Conference calling is one of the best business solutions to conduct a meeting over the telephone, in which more than three persons can participate to share some points. Or in other words, it is a means of communicating with more than one person simultaneously, without actually being physically present at a designated place. Conference calling offers mainly three modes for communication, i.e., audio, video, and web based conference calls. It is obvious that these conference calls eliminate a major cost for the companies, and therefore, are very much advantageous for the organizations. Some of the advantages offered by these conference calls are:
Cost Effective Process: Though the fee for availing the service varies with service providers, yet conference call is a much economical option to conduct a virtual meeting and to convey the message to the people concerned. Because in conducting a meeting with the conventional processes, a lot of travel expenses and hotel accommodation expenses are involved; whereas in case of conference calling, nothing of that sort is required.
Time saving process: It is as easy as thinking of talking to some persons and you can make a conference call immediately. Usually it is very good option for conferences that are called on very short notices. It also does not involve any loss of work and the message can be conveyed at a faster pace.
Helps in relation building: It is sometimes difficult for a business to conduct meetings for every segment of employees at regular intervals, which may lead to some misconceptions among employees and they may feel neglected. However, conference calling can eliminate such situations and helps in building good employer-employee relationship.
Simple and easily accessible: The service provider links the persons to be involved in a conference call and the persons do not need to have any special equipment for the same, as it simply linked with the ordinary phone or mobile phone. The person conducting a conference call is facilitated with a speaker, so that all persons involved must be heard at that point. The other persons can talk with the main conductor from their places.
Facilitate Data transfer: Audio conference calling is limited only to transfer instructions or views verbally; but via video conferencing, it is possible to transfer presentations or data to all the persons. With this service there will be no mistakes in sending and receiving instructions, as if there is any, one can clear it immediately and correct it.
Distance is not a problem: With the help of conference calling, the limitations of distance can be eliminated, as it can be used for talking to persons anywhere around the globe. That is why it is most commonly used by small as well as big business houses for communication purposes.
From the above advantages that conference calling provide, we can easily gauge the importance that they hold for any business model and organization setup—they are indispensable!
How To Conference Call
Learning how to make a conference call is simple - if you know how to use the phone you should have no problem. Conferencing is a well known way to put together a meeting between people that are not in the same geographic area. Whether it be a meeting between co-workers that need to discuss a project or between you and a client to discuss a problem, if you know how to make a conference call, it can save both sides time and money.
Teleconferencing can be don through an audio conference call using only the telephone or through the web if you need to share files or visual aids. Since most companies have resources for outbound conference calls via the phone, that is what we will cover here.
First of all, you need to schedule the audio conference call for a time that is convenient for all parties. When you are teleconferencing with people in different geographic areas, it is key to remember that they may be in different time zones and schedule your call for a time that falls near normal working hours for all parties. Once you have your list of attendees and time you will find that it is not so much how to make a conference call but the etiquette of what you do on the call that matters.
Before The Conference Call
Prior to the audio conference call, you want to make sure that you have appointed someone to take minutes of the meeting. They might write stuff down with a pad and paper or type it right in, either way, you want to be sure they mute their phone so their not taking does not disturb the conference. You need to schedule the time with your conference call service - they will give you a number and a password that you will use for the call. Be sure to pass this along to all attendees in your invitation to the audio conference call. About 10 minutes before the conference call, you want to test this number and password to be sure it works and if not take the appropriate action.
During The Call
You want to be sure to be prompt for your conference call so login a few minutes ahead of time so you can be on the line when new people join in. Keep a list of everyone who is supposed to be on the call and check their names off as they join. Some of them may be gathered together in a conference room and it is a good idea to have them mute their phone until one of them needs to speak. This will block out excess noise from people talking and shuffling papers. Also, if people are teleconferencing in from home, have them mute their phones as well - there's nothing more distracting than trying to hold a business meeting while kids are screaming in the background!
After The Call
When ending the call, be sure to go over any action items and add them to the to-do list. Put these in the minutes from the meeting and send to all attendees. This is also a good time to schedule any follow up audio conferences if needed so all attendees can agree on a time.
So there you have it - easy steps on how to make a conference call!
Both Max Stephen & Lee Dobbins are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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