Before the meeting

The invitation

  • The invitation should include the time and date of your conference call(s).
    • Include the local time for participants in different time zones.
      to assist in getting the meeting started on time. For time zone information visit TimeAndDate.Com
  • Write the month as a word to avoid confusion.
  • Send any documents needed for the meeting early enough for the recipients to review them.
  • Send an agenda – and stick to it!

At the start of your conference call

  • Join early so that you can get the names of the attendees. This allows you to introduce people more professionally.
  • If participants have not met, make introductions
  • Explain the purpose of the conference call and how long it will take
  • Request anybody calling from noisy locations to mute their phone lines when not speaking.
    • If they don’t have a mute button, they can press ∗6 and our system will mute / unmute their line
frog on a conference call

During the meeting

Participants should:

  • Join the conference call from somewhere quiet or mute their line when not speaking (∗6 to mute/unmute).
  • Address each other by name
  • Resist side conversations
  • Mute their lines when not speaking, this has a huge impact on overall sound quality.
  • Not put the conference call on hold; it will put hold music into the conference
  • Face the microphone when using a speakerphone and not put anything in front of the microphone which would prevent the speaker from being heard clearly
  • For assistance, press ∗ 0

Speaker phones

  • Always face the speakerphone when talking even when talking to the person next to you.
  • Avoid tapping on the table or shuffling papers near speakerphones.
  • Don’t put the speakerphone near something noisy like a projector.
  • Some speakerphones will cause feedback when the volume is set too high
  • If the sound coming out of your speakerphone is too quiet or is intermittent try muting it when you are not speaking.
conference call from a Polycom