Graphic brought to you by onConference. Try us for your next conference call.

Graphic brought to you by onConference. Try us for your next conference call.

Share this infographic. Cut and paste the code below.

<a href="http://www.onconference.com/blog/2012/02/23/join-the-conference-call-infographic" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.onconference.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Join_The_Call.png" alt="Join the Conference Call Infographic "/></a>[Via: OnConference <a href=”http://www.onconference.com”>conference call</a>]

If you are new to onConference or just need a refresher about the services we offer, take a look at the following features that can enhance your conference calling experience.

Besides OnConference’s security features, there are many other benefits from using the service including: toll-free presence in more than 90 locations internationally; the use of social media networks to advertise conferences; and, perhaps most importantly, our 24-hour operator assistance.

Smooth Communication

Since conference calls are the equivalent of a business meeting, we know how important it is to be on time and to have clear reception.  If you have ever experienced an echo, static or music-on-hold during a call, you understand how such interferences can make conversations challenging and negatively impact the outcome of your meetings.  Our operator assistance option (press *0  (private) or 00 (public))  ensures your conference calls can be conducted smoothly and free of unexpected interruptions.

Trouble-shooting Services

It is not uncommon for users or participants to forget or misplace their passcodes.  After misdialing a security code three times, individuals — whether the chairperson or conference call participants — are automatically transferred to an operator who will assist and troubleshoot the problem.  In some instances, users have intentionally or inadvertently added a security code.  The operator can help determine whether this code was added for security reasons – to protect the call – or if the user accidentally enabled the code.

Web Conferencing Assistance

Operators also can assist with a user’s web conferencing.  If a chairperson has issues with web conferencing tools, such as scheduling, sending out e-mail confirmations or logging in, the individual can contact an operator for assistance in addressing the problem.  OnConference operators are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are fluent in Spanish, French and English. Back-up operators also are available; these operators are fluent in a variety of languages in order to make sure each customer is assisted properly.

And sometimes, conference call security can fail. Just last year, a conference call organized by South Carolina Republicans was breached by state Republican staff members. None of the parties involved commented on the incident, but it appears the breach was created when someone from an unknown number called into the conference call — and no one noticed the phone number until the call had ended.

Security breaches like this can lead to more than just upset customers and loss of secure information. They can lead to disaster. Imagine if someone were able to listen in on one of your conference calls: How easy would it be for them to listen in? And how would you know if someone unauthorized were listening?

This is why choosing a conference call service that offers security is so important. With security features like participant count and automatic roll call, you’re able to know who’s participating in your conference call as participants join. And with added security features like Conference Lock and Security Codes, you can lock down your conference call and keep unfamiliar participants from joining. When you need a safe and secure way to communicate with your clients, the right conference calling service can make a significant difference.

You and your conference call participants need more than security: You need peace of mind. Whether it’s a planned event or a last-minute phone meeting, conference calls can offer you the flexibility and support to meet the needs of your clients, every day.

The Recent Usage feature is available to every onConference chairperson through the My Account menu on our website. Chairpersons with administrator privileges  have access to all usage and cost information for all of the chairpersons in their account.

Login using your onConference access codes. Clicking on Recent Usage shows the last 14 days of conference usage, including dates, times and costs. The total costs, with and without taxes, for all conferences within the selected time period are displayed at the bottom. You can change to any time period by entering your desired dates in the From Date / To Date fields.

The Recent Usage feature allows a chairperson to track and assign their conference usage and costs to a project, department or a customer using accounting codes. If your company bills customers for the time spent on a conference call, this is ideal.

Beside each conference is the Project/Dept field. Enter any code in that field and select Update. (Here we have used “Management” and “Sales” as our accounting codes. ) Any code can be entered for any conference. The conferences are grouped together on the screen by each code.

At the bottom of the screen, a subtotal of costs appears for each code that you entered. This subtotal is the total cost for all conferences with that assigned code. An administrator can assign conferences from different chairpersons to the same code. The chairperson can only update their own conferences.

The updated codes are saved with each conference and will be displayed beside your conferences on your monthly invoice. You can assign a code to any conference, included those already invoiced. This allows you to obtain a total cost for any conference with an assigned code for any time period.

For those unfamiliar with Fairmont Hotel’s Great Rates, Great Dates promotion they send a monthly email advertising discounted prices (Great Rates) at their hotel properties available through a limited range of days (Great Dates).

Since we email our customers monthly, I sat down to think about what makes Fairmont’s email such an anticipated arrival. Perhaps there is something onConference can learn from Fairmont Hotels. Here is what I observed about anticipation of the Great Rates, Great Dates promotion.

1. The anticipation is highest when I am planning a trip, vacation or getaway. Little about the email or promotion itself motivates me to make a reservation. (Which might be something of a disappointment to the good folks at Fairmont.) But when there is a getaway being planned,  a quick following thought is when is the Great Rates, Great Dates email arriving.
2. Because the offer is made monthly,  and sent at the same time each month (the first few days), I remember the Fairmont promotion all through the year.  The precise and predictable frequency of the sale is far more effective than a seasonal or special sale that happens unpredictably. Since I know it happens regularly, I can anticipate it. It is impossible to anticipate an unplanned event.
3. The enduring value is the regular opportunity to get a fantastic hotel, from a personally esteemed brand, at a great price.  The Fairmont properties are some of the best and most recognizable in the world. The same offer from a less admired hotel would not stay with me. So the offer is anticipated because it has enduring value.
4. The offers are exclusive to me. (Well they are exclusive to President’s Club Members.) And while I doubt anyone is refused membership from Fairmont’s President’s Club the air of exclusivity adds to the anticipation of the email. It feels like it is just for me and that adds to the anticipation.

Overall the key take aways for me are:  A known offer, delivered at a consistent time, offering compelling value from an esteemed brand makes the email one to anticipate.

The email itself has some interesting features that make it stand out in my inbox, but that is the subject of another post.

Rather than travel you should, of course, host a conference call using onConference.  But if you are planning to travel I recommend the Great Rates, Great Dates promotion from Fairmont.

…Jerry

Fairmont President’s Club Member

Easy dial-in access. The access phone number works from any phone in Barbados. Participants from Barbados join the conference call just like everyone else. No international dialing prefixes or codes are required.

Number and Pricing. The toll-free access phone number is 1800.205.7012.  Pricing is 99 cents per minute per line. (The Barbados beach vacation is extra.)

Access from 75 more countries. In addition to Barbados, there are toll-free access phone numbers in 75 more countries. If we do not have a number in a country, anyone can call the direct dial international access phone number (+1.416.620.1296) from anywhere.

…Jerry

This week’s post is the last in the “Advice from an Insider” series on hosting an international conference call. Last week I pointed out the importance of live Operator support and how, if this area is overlooked, it can cost you time and effort to reschedule. Not to mention being personally embarrassing. Today we will talk about time zones and telephone numbers.

Don’t Transcribe Time Zones & Telephone Numbers

Europe has six time zones, the US has nine, there are ten in Asia.  Doing the mental math on what time an international conference call starts for each participant invites error.  Giving the wrong start time to a participant can result in missed attendance and a less productive meeting.

A useful tool for finding the best time to host your conference call across different time zones can be found at www.timeanddate.com.  Once you have found the best time, use a meeting manager service or your calendar’s meeting invitation function to send the invitation. That way the meeting time will be automatically converted to the local time of the participant when they accept and acknowledge your invitation.

If you are hosting an international conference call from five different countries, each with an access phone number of 10 digits, you will have to accurately transcribe a total of 50 digits. A tool that helps in communicating the conference dial-in information and the participant’s start time in their local timezone can be invaluable.

Of course we wouldn’t present a problem without also offering a solution. Meeting Manager is a free, web-based service for sending out invitation, reminder and follow-up emails for your onConference conference calls and web conferences. Emails can be customized with your company logo, meeting description, and presenter profile. And yes, out meeting manager tool sends invitations that automatically convert the conference call start time to the local participant’s time zone.

Making an international conference call can seem intimidating. Knowing the issues in advance and identifying the right questions to ask can help you collaborate more effectively. There is no perfect international conference call provider. Investing a little time and attention in hosting an international conference call can ensure you are as successful and productive as an in-person meeting.

Last week we looked at some of the challenges brought up with access to your international conference call when using a mobile phone service provider outside of the US & Canada. Today we are going to advocate choosing a service that has the right support team behind it.

Don’t Overlook Support

Support only matters when someone needs it. Did you know that some conference call service providers only offer support by email? (How that helps you on a conference call is beyond us.) Worse yet, they may not offer any support at all. This is especially true of free services. You can read more about our advice on free services at our first “Advice From An Insider” post.

Live Operator support that is accessible from within a conference call could save you from a failed conference. A failed conference wastes everyone’s time and creates a profoundly negative impression of you and your company. Conference call support should be available to your participants and not just to the chairperson of a call. A good support team can help get your participants into the conference call if they are experiencing any kind of access issue.

You should also ask if the support staff are available all hours. If you are hosting an international conference call all of the participants will not be in the same timezone. If you select a company with “business hours” support, they may not be there when you need them.

Lastly ask about the languages your support team speaks. Multilingual support is important if you have a multilingual company or organization. It may be less important on an international conference call when all participants are speaking the same language.

For onConference customers, remember you can always press *0 (private) or 00 (public) to request live Operator assistance during a conference call. Anyone can contact our Conference Call Support Center (all hours) at 1.800.804.8608 or +1.514.282.4047. International conference call participants can contact toll-free support telephone numbers located in many of the 70+ countries were we have access phone numbers.

Questions to ask:
How many people comprise the support team and are they available all hours?
Is your support team dedicated exclusively to supporting our conferences?
How will support be available to my international conference call participants?

Watch for the next blog post: Timezones and Transciption.

Last week we advised you to always ask about the conference call infrastructure used by a service provider. Today’s topic addresses how to access an international conference call. Most participants use a regular telephone or mobile phone to dial-into any conference call. Accessing your conference call from within the US and Canada is simple and straightforward. But…

Don’t Assume International Access is Easy.

Some international mobile service providers restrict access to toll-free numbers. There is no way to be 100% sure every participant on a mobile phone will be able to reach every toll-free access number. The best way is a try a test call and listen for the conference greeting message. The mobile service provider may remove the restriction if requested. A mobile service provider may also charge their customer a per minute premium for calling a toll-free number.

Hotels and pay phones may also block access to toll-free numbers to protect the revenue obtained from long distance charges.

To help address these access issues, many international conference call providers give toll (local dial) access numbers along with toll-free numbers to ensure alternate access is available.

There are also country-specific issues. Some telephone numbers are only accessible from some areas within a country. For telecommunications purposes, China is divided into north and south and may have different access numbers for each. Both India and the Russian Federation have restrictions on dialing telephone numbers that are based on where you are and the telecom network being used.

Most conference service providers will advise you of known access issues and work with you to address anything unexpected. For onConference, remember you can always press *0 to request live Operator assistance during a conference call. Contact our Conference Call Support Center (all hours) at 1.800.804.8608 or +1.514.282.4047.

Questions to ask:

Watch for the next blog post: Select support that never sleeps.

Telecommunications Tower in India

This is the second in a series of blog posts designed to help you choose an international conference call service provider. I first told you to forget about free international conference call services and that international telecommunications required significant investments in infrastructure. So you should forget about free services. This post expands on the infrastructure theme.

Don’t Ignore the Infrastructure

Not all conference call companies make extensive investments in toll-free access phone numbers, switching equipment, redundant fiber transmission capacity, and data centers with redundant power supplies. With the connectivity of the internet, the increased processing power of personal computers and the development of software-based switches, it is possible to put up a website and start selling conference call services without much more than a bank of incoming phone lines in someone’s basement.

That makes it important to ask about the infrastructure used by your conference call service provider. Some companies transmit their conference audio over the internet. This is commonly called ‘Voice over IP’. This is a technology that has a place. But it can cause problems when it comes to audio quality. The public internet does not differentiate voice from data and usually puts no higher priority on voice. This method of transmission can result in data packets being delayed and audio that is choppy. That is rarely the case with more traditional telecommunications infrastructure. To quote Agilent Technologies ,“Traditional public switched telephone networks (PSTN) have long since addressed the voice quality problem by optimizing their circuits for the dynamic range of human voice and the rhythms of human conversation. “

If your open to experimentation then you might want to try a provider who is using Voice over IP. But if your interested in the reliability and the reassurance that comes with traditional telecommunications networks, ask about the infrastructure.

Questions to ask:

Watch for the next blog post: Don’t Assume International Access Is Easy.