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Connex International Delivers Worry-Free Conferencing to Kosovo Press Professionals Some things are too important to be left to chance. Therefore, when the United States Information Agency (USIA) realized late in March 1999 that the Kosovo crisis required specialized, real-time coordination between its staff members in Washington, D.C. and those overseas, they turned to Connex International, the audioconferencing pioneer that has been serving them for more than a decade. The USIA is an independent foreign affairs agency and the only office in the U.S. government responsible for advising the President, Secretary of State and other policymakers on foreign public opinion about the U.S. and its policies. The research staff provides twice-daily reports on foreign media commentary around the world on various issues that are provided to officials throughout the government. The Kosovo situation's extreme volatility has heightened the need for USIA embassy staff who supply the world's local press with breaking news to compare notes, exchange information and coordinate activities. As sensitive issues have emerged"such as the danger of pollution from an oil refinery bombing and charges that cultural monuments were being targeted---USIA specialists in the nation's capital pulled together data from the State Department, Department of Defense and NATO Headquarters. "We had to conduct ongoing, broad conversations between many people---sometimes up to 50," explained Leslie High, team leader for the USIA Information Bureau's Political Security Office. "Face-to-face meetings were impossible and E-mail was insufficient. Audioconferencing was the answer. Virtually every call facilitated information coordination that could not have been accomplished otherwise. "For instance, the White House would ask our press representative in Macedonia about the local government's response to the border closing on the previous day. That information was heard simultaneously in Sarajevo, Beijing, Moscow, Prague and other spots around the globe. "Technically the process has worked well. We've often been talking to parts of the world where the technology is unreliable, but those challenges were transparent to us." The project originally involved daily telephone press conferences. These have been scaled back to twice a week with five Connex coordinators calling out to the individual participants. "We bring in 30 locations," says Connex meeting consultant Ellen O'Neill, "half in the U.S. and half overseas. The USIA's conference coordinator calls us 15 minutes ahead of time with last-minute changes concerning locations and equipment issues"whether we'll need to walk people through the setup of speaker equipment, which is sometimes older, or if cell phones will be involved. Sometimes a language barrier means that it takes a little longer to coordinate everything, but we work our way through it." Jonathan Spalter, associate director of the USIA's Information Office always presides over the calls, regardless of where he is throughout the world. On occasions when his travel schedule is suddenly changed, Connex has provided him with an identification number so that when he calls in, security can be maintained. A Connex coordinator continues to monitor lines throughout the conference call, reconnecting participants if a line drops or if static interferes with communication. "The calls have enabled us to gauge public opinion by comparing polling data from a variety of nations, and to understand how much access various audiences are having to information," said Mr. High. "For instance, if we broadcast an interview with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, some countries might feature it during prime time on a major television station while others might give it a couple minutes of play." John Silverman, a program manager with USIA, has been working with Connex for years. "We deal with 150 locations worldwide, places as diverse as Rangoon, Vladivostok and Papua where Connex has helped us set up remote interviews and lectures. Sometimes they'd also do the audiotaping. Although most of the conference calls were scheduled well in advance, we knew we could count on them during emergencies too"when an embassy needed to respond to local protesters with comments from the State Department." Mr. Silverman explained that originally the USIA performed its own call bridging and used Connex as a backup for weekend and night calls but that the agency eventually realized that it was more cost-effective to have Connex handle the bulk of their conferencing operations. "It's been their flexibility and reliability that have cemented the relationship," he said. Connex International has long prided itself on its "white glove" service to customers. Ms. O'Neill recalled an instance when a Connex coordinator, troubleshooting problems with customer speaker equipment, actually patched in the manufacturer to walk the client through technical difficulties. Connex International has headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut. The company provides an array of audio, video and Internet conferencing services, complemented by conference recording services, broadcast fax, 24 X 7 conference access, online reservations and Interactive Voice Response. The company was a 1998 recipient of the Connecticut Technology Council's Fast 50 Award, which recognized Connex as one of the state's fastest growing technology firms. |