Use VoIP and PSTN Calls in Same Meeting Room via Hybrid Conferencing

Conferencing has become one of the major growth drivers for all companies since it improves inter- and intra-office communication, reduces employee travel and lower carbon footprint. A collaborative Unified Communication (UC) application empowers users to access a wide variety of communication tools to streamline the conferencing infrastructure within their organisation for faster decision making and shorter project turnaround time. Now, advancements in technologies have enabled companies to use the modern VoIP calls in conjunction with the traditional PSTN calls. This results in greater cost savings for the users, improved communication for the participants and creates a new channel for them to interact using two vastly different modes of audio calling on the same platform. A hybrid conferencing application enables users to vary between VoIP and PSTN calls as per their convenience. This can prove to be a great advantage for companies based in Hong Kong, since their employees need to remain in constant touch with business associates located in other parts of the world. In such a scenario, a hybrid solution creates a conferencing environment that supports both types of audio calls on the same network without any degradation in call quality. Arkadin OnePlace, based on Adobe Connect, is one such hybrid conferencing solution. It allows users to access the meeting room from any phone or mobile device, with a choice between VoIP and PSTN connectivity for greater flexibility. For example, a company with its own IP network integrated for VoIP calls, can allow employees to join the meeting using IP calls, while attendees located outside the office can use the PSTN based connection. This helps in keeping communication costs to a minimum while making sure that all group members can collaborate optimally on a world class conferencing platform. The advanced hybrid conferencing solutions ensure that participants enjoy crystal clear sound quality when they join the meeting, irrespective of the mode of connectivity. The video conferencing component of a hybrid UCC solution can support up to a 100 participants in full HD format for an immersive collaborating experience. HD webcams and laptop integrated cameras can be used by the participants to render the video in such calls with ease. Administrators can regulate whether a particular member can display his or her webcam to the other group members, which enables them to maintain confidentiality. All standard web conferencing tools of a UCC solution are present in the hybrid conferencing application. All inclusive features like advanced web content sharing, customisable layouts and intuitive interface for recording, polling and Q&A support remote collaboration on the solution’s secure network. All of the Adobe Flash based web conferencing tools of the advanced Arkadin OnePlace solution can be accessed simply from a web browser or a dedicated mobile app, which improves the level flexibility for the user. On the other hand, its SaaS model enhances the level of scalability for them, thus assisting growing companies to scale their communication network according to their needs.