The days of traditional business often required in-person contact among clients and colleagues to close a deal or accomplish specific tasks. But with the growing global economy and the widespread nature of companies, face-to-face meetings aren’t always possible.

 

While geographic boundaries once posed a major barrier for many companies to complete business transactions, it’s no longer an issue, thanks to the growth of teleconferencing and conference call services. Teleconferencing gives organizations the technological tool they need to offer businesses throughout the world audio or video calls with contacts instead of traveling to a dedicated location to conduct a meeting.

 

Beyond business, the technology is even useful for salespeople.

 

In a sales-oriented environment, teleconferencing lets salespeople answer technical objections, offer special pricing and overcome obstacles, according a report by to the Gerson Lehrman Group. The technology helps speed up the sales process and makes for a more impressive sales presentation.

 

Companies that sell electronic devices such as Texas Instruments (News - Alert) and Intel use a direct sales force to call on a customer's engineers to find out design problems and offer their products as solutions. It’s not often when a salesperson can answer all of the technical questions on the spot. Yet with teleconferencing, which offers speeds above 4Mb/sec, a salesperson can dial up the application engineer at the headquarters to talk directly with the customer engineer.

 

This approach, Gerson Lehrman Group said, is important for companies that use manufacturer's reps such as Intersil, NEC (News - Alert), because the rep may have several lines requiring broader technical knowledge. The time and money saved on travel will help boost organizations’ bottom line and increase worker productivity.

 

And companies like Eagle Conferencing, a Manhattan- and Bangalore-based provider of full-service conferencing services, understand that need. The firm, which offers audio, video, Web and streaming services, can tailor its conferencing services to suit any business need.

 

The ability to conduct a conference call in any situation where communications are necessary can help resolve issues, enhance customer communication and aid in the rapid completion of critical business transactions, company officials said.