MeetingZone is said to be the UK’s largest independent vendor of audio and web conferencing systems. It has been supplying audio conferencing systems to National Grid since 2004, but as the electricity and gas supplier is a regulated business and is governed by EU procurement rules, audio conferencing was put out to tender again in 2007.
According to the company, the ease of use of the service, the availability of MeetingZone account cards detailing dial-in details and access codes, the ability to hold managed conferences, its web conferencing solution MeetingZone Glance, and its transparent billing system were the main reasons why it was selected by National Grid.
Sameira Ahmed, IS and telecoms, supply chain management for National Grid, said: MeetingZone’s invoicing and billing system is very sleek and allows our transactional teams to process invoices very smoothly as they are automatically assigned to the correct account and cost centre.
The deal will enable National Grid to offer improved communication tools to 12,000 employees in the UK. Ahmed said: Audio conferencing has helped to improve internal and external communications and improve employee productivity and efficiency as they no longer have to travel to and from meetings.
It is hoped this will help the company to tackle climate change and reduce its carbon footprint, as well as ensure the business is sustainable and responsible.
A reduction in business travel results in a reduction of our carbon footprint. So not only does MeetingZone’s solution help us to reduce expenditure associated with travel, including the soft cost of dead time when travelling, it allows us to help the environment, said Ahmed.
