How to Run a Successful Conference Call

By Matt Deo

Conference calling is a great way to keep in touch with clients, colleagues, family or friends. It is quick and easy to set up and you can have up to 40 participants online at once. Larger groups can be accommodated by special arrangement at no extra charge.

Whether you are catching up with your mates while on holiday, sharing a special occasion with family or conducting business there are some things which you can do to make sure that you get the best out of the experience.

Here are some tips which may help:

Ensure all participants have the right time for the call – if you are conferencing with people from different countries make sure that local times are taken into account. Send an email or calendar event or download the Outlook plug-in feature to help with this.

Make sure that all participants have the correct phone number to call and your PIN – there are different access numbers from different countries. The PIN will remain the same.

Some participants may not have used this type of service before and may be unclear how it works. Take the time when organising the conference call to give clear guidelines as to what they will need to do.

Designate a coordinator for larger conferences. Each participant is prompted to enter their name as they enter the call. Keying #2 will show participants. When everyone is present *5 will lock that conference and nobody else can join.

Background noise and distractions can be a turn off. Plan where you are going to take your call and try to avoid busy or noisy places. By pressing *6 on the keypad you can mute background noise.

Using the speakerphone option will allow you to make notes if you do not want to use the conference recording option which is available with the service upgrade. Conference recording is a good way to have an accurate record of decisions made during the call or as a tool for minutes to be typed from.

Business users might find it useful to approach this call as they would any traditional face to face meeting. Have an agenda, chairperson, minute taker etc. This will ensure that everything that needs to be discussed is and that the call has a clear beginning and ending. Participants can drop in and out of the meeting as required rather than staying for the whole meeting allowing efficient use of resources.

Whatever the reasons for the conference call, this is a good way of talking to a group of people who can’t get together in person. The conferences starts when there are two people on line and ends when the last one hangs up. People can come and go as they need to and the only people invited into the group are those you give the PIN number to and invite. Make yourself comfortable, get some refreshments and chat for as long as you like – 24 hours, 365 days a year.