ARTICLE

Conference call features explained

Teleconferencing is now common place. Just a few years ago, only huge corporations who had money power were able to afford the expensive conference bridge through which telephone conferencing is done. But now, all you need is a normal telephone line for phone conferencing, the back end technology is taken care of by the conferencing service providers. There are conferencing solutions available to fit every budget, if you have never participated in a conference call before, now is the time to start with an affordable teleconferencing service suited for your business.

Most service providers offer several add on features over and above the basic call conferencing facility. Some of the common features and functionalities are discussed below.

When participants dial into your conference call, you can greet them with a customised message. This introduction will be played to each participant who joins the teleconference. This provides a professional touch and also serves as a confirmation that the person has joined the right call.

Conference call services also include a feature that allows you to change the settings. You can add or delete access codes, view billing information and even set up participating members with special conference privileges. 

With the online call scheduling feature, you can schedule a call online and automatically generate a unique access code and name for the conference.

Designated users can also be given special access privileges to your account. There are features that allow users only to see the conference that they are part of, restrict the accounting team’s access only to the billing statement etc. This feature makes your voice conference highly secure.

Some service providers give you the option of having as many number of calls as you need on a single account. This means that you only need to take one account for your company, many users can hold individual conferences simultaneously.

Another feature is the hold music while participants wait for the call to begin. If you want to record the call, that feature is also enabled by most service providers. You may also play back a previously recorded conference.

If there is a special guest speaker or if you are conducting a training session, the Lecture mode is a feature that comes in handy. This feature mutes all other participants while the trainer conducts the session. This is a great way to structure the meeting and finish in time without interruptions. During the Q&A session, participants may ask questions.