds of votes were placed, these individuals clearly stand out as the cream of the crop. Each of the finalists should be recognized for the role they play in the success of the indirect channel model.”
To determine the Channel Executive of the Year, the organization solicited nominations from channel partners. To be eligible, a nominee must have been the top person in the company’s channel operations - at the executive level of vice president or higher - at a telecom vendor (network operator/service provider/manufacturer).
Channel partners were then asked to vote for the Channel Executive of the Year based on nominees’ leadership, longevity, innovation and contribution to the indirect channel.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Amy Tierney
Conferencing Expert Tapped as Finalist for Executive of Year Award
By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, has been selected as a finalist for an industry publication’s Channel Executive of the Year award.
Plum, who is one of 10 finalists, will be honored during an awards ceremony March 1 at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas. The winner will be announced at the event.
Based in Newark, Del., The Conference Group (News - Alert) operates as a full-service audio, video and Web conferencing company. With a concentrated focus on collaboration, the company has been successful at creating a strong portfolio of satisfied sales partners and clients located in North America and internationally.
Driven by its collaboration services expertise, the Conference Group has developed tailored programs to meet a variety of its clients’ needs. Some of the main strengths of the company include a suite of online, real-time provisioning tools, as well as a strong international footprint providing toll-free access to participants located all over the world.
Plum joined The Conference Group in 2000, at which time he set out to further develop the company’s channel strategy. Since then, The Conference Group has experience substantial growth, expanding program to include hundreds of agents and resellers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Mike Saxby, a group publisher working for Virgo Publishing, said after a close race, "Where hundreds of votes were placed, these individuals clearly stand out as the cream of the crop. Each of the finalists should be recognized for the role they play in the success of the indirect channel model.”
To determine the Channel Executive of the Year, the organization solicited nominations from channel partners. To be eligible, a nominee must have been the top person in the company’s channel operations - at the executive level of vice president or higher - at a telecom vendor (network operator/service provider/manufacturer).
Channel partners were then asked to vote for the Channel Executive of the Year based on nominees’ leadership, longevity, innovation and contribution to the indirect channel.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Amy Tierney
Friday, February 12, 2010
From Provider to Consumer…
From Provider to Consumer…
I have been in business development for a conferencing provider for almost 10 years now. That’s right… sales. For 10 years I have worked with thousands of people telling them about how our conferencing solutions will make them more efficient, save them money, and make their businesses more productive. Today, the teacher became the student… er, the customer. With mother nature’s wrath in the form of back-to-back Nor’easters hitting the mid-atlantic region, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a Governor-declared state of emergency for the second straight day.
Oh, Great! Another day with watercooler banter being replaced by the delirious shrills of a cooped up 6 and 8 year old. But what about that full calendar of meetings and presentations? Not everyone is house bound with a raging case of cabin fever… for most of the world, this was just a typical Thursday, the day of the week where we stuff as many activities in as possible to be able to take it easy on Friday (in theory anyway).
First on the docket, a conference call with the fine folks at Phone+ and the Channel Partners Advisory Board to discuss the upcoming conference. Except for my complaining to the others on the call about my snow-induced woes, the call was like all previous advisory board conference calls. Next, a presentation of the latest developments in our wholesale program to a long-time agent who is excited about ratcheting up his conferencing business. Surely, this presentation could have been moved to a more convenient time – one when the country road outside of my house looked less like Siberia and I would have all of the comforts of my office at my fingertips. It could have been rescheduled, but why?
We spent an hour reviewing everything that we would have covered had I been sitting in my office, or even via a face-to-face visit. They even got to see my snow-beaten face, complete with an exaggerated 5 o’clock shadow on steroids, thanks to the integrated video…
Today, this sales guy became a customer. In a former life, my company’s slogan was “Think of Yourself as a Customer”. And what better way to think of yourself as a customer, than to “walk a mile in their (snow filled) shoes”?
I have been in business development for a conferencing provider for almost 10 years now. That’s right… sales. For 10 years I have worked with thousands of people telling them about how our conferencing solutions will make them more efficient, save them money, and make their businesses more productive. Today, the teacher became the student… er, the customer. With mother nature’s wrath in the form of back-to-back Nor’easters hitting the mid-atlantic region, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a Governor-declared state of emergency for the second straight day.
Oh, Great! Another day with watercooler banter being replaced by the delirious shrills of a cooped up 6 and 8 year old. But what about that full calendar of meetings and presentations? Not everyone is house bound with a raging case of cabin fever… for most of the world, this was just a typical Thursday, the day of the week where we stuff as many activities in as possible to be able to take it easy on Friday (in theory anyway).
First on the docket, a conference call with the fine folks at Phone+ and the Channel Partners Advisory Board to discuss the upcoming conference. Except for my complaining to the others on the call about my snow-induced woes, the call was like all previous advisory board conference calls. Next, a presentation of the latest developments in our wholesale program to a long-time agent who is excited about ratcheting up his conferencing business. Surely, this presentation could have been moved to a more convenient time – one when the country road outside of my house looked less like Siberia and I would have all of the comforts of my office at my fingertips. It could have been rescheduled, but why?
We spent an hour reviewing everything that we would have covered had I been sitting in my office, or even via a face-to-face visit. They even got to see my snow-beaten face, complete with an exaggerated 5 o’clock shadow on steroids, thanks to the integrated video…
Today, this sales guy became a customer. In a former life, my company’s slogan was “Think of Yourself as a Customer”. And what better way to think of yourself as a customer, than to “walk a mile in their (snow filled) shoes”?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
'Perfect Storm' Drives Demand for Video, Web Conferencing Services: Report
January 27, 2010
'Perfect Storm' Drives Demand for Video, Web Conferencing Services: Report
By Amy Tierney, TMCnet Web Editor
Once regarded as a costly and often “privileged” tool for businesses, the visual collaboration market has made headway to become a larger part of organizations’ unified communications mix.
And thanks to technological advances, the recent economic downturn and greater environmental concerns, these elements have formed a “perfect storm” to push demand for visual collaboration – including video and Web conferencing - to the forefront, according to a recent report from Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert).
A new report from Frost & Sullivan, called “World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets, found that the market earned $82.7 million in 2008. And by 2015, it is projected to grow to $938.3 million, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 162.4 percent.
"A driver that is most likely [going] to contribute to the growth of the visual collaboration market is the reduction of travel required by a company," Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Iwona Petruczynik said. "This can create significant cuts in business costs and help improve productivity levels; employees can conduct their businesses without the need to meet face-to-face with their clients or partners. New models offered by service providers that do not require up-front capital expenditure by customers are also adding to the widespread adoption of visual collaboration services globally."
Beyond travel, employees are also concerned about their businesses’ environmental impact. With an eye on “going green,” more companies are embracing eco-friendly solutions that don’t require a large investment.
What else is driving the adoption of visual collaboration? Dispersed workers. Those employees who are spread across different locations need to stay in touch with each other and their clients. For example, the recent swine flu pandemic proved that using online collaboration tools helped keep businesses functioning, Frost & Sullivan said.
Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, said Frost & Sullivan is on target with its research. The notion that video and Web conferencing tools are only going to grow is something The Conference Group (News - Alert) has been steadily emphasizing to its customers.
“This certainly adds validity to online collaboration of all genres,” Plum told TMCnet.
“With the decreasing cost of bandwidth and the ubiquity of endpoints, which are simply Internet browsers and webcams for many desktop videoconferencing services, the masses can now enjoy true video conferencing with no capital expense and nominal ongoing costs,” he said. “Many services are offered as a flat-rate for unlimited use, enabling the enterprise to easily control expenses.”
Previously, visual collaboration was considered high-end and too costly to deploy. Many businesses often held the misconception that such services were difficult to use and were only reserved for upper-level executives.
While there is growing interest in visual collaboration managed services, some business leaders in less developed countries still prefer to hold in-person meetings to conduct business, Frost & Sullivan said. The visual collaboration market will experience some pricing pressure over the next few years in more mature markets, but predominantly in emerging markets, Frost & Sullivan said. What’s more, increasing automation will result in decreased demand for managed services. But to the drop, vendors must expand their offers and include new or upgraded features.
"Rising interest in high-definition and immersive visual collaboration is leading to increased competition among value-added resellers and equipment vendors, fueling pricing pressure which, in turn, will contribute to falling prices," Petruczynik said. "Service providers will need to improve their product portfolios to create a one-stop-shop for managed services."
And officials from the Conference Group said their product, the ReadyShow Video service, give customers what they need with a simple solution.
The company’s ReadyShow Video service offers customers the ability to conduct a multi-point video conference right from their desktops or laptops with a browser and a webcam. For as little as $100 per month, customers can receive unlimited video conferencing and use the embedded VoIP feature for the audio portion of the conference, Plum said.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering business communications Her areas of focus include conferencing, SIP, Fax over IP, unified communications and telepresence. Amy also writes about education and healthcare technology, overseeing production of e-Newsletters on those topics as well as communications solutions and UC. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Amy Tierney
'Perfect Storm' Drives Demand for Video, Web Conferencing Services: Report
By Amy Tierney, TMCnet Web Editor
Once regarded as a costly and often “privileged” tool for businesses, the visual collaboration market has made headway to become a larger part of organizations’ unified communications mix.
And thanks to technological advances, the recent economic downturn and greater environmental concerns, these elements have formed a “perfect storm” to push demand for visual collaboration – including video and Web conferencing - to the forefront, according to a recent report from Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert).
A new report from Frost & Sullivan, called “World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets, found that the market earned $82.7 million in 2008. And by 2015, it is projected to grow to $938.3 million, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 162.4 percent.
"A driver that is most likely [going] to contribute to the growth of the visual collaboration market is the reduction of travel required by a company," Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Iwona Petruczynik said. "This can create significant cuts in business costs and help improve productivity levels; employees can conduct their businesses without the need to meet face-to-face with their clients or partners. New models offered by service providers that do not require up-front capital expenditure by customers are also adding to the widespread adoption of visual collaboration services globally."
Beyond travel, employees are also concerned about their businesses’ environmental impact. With an eye on “going green,” more companies are embracing eco-friendly solutions that don’t require a large investment.
What else is driving the adoption of visual collaboration? Dispersed workers. Those employees who are spread across different locations need to stay in touch with each other and their clients. For example, the recent swine flu pandemic proved that using online collaboration tools helped keep businesses functioning, Frost & Sullivan said.
Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, said Frost & Sullivan is on target with its research. The notion that video and Web conferencing tools are only going to grow is something The Conference Group (News - Alert) has been steadily emphasizing to its customers.
“This certainly adds validity to online collaboration of all genres,” Plum told TMCnet.
“With the decreasing cost of bandwidth and the ubiquity of endpoints, which are simply Internet browsers and webcams for many desktop videoconferencing services, the masses can now enjoy true video conferencing with no capital expense and nominal ongoing costs,” he said. “Many services are offered as a flat-rate for unlimited use, enabling the enterprise to easily control expenses.”
Previously, visual collaboration was considered high-end and too costly to deploy. Many businesses often held the misconception that such services were difficult to use and were only reserved for upper-level executives.
While there is growing interest in visual collaboration managed services, some business leaders in less developed countries still prefer to hold in-person meetings to conduct business, Frost & Sullivan said. The visual collaboration market will experience some pricing pressure over the next few years in more mature markets, but predominantly in emerging markets, Frost & Sullivan said. What’s more, increasing automation will result in decreased demand for managed services. But to the drop, vendors must expand their offers and include new or upgraded features.
"Rising interest in high-definition and immersive visual collaboration is leading to increased competition among value-added resellers and equipment vendors, fueling pricing pressure which, in turn, will contribute to falling prices," Petruczynik said. "Service providers will need to improve their product portfolios to create a one-stop-shop for managed services."
And officials from the Conference Group said their product, the ReadyShow Video service, give customers what they need with a simple solution.
The company’s ReadyShow Video service offers customers the ability to conduct a multi-point video conference right from their desktops or laptops with a browser and a webcam. For as little as $100 per month, customers can receive unlimited video conferencing and use the embedded VoIP feature for the audio portion of the conference, Plum said.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering business communications Her areas of focus include conferencing, SIP, Fax over IP, unified communications and telepresence. Amy also writes about education and healthcare technology, overseeing production of e-Newsletters on those topics as well as communications solutions and UC. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Amy Tierney
Monday, December 21, 2009
Holiday Greetings from the Conference Group!
Happy Holidays!
The Conference Group wishes you and your families Happy Holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year.
We appreciate your business and look forward to your continued success in 2010 and beyond.
Warmest Holiday Wishes,
Greg, Kristin and the Conference Group Support Team
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Where have we been?
As much as it pains me to consider the thought that this blog may not be read by the masses of telecommunications professionals that belong to my target audience, I do know that at least a handful of you take the time to read my attempts at providing an arguably-witty perspective. This handful of loyal readers may have noticed that it has been several weeks since my last post, which begs the question…“where have we been?” Get your coffee and pull up a chair…
As we all know, fall represents a great time in our industry… one of increased activity and ultimately (and hopefully) more revenue. It also means tradeshows and travel… the old fashioned kind… on a plane. Who would have ever thought the concept of flying thru the air at 35,000 feet would ever be referred to as “old-fashioned”? (more on this later).
This fall took me to
Just for fun, let’s revisit the
In the interest of time, I will now cut to the return trip and leave the possibilities for
When attempting to check-in and print my boarding pass at the hotel, the system informed me that it was unable to print my boarding pass. Knowing full well that my driver’s license and a smile alone would not get me onto that plane, I planned to use the self-serve kiosks to print my boarding pass. No big deal, right? Right…? Not so much…
Apparently the 2 kiosks USAir set up for passengers to serve themselves were inoperable. The great news is that we (i.e. those of us waiting in the kiosk line… waiting for the one passenger to hurry up and get his passes and/or the repairman to finish with the other one) were not informed that these machines were down. I did what any of us, that is once we are getting dangerously close to boarding time, would do. I approached a human behind the counter for assistance. I was met with a bark that instructed me to get in line…. THE line. The one comprised of dozens of luggage-checking passengers snaked back and forth, for what may as well have been a mile. The bark was replaced with indifference when I assured her that I, along with any others bound for Philly, would surely miss our flight.
Ten precious minutes later, the counter watchdog realized the error of her ways and announced that she would accept anyone heading to Philly for immediate check-in. After receiving the piece of paper that would allow me to see my wife and kids in person, she added “you better run… they will not hold the plane!” Remember the old O.J. Simpson? He had nothing on me that day…
Would you be surprised if I said the overhead bins required some “elfen-magic” (my thanks to Jack Zoblin, my esteemed colleague, for stepping in and taking charge of the overhead situation) to accommodate my small carry-on, or that we sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes before being allowed to take flight? Don’t be…
At this point, I am going to wind down this novel account and let you get back to your work (if you actually made it this far in this post). As we all know, there is no replacement for live interaction with colleagues and clients. These personal appearances, with all of their niceties, can be complemented by the occasional web or video conference. While you can’t “reach out and touch someone”, you can at least “boot up and see them”.
Now you know where we have been…
For more information on the Conference Group’s video and web conferencing solutions, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Conference Group's Greg Plum Named to Industry Advisory Board
The Conference Group, a full-service audio, Web and video conferencing service provider, recently announced that Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of channel development, was recently named to a joint advisory board for a publication focused on the telecommunications industry.
The board includes 17 members of the channel community including independent agents, subagents, master agents, VARs, dealers/interconnects, hardware/software vendors, resellers and carriers. Each member will serve a one-year term.
The Conference Group (News - Alert), a company that focuses on Web-based collaboration solutions, is the only conferencing service provider represented on the board, company officials said.
“We are honored to serve on the board, which is comprised of industry leaders,” Plum, told TMCnet in an interview. “The fact that The Conference Group is included is a testament to our efforts over the past decade to build a reputation on quality service and support.”
The goal behind the advisory board is to offer topics that are paramount in the minds of today's telecommunications agents and resellers, Plum said. As a board member, The Conference Group will work with the publication to ensure its content and programs for its annual conference are meaningful to the communications channel. The company will also serve as a regular contributor to the publication’s blog and an online community at LinkedIn.
The appointment highlights The Conference Group as one of the industry leaders, Plum said.
“We are recognized as an integral provider in the conferencing space,” he said. “This is an honor that we do not take lightly.”
The Conference Group is one of the more widely-known service providers that offer on-demand, “reservationless” audio, Web and videoconferencing services on one platform. The services are also available as standalone solutions.
Companies are increasingly using conferencing services to give employees the chance to hold live, “face-to-face” meetings with partners, customers, prospects and investors, even though they are miles apart. The technology also aids collaboration between employees, teams, departments and division heads who are in geographically-dispersed locations.
To help entice more organizations to adopt conferencing services, The Conference Group is offering certain incentives to boost business. For example, the company introduced a 1,000-seat user license of its ReadyShow Web conferencing with unlimited access for flat rate of $99 per month solution.
The new rate comes at a time when companies are increasingly using online communications to conduct business. The ReadyShow service offers a host of features, including chatting, slide pushing, polling and streaming video for a flat fee. The platform also lets companies conduct Web tours, demonstrate Web services, or tap online content during presentations. Users can also share desktop applications for software demonstrations and training.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
The board includes 17 members of the channel community including independent agents, subagents, master agents, VARs, dealers/interconnects, hardware/software vendors, resellers and carriers. Each member will serve a one-year term.
The Conference Group (News - Alert), a company that focuses on Web-based collaboration solutions, is the only conferencing service provider represented on the board, company officials said.
“We are honored to serve on the board, which is comprised of industry leaders,” Plum, told TMCnet in an interview. “The fact that The Conference Group is included is a testament to our efforts over the past decade to build a reputation on quality service and support.”
The goal behind the advisory board is to offer topics that are paramount in the minds of today's telecommunications agents and resellers, Plum said. As a board member, The Conference Group will work with the publication to ensure its content and programs for its annual conference are meaningful to the communications channel. The company will also serve as a regular contributor to the publication’s blog and an online community at LinkedIn.
The appointment highlights The Conference Group as one of the industry leaders, Plum said.
“We are recognized as an integral provider in the conferencing space,” he said. “This is an honor that we do not take lightly.”
The Conference Group is one of the more widely-known service providers that offer on-demand, “reservationless” audio, Web and videoconferencing services on one platform. The services are also available as standalone solutions.
Companies are increasingly using conferencing services to give employees the chance to hold live, “face-to-face” meetings with partners, customers, prospects and investors, even though they are miles apart. The technology also aids collaboration between employees, teams, departments and division heads who are in geographically-dispersed locations.
To help entice more organizations to adopt conferencing services, The Conference Group is offering certain incentives to boost business. For example, the company introduced a 1,000-seat user license of its ReadyShow Web conferencing with unlimited access for flat rate of $99 per month solution.
The new rate comes at a time when companies are increasingly using online communications to conduct business. The ReadyShow service offers a host of features, including chatting, slide pushing, polling and streaming video for a flat fee. The platform also lets companies conduct Web tours, demonstrate Web services, or tap online content during presentations. Users can also share desktop applications for software demonstrations and training.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
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