Since our service was introduced, one of the most popular features has been the ZipDX Dashboard. Via the web, conference hosts (and participants, if enabled) can see who is in the meeting, who is talking, who is joining, and who is exiting. Muting, voting, and sub-conferencing are all managed from the dashboard. A dial-out function allows missing participants to be added instantly.

With Version 2.0, we've made the industry's most capable dashboard even more powerful. New "filters" allow you to view only those participants that are "active" in the meeting (hosts, or those speaking, or those with their hands raised). A special box highlights those coming or going. Current conference status (lecture modes, transcription options, etc.) are clearly visible and changeable by hosts.

And now, the Dashboard not only shows who is in the meeting, it also can show who is NOT! Participants that were invited to the meeting, but are not present, are listed in gray. And those that joined the meeting and have now exited are also shown. So it's even easier to manage your meetings and conduct your business.

More and more organizations are using audio conferences and webinars to deliver timely commentary on events in industry, government, and education. Two-way interaction engages participants, allows question and answer sessions, and provides a great mechanism for feedback and group discussion.

Having hosted such sessions for some time, ZipDX now has a toolkit that makes it even easier for organizations to promote their events. Our simple sign-up "widget" can be integrated into a web page, blog, or e-mail. Each participant gets a unique PIN, so you know exactly who is actually attending. We allow participants to sign up for our "call-me" functionality so they get called automatically at the scheduled start time. Participant contact information is captured and available for follow-up.

Contact us at sales@zipdx.com if you'd like to learn more.

Are you an innovator with a unique application or service that requires robust audio conferencing technology? At the request of others like you, ZipDX has developed a set of APIs that let you take advantage of our sophisticated platform. Via this interface, you can create attendee profiles and instantiate meetings. We even give you the ability to query and control an in-progress conference.

You get immediate access to our global telephone network, with dial-in and "call me" capapility around the world.

Contact sales@zipdx.com if you'd like more information. We're anxious to hear about your application.

Many organizations -- particularly professional services firms -- need to track conferencing usage by project or client. In addition to the ZipDX sub-account feature, which can be used for this purpose, ZipDX now supports a "project tracker" that can easily by attached to any conference call. The Tracker is displayed in the Conference Summary (via E-mail and on-line), and can be viewed by organizers and account administrators. It is also part of the CSV download provided for those that want to analyze conference usage via a spreadsheet.

Some services require the conference organizer to input a project code every time a new conference is initiated. With ZipDX, the Project Tracker can be "pre-populated" in a Conference Template, or it can be input via the electronic calendar interface when the meeting is scheduled. There are several other ways to input this field (including after the meeting has ended, if it was overlooked). Some ZipDX customers have pointed out to us that with their former conferencing service, they had to enter FORTY or more digits to get a meeting started. With "no codes conferencing" and the new Project Tracker feature, ZipDX attendees can get into a meeting quickly and easily, often without entering ANY keypad digits.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro is one of the most sophisticated web conferencing tools available. Now, users of this technology can access on-line conference controls right from within the Connect Pro meeting room, using the ZipDX Connect Pro Telephony Adaptor. Like the ZipDX dashboard, the Adaptor allows users to see who's talking, mute and unmute participants, dial out, disconnect, and more. The Adaptor supports Connect Pro's "breakout room" feature, automatically moving participants into an appropriate "sub-conference" audio room when Connect Pro breakouts are activated.

The Adaptor is available now for customers of Adobe's "licensed" platform. It works with the latest Connect Pro Version 7.5, including support for the Integrated Audio feature that broadcasts conference audio into the meeting room. Contact support@zipdx.com for details. Support for users of Adobe's "hosted" solution will be available in early 2010.

ZipDX has introduced a unique tool for mobile phone users. Enable the new "SMS" function for your mobile phone number in your ZipDX profile, and whenever you connect to a conference via that number, ZipDX will send you SMS updates as others join and leave the conference. Now even when away from your PC you'll still know who is on the call without having to ask "Who just joined?"

In combination with "No-Codes Conferencing" the SMS feature makes ZipDX the very best solution for the growing group of professionals connecting to conferences via mobile devices. ZipDX provides the SMS feature as part of its standard service, but check with your mobile service provider regarding their charges for SMS. This feature is currently available for subscribers of US & Canada mobile phone services.

ZipDX calendar integration allows a conference organizer to quickly invite others to a ZipDX conference, using almost any electronic calendar tool. And any ZipDX user can enable the Call-Me feature for themselves, so ZipDX will automatically dial-out at meeting time.

But maybe there's a conflict for a particular meeting, and you don't want to be called. Just go to the ZipDX portal and use the "opt-out" feature to disable call-me for that particular conference.

Or perhaps you'd like to invite a colleague to join the meeting as well (or instead). Do this from the ZipDX portal also; just click on "invite others." Unless disabled by the organizer, this feature will automatically send ZipDX credentials for the meeting to the E-mail address(es) you enter, and also notify the organizer to expect additional guests.

The ZipDX on-line dashboard now includes a Chat function. Any hosts or participants running the dashboard will be able to send messages to each other using this capability. It's great for queuing questions, giving feedback to the speaker, or handling sidebar conversations without stepping into a ZipDX sub-conference room.

Now it's even quicker and easier to launch and control a ZipDX WebSharing session. For the host, there's a new control panel that more clearly shows the status of the session. A red bar highlights that your screen is being shared. Click on a participant to get details on their connection, or to allow them to present to the group or to remotely control your computer. Participants now start with the Java client set to "Scaled View" so that they can see the presenter's complete image.

Also, we've added a "WebSharing Only" option when scheduling a meeting. Most often, you'll use WebSharing in conjunction with an audio conference call. But if you want to use WebSharing in stand-alone mode (perhaps you're already on the phone with another party), just select this option to launch a session now or in the future.

Part of the ZipDX magic is our integration with electronic calendaring systems. We have customers using ZipDX with Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, Lotus Notes, Zimbra and Google Calendar. Just by including ZipDX in your calendar invitations, you integrate ZipDX into your meetings and enjoy the convenience of no-codes conferencing. Best of all, there's no software to install or maintain; everything is done by our servers.

Now, we've added automatic reminders, so when your participants are new to ZipDX, they'll get a reminder E-mail from us just before meeting time, reiterating the credentials they'll need to get into your conference without a hitch.

Lots of conferencing services will let four or forty people meet and talk. But what if you are hosting a "high-touch" event with perhaps hundreds of participants? You want to screen callers as they enter the conference, and you want to maintain order by keeping everyone muted until you call on them, letting those with comments or questions "raise their hand" to let you know they want to speak.

Until now, these events required an operator-assisted conference service at rates five to ten times higher than "conventional" service. With the new ZipDX Event Capability, you can run a professional, high-touch conference right from your office, without paying for an operator that doesn't know your customers, your business, your industry (or maybe even your language). ZipDX lets you invite and identify people individually and automatically. If you choose to permit joining by Conference Code, you can route those participants to a "waiting room" where you or your colleagues can screen them individually before placing them into your main meeting. Our "call on" function takes participants one-at-a-time from the "hand-raised" queue, announcing them by name to you and letting you un-mute them (or, you can skip them). You are now in complete control of your event.

With ZipDX's patented "identity conferencing" each participant is uniquely identified, and only the participants that you invite can get into your conference. Each participant is identified by their Caller-ID, or by a unique PIN that they never share. But what if your PIN gets stolen or guessed? When the perpetrator accesses a call that you're on, you'll hear a warning telling you so. You can immediately cease confidential conversation, interrogate the intruder, terminate the conference, and of course change your PIN. ZipDX identity conferencing is both convenient AND secure.

ZipDX "identity conferencing" remains the most powerful conferencing paradigm available, allowing you to invite participants by E-mail. This provides a secure conferencing environment, and permits everyone to join the conference without any frustrating codes. But sometimes it makes sense to use the more traditional Conference Code approach, and now your guests can get access to the ZipDX dashboard (in "view only" mode) as well as the Web Sharing capability when using this approach. Just direct your guests to guest.zipdx.com. Remember that hosts should still log into www.zipdx.com, and should continue to use their ZipDX "identity" on the phone, even when hosting code-based conferences.

New capabilities have been added to the already-powerful ZipDX dashboard. If you want to hear a participant's name, just click the ID and select "Play Recorded Name." For the host: When recording a vote tally, you can include a descriptive label with each tally. When using the dial-out feature, you can click to disconnect the last dial-out call (if, for example, you get voice-mail).

ZipDX offers dial-in numbers in several countries around the world. This month, we added numbers in Hong Kong and Hannover, Germany. We've also expanded capacity with new numbers in Tokyo, Japan and London, UK. You can always access the latest dial-in number list on our login page. Also, remember that you can instruct ZipDX to CALL YOU anwhere in the world at conference time by specifying "call-me" numbers in your profile.

Sometimes you want to deliver a PowerPoint presentation or share some other application as part of an audio conference. With this new ZipDX feature, it's easy to allow other conference participants to see your screen. As the host, just make sure you're logged in at www.ZipDX.com, and click on the "Start WebShare" link that you'll see next to the "Dashboard" link under the "In Progress Conferences" heading. Once you've done that, other participants can go to www.ZipDX.com and a "Join WebShare" link will now be visible. They just click on that, and your screen-sharing session is underway.

When you and your colleagues are ready to have a conference, you expect ZipDX to be ready for you. We now have a full complement of servers on both the East and West coasts of North America, and a redundant routing structure for our incoming and outgoing phone lines. Our automatic systems continuously monitor the entire network to insure proper operation, and will instantly reroute traffic if any anomaly is detected. That means that under almost any imaginable circumstance, ZipDX service will always be available.

You've probably occasionally heard the annoying buzz that can bleed into conference calls from mobile devices such as BlackBerrys. ZipDX now has a built-in filter, active on every conference, that can sense the buzz and automatically mute the associated line, preventing it from disrupting the entire conference. When the buzz stops, or if the associated participant starts talking, the mute is lifted. Our tests show that this unique filter eliminates 90% or more of "buzz events."