The New Innovations of Conference Calling Services

Skye Leist
February 19, 2011

With the efficiency and convenience that comes with conference calling, odds are you’ve either attended or hosted a conference call at one time or another. You may have even attended or held regular conference calls. Let’s face it; with today’s fast pace, and the increasing distance between businesses, coworkers and clients, a conference call beats the money and time spent on business travel hands down.

To make worldwide communication even easier, the development of reservationless conferencing has made it possible to start or join a conference call, whenever you need to. You no longer have to go through the hassle of scheduling them in advance, or arranging more expensive operator-assisted calls. Today, conference call services have some pretty innovative features you can use before, during and after your conference call:

1. No Advanced Scheduling Required: A reservationless conference call is completely automated and available anytime. To use the system, you would typically dial into the service, where you would be welcomed by an automated attendant and asked for some type of conference id. While the format varies across providers, the access code is usually 6 digits.

2. Multiple Calls and Detailed Reporting: Each of your company’s organizers should have their own conferencing information to eliminate scheduling conflicts and allow you to hold multiple calls simultaneously. The conferencing service should also allow you to label or assign the information to a user, so monthly reports can be generated. This way, you always know who’s doing what with the service.

3. Conference Call Recordings: In many cases, you’ll find it very helpful to record your conference call. Whether it’s a legal call that requires a written transcript, an online marketing presentation you’d like to reuse in the future or an idea-rich brainstorming session, conference call providers often provide free call recording that requires no additional hardware or software. This saves the call as an MP3 file that can be reviewed online, downloaded and podcasted.

4. Manage Your Call Online: If you’re hosting larger conference calls, the ability to view and control your call from a web-browser can be extremely helpful. With an online dashboard, you’re able to watch as participants join the call, see when they leave and manage each attendee’s speaking rights for interactive question and answer sessions.

5. Create the Environment You Need: There’s a big difference between conference calling with 5 callers in a collaborative setting, and presenting to 300 folks at once. Therefore, it’s important that your service can adapt to the situation. When presenting to 300 callers, you’ll want a lecture mode to maintain complete control, with participants muted and background noise reduced. Your presenters will need guaranteed speaking rights during the call, and the host should be able to make changes as needed. Therefore, be sure your service can be adjusted to accommodate the different features you’ll need, no matter what the case.

There’s no doubt that reservationless conference calls are fast, easy and effective. By offering toll-free access to your users, you can present them with a no-cost, professional service that properly represents your business. What features do you most often use on conference calls or wish you had?

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