ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BENEFITS FROM SPONTANEOUS AUDIO AND WEB CONFERENCING AND COLLABORATION DELIVERED BY MEETINGZONE

Published 13th August 2009

Thame, Oxon, UK: 13 August, 2009: Zenith International, Europe’s leading provider of specialist consulting services to the food and drink industries worldwide, is successfully deploying MeetingZone’s reservationless audio and web conferencing services to improve internal and external communication and collaboration capabilities, improve productivity and reduce travel costs. MeetingZone is the UK’s largest independent conference and collaboration service provider.

“Our previous audio only conferencing service provider was proving to be extremely expensive and restrictive. We had to pre-book conferences and then wait for the appropriate dial in and PIN numbers to be sent to us,” explained Charles Macey, from Zenith’s IT Department. “The inability to hold ad hoc conferences, coupled with cost, meant that the service was not being widely used and that Zenith was not fully leveraging the business benefits that conferencing and collaboration deliver. We realised that we needed to find another provider.”

After an evaluation of leading conference and collaboration service providers, Zenith chose Meeting Zone as its preferred supplier.

“MeetingZone was selected based on the ease of use of its solution which would enable a smooth roll out across the company. It’s flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ pricing structure and transparent billing process was also a key factor,” continued Macey. “MeetingZone’s integrated reservationless conferencing solution has allowed us to improve internal and external business communication through the quick and simple sharing of information via web conferencing during an audio conference call. Additional integration with Microsoft Outlook has been very useful when setting up ad hoc web conferences. We really can meet spontaneously with who we want, exactly when we want, regardless of location.”

With over 1,000 clients in over 50 countries, Zenith offers a wide range of services which include market analysis, strategic and commercial advice, financial and technical consulting projects, information trade services, trade journals and event organisation. Conferencing and collaboration plays a key role in increasing productivity and efficiency by bringing together remotely located employees, clients, suppliers and external consultants and enabling them to jointly collaborate on projects, cross team presentations and proposals, etc.

“Audio and web conferencing is now accessible to all Zenith employees who need it. Our CEO is a big advocate, which has helped drive usage from the top down and conferencing is often used during Board and senior management meetings involving a US based director and international managers,” commented Macey. “Increased usage has helped us to reduce unnecessary business travel, in turn reducing the unproductive ‘dead’ time spent when travelling and, of course, all important operating costs associated with travel.”

As the majority of Zenith’s activities are focused around individual projects, MeetingZone’s transparent billing system is of great benefit as it allows the breakdown of conferencing costs per project. This capability was not possible with the previous provider. Zenith can also monitor usage and costs online via MeetingZone’s conferencing portal.

“Our current costs for MeetingZone’s integrated audio and web conferencing services are less than those incurred with our previous audio only provider,” added Macey. This allows Zenith to continue to drive increased usage where appropriate by raising awareness of the benefits of integrated conferencing and collaboration.

“For small to medium sized enterprises looking to put a toe in the conferencing and collaboration space, MeetingZone’s pay-as-you-go offering provides the ideal solution. It provides a cost effective way of trialling both audio and web conferencing and allows organisations to determine just how they can benefit from its deployment,” concluded Macey.

About Zenith International
Recognised since the 1990s as Europe’s leading drinks consultancy, Zenith International has over 1,000 clients across more than 50 countries: world leading as well as local and newly formed food and drink manufacturers, equipment, ingredient and packaging suppliers, financial institutions, agencies and other consultancies, trade associations and public authorities. The company’s main activities involve comprehensive market analysis, strategic and commercial advice, financial and technical consulting projects, information services, trade journals and event organisation. With some 50 staff based in the World Heritage City of Bath, Zenith also has affiliated offices in New York, and Dubai.

About MeetingZone
MeetingZone is the UK’s largest independent conferencing service provider and offers customers a high performance, low-cost personalised audio and web conferencing service. With operations in Europe and North America, MeetingZone’s HQ is located at Thame, Oxford. The company was formed in 2002 by Steve Gandy and Tim Duffy, who collectively have over 30 years experience in the technology and telecoms sector. MeetingZone’s customers include many of the FTSE 500 companies in the financial, retail, IT, pharmaceutical and legal sectors. MeetingZone appeared (Sept 2008) in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 list of the fastest growing technology companies in the private sector. For more information please visit: www.meetingzone.com

Contact
Sarah Chidgey, PR Consultant: sarah.chidgey@hotmail.co.uk – Office: +44 (0) 1672 540996;
Mobile: +44 (0) 7795 288302
Jennie Leopard, MeetingZone Ltd: jennie.leopard@meetingzone.com - Office: +44 (0)1844 265500