There are 11 million business meetings that happen a day; chances are, your company has its decent share of that number. It can be hard to wrangle everyone in for one, considering the busy schedules involved.
So you may be looking to the next best thing to in-person meetings: conference calls. Read on to see how do conference calls work so you can learn to work the tech you have in your office.
What’s a Conference Call?
Whether you’re calling a meeting for a boardroom presentation or just want to have a brainstorm session, a conference call can help you gather everyone’s opinions without having to be physically together.
A conference call is basically a telephone call, but with three or more people. You can use it for either business meetings or webinars.
How Do Conference Calls Work?
In the past, conference calls were called “three-way calls” and were made on landlines. You’d use a star code, call one person, and put them on hold. Then, you’d dial the other person, and press the hold button again to connect all three lines.
In offices, conference calls worked in a similar fashion. You’d call one person first by pressing “talk,” put them on hold, then press “talk” again to dial the other person. Once they’ve picked up, you’d press “talk” again and it’d connect all three lines together.
Modern-Day Conference Calls
With the advent of the internet, this has opened the door for bigger and better conference calls. While you could only use a landline before, now you can dial into conference calls with landlines, smartphones, or computers.
Modern conference calls require you to use a conference call service where everyone connects to. Computer users can use a link while telephone users dial a number and input a special code or PIN number.
Many modern-day conference calls allow you to activate webcams so it gives you the atmosphere of having an in-person meeting. While a meeting room can only fit a few people, online conference calls can fit tens or even hundreds of people.
You can also share your screens so you can communicate more effectively. Obviously, people calling in on landlines won’t be able to see these things, but with a decent smartphone, you’ll get the same capabilities as computer users.
If you’re interested in making conference calls without having to pay additional fees, look into a free conference call service. This allows you to have a communications service without going outside of your budget.
Make Work Easier with Conference Calls
Now that you know the answer to “how do conference calls work,” you can get your employees together on a call much more easily, which means better productivity. So the next time workers can’t make it to an in-person meeting, you won’t have to reschedule it. Instead, hop on a convenient conference call!
Looking to practice your conference call skills? Then check out these work from home jobs!