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!

Why All-in-One Web Conferencing Works

It’s well known that there’s a trend in technology toward gadgets and software that seem to do it all—with users able to take advantage of a dizzying number of functions and features within the same service. Web conferencing has done the same, transforming from simple webinar or video conferencing services to all-in-one collaboration platforms for meetings, events, training, etc.

But this kind of collaboration-based software is more than just a trend—it’s already changed the way that companies, large and small, do business. And it’s a good thing: all-in-one web conferencing can save on costs and time, boost productivity, and serve your business in more ways than you might imagine.

Let’s take a look at why and how these services work for you.

Making business easier

All-in-one web conference services do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to business communications, whether simple daily or weekly meetings or more complex special events. On their most basic level, they allow any team to meet online through video and audio feeds, no matter where they are in the world.

Beyond that, these services provide tools that allow participants to share much more than just voices or faces. Common features of comprehensive web conferencing include:

• Screen sharing for desktop or mobile devices
• File sharing for documents, photos, videos, etc.
• Markup tools like whiteboards & annotations
• Chat and polling
• Conference recording
• Shared work space to gather recordings, meeting notes, & follow-ups

These tools make any virtual communication easy and feel like a true collaborative meeting, not just a simple conference call.

Perhaps the best part is that the learning curve for this kind of service is much smaller: employees have only one type of software to master, rather than several separate services for conference calling, task management, file sharing, etc. This makes people much more likely to readily adopt a new set of tools and be more productive, more quickly.
 

Making a case for flexibility

While lots of trendy modern startups have made a relaxed office environment, remote work, and flexible schedules popular, plenty more companies are resistant to alter a more traditional system that’s been working for years. Of course not every business can work with the same model for their staff.

But there’s real value for almost any company in making simple, practical changes to allow employees more flexibility, and that’s what comprehensive web conferencing offers.

Say there’s severe weather that prevents employees from coming into the office. Your valuable operations don’t come to a halt and you don’t risk anyone’s safety—you just hop on a web conference from home computers or mobile devices to discuss the game plan and continue work as normally as possible.

Or say you have an employee who’s traveling for work, but they took an important file with them—and now their return flight is delayed. All they have to do is share it with the group through the web conferencing platform, from whatever device they can. They’ll also continue to stay up to date with meeting content, notes, and files from the virtual work space while they’re away.

If your company is already very mobile and flexible, comprehensive web conferencing can give remote employees more freedom in how they connect to a meeting or conference. Some prefer sharing their screens to illustrate everything, some just want to participate with audio, and others can only access the notes, files, and recordings after the fact—and all of those options are available within the same service.
 

Saving time and money

Going with a web conferencing service that bundles together a number of tools and features typically results in a lower cost for your company, compared to paying for many different forms of software for each tool. This has obvious benefits for reducing business expenses.

The savings on time are perhaps even more significant. For one, your IT department—or whoever handles the setup and maintenance for any software your company uses—only has one vendor to communicate with, which streamlines the process and time spent on support and maintenance. It’s also much easier to get one piece of software up and running for everyone.

Secondly, employees spend less time figuring out how the technology works when there is just one user experience to navigate. This cuts down on technical difficulties and frustration, freeing them up to join conferences faster and get work done quicker.

These kinds of cost and time savings can really add up over the span of time you use a comprehensive service, which can be a very long time due to the adaptable and expandable nature of the service—as we discuss next.
 

Growing with your business

Perhaps more frustrating than anything when adopting new software for business is when a company finds they’ve outgrown the tools available and are forced to jump ship—often at a great expense of time, energy, and money. All-in-one web conferencing services have a better chance of staying with you and working through business growth and changes.

Say you invest in a web conferencing service with the intention of using it to host your weekly meetings on a virtual platform. That works well for your small team, but then you open a second office across the country, or hire on more remote employees. You can simply upgrade to more attendees on your web conference service if you need to, and start taking advantage of more of the collaboration tools already in place with a comprehensive service.

Or there may be new uses you find for the same software over time. If you find you need to conduct training, you can take advantage of the video conferencing, screen sharing, and interactive features in new, educational ways. Or, you could decide to offer up live public webinars or webinar recordings to help add value to your business and attract new customers.
 

Here at Conference Calls Unlimited, we’ve been in the teleconferencing industry since 1998, and we can tell when something is more than just a trend. Comprehensive all-in-one web conferencing seems to really improve the lives and businesses of our clients, and we try to make this service available to you as easily as possible for a truly simple transition. Learn more about how we can customize your web conferencing service, and start being more productive today.

 

How Conference Calls Work

We talk a lot about conference calls, conferencing services, and the reasons why using these services is beneficial for business. There are typically a lot of features to discuss and compare when deciding on a service, and quality is always a major consideration. But what does quality in conference calls mean? That requires getting into how conference calling works in the first place.

Let’s talk about the technology and systems working invisibly behind your phone when you join a traditional conference call by telephone, as well as the human input necessary to make it happen. This will help give you a better understanding of what goes into your weekly meetings, corporate events, or other conferences, as well as give you an idea of what you'll experience on a call if you’re not accustomed to the technology.

The technology of conferencing

1. The Bridge

Any conference call using traditional phone lines begins with what’s called a conference bridge. This bridge is a server that essentially acts as a telephone, able to answer several calls at once. A phone conference company may have their own bridge, or contract the use of one from another service provider. The conferencing company then offers the use of that bridge through their services for businesses and individuals.

2. The PBX

For use in a business setting, people are typically connected to a conference through their company’s PBX, or private branch exchange, which is simply the system in place to connect multiple telephones within the same office. Instead of running an individual phone line to each telephone in an office, phones share a line and each phone is set up as an extension. The PBX is connected to a typical telephone network, called a PSTN.

3. The PSTN

PSTN, or Public Switched Telephone Network, is the standard infrastructure by which any landline phone call is made. Phones are connected by a process of circuit switching, which routes the call through several local, regional, national, or international switches, depending on the distance between the two phones being connected.

The VoIP alternative

Note that many newer conference call providers have switched to online services, not just for web conferencing that includes video, but also for audio only. These services rely on VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, which uses digital audio files to transmit sound over the internet instead of traditional analog signals.
 

The human elements of conferencing

So what actually happens when you use all of this technology to make a conference call? How does a phone conference typically work, and what can you expect from it?
 

Joining the conference call as a guest

To connect to a bridge and thereby join a conference call, you will either call a provided phone number (referred to as MeetMe conferencing) or be called by a host or moderator (ad hoc conferencing). The person or enterprise hosting the call will distribute the necessary information for access, be it a regular phone number or toll-free 800-number, a time of day to expect an incoming call, and/or any other access codes or PIN numbers to enter thereafter.

After dialing a number or accepting a call, you can typically expect an automated greeting or a prompt to enter access codes into your phone’s keypad. You may also be asked to give your name, business name, or other basic identifying information. This can be recorded and used to play back to just the conference host, or all of the participants on the call, in order to announce your arrival.

How the rest of the call goes completely depends upon how your host chooses to facilitate it, as well as what features from the specific conference service they choose to take advantage of. They’ll instruct you to use your dialpad for functions like muting the audio on your line or reaching a live operator for assistance. There may also be instructions in place for participating in a poll during or after the call.
 

Hosting a conference call

As an individual or business wishing to host your own conference call for a meeting, event, or training, you’ll first choose a phone conferencing service based on how many participants you want to host. You’ll typically work with a sales agent to discuss what the best service or package is for your needs, then they’ll set you up with a dedicated phone number and access codes to distribute to your attendees.

You will then get familiar with the features that your service provides—such as greeting, muting, polling, and recording. You’ll set a date and time for your conference and distribute emails or other notices to your attendees that include the phone number and access codes to dial, or a time to expect an incoming call that will connect them. You’ll also include any specific instructions for international participants if applicable.

Finally, you’ll start the call by dialing into the conference bridge and setting up any features you want, like beginning a recording of the call, or setting up a conference call lock that disallows late entry, etc. You’ll facilitate the content of your call however you wish, with a main speaker or speakers, or everyone participating. You can also access a special feature available from some conferencing services that gives you support from a live operator throughout the call’s duration.

The call ends when you hang up the phone or press a number to end it, at which time you will end a call recording, receive post-conference reports, or any other special features you have put in place through your service.

That’s all it takes! We hope this guide has given you a deeper understanding of everything that really goes into a conference call, while also putting you at ease by showing how simple and easy it is to host or join one yourself. You can learn more about our own phone conferencing services at Conference Calls Unlimited by giving us a call at the number to the right.

 

9 Reasons Why You Should Record Your Conference Calls

By now you probably know that recording is an important feature of phone and web conferencing. You can create a great recording of any live conference by simply pressing “record” when you start a meeting or event.

But what you may not know is that the recording feature should be considered a necessity, not just an option! There are so many ways in which conference recordings can assist and improve your business.

Here’s how and why you should start using the recording feature to your full advantage.

1. Create convenience

Conference call recordings provide convenience for both your business and your attendees. You will always have people who were supposed to be or wanted to be included in a conference but couldn’t make it. Offering up a recording after the conference is over allows those who missed it to catch up, on demand.

It’s convenient for you, too, because you don’t have to spend separate time and resources to catch someone up on what they missed, or even reschedule or repeat a conference. Offering more options and convenience to your customers also speaks highly of your company, which can be an invaluable boost to your reputation.

The same recording can also conveniently double as a tool for sales, security, recordkeeping, and more, as we’ll see below.
 

2. Keep better records

Recording a web or phone conference simply allows for better recordkeeping. It’s impossible to take perfect notes in a busy conference with many speakers, or when there are visual elements in a web conference that can’t be captured or returned to once they pass by.

For a business, a recording means getting a permanent and complete record of any conference. It takes the guesswork out of referring back to any of the content or trying to recall specific wording. You can easily return to an audio or video file to hear what someone said verbatim. You can also archive the recordings and keep them organized for later use, whether through your conferencing service, your website, or your own local hard drive.

For attendees who wished they could have had a “rewind” button during the live conference, the recording allows them to revisit elements they may have missed. They can keep referring back to that resource as long as it’s available to them from the host.
 

3. Get a larger audience

Offering an on-demand recording in addition to your live conference expands your potential audience infinitely. This is essential to those events for which you want to reach as many people as possible.

All phone and web conferencing providers have limits on how many people can attend your live call, which might depend on the service package you’ve chosen and can afford. Naturally, there are also limits to how many people can attend on a particular date and time based on their availability.

But the recording feature, which often comes free with the rest of your service, widens that audience significantly if you offer the recording to a wider public online. You reach more people with half the work and virtually no extra expense.
 

4. Back up securely

Recording a conference is an easy way to make sure to back up all the information contained in a conference—using a simple feature within the conferencing service itself. And it’s effortless, because it’s occurring simultaneously with your live call and then saved immediately to your computer.

The recording saves as a standard audio or video file that you can store wherever you wish. You can then quickly zip files up and whisk them off to an external hard drive if you want, or have them backed up by whatever service you already have in place.

It offers significant peace of mind to know that a recording is taking place in the background to catch whatever valuable information happens on your call. You don’t risk losing anything if you always record.
 

5. See better payoff

Conference recordings offer more value to your business, in multiple ways. For one, you get more cost mileage out of the conferences you’ve already done, as they are available to customers indefinitely as recordings. This potentially reduces the time and cost needed to create new content more frequently.

Having recordings continuously available online also offers greater return on investment. Available recordings can generate new leads for your business each day just by sitting there on your website. You can also offer them up in unique ways to drive further engagement or monetary gain.

For instance, you could offer recordings as a feature that requires paid access. Or, your best conference recordings could be a free gift for subscribing to a service or upgrading. Get creative with how your recordings can offer even more value to you and more incentive to your customers.
 

6. Create dynamic training material

Using web conferencing for educational purposes can be invaluable, as you are able to teach or train individuals with an array of elements through presentations, file sharing, screen sharing, etc. Recording conferences for training means you can redistribute the same information to whoever needs to learn it, without having to re-do a class or training session over and over.

This is not only useful for internal training in your company, but for customer service as well. You can create and record conferences that lay out the features of your service or explain how things work. You can then make these recordings available on your website for new clients to learn about their new product or service and old clients to revisit whenever they like.

Sometimes you may not even intend for a conference to turn into training material. Say you’re web conferencing with a client to address some questions they have, and it turns into a really great general how-to video or troubleshooting guide. Recording makes it so you can share that valuable material with your whole client base or other employees, eliminating the need to create separate content for that purpose.

7. Simplify the hiring process

Though you may not have thought about it before, conference recording can make the work of your HR department a lot easier and employee transitions much smoother.

Your hiring staff can conduct interviews via video conference, as many do when a prospect can’t meet face-to-face. This allows both parties to see and hear one another easily as they ask and answer questions, as well as share necessary documents like resumes, contracts, etc.

If the interviewer records each interview conference, he or she can simply forward a standout interview to anyone in the office who needs to or is interested in reviewing the candidate before hiring. This can help speed up the hiring process by making it easier to review and compare candidates, and potentially eliminate the extra time and expense of additional interviews.
 

8. Improve sales and marketing

Conference recordings have other valuable uses for sales and marketing that you may not expect. You can actually skip distributing a live conference, and simply use the tools of your web conferencing platform to create and record promotional material in unique ways.

Maybe you record a rich sales pitch or marketing presentation using the audio, screen sharing, and video features of a web conferencing service. Then you can quickly provide the information about your business or a new product to any prospects. It quickly provides an engaging and complete pitch that a simple phone call or standard presentation cannot.

This is a great way of making your web conferencing service do even more for you, without the expense of further software or technology. It’s an easy and convenient way to present information with a service you’re already familiar with, but which people often don’t even think to take full advantage of in this way.
 

9. Make conferences better

Finally, recorded conferences allow for future conferences to improve in quality. This is because a business can go back and review their history of output, determine what isn’t working, and figure out what to change on the next live call.

Looking back at past conferences also helps to prevent repeat material, or can prompt further discussion of a past topic in a future call or webinar. You can even watch or listen to recorded conferences from other companies in your industry to find out what techniques are working for them that you might implement yourself.

This valuable hindsight could be what transforms your small webinar into a widespread public success, or your simple business presentation into something that makes more and more customers want to buy in to your brand. Conferencing can and should be something you are always improving at.
 

Conclusion

We hope this has given you plenty of reason to start recording your web and phone conferences—and provided you some new ways of using them if you already do so. Feel free to reach out to us to learn more about the recording features of our services here at Conference Calls Unlimited, and to start using your conference call recordings to do great business!