Conference calling is becoming increasingly popular in the workplace – offering employees a new way of working, allowing greater flexibility and a better work life balance.

Essentially a conference call is the same as a face-to-face meeting. However, there are some differences, such as not being able to pick up on visual cues from those in front of you. Therefore a different kind of etiquette needs to take place on conference calls.

There are a range of factors to take into consideration when participating in a conference call. Here are our top dos and don’ts for a successful conference call.

Greater efficiency: The time employees spent commuting can be better spent working, and in effect, improving the flexibility of the hours provided by staff.

Reduction of costs: Businesses that have a remote workforce can save money that would ordinarily be spent on physical office surroundings and associated hardware.

Improved recruitment and retention: By offering employees a more flexible working week it is less likely they will want to seek other options. By the same token, it opens up a broader talent pool and extends opportunities to those who may want a new job but not wanting to relocate.

Improved morale: Flexible working can lessen the stress caused by the incapacity to balance work and family life. It can also dramatically reduce the cost of travelling and childcare expenses. This often results in a employees having a tighter focus and thus better quality work.

Reduced absenteeism: Workers who fall ill are still able to finish all or part of their tasks once they have recuperated but are not quite ready to return to work.

Increased accommodation for the disabled: Some employees with mobility issues may feel more comfortable working from home.

Greener policies: Another advantage is the positive impact that remote working has on the environment. Reducing the number of commuters means fewer cars on the road and decreased fuel consumption, both of which are important to corporations concerned about their carbon footprint.

By using audio conferences, video conferences, and web conferencing, individuals and companies can keep in touch with business associates, work colleagues, friends and family members without the need to meet in person. Here, we assess the benefits and key differences between these three means of communication.

Audio conferences

Stay connected on a 24/7 basis with a multitude of different people through a conference call.

Benefits:

-          The cheapest, easiest and most convenient way to talk to many different people at the same time.

-          Avoids expensive travel costs and removes transit times altogether.

-          Multiple people can be involved.

-          No need to buy any new technology to get up and running.

-          Can connect via computer or telephone.

-          Participants may only need to pay for the cost of their own calls.

-          Join calls on the go as some companies offer customers a mobile application.

-          Record calls and listen again.

-          Relevant to firms across all industries.

Video conferences

Interact visually with customers or colleagues anywhere in the world at any time of day or night.

Benefits:

-          All the advantages of a face-to-face meeting, only without travel expenses and with improved productivity as no need to leave the office.

-          Forge stronger links with clients or other company employees as everyone feels more involved with each other.

-          Projects a professional image onto your company.

-          Easy to set up and use.

-          And easy-to-use and effective method of communication.

-          Directly see who you’re talking to and see their body language, emotions and facial expressions.

-          Can be used to host presentations or as part of an internal training programme.

-          People living abroad or in a remote part of the world can interact visually with friends, family and work colleagues and business acquaintances back home.

-          Relevant to firms across all industries.

Web conferencing

Bring people together in an interactive online environment from various locations and deliver a webinar.

Benefits:

-          Share audio, video and other files in real time.

-          Communicate and develop ideas through virtual whiteboards.

-          Easy to set up and integrate into companies of all sizes.

-          No specialist equipment is needed other than an Internet connection and even then a low bandwidth can do the job.

-          No software download is needed in many cases.

-          With the use of Voice over IP (or VoIP) technology, some systems can combine the benefits of an audio conference with those of web conferencing.

-          Some systems include features such as texting and full-motion video.

-          Relevant to firms across all industries.

The number of businesses using conference calling in the UK has grown rapidly in recent years, as more and more companies have taken advantage of the cost savings to be made on the travel expenses and set up costs attached to physical conferences and meetings.

There are many ways to approach conference calls and it is important for any business to consider the full range of options before taking the plunge and setting up a call.

Audio Tele-Conferences

The most common type of conference calls UK businesses employ is Audio Teleconferencing, or ATC. This involves participants in the call either being able to all speak to each other at the same time, or some being able to speak to each other while others listen in.

These calls can be set up in a number of ways, with the usual process involving one party leading the call. The call leader takes responsibility for ringing round the other participants in the conference call and adding them to the call by dialling into a conference bridge. The conference bridge is the key piece of technology in conference calling, which links calls together over various phone lines.

Companies like Powwownow and Intercall maintain their own conference bridges and provide customers with the numbers they need to dial in and connect multiple phone lines simultaneously.

Conference call devices

Thanks to the services of companies like Powwownow, conference calls can be made on most standard telephones and mobiles in the UK. Using a normal telephone, the services of these companies allow you to mute and un-mute your handset, review the number of people on a call, lock and unlock conferences and even record what is said.

Certain telephone handsets are better equipped for conference calls than others. Those with high quality speaker-phone options, producing high quality and high volume audio via a speaker that can be heard by an entire room of people are an obvious choice for companies that regularly use conference calls involving a lot of people.

But ordinary mobile phones are by and large more than capable of handling a conference call thanks to the services of the aforementioned companies and those like them. Web conferencing is also widely available through the services of programmes like Skype, and many businesses now use this method of communication routinely.

The number of conference calls UK businesses make every day has increased exponentially over the last 10 years and is showing no signs of abating, as more and more providers enter the market and conference calling facilities get more sophisticated.

Every penny counts in the business world at present as companies battle to survive and continually strive for ways to save money without it having a knock-on effect on productivity and output. One cost-effective method of dramatically reducing overheads is to take advantage of free conference calls and free web conferencing.

A free conference call allows business executives to keep in regular contact with clients, staff and suppliers without the need for traditional face-to-face meetings, which can be expensive given the travel costs associated with them.

No longer do companies have to spend a fortune transporting staff all over the UK and even further afield by air, road or rail simply to attend a meeting that can easily be held over the phone or Internet, saving precious time and money as well has having obvious environment benefits.

Nor do firms need to hire hotel and conference rooms to stage meetings or even buy any specialist equipment. The only outlay required for a free conference call is to cover the price of the call itself, which are charged by the minute or second at a low cost. All that is necessary to get a webinar up and running is an Internet connection.

If it sounds cheap, easy and straightforward to incorporate then that is because it is and advances in technology mean that people can still effectively meet face to face with integrated video and audio whenever and wherever they want, either in the work place or on the go. Free conference calls can also be used as part of an internal training programme and to ensure that staff at all levels are updated continually on the progress of a business and of any other relevant news. Good communication from top to bottom is essential if companies across all industries are to improve business practises and expand and evolve.

As well as the reduced cost implications of holding a free conference call, productivity should also improve and increase as key members of staff can concentrate fully on the task at hand instead of spending hours and days away from the office on business trips each week. A handy extra available includes the ability to record calls, while all manner of documents and spread sheets can be shared through a web-based conference with people logging in to join in from everywhere from Bangkok to Bognor.

With no need to book, no bills and no contracts, companies can start making savings straight away and see what difference free conference calls can make to keeping communication costs to a minimum.

Conference calling has never been easier for users across the world. For all kinds of businesses, whether small, medium or large, there is an abundance of services that are mostly available 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.

International conference calls are a brilliant and cost effective way to run your business, no matter where you happen to be. Companies like Powwownow offer international calls at national rates, so you won’t need to pay any more than you need to. There are no hidden charges or connection fees because the participants dial the local in-country number that applies to every call.

Glocalmeet offers an international conference calling service for which you only have to pay the local or long distance rates that are set by your provider. Hosting a worldwide meeting is never easy to document, either, which is why Glocalmeet now offers a free recording service for each conference call you make.

Premier Global (PGi) is another conference calls company that offers a very efficient and easy to use international service. The customer service team at PGi is always friendly and helpful, which makes conferencing even easier. They are available to connect anybody in any language.

The rise in smartphone technology has inevitably led to a rise in efficiency and quality of conference calls. Many of the companies offer mobile apps as standard with their packages, so users do not even have to be connected to a computer to have an international conference. They can host business meetings in the palm of their hand.

The iTunes App Store and the Android App Market both have a number of apps available for businesses that rely on conference calling to keep their business on track, so it has never been more convenient and accessible in the business world. Skype is perhaps the most popular of these services – it gives users the option to make voice and video conference calls via the Internet. The service is free when calls are made from Skype to Skype. The company charges a fee, called Skype Credit, to call mobile and landline telephone numbers from a Skype account.

The quickest and easiest thing about 21^st century conference calling is that, with most providers, there is rarely any need to book in advance. Some companies do require some initial contact, i.e. a contact form and a phone call or email exchange with the customer service teams, when the account is being set up but this is only to confirm your requirements for the service. Once that’s out of the way, you are ready to talk to the world.

Conference calls provide businesses of all sizes across all industries with a cost-effective means of communicating quickly and easily with a wide variety of people, including customers, employees and suppliers. However, they’re not always easy to implement, as conference call problems can occur from time to time.

The following issues with conference calls have hampered calls in the past and will probably continue to do so for some time, but they can be easily avoided. Take note to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

Poor time-keeping skills

Time is precious when it comes to making the most of a scheduled conference call and it’s important for all the relevant people to dial in on time to ensure the meeting gets off to a smooth start. However, sluggish time-keeping is rife and people as a result are often late to join a call and in some cases may miss them altogether due to poor communication or bad time management. Not only is it rude and unprofessional, it could ultimately end up in firms losing business or gaining a negative reputation.

Technology issues

Starting a conference call is simple enough as long as people follow the instructions provided and know what to do. Teething problems soon escalate when the person charged with initiating the call is unable to fulfil the role or people cannot dial in to join in through apparent incompetence. One way to steer clear of this happening is to email around a clear set of walk-through guidelines on the basics before a call is due to take place so the relevant people can get up to speed quickly.

Noise problems

Background noise during a conference call can be extremely distracting, not to mention hugely frustrating to the people trying to decipher what people are saying. A lack of forward planning and common sense will soon become abundantly clear if the meeting is interrupted by the hustle and bustle of everyday office life or other disruptive sounds. Talking of keeping the line clear at all times, a common mistake that some conference call users make is to inadvertently place their phone on hold and that in turn can lead to annoying hold music being played to everybody else listening. While this may seem humorous, imagine how infuriating it could become if it forces the call to be postponed or delayed at all.

Lack of direction

An unruly conference call is an unconstructive conference call. With many different people jostling for the limelight and to have their say, a moderator is needed to take control and make sure the relevant topics are raised and issues are resolved as swiftly as possible. Should the moderator go missing, which is not uncommon, the call can quickly turn into a free for all with people talking over the top of each other or going off topic, which will increase the cost of the call and, most importantly, reduce productivity.

The mobile application market continues to expand alongside the constant rise of interest in cheap and easy-to-use conference calling. Consequently, some conference call companies, such as Powwownow and PGi, have released conference call applications that are especially designed for high quality, multi-party calls on a variety of platforms.

The Powwownow app is available for free in the iTunes Store and the App Market and is free to use for audio conference calling. You can schedule and join conferences through the app for free and, if you are elsewhere in the world, for only a local charge. The app lets you add callers with one touch, sends you email reminders of your upcoming calls and even lets you choose the music that plays when users are put on hold. But the best thing about this app is the fact that recording your conference calls is completely free.

Skype is another great application for conference calling in the business world. It is entirely free if every user has Skype installed on their device, whether it’s a PC, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, and allows you to arrange your contacts into groups and call them all at once with the ‘Call group’ button.

Group video calling is not included in the free version, but you can access this with the day pass (£2.99) and the 1 month, 3 month or 12 month subscriptions. Per month, these cost £4.99, £4.49 and £3.74 respectively. Skype Connect also allows businesses in the UK to call the US for 0.58p per minute if they connect it to their current phone line.

PGi, aka Premier Global, also have a notable iPhone app that is very easy to use. It is free to PGi customers and gives them the option to manage their virtual meetings from anywhere. Call recording is also available to make it even easier to take absolutely everything from a meeting, as opposed to missing an important point or two because your frantic scribbling can’t be read or just isn’t fast enough.

Demand for mobile conference calling means that the quality of all of the available services is always on the rise. The overall user experience of most conference call apps is generally very good and, since the majority of them are now free, customers will naturally gravitate to the service provider that offers the best conferencing experience.