If you're having trouble getting your callers to participate freely during conference calls, try these tips: Open up your meeting with a roll call. This gets your participants talking from the very beginning, and helps them to learn each other's voices. A good strategy is to ask a question before you begin calling the roll, and ask each person to respond with their answer when their name is called. This can be something relevant to the topic (such as this week's progress towards a goal), or something to relax everyone and create a more personable atmosphere (such as what everyone did over the weekend).

At times, it seems that conference calls take a low priority with the people you've invited. Here are some sure-fire ways to make them WANT to join you at your next conference call! Make use of Guest Speakers Invite a special guest or high-ranking member of your organization to the meeting. Ask your guest to say a few words or field a few questions as an opener before you get down to regular business. This strategy will provide a great jump-start to the discussion that follows. Make sure to tell all your invitees about this special opportunity to speak with your guest so they won't miss it!

Speakerphones and cell phones can interfere with the quality of the call or cause breaks in the conversation that cannot be transcribed. Also, speakerphones pick up background noises such as shuffling papers, scraping chairs, coughing, etc., which can drown out speakers' comments.

Many of us are great speakers and motivators in person-we can make eye contact with our audience and see the effect we are having in their reactions. It can be much more difficult to feel confident about presentations made by teleconference, because you cannot sense the reactions of your audience so easily.

Conference Call Checklist Use this list to make sure you haven't forgotten anything important, and to improve the way you manage your conference calls! Meeting Agenda Form Fill out this form, and keep it in front of you during your conference call to keep you on track! Or send it to your participants ahead of time so that they will be better prepared for your meeting!

Outline Your Expectations: Ask Yourself--"What specific action do I want to take place as the result of this conference call?" Design your the structure of your meeting and agenda around this goal. Ask Your Callers--to review the agenda so that they will be prepared to address the issues you will be discussing.

Listen-Only Conference Calls allow you to add a large audience to any conference call without compromising the quality of the meeting. This is great for audiences who need to hear the conference, but who do not need to participate in the discussion.

There are several reasons that you might experience problems with sound quality on a conference call. First, it helps to understand a few things about conferencing equipment: ConferenceCall.com uses "full digital duplex" technology. This platform allows you the ability to speak simultaneously with another caller, without any clipping or degradation of the sound. This technology is specifically designed so that it does NOT filter out any of the sounds coming into the conference, to give you the clearest possible presentation. This means, however, that any static or disruptive noise that can be picked up through your phone line will effect the conference.

These conferences are completely customizable, so be sure to discuss your options in detail with a Account Managment Representative. Below are a few options that you can request from our operators as part of this service: Operator Answers All Calls The operator manually answers each incoming call asking for their name, company and any other specific information you require.

This service is completely automated. Entry is quick & uncomplicated. No operator is present during the conference. Automated Call Entry Lines open 15 minutes early. Callers dial the assigned toll-free number and at the voice prompt they enter their specified passcode. If the passcode is valid, they will then be transferred into the automated interactive 'LIVE' call. Note: There is NO "Music-on-Hold" option with this service, so if you are the first caller, you will enter a silent conference. So if you don't hear anything after you connect, this is normal, and means the system is working correctly!