Posts Tagged ‘Background Noise’

Fewer Conference Call Interruptions

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Anyone who has been on a conference call has experienced interruptions during the call.  I am going to provide some recommendations to keeping these interruptions to a minimum so you can have the most productive meeting possible.  Here are some of the ways that conference calls suffer interruptions and the ways to avoid those interruptions.

  • Sounds when people enter/exit the call – There is a feature used by most conference call service providers that has a tone play when a participant enters or exits the conference call.  Some people like this feature because they are able to know when a new person has joined a conference call.  But if you are less concerned about keeping track of people joining then you are about the noise this introduces into the call with Zip Conferencing you can turn these tones off.  In fact with our customizable conference options you can have a tone play only when participants enter the call or when they exit the call or none at all.  You can even have their name play instead of just a tone.
  • Background noise from participants- Many times people will multi-task when they are on a conference call.  The sound of typing is a very common noise heard on conference calls as participants do work while they listen to a call.  And today many people work from home and introduce all the sounds of their home into the conference call as well.  Kids, dogs and doorbells are all noises you are likely to hear on a conference call.   And then there is the cell phone which can make it easy to participate in a conference call from anywhere but introduce the noises from anywhere onto the call.  The best way to combat  all of the exterior noises is to make sure all of the participants use the mute feature whenever they are not speaking.  With Zip Conferencing it is a simple *6 command on your telephone to mute and unmute yourself.  So as the Host simply make people aware at the start of the call to use mute whenever they are not adding anything to the discussion and you will save yourself a lot of noise interruptions.
  • Unidentified speakers- You may find yourself on a call with a number of people you are not completely familiar with so when someone speaks you may not recognize their voice.  It is good conference call etiquette to introduce yourself when you are speaking.  A simple introduction will avoid any mistaken identity issues and keep everyone on the same page.  With Zip Conferencing you can also log into the conference call using your PC and see who is speaking by observing the talk icon on the screen.
  • Participants joining late – As a host it is important to start conference calls on time so people get used to the fact that your meetings will start on time.  As a further enforcement you can lock the conference call after you start your call so that no one else can join.  The *94 command will lock the call and not allow additional participants.  This may be a bit harsh but people will remember to join on time the next time.

Zip Conferencing has a number of tools to assist you with keeping the noise on a conference call to a dull roar.

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Conference Call Host Controls

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Before the adoption of reservationless conference calls, conference callswere run by an operator and if you wanted something to be done on the call you simply asked the operator to perform the task.  Now you simply need to use your own touch tone phone to access a wide variety of conference call controls.  Commonly referred to as Host Controls, these commands allow the Host or Moderator of the conference call to control a number of features on the conference call.    Surprisingly, many people do not use these easy to use commands, perhaps most users are simply unaware of their availability and how easy they are to use. 

Here is a list of the Host Controls available with Zip Conferencing Conference Calls

Conference Shortcuts

- Press *1 to hear a help menu.

- Press *0 to reach an operator.

- Press *6 to mute or “un-mute” line.

- Press *4 to increase conference volume.

- Press *7 to decrease conference volume.

- Press *5 to increase your voice volume.

- Press *8 to decrease your voice volume.

 

Moderator Features:

- Press *91 to hear a participant count.

- Press *92 to hear a roll call of participants.

- Press *93 to disconnect all participant lines.

- Press *94 to lock or unlock conference.

- Press *95 to dial out to participants.

- Press *96 to mute all participant lines.

- Press *97 to un-mute all participant lines.

- Press *21 to activate Subconferencing.

- Press *22 to initiate record and playback (*22 again to pause/stop the recording)

- Press *31 to turn Conference Security Code on/off.

- Press *32 to record your Conference Introduction.

 

The two most used features are muting lines and recording the conference call.  Muting and UnMuting participants comes in handy if you have a large number of people on the conference call and you do not want background noise to interrupt your presentation.  It also is helpful for the participants when they are in a high noise situation and do not want to interrupt the conference call.  They can toggle this feature on and off so they can provide input during the call and then mute their line again when done. 

 

Recording of the conference call is very useful if you want to be able to retain a copy of the conference call or provide participants who missed the conference call the opportunity to hear it.  After recording the confernece call you can either provide participants a dial in number and pass code to listen to the recording, download the recording to your computer or order a CD of the recording for your records.

 

Other options for Host Controls on the conference call include the ability to conduct a sub-conference, volume adjustment and security features that ensure your conference call is only accessed by the people you want on the conference call.  Conference Call Host Controls are easy to use and provide access to valuable features on your conference call.

www.zipconferencing.com

 

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Conference Call Etiquette

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

We have all been on a conference call where someone does something to either disrupt the call, embarass themselves or both.  I am going to point out things that will help make the difference on your conference call between a success and a failure whether you are hosting the call or jsut a participant.

As the Host or Moderator of conference calls

  • Give participants plenty of notice about the scheduled time of the conference call.  Even if you are the boss and can make them attend at a moment’s notice, if the participants are harried or have to reschedule to make the call they will be distracted during the conference call.
  • Send out an agenda with the conference call meeting invitation.  I know that this is not done in many cases but having your audience prepared for the call allows particpants to be ready for the discussion.  Even if it is not a formal agenda a simple listing of topics to be discussed on the conference call really helps.
  • Start your conference calls on time.  Even if a participant is late if you become known as someone who starts on time your participants will learn to be oon time as well.
  • Take a roll call at the beginning of the conference call so that everyone knows who is in attendance.  This will get everyone participating right away and make people  more comfortable.
  • Even though everyone takes the technology for granted, try to not use a cell phone if you are hosting the conference call.  It is one thing for a participant to be on a cell phone, they can mute their line if they have to, but the Host needs to control the meeting and have a clear, consistent connection.
  • Put yourself in a quiet environment.  Background noise can be a real nuisance on a conference call.
  • Treat it like a meeting.  Take notes, assign tasks, etc.  Where most people struggle on a conference call is being aimless in the way the meeting is conducted.   

Good practices for Moderators and Participants

  • Introduce yourself when you speak every time.  Many times the participants have a hard time determining who is speaking.
  • Learn to use the mute button.  Especially if you have to join the confernece call via cell phone you should use the mute button whenever possible.  Any noise you produce or background noise will be on the entire conference call.
  • If you are using a speakerphone and own a PDA like a BlackBerry, make sure the PDA/BlackBerry is nowhere near the Speakerphone.  The transmission and reception of messagtes into the device will make noise across the conference call.
  • Don’t ever put your phone on hold while on a conference call.  Any hold music or messages will play across the entire conference call the entire time you have your phone on hold.
  • Just like an in person meeting take care of any bathroom needs prior and after the conference call.  No matter how familiar you are with your mute button, inevitably everyone will hear the flush.

Finally you are ready to close the conference call.  Thank your participants for their time.  Whether an in person meeting or a conference call, people’s time is valuable and should be recognized.  Participants will be more willing to give you their time again.

www.zipconferencing.com

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