TelSpan

Your audio conference has begun. Here are some things to keep in mind during the conference itself:

Noise
If it all possible, avoid extraneous sounds (music, coughing, eating, typing, etc.) since these sounds may be bothersome to the other participants and may make it difficult for some to hear the ongoing conversation.

Speaking
It is always recommended that everyone take turns speaking. Your conference will be clearest if only one person speaks at a time with no secondary or competing conversation. If there are more than four people on your conference, briefly state your name before speaking (i.e. Susan here, I think that…”) Also announce your departure from the conference.

Breaks
Reservationless audio conference calls can be started and stopped at any time. If you need a break, you can disconnect and dial back in when ready, or the call can be completely stopped then resumed whenever convenient.

Next week we’ll review a few more tips to make your call run smoothly.

Now that you’ve properly prepared for your audio conference, let’s address best practices for the beginning of your call. It is recommended thatn when you enter an audio conference, you state your name and affiliation. As the host, if you selected the “Enter Tones” feature as an account option, a single audible tone will alert you each time a new arrival enters the conference. At that time, if that participant has not identified himself or herself, you can ask them to introduce themselves. If you selected the “Exit Tones” feature as an account option, you will hear another audible tone whenever a participant leaves the conference.

Another option, called “Roll Call on Entry”, alleviates this issue by requiring each participant to state their name before they enter the live conference and their name is announced when they enter the call. This option is useful if you need to collect this information as a part of your conference and it gives you the opportunity to obtain roster updates at any time during the call.

Next week we’ll look at tips to keep disruptions during the call to a minimum.

Sometimes people are surprised that so many things they never considered can cause the quality and effectiveness of their audio conference call to deteriorate. This blog is the first in a series of tips to increase the professionalism and success of your next audio conference call.

Prepare For Your Audio Conference

First, consider the equipment you will use to conduct or participate in your audio conference all. For instance, your audio conference will function via your speakerphone. However, we suggest that you use speakerphones judiciously since they pick up many background noises of which you may be unaware. These background noises will greatly reduce the quality of the entire conference. Unfortunately the quality of speakerphone equipment can vary dramatically, and will impact the clarity of your call.

Next week we’ll at further into best practices once your call is under way.