All modern businesses should now be well aware the benefits conference call services can have on collaboration and creativity within a workforce. The advances in business communication solutions have seen rapid development in the technology most of us use day in day out for work related tasks. One of the biggest advances by far has been connected with conference calling, both in terms of the technology now available to help avoid dropped calls and to deliver crystal clear connections.
How to Get the Most from Conference Calls
Conference calls can be used for a number of activities, ranging from the obvious client meetings through to team building for virtual workforces. Whatever the goal of a conference call and whether you’re using a paid or free conference call app, there are a number of techniques that can be used to reach the desired outcomes faster and having a plan for your conference call can have a huge impact on its effectiveness:
- Rotate hosting or call management duties to ensure discussions move in the right direct and at a decent pace – As will any activity that is carried out on a regular basis you can sometimes find you have developed a habit and theme that each one of your conference calls follow. However, just because someone has always chaired your conference calls doesn’t mean this should always be the case, rotating who leads the conversation can produce new ideas and encourage creativity.
- You don’t always have to jump straight! – Virtual teams miss out on the everyday interaction that allows colleagues who are based together to connect. Conference calls don’t always have to be business, business, business allow time for personal interaction as well.
As well as thinking about techniques to improve the quality of your conference calls it is also worth taking the time to think about who should be in attendance. Fitting as many people as possible in to one meeting room or on the same call does not always correlate with increased productivity.
Too many teams or users trying to have their say can lead to delays and confusion and often have a negative impact on the collaborative environment that conference phones are meant to foster. As with face to face meetings sometimes it is can be a better idea to limit those attending exclusively to the players who can have the most impact on a particular project. This means those present can all input their ideas clearly and efficiently without being crowded out by too many others.
Finding the Right Conference Phone
With more choice than ever when it comes to the conference phone you choose for your business making the right choice is an important one. Although it may seem like a straightforward decision there are three main factors you should consider:
- The size of your team and or meeting rooms
- Your budget
- What key features will help you get the most from your conference phone
The first factor you need to consider is potentially the most important. The main benefit of conferences phones is their ability to aid collaboration and foster ideas, help to deliver on client promises and keep international teams and offices connected. To effectively produce the results necessary, it is important that your conference phone has the capabilities to ensure that everyone who needs to have a say can be heard.
360-degree microphones should now be the standard but it also worth checking the pickup distance, if you’re small business there may be no need for the high end models with a huge microphone range that will never be used.
This leads on to another important factor to consider, your budget. This may be more of a concern for smaller businesses but it is vital that you choose the best conference phone within your price range. This could include having to do without certain features as already mentioned but will mean the technology is more suited to your business needs and helps you to make the right choice when you’re comparing the top conference phones available.
Originally published Sep 01, 2016, updated Aug 26, 2020
