Audio Conferencing

Overview

Under the WITS 3 contract, agencies may purchase Audio Conferencing Services that allow participants at multiple locations to conduct interactive dialogues and meetings using multi-point conferencing arrangements and their own telephone instruments. Audio Conferencing requires a conferencing bridge port for each called station.

Benefits

• Ease of Use. Audio Conferencing Services requires only a telephone for access anywhere, and is available 24 x 7 on-demand.
• Flexibility. Audio Conferencing Services enables customers to host meetings for a wide range of business applications.
• Cost Efficiencies. Customers can use Audio Conferencing Services without making a capital investment in a new service. Audio Conferencing Services is designed to use resources that customers already have in place, such as Voice, Cellular/PCS, Frame Relay, ATM and VoIP services.

Features

• Multiple Service Levels. The Verizon Business Audio Conferencing Services offering includes several service levels. Each one provides various features that customers can combine to support any size meeting, on a call-by-call basis. Without the right diversity and redundancy systems in place, interruptions can adversely impact operations. Our solution ensures balanced traffic, seamless repairs, and secure facilities. Verizon Business owns and operates fiber optic networks and state-of-the-art bridging systems with nearly 100,000 ports worldwide.
• Continuity of Operations. Audio Conferencing Services uses two key components to maintain continuity of operations: diversity and redundancy. In an emergency, Verizon Business can control any conference bridge around the world from any call center. We also have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan implemented throughout all worldwide locations during emergencies.
• Ease of Use; Online Leader Tool. Our reservation-less, on-demand Audio Conferencing Services makes it easy to set up conferences. Once the leader subscribes to the service, it is available 24x7. Verizon Business also offers the multilingual Meeting Web Moderator. The Moderator is an online tool that the leader can use to initiate, join or record the conference, dial-out to participants, view a list of participants, turn mute on or off, disconnect, lock/unlock the conference, and close the conference.
• Convergence. Verizon Business has integrated Web conferencing with both Microsoft Live Meeting and WebEx, and audio conference controls into the Web conferencing consoles. As a result, the meeting leader can initiate the Web conference, and once inside the Web conference console, can initiate the audio conference, see the list of audio and Web participants, and control the audio and Web conference through the same application.
• Session Initiated Protocol (SIP)-Based Solution. The Verizon Business Audio Conferencing Services solution uses SIP to tightly integrate conferencing services into MS Live Meeting, MS Office Communicator, and other SIP-based products like the XTen Softphone.