The first key to a successful large conference call is matching the right service to the situation.  You can choose to go with an automated conference call or an operator assisted conference call and each has its advantages and disadvantages.  Picking the right one will do a lot to ensuring a successful outcome.  Here are the two types and some of their differences.

Automated Large Conference Call – With an automated large conference call the participants call into the system and enter a code and are placed in the meeting.  You are probably familiar with this type of call as it is used with 3 or more participants.  For a large number of participants there are a few settings that make this call different.  The participants are placed on hold listening to music until the Host joins the call.  And when the meeting begins the participants are in mute mode.  Both of these features keep the noise out of the conference call.  The advantages of this type of call is the participants are placed immediately into the conference so a large number of participants can join quickly.  It is also less expensive than an operator assisted conference call.  A disadvantage of this type of call is there is not an elegant way for the audience to interact with the Host through a Q & A session.

Operator Assisted Large Conference Call – With an Operator Assisted Large Conference Call participants are usually intercepted by an operator and joined into the meeting manually so that the operator can get information from the participant although an automated entry feature is available.  The participants in this type of call are also placed on hold listening to music until the meeting starts and are in mute during the call.  The difference is that the operator has the ability to conduct a Q & A session with the participants.  Participants can raise their hand by pressing a button on their phone and the operator introduces them so they can ask their question.  In fact the operator is there throughout the call to introduce speakers, close out the meeting and assist the Host if needed.

Either way, Zip Conferencing can take the worry out of the technology so you can concentrate on what is really important, your presentation.

Here is an independent review of a number of conference call providers.  It is always a little scary when someone reviews your service as you can never be sure if they were able to absorb all of the details of your service.  And although this review is no different and a couple of details were missed they did a pretty good job of getting our information and rating our service.  In the article they summarize our service and the availability of features and options.  They also do a decent job trying to explain some of the features available from a conference call service.

Some of the things you should look for in any conferencing service are the availability of features with the service, the reliability and the ease of use.  In this case the ease of use of our service was not tested which was unfortunate because I know that Zip Conferencing offers one of the easiest to use conference calling services available.  And if that is important to you then I invite you to do what this tester has not done, test the service.  Zip Conferencing offers a Free trial for anyone when you sign up for the service.  So why not kick the tires yourself a little bit and see what all the fuss is about.  And don’t just listen to me, go to the Top Ten Reviews site and read our review.

A customized greeting that plays when people join your call will really help in a number of ways.  You can record a greeting that will play when people join your meeting.  You can record anything you want and change it for each meeting if you like.  It will put people at ease that they are joining the correct call.  Or you can make people feel special since you took the time to welcome a particular guest into the meeting.  Just like when you put a prospect’s logo on a presentation it helps welcome them and makes them feel special.

And getting a customized greeting into your meeting is really easy.  It is simply one of the host controls that are available to you when you use the Moderator pass code to join a meeting.  So before your meeting you just need to dial into your conference call as the moderator and press *32 on your telephone.  The system will ask if you would like to record a personal greeting press 1 and then walk you through the rest of the process.  When you are done you simply disconnect from the conference.  Then whenever a participant joins your meeting they will hear the recording before they are placed into the call.  If you create a new meeting you will have to record another personal greeting in that meeting if you want the recording to play into that meeting as well as the recording is associated with the pass code.

So why not make your conference call participants feel right at home and record a personal greeting for your next meeting.

Not only is it easier to manipulate the conference call from your PC, you can also see the participants on the call so you always know how many participants are on and where they are calling from.  This makes it easy to identify participants and gives you the security of knowing who is on the call at all times.  You can even tell who is speaking as their is a talk icon on the screen as well.

From within the conference call you can mute participants and since you have a talk icon you can tell if one person is adding noise to your call and mute them.  You can also lock the call which means no one can join the conference, not even one of our operators.  The online application also makes it much easier to conduct a sub conference by marking participants and sending them to the sub conference.  And if you need to add another participant you can even dial out to someone and add them to the call.  When you are done with your meeting you can also end the conference call with the click of a button.

Conference calls are really convenient if you are on the road as you can dial into a meeting from anywhere.  But if you are hosting a call and you are in front of your computer you should really try watching your call next time.  You will find that there is no easier way to host a conference call.

Entry/Exit Tones – You can decide if you like to have a tone play when a participant joins or exits your conference call.  You can set it so that the tones only play when someone enters the call.  Or you can set it so they only play when someone exits.  O r you can have it play for both entry and exit or not at all.  You can even have the system record the participants name when the join the meeting and have that play instead of the tones.

Music on Hold – If you would prefer that participants not be able to talk to each other until you join the call you can set the system to play hold music before you join the meeting.  And if you don’t want the participants to be able to talk with each other when the meeting is over you can also set the  system to disconnect the call when you leave.

Post Conference Report – And if you want to have all the details of your conference call emailed to you upon completion of your meeting you can select the post conference report option.  You will receive an email that shows the participants, their entry and exit times and even the number they were calling from when they joined the call.

To access these and other conference options you simply need to log into your account and go to your conferencing Hub where you can access the options for your conference.

What music on hold does is that when participants join your conference call they listen to music until you, the host of the call, join the meeting.  This prevents any discussion between participants before you join the meeting.  That way when you join the meeting you are in control and can take the meeting in the direction you want from the very beginning.  You can also set your conference call to disconnect all parties when you leave the call which prevents any discussion between the participants after you have left the meeting.  From a control and security point of view this gives you the ultimate control over the meeting.  This can be especially important if your participants are prospective customers for instance.  You would not necessarily want your prospects talking before you get on the call.  And it also helps keep meetings to their scheduled time as you can start and end a meeting on time every time.

With Zip Conferencing you can simply log onto your online account and access your conference call settings and select the options you prefer.  For the music on hold feature you would select Music on Hold and to break up the conference call when you leave the meeting you would select End Conference when Moderator Exits in the conference options section.  You can also control a number of other features that determine how your call operates.  In addition you have access to Host Controls that are available during the call that enable you to perform several things such as mute all participants and record the conference.

• Pre-Conference Support – A dedicated operator will meet with you before your meeting to go through all of the aspects of the call to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Details will include any introductions, cues and instructions for how the meeting will be run.
• Customized Meeting Introduction – Our dedicated operator can start the meeting by introducing the hosts and topic of the meeting to the audience.  They can also conclude the meeting with a customized exit script.
• Communication Line – A communication line during the operator assisted conference call enables the operator to speak to the host of the meeting during the call privately to confer on any instructions needed during the call.  We can even establish a communication line to multiple hosts if necessary.
• Muted Participants – All participants will be muted during an operator assisted conference call while the host is speaking.  This eliminates any noise the participants may otherwise introduce onto the call.  An operator assisted conference call can support thousands of participants and have no issues with outside noise interfering with the presentation.
• Question & Answer Session – At the end of the leader’s presentation you can conduct a Question and Answer session.  Participants will be instructed by the operator to press a command on their telephones if they wish to ask a question.  The operator will then escort these participants onto the call one at a time so that they may ask their question.
• Polling Session – Using telephone keypad commands the operator can conduct a poll among the participants if instructed by the host of the call.  The results of the poll can be announced on the call and retained for further study later.
• Attendance Report – You can have the participants register as they enter the meeting and then receive an attendance report after the meeting.  In addition to their name, our operators can gather additional information like the company they are with so you know who attended your presentation.
• Recordings – The operator assisted conference call can be recorded and made available for people to dial into it later in case they missed the live meeting.  You can also download a recording of the event for your archive or to post on your own web site for people to listen to.

So if you have a large event scheduled but are intimidated by the technology aspect, let our operators handle your call for a more professional presentation and peace of mind!

Conference call recordings with Zip Conferencing are easy to do, just hit the record button from within the meeting if you are logged in or touch *22 on your telephone keypad to initiate the recording.  The recording will continue until the meeting is completed or you can pause the conference call recording by simply pressing *22 again.  Once your meeting has completed you will receive an email with the information necessary to dial in and access the recording.  You can send this to the participant who missed the meeting and they can dial into our system to listen to the call at their convenience.  While they listen to the call they can pause, rewind and fast forward the recording.  And the recording is accessible 24 hours a day so they can listen to the call when it is most convenient for them.  The recording is stored for 30 days in our system and that storage can also be extended if necessary.

Another thing you can do with conference call recordings is get a copy of the conference call.  You can download a copy by logging into your online access portal and downloading a copy to your computer.  The recordings are available in multiple formats and you can also order a CD copy of the recording to be delivered to you.

With Zip Conferencing there is no cost to record your conference call so there is no reason not to record all your conference calls in case a participant misses the call or you want to recall a conversation later.  If you then dial in to access the recording you are charged just as if you dialed into the live meeting.  So why not use conference call recording to save the day?

Disaster Planning Coordination – Conference calls provide the ability to bring many departments together to coordinate efforts in preparation for a disaster like a hurricane.  The preparation period can make the difference between business continuity and not.  A conference call makes sure everyone is on the same page and all departments know what everyone else is doing.

Employee Communication – After something like a hurricane hits a conference call with all employees can provide them the information they need like whether the office will be open. By making sure that all employees get the same message you will alleviate a lot of anxiety.

Department Meetings – If your office can’t open then conference calls provide the means to continue to hold meetings and conduct your business.  With Web Conferencing services you can conduct meetings just like you are in the office.

Make sure you are ready for the next disaster like Hurricane Sandy.  Sign up for our conference call services today.  You will not be charged unless you use the service so why not have the service ready in case you need it?

As host of the call you can disconnect all participant lines with the *93 command.  This is usually used to make sure all connections are hung up at the end of the call.  But it can also be used to disconnect all participants if you are doing back to back conference calls and you want to get the current participants off the call.  That way you know that the participants on the first call do not linger onto the next call.  When you use the *93 command you disconnect all participants but retain your connection to the conference call.  That way you don’t have to dial back into the call as the host.  This additional security measure is reassuring to hosts who are concerned about the participants who attend their calls.

Explore all of the host controls available with Zip Conferencing on our web site.