As CO2 emissions, pollution, global warming and a number of other factors threaten the environment and our future, an increasing number of people and businesses have shifted to a greener awareness that includes choosing alternative energy resources and finding green technology solutions to reduce their carbon footprints.

InterCall, a subsidiary of West Corporation and one of the best-known conferencing service providers in the world, is reportedly using Ditech Networks' (News - Alert) voice quality solutions to enhance voice quality on its VoIP network. Specifically, InterCall (News - Alert) is using Ditech's industry-leading Voice Quality Assurance (VQA) solution to reduce, if not eliminate, voice quality impairments, including ambient noise and echo, in addition to restoring lost packets that can result in clipped or choppy speech. The solution is deployed on Ditech's Packet Voice Processor (News - Alert) (PVP) platform, which provides a high-density, high-performance foundation for processing a large number of calls.

Product summary Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 - conference phone w/ call waiting caller ID Manufacturer: Polycom Inc.

Polycom SoundStation2 EX - conference phone w/ call waiting caller ID

Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 - conference phone w/ call waiting caller ID

Ninety percent of people who participate in conference calls find things to keep them busy besides following the discussion, according to a new survey from audio and video conferencing company Raindance Communications.

The Internet phone service also said it would make roughly $140 million in spending cuts over the next several months as it reduces spending on marketing and eliminates jobs. Snyder has also resigned from his position on the company's board of directors. Jeffrey Citron, the company's chairman, has been named interim CEO while the company looks for a replacement. The changes took effect Wednesday.

Takeaway: Last year, Hitachi Consulting was spending up to $17,000 a month on conference calls, so it began using VoIP to help cut costs. Nine months later, the company has virtually eliminated that cost, and its investment in VoIP has paid for itself. With its dispersed workforce and a bevy of multisite projects, Hitachi Consulting is dependent on conference calling to ensure that its consultants and contractors are in step with their clients. Each month, the company logs about 150,000 minutes of conference call time among its 900 employees.

Takeaway: There's at least one surefire way to blow your credibility with your business partners or your remote users. Read how to save face and shorten your conference calls. In last week's View from Ground Zero, I told you about how, on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend, the "software guys" in a big company conducted conference calls to walk their store managers through the process of a software upgrade. What I didn't tell you was how those "software guys" blew it with their end users. Remember this lesson the next time you schedule a meeting in which anyone attends via conference call.

VoiceGate Corporation is an innovative leader in the voice processing, voice recording /call logging, call center, emergency preparedness / business continuity notification, security, medical, automotive, educational, speech recognition and instant wireless messaging industries.