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Dear Santa, Can you simplify my conferencing life?
When I schedule a conference meeting (audio, web, or video) I feel like I’m trying to whistle without my two front teeth. I use Microsoft Outlook with its great calendar function and it does a wonderful job for face to face meetings. However, when I use it for conference meetings it is sadly lacking (through no fault of MS). You see, my problem is I have a lot of things I have to remember and adding conference access information to the list is just not working for me. So the other day, while spending a half hour searching for that card with all my info on it (turns out it was under my phone where I put it the last time I couldn’t find it, conference = phone, I was sure I would remember that!), anyway I began to wonder why I had to memorize my conference access information in the first place. Obviously it’s so I can type it into my meeting notice when I’m scheduling a conference, right? Well, how absurd is that in this day and age when, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to push a button on my phone to auto dial someone, and my car can park itself, and I can make one cup of coffee in the flavor I prefer, and my bridge calls me back when I want to join a conference? Don’t get me wrong, I love these features, but I bet I spend more time looking up my conference information than any of these save me. In fact, if I didn’t have to memorize my conference information I would give up the car parking feature, that’s how strongly I feel about this!
And those typos! Nothing is more frustrating (and embarrassing) than to start a conference, audio or web, and no one joins because I typed in the wrong phone number. And of course no one can call me to tell me because I’m on the phone waiting for them to join the conference (actually with call waiting its not quite that bad).
Oh, yes there is that card I received from my service provider that I can never find when I need it. Even if I know where it is, how much time do I spend digging it out and typing it all in (again and again ...)? And what about that typo? (I’m a lousy typist as you can tell, thank you spellcheck for saving me from many awkward mometsn).
There is the button I can put on my main Outlook window that opens an appointment form with the information already on it. But it’s not often correct, what if I’m doing an audio and a web conference one day, and just an audio the next? Besides that, it’s not the way I schedule meetings (it’s not “integrated” into my workflow). A conference call is no different than any other meeting so why can’t I use the process I already know? Half the time I’ve already filled in a standard appointment form to schedule the conference meeting when I realize, “OMG I was supposed to push that other button because this is a conference meeting and its different (but its not!)”. So now I either start over or look up the information and triple check it for typos. And sometimes I prefer sending emails rather than meeting notices. How come they didn’t give me a button for emails?
And of course there is the website solution. Talk about workflow integration. Maybe they figure they can avoid the issue by creating a totally new one. Besides giving me another workflow, I now have another list of contacts to maintain. While it is better than nothing, it has a long way to go to be called user friendly.
That poor guy who is new to conferencing, gottta feel sorry for him. I’ve been doing this for years, he must be really frustrated. I imagine he’s thinking “I better write this down, first I have to look up the telephone number for the call, my passcode, and the url for the web conference (hope he has the same passcode for both). Then I have to send a meeting notice or email and add that information (accurately). Oh yeah, I better tell the participants to test their system ahead of time otherwise the meeting won’t start for ten minutes (where the heck did I put that note on the test url). I sure hope everyone is available, I don’t want to have to do this again.” Then if the poor guy had a typo on his first call he’ll probably never use the system again.
Seriously though, they’re always talking about how great Unified Communications will be. Why can’t they integrate what they have now into what I have now? A solution that allows me to schedule a conference call the same way I schedule any other meeting? Why can’t I go to an appointment form, press a button and get the web conference information added, press another and get the audio information added? And do the same on an email form so I can use that seamlessly. And how about, when I’m in an email, take my schedule information and add the meeting to my calendar, and attach an iCalendar file to my email so the participants can easily add it to their calendar? Man life would be so easy; I might actually have time to park my car myself. Wouldn’t that be great?
Thank You Santa, Frustrated Moderator
Dear Frustrated I feel your pain. Here at the North Pole we are constantly having conference calls, checking status, ordering supplies, reviewing toy prototypes, on and on. And when I’m traveling its nice to have a video conference with Mrs. Clause during that long trek over Wyoming (I have it on my calendar as a recurring meeting). We use the JCS Collaboration Addin for Microsoft® Outlook®. It’s the perfect gift for you. And, with over twenty thousand users, reliability is not an issue. Check it out at http://jcstechnologies.com/Index_files/olCollabAddin.htm. Or better yet, tell your service provider to give it to you for free, there are at least a dozen CSPs that do. Send them to http://www.jcstechnologies.com/Index_files/CspOADetails.htm for details. If they order it before the 15th you can have it by Christmas. Merry Christmas,
Santa AKA John Svercek President JCS Technologies, Inc. 813-731-4673 |
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All I Want for Christmas! |
