Virtual Telephone Town Hall Meetings Get Voter Input

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 19, 2010 -- Virtual Telephone Town Hall meetings utilize the latest technology in soliciting input from voters while helping leaders deliver important messages. "Political and corporate leaders can easily establish a live dialogue with thousands of constituents simultaneously and both deliver important news and receive valued input and opinions," said Laurie Patterson, director of Town Hall Teleconferencing at OrangePoint Communications, a leading provider of Tele-Town Hall technology services.

"This is a cutting edge service that is designed for modern political and business leaders who want to increase connectivity and interactivity with audiences at less cost. Because you only need a phone and computer, these virtual town hall meetings will transform the way people interact and will increasingly become more important as a means of communication for leaders who want to be in touch at grass roots level," said Patterson at OrangePoint. Unlike real and physical town hall meetings, Tele-Town Hall meetings are conducted virtually over the phone, and are not limited by size or location or the weather. Tens of thousands of people can participate from the comfort of their homes and leaders can conduct the virtual meeting from their offices, sometimes thousands of miles away, avoiding expensive plane tickets and meeting expenses.

Virtual telephone town hall meetings can accommodate as little as 2,000 participants and go as high as 100,000 or more. The only limit is the size of the phone list.

"We've tapped into all our resources to perfect the Virtual Town Hall experience," explains Patterson. "Unlike radio or TV, the virtual town hall meeting experience is completely interactive. We've designed the system so that listeners can place a question in a screened queue for the presenter to answer. In a large real life town meeting, that kind of coordination and information gathering would be extremely difficult. The delivery method is ideal for all parties. Listeners opt-in, and the presenter is not limited by interruptions from commercials or trying to make comments fit into a 10 or 15 second sound bite. People can converse naturally and the conversation can be give-and-take -- the same as being in a diner and having a casual conversation with your member of Congress."

The technology used presents issues in real time and talk is on a live basis. If a pressing issue of the day is up for a vote in the afternoon, officials can use the service to gauge opinion that same morning. The system also has the capability of polling, and leaders can ask participants to press numbers on their phone keypads to register their votes. Results are in real time. Political leaders are also using the Tele-Town Hall service to reach out and present their views, improve their name recognition and let people know they are serious about interacting with the voters.

"We're expecting a significant increase in Virtual Town Hall Meetings over the next two years," continues Laurie Patterson. "Information travels faster than ever before, and many of our clients have expressed a need to respond to breaking news or current events without overburdening coordination. Our system enables a meeting to be set up in minutes and the presenter to stay ahead of the curve, not behind it."

To find out more about OrangePoint and Virtual Town Hall Meetings, please visit www.orangepoint.net. OrangePoint is a leading telecom solutions provider of 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