Conference Calls

THE GANG’S ALL HERE
CONFERENCE CALL DOS & DON’TS

words by > Jackie Larson

The telephone is one of the most common and cost-eff ective ways to conduct business meetings with far-fl ung participants when you’re on the road on business. Conference calling’s rapid rise as a preferred tool has prompted a new set of etiquette standards.

Ken Velten, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Conference Plus, Inc., says making your conference call a productive one means putting some thought into it prior to the start of the call. “If you are the host, be sure to provide your meeting participants with all of the instructions they will need to join the conference. A good conferencing service provider makes this notification process easier by delivering detailed call instructions in a format that can be easily modified as needed and emailed by the host,” he says.

When choosing a conference call provider, capacity levels and accessibility should be considered. Your provider can off er pre-event registration services, automating the collection of participant information, tracking attendance and joining participants. “Inbound and outbound notification services are an extremely cost eff ective way to both reach a large audience and target your audience for delivery of disaster recovery and other critical communication information that can be easily pre-recorded by the customer,” Velten says.

By providing callers with an agenda and asking them to review it prior to the meeting, you will improve your odds of accomplishing what you need to and avoid getting off task.

As in other areas of business, planning ahead is critical to making the most of conference calling, Velten says. “In the conference call notification, inform your participants of the purpose, agenda and time limit for your meeting. During the meeting, encourage participants to stick to the agenda and time limit,” he says. Identifying meeting participants with either a host roll call or with participant introductions is helpful, as is having speakers identify themselves and address individuals by name.

While nothing beats real face-to-face time, you can add a speakerphone and web conference to your live meeting or event. “From there, it is easy to further expand your audience by recording the event for later access by other participants, at their convenience,” Velten says.

Speakerphones can present audio problems during conference calls, however. Avoid these issues by making sure all attendees are close enough to the speakerphone and by keeping side discussions and people speaking at the same time to a minimum.

Web conferencing has become relatively easy, cost eff ective and reliable, making it a simpler way to share information than separately distributing documents or presentations.

Debbie Howell is a senior editor with a New York company. Conference calls are part of the high-tech package that makes it possible for her to telecommute while in Texas. Her company relies on teleconferencing for long-term and mid-range planning. She also uses playback webcasts of earlier teleconferences of other companies’ forecasts in her work.

Conference call meetings vary in length from 15 minutes to an hour for Howell—and they get the job done, she says. “It feels like a meeting. It’s very organized. They have an agenda,” she says. “It helps you stay in touch with what’s going on with the company.”

TROUBLE ON THE LINE
Solutions to some common conference call problems.

Confusing directions?
Your invitation needs to include the time and time zone of the call, the number to call, pass code, basic agenda information if applicable, and information about other participants.

Keeping up with note taking?
Digitally recording the meeting will make taking minutes for distribution a breeze. As a courtesy, be sure to let all of the participants know that the meeting is being recorded.

Did I just say that out loud?
Avoid wasted time or embarrassment. Check your equipment ahead of time—especially the mute button.

You’re breaking up.
If possible, use a phone with a corded handset. Cellular and cordless phones can pick up more static and noise. If you seem to have a bad connection, try to hang up and redial. The new line may well be an improvement.

Mute points
Meeting participants on cell phones or speaking from places with noisy backgrounds should always try to remember to mute their phones when they aren’t speaking.

I hear my mother calling.
If your line has a call waiting function, deactivate it for the call’s duration.

Elevator music
Putting the call on hold is definitely a big nono—especially if your phone system plays music while on hold. Your meeting should be your sole concern.

Guess who
Introduce yourself each time you speak. This is especially helpful when it’s a larger meeting or other participants are unfamiliar with your voice, but it also helps prevent confusion with longtime colleagues.