How Can a Conference Phone Help My Business?

How Can a Conference Phone Help My Business?

Business, nowadays, is all about communication. The growth of the Internet has made asynchronous communication – in the form of electronic mail, for example – significantly faster than ever before, but there are still times when there is no substitute for a real-time, synchronous conversation between colleagues or business partners. The costs of transporting employees from different locations – fuel, or public transport costs, and possibly accommodation costs – can be prohibitive, not to mention the valuable work time lost travelling, so a conference phone system can be a cost-effective alternative.

Business Conference Phone Systems

Conference phone calls are ideal in business situations where you want to get all the interested parties talking, exchanging thoughts, ideas and opinions. Choosing a conference phone unit, or system, does, of course, require you to make a few decisions, with regard to a typical number of meeting participants, their location – some may be working from home, or using mobile phones, for example – and the positioning of the conference phone itself.

Conference phones are typically flat, with a large speaker, or speakers, a digital display and a keypad. A conference phone should ideally be positioned on a flat surface, away from obstructions – including windows and walls – in a room with low ambient noise levels. It is recommended that a microphone should be positioned within between 3′ and 6′ of each meeting participant, so some conference phones also feature extra desktop microphones, in addition to those included in the unit.

Excellent audio quality – including full duplex operation, echo cancellation and noise reduction – is to be expected in almost all modern conference phones. In addition to traditional, analogue telephone lines, wireless phones, mobile phones and computers can typically accommodated, and line selection technology makes it easy to switch between the various connection methods.

The latest, state-of-the-art technology is all very well, but if a conference phone interface is unintelligible, or confusing – and therefore cannot be used without extensive reference to the manual – the chances are that all of its functions will not be used, or, at least, not to full effect. Some conference phones include, for example, a simple conference guide, which allows multiple groups of telephone numbers to be stored, and retrieved, so that individual numbers need not be dialled manually.

One form of conference phone that has become popular in recent years – especially in small businesses – is the VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, conference phone. This type of conference phone allows conference calls to made over the Internet – using a service such as Skype, for example, which allows conference calls to be made free of charge to other users of the service – and users can typically connect via Internet based calling services, or soft phones, including through office telephone systems.

The maximum number of participants in a conference call is determined by the bandwidth of your Internet connection. VoIP, of course, treats voice data like any other form of data, so it is possible to attach business documents, presentations, etc. to voice messages.

More Reviews:

• What is a Conference Phone?
• Conference Phone Buying Guide
• What is a Conference Phone ?
• Choosing a Business Phone
• How to Set Up a Conference Phone System