{"id":5104,"date":"2017-08-08T08:45:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T14:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meetingone.eu\/eu-en\/?p=5104"},"modified":"2017-08-16T08:47:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T14:47:58","slug":"3-conference-call-technology-innovations-that-changed-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meetingone.com\/eu-en\/blog\/3-conference-call-technology-innovations-that-changed-history\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Conference Call Technology Innovations that Changed History"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other day, I was on a conference call, and I realized how easy it was for me to just take conference call technology for granted. \u00a0I’m on conference calls several times each week, and it just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. \u00a0That got me thinking, though, about how communication has changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"conference<\/p>\n

Before Samuel Morse’s first telegraph in 1844, “communication infrastructure” was little more than the ponies and trains used to deliver letters! \u00a0<\/strong>Back then, it would take over 48 hours to deliver a message from just from New York to Pittsburgh!<\/p>\n

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Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about waiting\u00a0four or more days to get a response on a project. \u00a0Emails and IMs allow us to effectively communicate in minutes, allowing work to get done FASTER.<\/p>\n

There’s no doubt that improvements to communication options have made business more productive. \u00a0Central to modern communication growth was the invention of conference call technology.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It may seem strange to think of the conference call as\u00a0being so important with video conferencing now available. \u00a0But it’s true. \u00a0Conference calls made it possible to bring about national and international teams to make important business decisions years before the first email was sent over ARPANET (1971).<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0many<\/em>\u00a0changes to conference call technology have helped shape the way we communicate, we want to highlight in this throwback blog\u00a0three<\/em>\u00a0innovations that make conference calling as important today as ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Top Three Innovations that have Enhanced Conference Call Technology<\/span><\/h2>\n

1) \u00a0Central Exchange<\/span><\/h3>\n

Conference calling has been around for a long time, actually. \u00a0The first “conference call” was made in\u00a01915<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and it was across the continent in celebration of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. \u00a0The cost was for the call was, in today’s money,\u00a0$485 per minute<\/strong>!!!\"conference<\/p>\n

For a long time, hosting\u00a0any conference call remained ridiculously expensive.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The cost was due in part to the infrastructure. \u00a0Lines would have to be routed between each and every caller. \u00a0Imagine a messy spider web – lines going everywhere, spun out in every direction. \u00a0That system was unmaintainable.<\/p>\n

As the name suggests, all callers’ lines are directed to one location, the “exchange.” \u00a0The exchange, at first managed by operators\u00a0then\u00a0by automated circuitry, handles the incoming signals and reroutes information back to the callers.<\/p>\n

So, what’s the big deal, Joel?<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Central exchange significantly\u00a0decreased the complexity of telephone\u00a0infrastructure, making it essential for conference calls.<\/strong><\/p>\n