How to Host On-Demand Conference Calls
Many telephone conference calling services require scheduling the conference in advance, but it’s often necessary to communicate with a group on a moments notice. Fortunately, our reservation-less telephone conferencing plans allow you to hold conference calls on demand. Below are a few tips for gathering your attendees and holding a group audio call.
This type of phone conference is known as an ad hoc conference call. It is made for a specific purpose, but without advanced planning. For example, if a natural disaster is threatening to disrupt your business, you may need to hold an ad hoc conference call to discuss the logistics of securing your business, evacuating employees, or managing supply chain disruptions. It’s not something you planned for, and you might no even have a conference calling service provider.
Fortunately, our pay-as-you-go USA, Canada, and global conference calling plans are easy to activate and begin using, even on short notice - and there’s no long-term commitment required. All the bells and whistles you’ve come to expect from professional teleconferencing are included, and the call quality is exceptional. Our rates are among the lowest you will find.
To get started, choose and activate a plan if you haven’t already. The countries of your participants will guide you in choosing the most appropriate plan. You will be given access numbers and a conference PIN that you can share with the people who will be joining your conference call. Local, toll free, and international access numbers are available for countries around the world, making it easy for your international participants to call in.
Because this is a last minute conference call, you’ll need to get the word out to the people you’d like to include on the call, letting them know that you’ve initiated a conference call.
There are several approaches:
● Send an email
● Send a text message
● Call participants directly
● Use the included Outlook Plugin
Our moderator dial-out feature allows you to call individuals and patch them into your conference call. This works great for on demand conference calls, but can become time-consuming and tedious if you have more than a few attendees to call. Our live operators can take this task on for you upon request. If you must hold a larger conference call with dozens of attendees, our live event conferencing is a better choice.
The most challenging part of holding a conference call on short notice is getting the word out to potential attendees. Using a blend of email including the option to use an Outlook plugin, text messages, dial-out, and operator assistance are available 24/7, but once your attendees receive word, joining the call is easy.
If you're anticipating needing to hold planned or unplanned conference calls, it makes sense to sign up for one of our pay-as-you-go conferencing plans. The technology will be in place and ready when you need it, and you pay only for the time you use. You can get your account activated now.
Catering to an international clientele often requires extensive travel or setting up shop overseas, an expensive endeavor.
Whether you intend to manage sales in person or remotely, setting up a local phone presence should be a top priority.
Here’s how global virtual phone numbers and international conference calling services can play an important role in your international sales strategy.
Consider this: International customers and prospects generally won’t call your direct phone number. Even when not concerned about costs, a foreign phone number acts as a barrier between you and your international customers and prospects. It also sends subtle signals such as: your company is far away and unapproachable; your company is not serious about serving their country; and there’s never a convenient time to call because of time differences.
Are those the signals you want to send? Probably not. Fortunately, global virtual phone numbers send a different set of signals while simultaneously ensuring that your incoming calls are immediately forwarded to the destination phone of your choice - anywhere in the world.
Because global virtual phone numbers conform to the existing phone numbering conventions and customs of the designated country, they don’t look foreign at all. In fact, your business will look as though it has an office in a city within the target country. You can also get toll free global virtual phone numbers for the target country.
Either way, you’ve just created a local presence in the country. Your global virtual number counteracts those negative signals by:
Virtual global phone numbers are an inexpensive way to create a local phone presence, and they are easy to set up and change as needed. In fact, with our month-to-month global virtual phone number plans, you can set up a local presence practically anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes. Global virtual numbers are a great way to test the waters as well as set up shop for the long term.
Another important part of an international sales strategy involves group audio conferencing. For example, you can use international conference calls to pitch your ideas and proposals to a committee, management team, or group of decision makers without having to fly your sales team out each time. Likewise, global audio calls can be used for negotiations, strategic planning sessions, product training, and collaboration.
However, once again, the phone number you give your international customers and prospects should be either local to them or toll free for all of the same reasons outlined earlier. Providing international access numbers is also a professional, service-oriented gesture - and it’s easy with our international conference calling plans.
Like our global virtual phone numbers, there are no contracts with our international conferencing service. Simply pay as you use the service.
One of the most important aspects of both of these international phone services is call quality. All global virtual phone calls and international conference calls are routed over modern PSTN fiber optic networks for reliable, high quality audio. Whether pitching a product or sealing the deal, you’ll be able to hear one another as if you were in the same room and not half a world away.