Short Report – Assignment (this assignment should be 3 to 4 pages)

Exploring Online Meeting Options: You were recently hired as an intern at Mayim’s, a distributor of high-end cosmetics and skin care products. Kori Roberts, sales manager and your supervisor, drops by your office to chat one day and brings up a subject she’s been wondering about. “Our sales staff have been communicating with each other and our retailers fairly effectively via phone and email, but I think it’s time to look into an online meeting application to supplement these methods. Do you know what kind of tool I’m talking about?” she asks. You nod, having just covered online meeting tools in your Technology for Business Communication class. “I heard some of these options were totally free and really easy to use,” she continues, “so I looked into a few. Skype, Google Hangouts, WebEx, and OpenMeetings seem to be pretty popular for businesses. I’m thinking about recommending that all the sales staff subscribe to one of these. Then maybe they could talk to each other and the retailers more easily. I wonder which of these tools is better for us. And is there any downside to online meetings? What works best for small companies? Are there security issues?” You take the hint and offer to look into the matter for her.

Do the necessary research and then write Kori a short report giving her the information she needs in order to decide whether or not to pursue this idea further. She may want to share your report with other managers in the company, so this is a good opportunity to make an impression and someday advance your career.