Town Hall Phone Conferencing Helping Politicians Reach Out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 20, 2010 -- Town Hall phone conferencing is helping politicians reach out to their constituents in a new virtual world. Rather than speaking to a few people at a real town hall, officials can now invite tens of thousands of people to participate in a town hall session from their comfort of their homes. Technology has advanced to the point where leaders can actually speak on the phone to a live audience of 10, 20, or 50,000 people and more, simultaneously.

"This new form of outreach communication has revolutionized political interaction," said Laurie Patterson, director of Town Hall Teleconferencing services at OrangePoint Communications. "Instead of hearing from just a few people who are interested enough to trudge to the local town hall event, officials can now get thousands of people on the phone at the same time. During question and answer sessions, officials can hear from dozens of people, while thousands of others listen to the answers in the comfort of their homes," said Patterson. "Not only that, but taxpayers save as well because the cost of conducing a town hall teleconference is a fraction of what it costs to host meetings at physical locations. Less gas, less travel time -- it's a less expensive and greener solution for leaders to use in gauging public opinion."

The service doesn't require leaders to use any special hardware or software. Everything they need is online and can be accessed at any time. The web based system can be run from a regular PC and allows any town hall presenter to talk directly to a large number of people with little logistical planning required. It is a technology likely to permanently transform the way town hall meetings are conducted. Traditional town hall meetings are limited in venue and size and require cumbersome logistical planning.

Travelling to separate venues is time-consuming with little certainty if the campaign message will reach the right audience. By initiating a virtual town hall meeting, the leader can immediately interact with grass roots level audiences independent of their location, demographic profile or size.

"We've worked closely with our clients to perfect the town hall conference experience," explains Patterson. "This form of communication is unique in that it's entirely interactive and permits two-way communication. For instance, the presenter can conduct a survey or poll on the go to gauge the interest or public opinion on a specific topic. This helps the presenter to develop and evolve the campaign message on the go."

The phone conference system also has optional built in technology for Q&A-sessions. Listeners are able to place a question in a screened queue, and the presenter can select the questions to be answered. The feature is entirely flexible and allows the presenter to form a dialogue which is commonly not possible in a traditional town hall meeting or through radio or TV. "The delivery method is ideal for people who want to maximize their campaign and getting the message out there. Listeners opt-in, and the presenter is not limited by interruptions from TV-Commercial breaks." The virtual town hall meeting is ideal for politicians looking to streamline efficiencies while improving name recognition and approval ratings.

The town hall phone conferences will help transform voters, and improve the voter relationship at less cost. "Information travels faster than ever before, and people on the campaign trail want to be able to coordinate an event with minimized effort. That's why we're expecting increasing demand for town hall phone conferencing over the next two years," continues Patterson.

To find out more about OrangePoint and town hall teleconferencing, visit http://www.orangepoint.net. OrangePoint is a leading telecom solutions provider offering notifications and alerts via phone broadcasting, mass opt-in teleconferencing, automated online dialing for live outbound calls and computer faxing.

More information can be found online at http://www.orangepoint.net/town_hall_teleconference.html

town hall phone conferencing