The word conference used to be something that only business magnates used to use, people with high rankings in the business scene. Nowadays, anyone can create a quick conference call with anyone they like; their business partner, their associates, or just a newcomer who needs to be told what to do. It’s all possible, at no cost. It’s better known as the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) way of...
The iPhone lets you merge up to five calls at a time to turn them into a conference call. Making a conference call on your iPhone may be easier than getting those same five people in a room at the same time. Start by making a call and then placing the caller on hold. Tap Add Call to make another call and then Merge Calls to bring everybody together. Repeat this exercise to add the other calls...
As more workers take advantage of mobile technology to work outside the office, companies are relying on conference calls to communicate. What are workers actually doing during these calls? Spoiler alert: probably not what you expect them to be doing. Remote and mobile workers mean companies will have to conduct more conference calls to keep them in the loop. But what, exactly, are remote workers...
I’m not sure what it is about talking to more than one person on the phone, but conference calls can get awkward fast. People hang back and wait for others to speak (or they talk over each other), and it’s often unclear where the conversation should go next. Painful silences abound, and everyone in the group starts to wonder if they’re on a bad first date. As a writer on a marketing team at a...
Most conference-call services aren’t exactly easy to use. CrowdCall, a free app for iOS and Android, let’s you join hour-long conferences with as many as 20 people free of charge. Texts, tweets, Facebook, Google+, email. You can communicate in lots of ways these days, but sometimes you just need to talk. As in over the phone. And not just to one person at a time, but a whole group. And that...
Most people describe conference meetings as boring, unproductive and useless. Many times this is because participants have never attended a dynamic conference call that met all their communication needs. Discover how to conduct successful conference calls. 1. Get ready. Nothing is as unproductive as holding a meeting with people who are not prepared. Unpreparedness is not only energy draining...
Whether you’re talking to a long-winded colleague, a not-so-interesting prospective partner, or a hyper-curious friend-of-a-friend who wants to learn about your career, there are times when it just seems impossible to get off the phone. But take it from me: Your time is precious, and it’s definitely worth mastering this art. Now, you (almost) never want to be rude, but sometimes you do have to be...
Email, specifically too much of it, was deemed a real issue by the powers that be at the last place I worked. And, in fact, the situation was kind of out of control. The truth was I’d never before received so many messages in my life, but as a person who’s accustomed to adapting to what I can’t control, the sheer number sent and received per day stopped phasing me after long. Toward the end of my...
Cloud computing has been proven to offer lower IT costs for many businesses, although there are still some areas in which prices for hosted services could fall further, according to Marks & Spencer chief tech officer, Alan French. French was speaking at the Cloud World Forum conference held in London this week, when he explained why his company is still waiting for prices to be reduced...
Conference calls allow you to easily setup a call between multiple users – up to 32 callers (licence permitting). Although many conference call services exist, it’s often easier and cheaper to host your own audio conferences. You can set-up Ad-hoc conference calls, without the need to reserve a conference room. This has been done to simplify the set-up of conference calls. If you wish to setup a...