Over the last thirty years, conference calls have gone from a business tool that was the province of only the biggest companies to an everyday way of holding meetings for organizations. As such, the competition these days for business is fierce among various conference call providers. A conference call is when three or more people in different locations talk on the phone at the same time.
Conferencing is a well known way to put together a meeting between people that are not in the same geographic area. Whether it be a meeting between co-workers that need to discuss a project or between you and a client to discuss a problem, if you know how to make a conference call, it can save both sides time and money.
Teleconferencing can be don through an audio conference call using only the telephone or through the web if you need to share files or visual aids. Since most companies have resources for outbound conference calls via the phone, that is what we will cover here.
When you want to host a conference call for your business or personal use, it's important to know how to make a conference call. So, here is an easy step to help you.
1 . A good way to get a handle on the frequency of your conference call usage is to take a snapshot of the last six months and come up with an average monthly number of calls conducted.
2 . Selecting a conference call provider is to identify how frequently your organization currently utilizes conference calls. Perhaps you have departments that conduct conference calls on a recurring basis
3 . At this juncture, begin to think in terms of any additional service options you may want to try in the future. Make sure any conference call provider that makes it on your list of potential candidates has those features available.
Before The Conference Call
Prior to the audio conference call, you want to make sure that you have appointed someone to take minutes of the meeting. You need to schedule the time with your conference call service. Be sure to pass this along to all attendees in your invitation to the audio conference call.
During The Conference Call
Be sure to be prompt for your conference call so log in a few minutes ahead of time so you can be on the line when new people join in. Keep a list of everyone who is supposed to be on the call and check their names off as they join.
After The Conference Call
When ending the call, be sure to go over any action items and add them to the to-do list. Put these in the minutes from the meeting and send to all attendees. This is also a good time to schedule any follow up audio conferences if needed so all attendees can agree on a time.
