There are many features available on a conference call that can help facilitate collaboration, maintain order, and customize the experience. When a conference call line is provisioned a welcome is sent out containing the dial-in details, instructions on how to use the service, and a list of features. There are two basic sets of features. Web based and phone based. Keypad commands using DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) tones can be used by either the Call Leader to control the call or the participants to control their own line. Web based tools such as Live Conference Manager allow you to view connections in real time by phone number, manage those connections, access call data, and adjust feature settings. Let’s explore each of these categories in more detail.
Keypad Commands
Click here for a complete list of the keypad commands that are available on the Reservation-less automated conferencing platform. You’ll see that there are many more features available to hosts than participants. To use these features you must enter the Leader PIN in order to designate your line as the “host” of the call. You are able to manage everything including entry\exit announcements, audio controls for your own line or the entire conference, initiating a recording, and interfacing with the Live Conference Manager application.
Web-Based Controls
The Live Conference Manager allows gives you real time visibility into your conference along with capabilities for adjusting features and monitoring interaction. Through this intuitive web interface you can dial out to participants, mute/unmute individual lines, lock the conference, request an operator, or end your conference. An active talker icon indicates which participant is talking and the chat functions are available to all participants. If so desired you can also manage participants into sub conferences and back to main conference with ease. Even update conference call entry & exit options to further customize the experience.
Operator Assisted Features
Operator Assisted calls have a different feature set. Generally because they are managed by an operations team the keypad commands are less frequently used and apply mainly to participant functions like muting or adjusting volume. However, there is a web-based feature that allows for viewing who is connected in real time, managing those connections including within a Q&A queue if requested, and chatting live behind the scenes with the operator handling your call.
General Features
Since “features” are defined as distinctive attributes we mustn’t forget a few other important items that are considered important. Given today’s globally dispersed workforces you may want to have International capabilities such as ITFS (International Toll-Free), ITL (International Local) or IDO (International Dial-Out). You’ll also want to monitor your conferencing usage by receiving email summary reports after each conference. A list of dial-in participants will be provided in your post conference summary email. Use Online Reporting to view online usage reports 24/7 that display participant information and who accessed archived conferences. If needed you can also prompt call hosts for Project Account Codes (PAC) to Easily track spending and billing by assigning a specific PAC to any individual conference call.
How can we help?We hope this helps to outline the features that are important to consider when using a conference call service. While audio conferencing can be simply a few participants dialing in and speaking with one another, it can also be a collaboration or presentation tool. It just requires using the features to customize the experience based on your audience and desired dynamics. If you’re unsure of exactly how to use the features or would like to discuss them in more detail we’re here to help. Contact Us today to learn more!
