How to Host an International Conference Call

More and more businesses are turning global in scale, whether introducing products and services to new markets, opening foreign hubs, sending employees abroad, or working with international partners across the world. This growth happens quickly, and you need technology to keep up with it to support seamless day-to-day business communications.

How do you accommodate international guests on your phone or web conference? With the right conference calling service, this can be an easy feature to integrate into your regular services, or one you might already have in place.

Here are a few options and tips to get you started on a flawless international conferencing experience.

International phone conferencing

A phone conference can be the simplest way to contact people all over the world, as the only thing one needs is a working telephone to access the call. This is great for any participants who may not have access to a reliable internet connection, especially when traveling. With an array of options for joining in, both domestic and international attendees can have the same conference experience.

International toll-free dial-in services allow international participants to join a conference call using a toll-free phone number and the same access code as everyone else on the call. This option allows international guests to join the call for free, with the fees picked up by the conferencing host. Many consider this to be a great option for offering a generous and easy way to accommodate important overseas audiences.

International dial-out is an option that allows the conference call host or a call operator to call any international participant directly and connect them to the conference. This is another accommodating service that does not require international attendees to pay any fees, or even dial any numbers. It can be a great option for a call with just a few international attendees—perhaps a VIP partner, or regular employees who may be traveling at the time.

International toll dial-in is a service that provides every conference participant with the same number and access code, which are permanent and can be used in the same way by everyone. Participants pay their own toll charges based on their location. This is a great option for mobile participants who are traveling country to country or an attendee list that changes frequently, as the number is easy to remember and the access instructions stay the same no matter where you’re calling from.

All three of these phone conference options are all available through Conference Calls Unlimited. Click here to learn more.

International web conferencing

Web conferencing is a very popular way to hold online meetings, collaboration sessions, and other day-to-day communications in any business. It also has the added benefit of being accessible to attendees from all over the world, with no further set-up besides a reliable internet connection.

Take advantage of features like video conferencing and screen sharing to interact with your guests. Sharing a PowerPoint or other presentation slides with translated text is a great way to accommodate international guests that may not speak the same language as the main conference speaker. You can also make sure overseas participants can give you feedback throughout the call by using chat and polling features, as well as file sharing to exchange relevant media.

Web conference recording is also a great way to make conferences more accessible to international attendees. If the time difference just won’t work with someone’s schedule, he or she can access the recording of a live call at a later time that’s convenient to them. Plus, you can even transcribe or provide closed captioning on a recorded video, which would allow for translation to other languages.

Audio streaming is also a great way to get large audiences from anywhere in the world to access the same information. Participants can watch or listen into a webcast available from any webpage, where they can stream the audio or video file either live or on-demand, depending on how you choose to share it.

Prepare your international guests

Ensure that each of your international guests has specific and detailed access instructions based on their location, if applicable to the type of service you’re using. You’ll want to make sure email reminders for a web or phone conference are personalized with information unique to each guest’s location, whether they’re required to login, dial in, or wait for a call.

Perhaps the most important personalized detail to include is time zones! It can be disastrous to forget to specify the time zone in your communication with international conference guests, and have them miss the call. Some hosts may simply specify their local time zone and leave it up to participants to make the appropriate conversion to their own. However, it’s very helpful and reduces mistakes to provide the time zone equivalents of any participating countries in an email, or even create personal emails with the local time for each international participant.

Then simply help your attendees know what to expect. You may have been conducting the same format for a virtual meeting every week in your company office, and everyone knows the drill. But when you have an international guest come on board, you should remember that they’re not familiar with your team’s routine of doing things, or perhaps even how a conference call works in your country. Provide a detailed agenda and be open to answering plenty of questions.

Once you’ve made the choice on the type of conference experience you’d like to provide and done these few simple things to prepare your guests, you’ll be hosting international conference calls like a pro! We think you’ll find that it can be an effortless addition to your regular use of conferencing. To start hosting the best quality calls with international participants, chat with us here at Conference Calls Unlimited!

Why Should You Work Remotely?

What’s the big deal about “telecommuting,” “remote work,” or “working from home”? What benefit does it really have for employers and employees? You may have heard these terms a lot lately, as more and more businesses adopt these options for their employees. Flexible work that allows employees to skip commutes and connect through technology to get projects done away from the office is taking off—becoming not just a trend but a must at many companies.

GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com has updated statistics as of 2016 that allow us a closer look into who uses telework and how—as well as what savings and benefits you might be missing out on if you don’t take advantage of it! Of course the best way to do this is having top-notch conference calling software for remote employees.

Let’s take a look at some of these eye-opening statistics about telecommuting. We think some may surprise you!

What is telework or telecommuting?

Both the term “telework” and “telecommuting” were coined by Jack Nilles in the 1970s. While telework refers generally to using technology in place of travel, telecommuting refers more specifically to technology replacing commuter travel (as in an individual who does not go into an office and works from home instead).

Lately, however, many businesses are favoring the terms “remote work,” “mobile work,” “distributed work,” and “workshifting” in Canada or “smart working” in the UK. These terms seem to capture the flexibility that mobile devices provide to free the typical work day from being tied to an office.

The common sense benefits of this type of practice—usually available part time to employees who can and want to do some of their work at home—are the savings on costs and time associated with a daily commute. It’s also desirable for many people to work on solo projects in the comfort of their own homes, free from office distractions.

But does this really work? We’ll see the proof in the numbers below.
 

Who telecommutes?

Global Workplace Analytics’ research finds that 50% of all U.S. workforce jobs would be compatible with at least part-time telework. 20-25% of that workforce already telecommutes with some regularity, and the average employee who does so is college educated, middle aged (50+), and salaried at a non-union company of 100+ employees. 75% of those employees that work from home earn more than $65,000 a year, which is in the upper 80th percentile of all U.S. employee salaries.

Those are very high and impressive numbers for those who do and those who could do remote work from home. Many more employees wish they could: 80 to 90% of the U.S. workforce said they would want to telework at least part time, stating an average of two days of telecommuting per week would be a good balance.

As far as the work industries that already offer the option for mobile or at-home work, there are some that have a disproportionately high number of telecommuting employees, relative to the total population. The largest of this disproportion are:

• Military
• Computer and Mathematical
• Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
• Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
• Life, Physical, and Social Science

There are many more industries, individual companies, and specific employee roles that are compatible for telework, at least part time.
 

Why is this trend growing?

It’s easy to see that telecommuting on a regular basis is growing in popularity. 3.7 million employees—2.8% of the total U.S. workforce—now work from home at least half of their time. Among non-self-employed people, regular telecommuting has grown by 103% since 2005.

It’s important to distinguish this growth as occurring within the population of employees rather than self-employed individuals. This is because the number of self-employed individuals who work primarily from home (22%) has actually declined by 3.4% from 2005 to 2014.

While we can’t know the decisions each person makes when choosing telework, there are clearly some common motivations that have led to this increase in telecommuting employees. For one, employees seem to crave the lack of workplace distractions when focusing on a work project at home—and they get more work done because of it. Companies like Sun Microsystems and American Express have found that teleworkers use more than half the time they would spend commuting to do work for the company, and that they’re 43% more productive than employees who only work in the office.

Employers obviously like this increase in productivity too, but they also turn to telecommuting options because of the cost savings. Companies like Nortel report that they save $100,000 per employee they don’t have to relocate—which is huge for companies when they consider the added benefit of a wider talent pool of remote employees to hire from. Not to mention that when fewer employees are in the office, they save on day-to-day office materials and costs such as those associated with:

• Utilities, security, janitorial, maintenance
• Paper products, coffee and water, office supplies, equipment, furniture
• Leased parking spaces, transit subsidies
• ADA compliance, environmental penalties

Let’s take a closer look at some more of the benefits that teleworkers and employers who offer teleworking enjoy.

What are the benefits for employers?

To some it may seem like telecommuting is clearly more attractive to employees, but much more of a gamble for employers. Will workers really be as productive when no one is supervising them? Doesn’t a business need face-to-face time to communicate productively?

The numbers show that on the whole, employers have nothing to worry about—and in fact seem to have everything to gain! Global Workplace Analytics estimates that if all the U.S. employees with telecommuting-compatible jobs (50%) and who desired to work at home (79%) did work at home half the time (the average for those who do), the economic benefit would total over $700 billion a year!

This means increasing overall national productivity by 5 million man-years or $270 billion worth of work. It also means saving $11,000 per employee per year, or over $500 billion a year, on costs for turnover and productivity, absenteeism, real estate, and electricity.

Some states like Georgia, Oregon, and Virginia even offer financial incentives to businesses for adopting telecommuting. Others like Arizona, Connecticut, Vermont, and Washington will also provide free training to encourage companies to start using it.
 

What are the benefits for employees?

For most employees who already express a desire to work from home (80-90% as we saw earlier) the benefits of part-time telecommuting work are obvious and multiple. But if you need any extra convincing, the numbers don’t lie. Using the same scenario as above, where those that could telecommute and wanted to telecommute did so half the time, collectively they would:

• Save $20 billion at gas pumps
• Gain 2-3 weeks worth of free time per year that they would have spent commuting
• Save $2,000-7,000 on transportation and other work-related costs
• Have the possibility of saving on childcare, after-school programs, and elder care costs, as well as potentially qualify for home office tax breaks

Working remotely helps empower employees to be more self-directed and independent, and many find that virtual collaboration is actually easier when logistical constraints are not an issue. This option also provides the support and flexibility for disabled individuals to find work without leaving home, and they may actually face less discrimination when hiring is conducted virtually.

These benefits are so attractive to most employees that 80% say they consider telecommuting a job perk, and 36% would actually choose it over a pay raise. In fact, in a poll of 1,500 technology professionals, 37% said they would actually take a 10% pay cut if they could work from home!
 

What are the benefits for the environment?

There are clear reasons why reducing travel is essential and significant for cutting back on CO2 emissions in the U.S. Transportation is one of the biggest industries producing greenhouse gases today, and shows no signs of getting better—unless we make a big shift, and that shift could very well be to telecommuting.

Given the same scenario presented above, where those able to telecommute and who wanted to telecommute did so half the time, the entire nation would reduce greenhouse gases by 54 million tons, which is the equivalent of taking almost 10 million cars off the road for a year! It would also save over 640 million barrels of oil, a value of over $64 billion.

This would also have a huge safety and material effect on the nation’s roads, potentially saving almost 90,000 people from traffic injuries and death, with accident-related costs reduced by over $10 billion a year. It would also reduce wear on highways by over 119 billion miles a year, saving significant cost and labor for roadway maintenance.

If these cumulative numbers seem too far-fetched, consider how companies have personally seen their environmental impact reduced with telecommuting: Sun Microsystems found that having 24,000 U.S. telecommuting employees amounted to reducing yearly CO2 emissions by 32,000 metric tons, just from employees driving less for work.

But do employees really care about this? The answer is overwhelmingly yes: 70% of employees reported that they would see their company in a more favorable light if they worked to reduce carbon emissions. In fact, 24% say they’d even take a pay cut of up to 10% to help make workplace changes to benefit the environment!
 

Conclusion

What you need for providing telework opportunities to your employees is access to a quality online conferencing service, as well as audio options for those who want to dial in and plenty of features to promote collaboration. Many find that a conference call or virtual meeting is actually better-planned and stays on track more than in-person meetings, as they typically require a little more preparation than simply gathering everyone into a room. Feeling like their time is used efficiently and productively is essential to employee satisfaction.

With the right technology and a little preparation, you can start reaping the benefits of this working lifestyle for your own business, large or small. Feel free to contact us here at Conference Calls Unlimited to learn more about our conferencing services and how we take advantage of telecommuting too!

 

 

Working from Home with Conference Calls

Many individuals who rely heavily on phone conferencing and web conferencing do so because they work from home or from outside the office frequently. Whether you do freelance or remote work, run a business out of your home office, or have a flexible schedule that allows you to conduct some work from home, chances are you very much rely on connecting with people over the phone or internet to get your business done.

Because working from home grows increasingly popular with the rise of entrepreneurism and changing office environments, we thought we’d share some tips for telecommuters on how to make working from home work for you—and how to use conference calling to do so. Here are a few key tips.

Get up and get dressed

Get yourself out of bed and ready in the morning as if you had to be at the office by a certain time. Set an alarm and get up to take a shower, get dressed, and do whatever else you would to get ready to leave the house early. Don’t stay in your pajamas or you will be setting yourself up for a sleepy, unfocused state of mind.

Some even find that getting into full work clothes, styling their hair, doing makeup, putting on watches and accessories, or anything else they might do to prepare for seeing others in a professional working environment helps them get into work mode at home. Even though it might seem overkill to do all of this when you might not see another soul all day in the comfort of your home, just this act of preparation can help get you going and focused for the day.

Don’t delay or start household chores with the time you might have spent commuting to an office—just jump right in to work. Stick to a normal 8:00 or 9:00 am start time, or even earlier if you work well in the early morning. This will help you stay on track and accomplishing a good bulk of your work before midday.
 

Designate a work space

Find a place in your home that’s uniquely dedicated to work, whether it’s a full, private home office or simply a table in a quiet area that you can sit up straight and focus at. Have your computer, phone, a headset, and any other equipment you’ll need for a web or phone conference close by, plugged in, and ready. Keep any physical files and other materials well-organized. Start or end every day by quickly tidying this space.

Having a designated office, no matter how informal, can also get you a tax deduction if you don’t have another office space and use your home office space exclusively for work. You can write off all business expenses associated with your home office, and even a percentage of your home and utility costs according to how much space it takes up.

For many people, a good designated work space at home simply doesn’t exist, or it’s too hard not to be distracted by other things at home. In this case, get out of the house however you can. Maybe you walk, bike, or take a short drive to your favorite nearby coffee shop, library, or even a co-working space. Being around others, even if they aren’t working, can help keep you accountable and give you a change of pace from your familiar home environment.
 

Schedule out calls and communication

Make a schedule at the beginning of the day for exactly what you’d like to get done that day while working remotely. If you’re used to working in an office environment, try to structure the day as you would at the office. Do you answer emails first thing? Have a goal to close a sale before noon? Like to hold meetings toward the end of the day? You don’t need to stray from your typical office routine.

Conduct your communications seamlessly by scheduling your conference calls well ahead of time. You can use phone conferencing for day-to-day audio meetings and conversations, and web conferences for rich virtual meetings, sales presentations, and other opportunities for face-to-face communication with a whole host of features.

You should also lay some ground rules for communication with others in your area. If you share your home workspace with other people—family members, a roommate, a spouse, even a pet—you need to let them know when they can and cannot talk to or disturb you. Or you can physically remove yourself from others if possible to avoid the temptation.

You can also let others who are not in your vicinity know not to call, text, or otherwise try to engage you in personal or other non-work topics. Sometimes even colleagues will hear you are at home and assume they can discuss personal topics with you, unless you set “office hours” or let them know you are conducting work as normal.
 

Invest in a good pair of headphones

It might sound small, but a good pair of headphones is actually essential to any person who conducts work from home. This is because headphones can help block out background noises, conversations, etc. that may be out of your control when working at home or in a coffee shop or other crowded space with public WiFi. Headphones also signal to others in your vicinity that you are not available to chat.

A headset that includes quality headphones and a microphone is also essential for holding conference calls, ensuring you can easily hear and be heard. Using a headset on a phone or web conference reduces the chance of echoes, feedback, and popping, as well as protects the privacy and security of your call if you host or join one in a public place.
 

Use web conferences to collaborate

Make sure you stay well-connected to colleagues and other contacts, even more so than you might in an office environment. Dial in or login to meetings remotely if you work for a company with a physical office where your colleagues meet. Or hold your own meeting using a phone or web conferencing service. You can facilitate easy and efficient collaboration with a team by sharing files, making changes and contributions with markup tools, and engaging participants through polling and Q&A sessions.

Favor a quick phone conference call or web conference over a more passive email or text whenever you can. Using your voice or a video feed helps to make greater and more memorable connections with contacts, who you might otherwise have less of a presence with if you can’t meet with them in person. It’s important to take any chance to use your personality, body language, and voice to help make communication more powerful, which can still be accomplished remotely with mobile conferencing.
 

Network and grow with conferencing

Particularly if you own your own business out of your home, it’s essential to stay in contact with colleagues and partners, find new customers, and grow your business remotely. It’s more possible than ever to do this virtually, but you have to be diligent. First, get active on LinkedIn and any other online platforms that people in your industry use to connect. Work on joining virtual groups and conversations to get your name out there and get access to new networks.

Then, try using conferencing software in new ways to generate leads and reach out to new audiences. For instance, you can launch products and marketing initiatives with a webinar or webcast to reach global audiences instantly with large event conferencing. Presentations are more interactive and engaging when participants have the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback in real time.

Sales calls are also a breeze with the support of the interactive features available between you and your prospect on a web conference. Follow up with shared files and other materials right within the call, avoiding the time and connection that can be lost between a typical sales conversation and follow-up emails. What’s more, you can use a conference recording as a paid or on-demand offering on your website. Recordings can continue to generate new leads just by sitting there.
 

Manage breaks and distractions

The temptations to not get work done at home are obvious and numerous: easily getting caught up in household chores, conversations with friends and family, social media and other leisure activities, or simply having nothing to stop you from lying down on the couch for a 2-hour nap.

Do whatever you need to in order to limit your temptations at home. Do you need to put your personal cell phone in the other room? Put a blocker on social media sites while you use your computer for work? Put up a big “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door? Get creative with how to be your own boss when it comes to discipline.

On the other hand, it’s well known that taking regular breaks can actually help you get more work done in a day. A 15-minute break every hour is shown to improve the work and focus of that other 45 minutes, but you should choose whatever break schedule works best for you. Set a timer if you need to.

Household distractions can actually turn into useful breaks if you allow them to work in tandem with your business. For instance, you could set a work goal that you must complete before a load of laundry is done, then take a break to go take it out (and maybe throw in a jog up and down the stairs a few times for some exercise), then get right back to work.

If you work from home or remotely part- or full-time, you know how difficult it can be to stay connected, focused, and productive. We hope this guide has given you a few new tips for making this working lifestyle work for you, with the help of audio and video conferencing. Reach out to us at Conference Calls Unlimited if you want to learn more about the conference call service that will work for you, and start reaping the benefits of working where you want and how you want.

 

When are Conference Calls Better than In-Person Events?

There’s no doubt that technology is great for efficient communication, but it can never replace the quality of real human, face-to-face interaction. In personal life, people need human interaction, and there are many occasions in business that work much better when employees are in the same room.

But are there times when a phone or web conference would actually work better and be more valuable for a business? Let’s take a look at some examples of events that are in fact much better suited for online or over the phone.

Conducting the best training

Conducting training for existing employees, new hires, and remote associates is essential for any business, but the process is often costly and time-consuming. This is because staff needs to take time out of their schedule to be available throughout training, training materials need to be printed or otherwise prepared, a location needs to be reserved, and in some cases accommodations need to be made for out-of-town participants.

Conducting training through a web conference platform streamlines this process, with the potential to save a lot of time and money. Staff can use time wisely by making some portions of training live and others on-demand, offering flexibility for staff and trainees both. Material costs are reduced or eliminated, as presentations and files can all be shared paperless online. There are no travel or lodging costs for remote attendees, as they can join in to a conference from anywhere in the world.

Web conferencing platforms of today tend to be all-in-one collaboration tools that offer many more features and overall value than in-person training possibly can. Video conferences allow participants to view a live speaker or presenter in real time, and built-in slide decks bring presentations to life easily. Rich markup tools allow participants to edit and interact with documents and other media, and further interaction and feedback is made possible with polling, chat, and Q&A features.

Introducing a new product

Launching a new product or service is always a challenging game of getting the word out to as many people as possible, in as little time as possible. Many companies are eager to launch and reluctant to spend any more time, money, or resources than necessary to make the announcement after so much work has gone into preparing the product or service itself. But it inevitably takes time and money to meet with contacts all over the world for this purpose.

However, with web and audio conferencing, product launches and other large marketing or sales events are simple and can reach a global audience within a single day, if necessary. More customization is possible as well, as a conference call can be tailored to each group that needs to be in the know. Partners, resellers, customers, media, etc. can access just the presentation that’s targeted to them to quickly digest the essential information, watch demos, etc.

Live conferences also offer opportunity for more engagement and feedback. You can gauge interest with chat, polling, and other interactive features during the event, and your audience can ask and have questions answered right away. You can even follow up with more information immediately if they request it by taking advantage of file sharing features. The ability to record a conference and track who engaged with it most will also help you to keep tabs on potential leads after the event.

Meeting with remote contacts

It may seem like a no-brainer, but conference calling work best for any meeting situation between people who are spread out geographically. While flying in an international partner or a team from another hub across the country might be a nice gesture from time to time, of course it’s too costly to make a regular habit of.

What many people don’t think to take advantage of is using conferencing to keep in touch with contacts who may not be very far away at all—perhaps only on the other side of the city! Allowing those contacts who are working remotely to quickly dial into a meeting with a mobile device gives them more flexibility, support, time to devote to whatever project they’re working on at the time. It also guards against weather and personal emergencies, or anything else that prevents an employee from getting to the office.

Making mobile conferencing the go-to setup for all your meetings also saves the host time and money. All the meeting materials can be distributed through file sharing on a web conference, keeping all notes, minutes, action steps, and media in the same convenient virtual meeting space. This means that anyone who missed a meeting can quickly login to catch themselves up on the material or a web conference recording, and everyone else can return to the files whenever they need to as well, avoiding the time ordinarily required for a host to rehash that information.

Hosting a worldwide event

There’s simply no other way to reach as large an audience in person as you can with web and phone conferencing—at least not as easily or cost effectively. While a company can invite thousands of people, including international guests, to one location, one can’t expect that everyone can travel and attend in person. A phone or web conference to achieve the same purpose means all those people can more likely attend—without ever leaving their desks.

Not to mention that hosting an online event also opens up your business to markets you may not previously have had access to or thought to target. You might offer specialized webinars for different audiences, translated versions for different countries, and find new reach with online marketing to tie it all together. Recorded webinars can even sit on your website and continue to generate views and leads without any extra time or input from you after a live event.

Webcasting or audiocasting are services well-suited to very large events opened up to the public, as they can allow thousands of participants to stream a presentation or other event online. Webinars allow for a business to engage with a more focused group online, while good old fashioned phone conferencing also allows for large conferences, including international attendees, through a simple phone number.

We hope this post has provided you with the evidence that for some events, conferencing may not just be an option, but actually a preferred method over the in-person alternative. Though we believe that nothing can replace true human interaction, it’s also nice to know that there are easy ways to save on time and money that will actually provide greater value, for both your business and your clients. Learn more about our event conferencing at Conference Calls Unlimited by giving us a call today, and start hosting your own powerful virtual events. 

10 Ways to Improve Audio on Your Conference Call

Phone conferencing remains the most popular conferencing technology today. Audio quality is essential to both phone and web conferences, and yet it’s the element of conference calls that seems to cause the most trouble and complaints.

Why is this? How do you fix the annoying noises, dropped calls, and garbled audio once and for all? Here’s how you can do everything in your power to create the best audio for your important business meetings and events.

1. Choose a quality provider

You can do every single thing possible to improve audio on your part, but it will all be for naught if your conferencing service doesn’t use solid and reliable audio technology. The first and most important thing you can do is to choose a provider that offers the best audio services.

Some things to look out for when you research conferencing providers: High reliability ratings or percentages. Guaranteed and dedicated lines. On-demand 24/7 access. If a company discloses what vendor they use to provide their conferencing technology, look into the specs of that company as well.

Quality usually comes from companies who are established in the teleconferencing industry and can offer services at a valuable price. Steer clear of free conference call services, as they typically just can’t provide the strength of technology and support you’re looking for.

As part of your research for choosing a conferencing provider, you should also read all the testimonials and independent reviews that you can. Look out for what people have to say about the audio quality of the calls, but also the customer service experience, as this can be crucial when you need to address any audio issue that comes up after you start using the service.
 

2. Stick to analog

If you have the option with a conferencing provider, always choose an analog audio service. This means that if given the choice between traditional phone lines and VoIP (internet audio), you should opt for the traditional phone option. Even if you’re looking to host a web conference, some providers offer the ability to integrate audio by phone into the web conference so you get the best and clearest audio for your online event.

The reason that this is an important consideration is that VoIP can create less reliability. It’s subject to internet connectivity, so a busy or slow network will cause problems on a call. Many people also experience pops, clicking, or other noises more frequently with VoIP due to the digital sound file. Traditional phone lines, on the other hand, are dedicated to one purpose and can thus be more dependable for your calling purposes.

However, if you choose to or can only use VoIP audio, make sure you’re connected to reliable internet. A hardwired connection by Ethernet cable can help to avoid busy or spotty WiFi that could bog down your conference call. Ethernet has less than half the latency of WiFi, which will prevent delays that cause participants to not hear and start talking over one another.
 

3. Use a landline with headset

Whether you’re a participant or a host, you’ll always have the best experience with audio when you dial into a conference from a landline rather than a cell phone. Though cell phones have become much more commonplace, landline call quality still far surpasses mobile.

If you can’t use a landline to join the call, just make sure you have good cell service and remain within that service area for the duration of the call so you don’t lose it and have the call dropped. Control your environment to the best of your ability and mute your line to eliminate background noise, as discussed below.

With both landlines and mobile phones, you can typically improve upon the built-in speakers and microphone by using a headset to hear and speak. A good noise-cancelling headset will help if you must be outside, in a vehicle, or otherwise on the go while taking a call. A headset hardwired to whatever device you’re using will also be better than a Bluetooth connection.
 

4. Control your environment

Do what you can to make the environment from which you’re calling a quiet and undisturbed one. If you’re in the office, find a small, closed room free of background chatter, music, or other noises. Don’t have more than one person dialing in from separate phones to the same call in the same room, unless they’re on headsets. Otherwise you could get screeching feedback.

You can even “pad” a room slightly if it is very open and prone to echoing or picking up noises. Drapes, rugs, carpeting, and even large indoor plants will help to soften background sounds. This may be particularly useful for the host of a conference call, as sound quality for the main speaker is of utmost importance.
 

5. Take advantage of muting

Get familiar with the muting functions of your conferencing service. This step is essential for eliminating background noises, which often can’t be anticipated and aren’t noticed by the caller who is the source of the sound, but ruin everyone else’s calling experience. Blowing wind, side conversations, barking dogs, traffic—they’re all common and quick killers of any conference.

With most services, the host has the ability to mute all other lines besides their own or the main speakers’. Check with your provider on how to set this up or what command you need to use on the call to initiate this feature. This will keep the audio focused to who’s speaking and not on other lines’ background noises, which is particularly useful for calls where most attendees are simply listening in.

All callers will also have the ability to mute their own line when they need or want to. It’s crucial that all participants know what to dial on their phone’s keypad to initiate this. Use the feature when you have a lot of background noise in your area, or simply whenever you aren’t speaking, to be on the safe side. Just remember to unmute yourself before you have something to say.

6. Adjust your volume

Chances are that the default volume on your phone is too loud or too quiet for the conditions of your conference call. Make sure you know how to adjust your landline or cell phone’s settings to hear and be heard on a conference call.

If you have to use a cell phone for the call and you have a lot of background noise, you’ll likely need to turn up your speaker volume to hear others. If you’re alone and you’re not concerned about the security of your call, you can put the phone on speakerphone to listen in easier.

But don’t speak with speakerphone mode on—always mute your line before turning it on. Switch speakerphone off again before you want to speak, or else you’ll subject your audience to a lot of background noise and not a lot of your own voice.

Depending on your device, you may also be able to adjust your own microphone volume if others have trouble hearing you speak. Or, wear a headset with a microphone to more easily manipulate the microphone in relation to your mouth and voice. It’s always a good idea to test out your mic and speakers with another person on the phone before you enter an important conference call.
 

7. Keep hands idle

Some of the worst background noise that disrupts the audio of a conference call comes from something most people don’t even realize they’re creating: idle movements like touching the microphone, scratching, typing, rustling clothing, etc.

While it’s probably impossible to stay completely still during a long conference call, do your best to reduce movements close to the microphone you’re using. Mute your line while you make an adjustment to your mic, flip through notes, or other things you may need to do before speaking.

Also try your best to take notice of nervous tics or other unconscious movements you may make near your face that will be picked up, like touching your hair, adjusting your collar, scratching or rubbing your face, etc. If it’s possible to reduce these movements, do so, as they can broadcast much louder over your microphone than you might think.
 

8. Stop the popping

Be aware of where your microphone is placed in relation to your mouth when you’re speaking on a conference call. Most often, it’s the “stop consonants” or “plosives” like t, k, p, d, g, and b sounds that create a popping or really abrasive sound when someone’s microphone is positioned too close to their lips.

Put your own microphone to the side rather than directly in front of your lips to avoid this. Adjust a headset microphone or even a handheld phone’s mouthpiece while your line is on mute, then unmute to start speaking with the correct microphone position. If the mic you’re using has a windscreen (the foam piece that goes over the end of it), use it, even if you are indoors.

You can also do a test to see if your microphone is too close before you offend anyone’s eardrums with harsh consonant sounds. You can always call another person to test what you sound like before the conference, or you can simply hold your hand out in front of you at the same distance away as your microphone. Say the word “pop” at a normal speaking volume towards your hand, and if you can feel your breath on the “p” sounds, your mic is too close.
 

9. Stop the echo

Echoing occurs on a conference call when a speaking voice is transmitted through your speakers and back into your microphone, causing the speaker to hear their own voice after a short delay. It can be hard to determine what or who is the cause of the echo, but typically it’s the person who doesn’t hear it.

To avoid being this person, you should make sure your speaker system is as far away from your microphone as possible, and position your microphone correctly beforehand so you don’t have to move it at all during the call. Never have your line unmuted while you’re on speakerphone either, as this will exacerbate echo.

Some conferencing providers can provide echo cancellation in their audio services, but it’s up to all the participants on a call to make sure they’re doing everything possible to completely avoid this issue.
 

10. Start fresh

As a last resort, if you’re having an audio issue and all of these adjustments fail, hang up and try again. This can be a great nuisance, but sometimes all it takes to clear up a problem is just to end the connection and start fresh.

As a host, you should apologize and ask for patience while a new call is started. If you are able to identify a single caller that’s the source of the problem, ask them to make an adjustment, and mute their line while they do so, or ask them to hang up and dial in again to the conference so you don’t have to end the entire call.

Consult an operator or customer service representative with your provider if you experience a recurring problem or one you cannot find the source of. Resolving audio issues can be relatively easy and essential to conducting efficient, professional business communications.

You can learn more about our own audio conferencing services at Conference Calls Unlimited by calling the number at the right. Feel free to ask us any further questions about audio quality, and start conducting your own conferences with crystal clear audio today.

How to Handle Conference Calls: 4 Questions Answered

We talk a lot about how to prepare for great conference calls and why you should use them in the first place. But many times what people want to know most is simply what they’ll experience when participating in or hosting a call. What do I talk about? How long does it last? Who’s on the call? These may be simple questions, but they’re actually important ones.

Let’s try to answer some of these common questions with a few quick tips so that you know just what to do the next time you’re on a conference call.

What do I talk about?

While the possibilities for what to talk about on a conference call are endless and totally depend on your business, there are a couple of general guidelines to follow.

First, you should stick to one general topic for the call for best results. While many may use conference calling for standard weekly meetings, it’s best to avoid having a conference act as a catch-all meeting when the contents might not pertain to half the attendees or represented departments.

Second, hosts should simply share what they want to get out of the conference as an easy way of introducing the call. Outline the agenda, and give your best estimate of the time each item will take. You’ll keep your audience’s attention much better and keep everyone on track.

Lastly, participants should expect to speak directly to the current topic, and only when they have something valuable to contribute, or they are asked or addressed directly. This will help avoid everyone getting off-topic, and keep the call at a short length.
 

How long is it?

Expect or plan for a conference call to last about an hour. It can definitely be less—there’s no need to fill time because you wanted to round to an even number in your email invitation. It can also be more in some cases, like a large event conference or an in-depth training video. But even then, a conference generally should not go over two hours.

If you’re the host, do your best to reroute conversations that are veering off-track or too long according to your agenda. You can take a side discussion that doesn’t fit in the current conference “offline,” offering to discuss it individually with one person or the appropriate group of people later, perhaps after everyone else has left the call. Do everything in your power to end the conference at the same time you said you would.

If you’re an attendee, honor the call length that’s provided to you in the email invitation, or however you heard about the conference call. Set aside the designated amount of time, plus a little extra in case it goes long or you want to discuss something further afterwards. Don’t jump on the call saying, “Listen, I have to be in another meeting at 3:30, so I’ll just duck out then.” It’s disrespectful to everyone on the call when you operate only on your own schedule.
 

Who’s there?

So who are all those other faceless voices on your phone conference, or that one person seemingly writing a novel via the chat on your web conference?

Conference call hosts should know exactly who’s on the call by opting into features that allow them to see who joins in, what their names are, and when they leave. Many phone conferencing services will allow you the option of hearing attendees’ names announced on arrival, either to you privately or to the entire group. You should also keep the attendee list as small and relevant as possible for the topic at hand.

Participants should always briefly state their name before speaking, especially if everyone on the call can only hear their audio, they are not a main speaker, or they haven’t already spoken or introduced themselves. This will help keep it clear to both host and attendees who’s speaking and be able to attach context to the verbal content.
 

What if I miss it?

It happens—despite your best intentions, the reminders that a call is mandatory, and the ways you can access it on-the-go, you’re going to miss an important conference call from time to time. However, there are several ways to make this easier on you, the host, and the other participants.

Hosts typically can and should take advantage of recording features through their conference call service. Record the conference call start to finish, and make it available online for those who miss it. You’ll avoid the time and annoyance it takes to fill someone in on the material. Hosts should also send out a recap of the conference when it’s done, just as you would with meeting minutes. Include any plans made, deadlines imposed, or next actions to take.

If you’re concerned that a detailed recap and available call recordings will encourage people to skip the actual live call and rely on the review, sneak in something that will discourage that. Offer incentives that are only discussed or given out during the live call, for example, or ask attendees to reply to the recap email with a point from the call they liked best.

Here at Conference Calls Unlimited, we don’t think there are any stupid questions! We encourage you to learn more about how and why conference calls work, and that only happens when you start asking questions—then participating in quality conferencing yourself. Feel free to contact us through the information on the right.

What People are Really Doing on Mobile Conference Calls

As the global business environment has become more and more mobile, so have conference calls. Growth and new technology in web and phone conferencing allow employees to conduct more work from home or on the road, from meetings to interviews to team collaboration. More people are dialing in from mobile phones than ever to join in on a meeting or event from virtually anywhere—truly everywhere, as we’ll find out.

West Unified Communications Services conducted a fascinating survey of over 500 employees regarding their conferencing habits, and we think some will surprise you! Take a look at these results and see if you’ve experienced some of these habits and trends of mobile conferencing.

Employees join calls from all kinds of places

Dialing into a conference from a mobile phone or tablet means you can be nearly anywhere, as long as you have phone service or WiFi connection. People take full advantage of this luxury, especially when they have a day off but still need to join in on a call or meeting.

Check out the most unusual places that respondents of the survey have taken a conference call:

• “Fitting room while trying on clothes”
• “In the middle of the woods during a hiking trip”
• “Outside while grilling and getting a tan”
• “At a pool in Las Vegas”
• “The closet of a friend’s house during a party”
• “A truck stop bathroom”
• “The tunnel leading to NYC”
• “Hospital ER”
• “McDonald’s Playplace”
• “DisneyWorld”
• “The beach...it was a video call so I kept my tablet up so that my bikini didn’t show”
• “Behind a church during a wedding rehearsal”
• “The racetrack”
• “Chasing my dog down the street because she got out of the house”

What’s the strangest place you’ve taken a conference call from? Being on a mobile device lets us join in even when we’re stuck in an unusual place or caught in an unexpected situation.
 

People love to multitask

It’s inevitable—as much as the host of a conference call might want every participant giving their full attention to the call, the ability and temptation to multitask on a mobile conference call is often overpowering. 82% of the employees surveyed said they’ve worked on unrelated items while on a conference call.

Here are some of the things the employees in the survey say they have done while on a call:

• 65% do other work
• 63% send an email
• 55% eat or make food
• 47% go to the restroom
• 44% text
• 43% check social media
• 25% play video games
• 21% shop online
• 9% exercise
• 6% take another phone call

Sound familiar to you? You may not want to admit it, but you’ve likely participated in a few of these things while on a conference call, too. We all enjoy the freedom that mobile calling gives us to multitask and go about our work day more seamlessly.
 

Everyone has a “whoops” moment

We all have days at work where it seems particularly difficult to keep up with projects, make it to meetings, and just plain stay awake. That’s a forgiving excuse for these employees who admitted to a few surprising—but not altogether unusual—faux pas related to skipping out on their conference call obligations.

• 39% dropped off a call without announcing it to pretend they stayed
• 29% took work conference calls from the beach or pool
• 27% fell asleep during a conference call
• 13% have been “outed” for taking a call in a place other than where they claimed to be
• 5% had a friend take a work conference call in their place

Whoops! It’s okay to admit it if any of these common situations has happened to you, too. (Though you should probably avoid them in the future if you can!)
 

Habits differ by gender

Men and women might participate in conference calls slightly differently, whether they’re in the office or on the go. According to the survey, gender differences are correlated with differing habits regarding multitasking and preferred conferencing times.

• Women are more likely to take calls on a mobile device over a landline (67% of women to 62% of men)
• Men are more likely to take calls in the afternoon or evening (51% to 41%)
• Women prefer to take calls in the morning (56% to 44%)
• Men do more multitasking during a conference call (83% to 78%)
• Women are more likely to mute a conference call to eat or make food (40% to 32%)
• Men are more likely to go to the bathroom while on a conference call (50% to 41%)
• Women are more likely to mute the call to shop online (6% to 2%)

Have you noticed that you or others in your office fall into these gendered patterns? While the differences are slight, you might see how the habits of each person taking a conference call are unique.
 

Age alters conference tendencies

Ways of doing business are frequently affected by the age demographic of employees and leaders of a company. Unsurprisingly, Millennials (18-25 years old) have embraced mobile conferencing more than Gen X-ers (36-45 years old): 76% of Millennials say they prefer to take calls on a mobile device compared to just 47% of Gen X.

Younger employees also prefer later conference call times in the afternoon or evening, compared to older age groups who report a preference for morning calls. However, older employees are more likely to take their calls from the pool or beach! This is likely due to the fact that they have worked at their place of business for longer and thus earned more vacation time.
 

Mobile creates more courtesy?

While many of these survey findings have shed a light on some of the less courteous or professional habits of employees taking mobile conference calls, there’s one good thing for everyone involved on the call: 80% of employees are more likely to mute their line when on a mobile device than a landline.

This is really crucial for keeping a call running smoothly, productively, and ending on time. If a host hasn’t muted all participants’ lines automatically, many forget to mute themselves individually. When this happens, callers end up broadcasting side conversations, eating and drinking noises, and other loud background sounds to the whole group on the call.

When employees mute themselves on a mobile call, they do so for the following common reasons:

• Eliminate background noise (69%)
• Talk to someone else (65%)
• Go to the restroom (50%)
• Eat or make food (35%)
• Take another phone call (18%)

So, even though these people are multitasking and not giving the call their full attention, at least they’re not disrupting everyone else when doing so!
 

Mobile conferences are taking over

The main takeaway of these findings is that mobile devices are dominating the world of conference calls, and the proof is in the numbers: 75% of employees reported that they joined at least one conference from a mobile phone in the last month. 64% said they prefer taking a conference call on a mobile device instead of a landline.

The numbers from 2011 to 2013 show just how much mobile device usage for conference calls has increased over time:

• Total mobile calls to conferences increased 23% from 2011 to 2012, and another 19% from 2012 to 2013.
• The number of minutes people spent on mobile conferencing went up 21% from 2011 to 2012, with an additional 17% increase from 2012 to 2013.
• Of the total number of minutes spent on conference calls in general, 21.2% of those minutes were spent via mobile devices, up from 20.8% in 2012 and 19.4% in 2011.

It’s clear that many more people are choosing to join conferences remotely, and the simplest way to do so is through a mobile device. A smartphone or tablet makes it easy for employees to access a meeting from anywhere, whether they’re in the office, on the road, or even enjoying their day off. While this gives way to inevitable distractions, mobile employees seem to enjoy the freedom to multitask while also staying considerate of their fellow call attendees’ experience by muting their line when disruptions come up.

These numbers and findings shed some new light on the way mobile conferencing seems to be taking over the industry. Some of the answers really surprised us! You can check out the full infographic for this survey below and at full size here. You can also learn more about our phone conferencing, web conferencing, and audio streaming services from Conference Calls Unlimited to start enjoying the convenience of mobile conferencing for yourself!