Conference Call Cacophony: Top Five Mistakes
August 14, 2008
Your training teleconference is going great, until you hear the screaming baby in the background, and the static of a bad connection sets in.
By Nicole Scheel
One of the most common questions I get from training colleagues outside of the conferencing industry is "How do you train over a conference call? There are way too many distractions!" While I can see where their anxiety may be coming from, I've put together a list of five ways to remove distractions from your next virtual meeting.
1. Eliminate Background Noise
I could write a whole post on this one! Dogs barking, phones ringing, babies crying, and the airport loud speaker all fall into this category. The great thing about conference calls is you can dial in from anywhere and still run training or meet with your team. However these types of disruptions not only degrade your experience, they affect the whole call. So, if your cell phone has a mute button, use it. Otherwise, most conferencing bridges have a touchtone command you can use to mute your line. If you are the leader on the call you also should have the ability to mute all lines except your own and then un-mute those lines for discussion.
2. Watch Out For Hold Music
Some offices and cell phone providers include a hold music feature. It's nice if you're the only one on hold. But if you put your phone on hold while in a conference, it interrupts the entire call. Make sure to remind your participants that if they have hold music on their phone and their second line rings, they should not put the conference line on hold. All participants on the call will be able to hear the hold music. If they love their hold music and are proud of it, feed it into the conference before the meeting starts.
3. Be Cautious of Static
We all love our cell phones (mine is never more than a foot away from me at all times) but, a conference call is not always the best place to use one. Ideally, everyone on a conference call would be using a handset plugged into a landline. I know—that's totally unrealistic. Cordless phones, cell phones, headsets, and wireless headsets are all very convenient but they can all cause static. The easiest way to clear this up is to have that person disconnect and dial back into the conference call without the wireless device or using a different phone. If that person is unable to hear you over the static you can request an operator and they will be able to zero in on which line is causing the static and either mute or disconnect that line.
4. Test Your Speaker Phone
Use of a speakerphone often is a great way to get feedback from a group of people. These days, most speakerphones are full digital duplex and do a great job of delivering sound quality. However, do make sure you test your speakerphone before the conference. Consider how many people will be in the room, how big the room is, and if the phone will cause an echo into the conference. If your speakerphone is equipped with microphones throughout the room, definitely test and use them. If you're the only one presenting, I would recommend using your hand/headset for the call and then using the speakerphone for Q&A so those in the room can hear the questions.
5. Beeps & Blaring Signals
If you are dialed into a conference call from your cell phone or home phone, you probably have call waiting enabled. When you hear a tone notifying you another call is coming through, that tone also plays into your conference call. So, turn off your call waiting during your meeting. Occasionally, you also may get a loud blaring sound into your phone. This is usually feedback caused by another electronic device like a Blackberry or laptop. If you get this noise, try moving away from those devices and the feedback should stop pretty quickly. With most conferencing providers there should be an option to go online and manage your conference call in real time. This is a great option that may allow you to see which line is causing the problem and easily fix it.
So there you have it—my top five recommendations to make your conference calls less distracting and more productive. If I missed one that really bugs you, let me know and I'll throw out some suggestions on how to avoid it. If these suggestions aren't helping your call sound better, maybe what you need is an operator assisted call where someone can help control the noise for you. Remember that your conferencing service provider is there to help you get better sound quality. So, give them a call!
Nicole Scheel is director of training for conferencing provider InterCall, and the “Tips & Training Blogger.” She has been in training with InterCall for nine years, and currently manages the internal and customer training departments, also known as InterCall University. For more information, visit www.intercall.com or blog.intercall.com.
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