Conference Calling

Having worked for a small company for many years and have been on several conference calls, tela-seminars, and tela-training calls. That experience has allowed me to create a list of "Conference Call Etiquette and tips" that can help make conference calls run smother, and help avoid any mix ups. This may not cover everything but it’s a good start for any business manager.

--Use a land line for all conference calls. Too many times I’ve hosted a call and allowed a special guest to call in from the road via a cell phone. This is usually a disaster waiting to happen buy we all know that even the best cell plans have dead zones so why put your conference call at risk? It’s not worth it.

--Make sure you’re on time for the conference call and be sure it starts on time. Everybody’s busy and time is money so start your conference call on time and you’ll be sure to have a more successful call.

-- Background noise is probably the most annoying byproduct of a conference call gone bad. If you plan to host the call from your home, be sure you can secure yourself in a quite part of the house, especially if you have young children. Several years ago I would frequent a time management call that was hosted by a young woman who recently had a child. Unfortunately the child became part of the call.

-- Record and review all you calls. This could be the one strategy that could save your future calls. Many times we don’t realize that we’re doing things in the background like tapping the desk, flipping though papers and chances are we’re disrupting the call. The tapes don’t lie and they will expose weaknesses the can corrected.

-- Control the call. If you’re the conference call moderator then be prepared to politely break in on someone’s rambling. We all know there are people who live to hear themselves talk and a conference call is the perfect forum for this type of person. Be smart and recognize useless run-on and cut it short but also be objective so that you don’t cut someone off too quickly.

-- Don’t get clumsy with the mute button! I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve listened to when the moderator thought he/she muted the line while others were talking only to start a side conversation we all listened in on. If you’re running the call, act responsibly because you’ll look people if the call quality is poor.

In closing, keep in mind that the conference call is a professional business tool and should be treated as such. I always stand and use a high quality headset. Act like all the participants are in front of you in a board room and you’ll be less apt to screw up.  It's also important to test your provider before you load up a call.  There's several conference call providers that will give you a free test drive, so yes, you can get free conference calling!