Posts Tagged ‘Hosting’

Conference Call Hosting - Take Control of your Meetings

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

If you are the organizer of a meeting, you are responsible for the meeting’s success.  When the meeting is a conference call there are a few things you can do to make sure you have an effective meeting.  Just like in a face to face meeting you need to establish control of the meeting right up front so that everyone knows you are in charge and what the ground rules are going to be.  Here are some ways to take control of the conference call if you are the host.

  • Be on Time - Especially as the Host of the conference call it is important that you are on time and that the participants know that the meeting will start on time.  This is respectful of the time of your participants and you will find that over time you will get better participation if they know the conference call will start and end on time.
  • Have an Agenda - Even if it is a skeletal outline of what is to be discussed, an agenda distributed ahead of the conference call will give the participants an opportunity to prepare for the meeting.  Participants are much more likely to participate if they are comfortable with the material being discussed and are ready for the topics.
  • Establish and Hold to a time frame - Make sure that you end the conference call on time.  Many times participants have back to back meetings and ending on time or ahead of schedule will encourage ongoing participation on the conference call. 
  • Eliminate or reduce any noise - With so many conference call participants joining the conference call by using a cell phone these days it is almost impossible for someone to not introduce noise into the conference call.  As a conference call Host you can mute all of the participants if there is no need for active participation in the beginning of your conference call and then open up all of the lines for discussion later in the conference call.  This will eliminate the introduction of any noise into the conference call.  Or you should make sure that participants know to mute themselves unless they are speaking in order to eliminate any introduction of noise into the conference call.
  • Encourage orderly participation - Ask your participants to introduce themselves when they are speaking so that all of the participants on the conference call know who is speaking.  And, as Host it is your job to act as gate keeper for who is speaking as well.
  • Review the Action Items and Next Steps - At the end of the call you should review what was discussed, review any actions items and who is responsible for them and then make sure everyone knows when the next conference call is if necessary.

As Host of the conference call you can ensure your success by taking charge of your meetings.

www.zipconferencing.com

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Conference Call Quality

Friday, August 28th, 2009

There are a  fair number of conference call service providers in the market today offering conference call services at some pretty low rates.  Among these conference call service providers are a host of different features available for conference call users to choose from.  I have touched on some of these features in previous posts, but what is really important about a conference call?  The most important aspect of any conference call is that is work flawlessly.  And even though this is taken for granted, if the conference call service provider does not design their network correctly you can have lots of problems.

The first thing that you need to have is availability.  To make sure that your conference call is available when you go to use it, the conference call service provider needs to build redundancy and capacity into their network.  Conference call equipment is very complicated and like any piece of high tech equipment can have issues from time to time.  If you use a conference call service provider that does not have provisions for redundant equipment and the conference call equipment hosting your conference call has a problem you will have a problem.  The capacity of the conference call service provider network can also be a problem if they get unexpected traffic on their network.

The telecommunications network that your conference call service provider connects to is an important factor as well.  If the conference call service provider chooses a telecommunications provider solely on price, they may be playing with fire if their provider does not have a network with sufficient back up and networking options.  If a back hoe cuts a fiber link do they have a way to route around it and continue service without interruption?  If the telecommunications provider that connects to your conference call service provider has an issue and can’t get your call around the issue your conference call can’t happen.

The conference call is like the light in the conference room.  You just assume it will work, but if it doesn’t you cannot hold your meeting.  The network and equipment used by Zip Conferencing has been designed with one priority in mind, the quality of the service.  Because no matter what the price is for the service, if the service is not available and of high quality then customers will not be satisfied.   After 15 years of providing conference call services I understand that the quality of the service is the foundation of success in being a conference call service provider.  www.zipconferencing.com

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Hosting a successful Conference Call

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

What This Guide Provides

This guide was designed to walk you through the steps to coordinating and hosting a successful conference call.
 
INVITE YOUR PARTICIPANTS
Send your guests, via email, fax, or word of mouth, the information listed below. All of the conference codes and Dial-In numbers can be found online by accessing your account.
 
Design an Invitation:
Date/Time of conference – you may want to include an agenda.
It is recommended that you inform your Guests to log into the conference no less than 5 minutes prior to start time. Guests joining the meeting prior to the Host will be placed on hold listening to music until the Host activates the conference.
 
Audio Conference Dial-In Info:
·          Instruct guests to dial into the Audio Conference approximately 5 minutes prior to the conference
·          Provide Dial-In phone number
·          Provide Guest Code
·          Require attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference. 

PRE-CONFERENCE PREPARATIONS

·          Set an agenda for the meeting.
·          If possible, send the agenda to all meeting participants.
·          Send out a reminder to participants for calls scheduled far in advance.
·          Make sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed
ACTIVATE THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Be on time! It helps if the host or chairperson dials into the conference a few minutes early. This avoids confusion if guests dial-in early.
·          Turn off call-waiting. Most call-waiting features can be deactivated by dialing 70# before dialing into the conference.
·          Dial into the call using either the Toll Free or Direct Dial-In number provided. You will be prompted to enter your passcode.
·          Conduct a roll call to find out who has joined your conference.
·          Remind attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference.           Instruct everyone to state their names when speaking to avoid confusion. For example, “This is Karen, and I’d like to see…”
 
 
DURING THE CONFERENCE CALL
 
·          Ask for feedback from specific participants instead of from the entire group.
·          Postpone any discussions that are not relevant to the conference for another date and time.
·          Promptly deal with any noise or distractions.
·          Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.
·          Clearly state when you are ending the conference. Often a guest can be left on the line not realizing that the conference has ended.
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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