A Vocal Supporter of Teleconferencing
Jeffrey Allen is a voice teacher who once had a problem others might envy. It began in 1993, shortly after Warner Bros. Publishing launched Allen’s “Secrets of Singing” series of instructional books, tapes and CDs.
The problem was that new students from all over the world started showing up at his Sherman Oaks studio door. Most were in town for just a few days, many arrived with little or no warning. Although Allen was already serving a noteworthy clientele, he was determined to take as much new business as he could. Adjusting his calendar to suit these students, however, rapidly plunged him into a scheduling nightmare.
Convinced there had to be a less stressful approach for him, and a less expensive one for his students, Allen explored teleconferencing. His initial findings were not encouraging. “The sound quality wasn’t good enough to discern how someone was talking, let alone singing,” he said, “and it was all very expensive--$10,000 and up.”
Allen eventually connected with PictureTel, which had just introduced a desktop teleconferencing system with ISDN service for about $3,000. “ISDN splits the audio and video signals and delivers them on separate phone lines,” Allen said, “and that allows for the clarity I was looking for.”
Allen has had full teleconferencing capabilities for six months and estimates that a quarter of his clients now take their lessons in his Virtual Voice Studio. Having resolved his scheduling dilemma, Allen has students in Australia, Canada, Germany and South Africa, as well as several across the U.S.
With those students who can afford it, he prefers using PictureTel equipment. With those who can’t, he uses Intel’s ProShare package. “For $200, you get videoconferencing software and a little camera,” he said. “It’s not as good as PictureTel, but it gets the job done.”
In addition to preserving his sanity and drastically reducing the demands on his clientele’s time and money, Allen has discovered a hidden benefit to using the teleconferencing approach. “All businesses that provide a service need to qualify new clients to find out if they’re going to be meaningful clients in terms of having the necessary wherewithal and commitment,” Allen said. “In this situation, I know that a student who goes through the process of getting the equipment and contacting me is . . . going to be there--and be there consistently.”
An added benefit is the comfort students feel by studying at home. Donny Austin, a Las Vegas-based musician and one of Allen’s longtime students, agrees. “The main issue for singing is you have to be relaxed,” he said. “If you’re stressed out from fighting traffic, you’re not going to benefit from the lesson.”
Austin also appreciates the intimacy of the process. “It’s like his privacy and my privacy combined,” he said. ‘That lets [Allen] really see what’s in my head.”
Austin acknowledges he was a little leery of the technology at first. “My biggest concern was the delay time,” he said, “but . . . talking with Jeffrey is almost instantaneous and the video delay is barely noticeable.” Having the audio cut out when both spoke at once also caused some trouble. “It took a few sessions to work it out,” Austin said, “but now we’re used to taking turns.”
These minor considerations aside, Austin is an avid supporter of lessons online, particularly when the subject of his savings comes up. “Just in gas alone,” he said, “I’ve paid for the PictureTel probably five times over.”
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Freelance writer Kate Dunn can be reached at katedunn@earthlink.net.
