Boomer Bulletin

Deciding on a Web Conferencing Technique

September 11 | by Eric Benson, Director of Interactive Communications

One of my first responsibilities when I started at Boomer Consulting was to discover a replacement for our current web conferencing solution. Although the solution worked, there were a number of factors that were involved in the change. Some were involved with increased functionality and some were related to internal decisions.

Sorting it out

Getting integrated into the Boomer culture and figuring out the needs of everyone required some standardized questions and work. Many of the questions had already been addressed by current employees. Trials had already been started, and a lot of research was already in place. My question became "How do I find the right solution for a company that may be different than I assume?" At the same time, how did I not step on decisions that had been made before? I reviewed all the research that had been done, talked to everyone who might use the system, and tried to both figure out people´s pet features and not step on toes.

Dangers, Opportunities & Strengths

The solution to my questions came a few days later during an orientation session. Embedded in our core culture here at Boomer is the D.O.S.* (Dangers, Opportunities, Strengths) principle. Simply put, list the dangers that are evident in a decision. List the opportunities that are available, and also list the strengths present to solve the issue at hand.

My list was short and to the point:

Dangers:

Making a decision that would "overrun" previous research and usage
Not accurately defining our needs
Paying too much, or not having the option to change as time went on
Picking a company that was not compatible with our listeners (big downloads, slow connection speed)

Opportunities:

Find a solution that will increase usage and connectivity here at Boomer Consulting
Increase training internally to improve options to our clients and affiliates
Find an alliance with a web conferencing provider, someone who will work with us in the future, collaborate, etc.
Find a leading edge solution to talk to our circle members about

Strengths:

Technically oriented staff in place who already know web conferencing
Research in place on a number of providers
Strong list of likes/dislikes of the current provider
Timeline for the end of the current contract to choose provider

Filtering the data

After collecting this information, I found that some "filtering" was easy in determining our new provider. For example, Danger #2 was not accurately defining our needs. By looking at the strong list of likes and dislikes on our current provider (Strength 3) and by talking with a number of web conferencing providers ( Opportunity 3), I came up with a very solid list of vendors we could choose from. Continuing internal conversations helped narrow this list even further.

Some vendors had connectivity issues during demos (Danger 4), and some were very complicated (also could fall under Danger 4). There were a surprising number of vendors who never called back. If I wanted an alliance partner, communication was highly important ( Opportunity 3).

In the end, having the solid pre-work of a D.O.S. list helped the decision become crystal clear. My end solution provider had a long history of quality sales contact with our company. The solution they provided was an industry standard and the platform could grow as we used it more. In the long run, that pre-planning knocked a lot of wandering out of my research and the decision making process. I am excited that I work for a company that uses D.O.S. on a regular basis to solve internal and external issues.