Regardless of what's happening with new technologies in the conference call sector, because of its reliability and the almost universal installation of telephones in most parts of the developed world, the industry workhorse remains "vanilla" conference calls, where different people on different phones in different rooms hold a group discussion.

One of the many things that drove me nuts about my old job was the number of conference calls I had to be on each day. It seemed like on most projects, we would wrap up the requirements phase and be ready for design when somebody would request a new feature, thus dragging requirements on for several more weeks. This meant daily conference calls to update documents and pore over the importance of each and every word for hours.

One of the funniest things that happened in my previous company was an operator-assisted call where two departments of the same company were hosting simultaneous calls. As the conferees dialed in, they asked to be placed in the company call, not knowing that there were two calls going on. One of our operators also did not know that there were two calls going on for the same company. Therefore, many of the conferees were placed in the wrong call. What was funny was that when you listened in to the call, the conferees were trying to make sense out why they were all in the call. The confusion lasted for about 20 minutes until one of our operators figured it out. They quickly replaced the people into their correct calls and everything turned out okay, but it was a stitch for a while listening to mass confusion.

Houston, Texas - September 1, 2003- A+ Conferencing (A+) is a full service conferencing company with over 50 years of experience in the industry, today announced the promotion of flat rate, unlimited usage conferencing services for end users, wholesale and reseller channels.

SPIRIT DSP, the world's leading provider of voice and video software engines, announced today that global communication services provider BT plc has licensed SPIRIT's audio technology for concept testing of its next generation telecommunications services to ensure the highest quality audio experience for its customers. Today's communications market is extremely competitive and service providers have to offer different value-added services to their customers in order to stand out in this fast-paced market. BT is the largest wholesale provider of broadband services in the UK, with DSL coverage available to 98.8 percent of the UK's population.

SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avistar Communications Corporation has announced that its latest software product will solve the three biggest problems facing organizations deploying unified communications (UC). Converge, Communicate and Collaborate, Avistar C3 provides video, voice and collaboration at the desktop or on the move, uses dynamic network and bandwidth management technology to achieve this without requiring additional network capacity, and offers built-in support to allow no-hassle interconnectivity with existing and external IP rich media communications systems. Available in editions to suit any size of enterprise, Avistar C3 benefits from patented technology that is proven at scale, yet is simple and cost-effective to install and use.

Stocks fell once again Wednesday as investors continue to remain somewhat nervous about the economy. This comes following reports from big names like Apple Inc. and Motorola Inc. which shot down any notion that the Federal Reserve's emergency rate-cut could patch up the economy. In reality, it remains clear that investors have doubts about the potency of the Federal Reserve's action. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the deficit for the current budget year will jump to about $250 billion, and that figure does not reflect at least $100 billion in red ink. Visit www.streetinvesting.com for free market research reports and updates on the aforementioned company herein.

In order for conference participants to reach our service, each one must call a telephone number. For Reservationless Standard and Web-Scheduled Standard conferences this number may be local or long distance, depending on their location. The only costs for these type of conference calls are whatever long distance rates are charged by each individual conference participant's long distance carrier (Sprint, MCI, AT&T, etc.). We do not require the use of any specific carrier, nor do we know what rates you pay on your calling plan.

No. There are absolutely no surcharges. For Reservationless Standard and Web-Scheduled Standard conferences nothing extra will appear on your bill other than the call itself, billed at your normal long distance rate. For Web-Scheduled Premium 800 conference calls nothing will appear on your phone bill whatsoever. Instead, we will bill your credit card for the total amount of time each participant is present in the conference call, at the rate of $0.10 per minute per caller.

Our conference bridges are physically located on the premises of telephone company central offices and are connected to the telephonenetwork via high capacity digital circuits. Our equipment does not itself introduce echo or noise into the conference. However, echo or noise can enter the conference through the telephone lines used by one or more of the participants in the conference. It is the nature of teleconferencing that all sound brought in to the conference is amplified and rebroadcast out to all the other participants in the conference. If there is a barely noticeable echo in a two-party conversation, it may become a verypronounced echo in a 30-party conference call. We STRONGLY recommend that all participants in the conference use onlyhigh quality telephones and avoid cellular phones, cordless phones, headsets, etc.