A Business World without Planes?

Online, April 20, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Boston, Mass - As the world continues to spiral into flight congestion and travellers wrestle with cancelled flights from the chaos caused by Icelandic volcano activity, businesses have had to consider a world without planes. Flights are grounded for a fifth straight day, and millions of passengers, including more than 40,000 Americans, are still stranded.

However, some businesses are changing the way they meet and work due to co-workers and clients stuck overseas. Some savvy users who need to confer with customers and compatriots are turning to conference call provider Powwownow, who has witnessed a 30% increase in registered users since April 15. Powwownow recently announced its free conference calling service and a first of its kind iPhone App for mobile conferencing, in the U.S. market which helps callers stranded in Europe to easily conference with those in the U.S. and abroad.

In the past, Powwownow has helped keep businesses running and has experienced similar surges in conference call usage. Last December and January, the company reported a 60% increase during the UK snow storm as people kept their businesses running from home and from other remote locations. The usage spike continued for weeks after the disruption ended - an indication that people are discovering alternate ways to do business when they cannot travel to meetings.

Conference calling continues to represent a very cost-effective, efficient way to do business and Powwownow CEO Andy Pearce comments, 'While it's difficult to imagine a future of global business without planes, at the very least the ash cloud is forcing people to consider technologies such as voice and web conferencing as a way of connecting despite being restricted from flying. Though sympathetic to stranded travelers, we are certainly happy that we can control a small part of an uncontrollable act and look forward to Powwownow continuing to catch on!'

About Powwownow (www.powwownow.com)
Powwownow was founded in 2004, offering customers low-cost conference calling facilities with the ethos of no booking, no billing, no fuss. (The customer does not need to book a conference room and never receives a bill from Powwownow, just the cost of a 0844 call added to their bill). Turnover for 2010 is expected to reach £8m. The company operates in 15 countries including the US and major European markets. Powwownow employs 33 people and is based in Richmond, London.

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