Jordan Conference Calls for Tourists and Business Collaboration

Jordan is one of the world’s leading destinations for medical tourism and has been a leader in this field since the mid-1970s.

Amman Jordan CityscapePlanning a trip to the country of Jordan? Plan on using Jordan conference calls, too.

Below are two examples of how having a Jordan conference calling service can help you plan a successful trip.

Using Jordan Conference Calls to Plan a Group Trip

Whether you’re holding a family reunion or a group trip with friends, the more people involved, the more you’ll need to collaborate. If some of your fellow travelers are in different countries, get a pay-as-you-go international conferencing plan.

That way, each individual could call a local access number in order to join your Jordan conference call. Your contacts in Jordan would dial a Jordan number, those in the US would dial a US number, those in Italy would dial an Italian number, and so on.

Are you going to Jordan for medical care? You can use Jordan conference calls to coordinate your care.

Coordinating Medical Tourism in Jordan with Conference Calls

Jordan is one of the world’s leading destinations for medical tourism and has been a leader in this field since the mid-1970s. Jordan actively markets its medical expertise to Europe, America, and former-Soviet states.

While traveling to another country for a medical procedure may seem costly, many patients have found that the lower costs of foreign healthcare offset the costs of travel — often dramatically so. However, a great deal of coordination is usually required when seeking medical care in Jordan. Conference calls are one tool that can help.

Several individuals, from your healthcare teams in both countries to a health tourism coordinator, may be involved in coordinating your procedure. Using group audio calls is a fantastic way for everyone involved to come together to discuss logistics, explain the process, and plan the best approach for your care.

For example, you may need to speak with representatives from the Jordan medical center as well as your own healthcare providers at the same time. Your loved ones at home may need to speak with your healthcare team or coordinate aftercare services after the procedure.

Using an international conference calling service allows your contacts in Jordan to dial a local or toll free number for Jordan to connect to the teleconference. Meanwhile, your local contacts would dial a domestic access number to connect to your conference calls.

You can also use your Jordan conference calling service to communicate with your loved ones while you’re in Jordan. For example, instead of calling everyone individually after the surgery to tell them that you are recovering, you could hold a post-operative conference call in Jordan from your hospital room or later when you’re back at your hotel.

Your contacts back home will dial a local or toll free number, thus avoiding a costly international long distance call. Since you’ll be hosting the call in Jordan, you’d dial a local access number to join the conference call supplied by AIT.

Alternately, you could use the dial-out feature to dial each of your loved ones directly at a slightly lower per minute rate.

Have you ever hosted a Jordan conference call?

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Calls that connect you globally

The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality.

Calls that connect you globallyBusinesses are connected like never before thanks to communications innovations such as  global conference calling and virtual phone number technology. Not only is this real and happening, costs are remarkably low.

Now, people can communicate with others around the world while keeping travel to a minimum and without huge phone bills by using global conference calls and virtual numbers for quickly creating a presence in another country.

Best of all, line quality has kept up with the technologies. The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality. While email and traditional long distance phone calls have their place with international collaboration, virtual numbers and group overseas calls have become essential.

Rather than connecting two individuals from opposite ends of the earth, a global conference call brings together an entire international dispersed team. Global Conference calls allow for cost-effective group communications and interactions. Because everyone can speak to one another and hear and understand voice inflection and tone, communication is far more effective than exchanging group email messages.

Overseas Call forwarding is an amazing way to set up shop in the communities that you want to serve, either locally or internationally, without having to go through the hassles and the expense of setting up a physical location.

View details about global conferencing here

and international virtual numbers here

Canada conference calling is more affordable than you may realize

If the call is toll free, the attendees won’t incur any local phone company long distance fees.

Global Business Canada

How to make a Conference from Canada?

Hosting a conference call from Canada isn’t overly complicated, especially if you go with a telecommunications provider that specializes in providing Canadians with robust, yet affordable, toll free conference calling services.

Canada Conference Calling – Toll Free Conference Call Rate, If you are conducting a conference call with people who are in other parts of the country you may want to consider a toll free rate. You will usually pay a small extra fee of a couple cents (per minute) to allow people to call in on a toll free number.  For instance, rates for a Canada and US joint conference call are as follows:

Canada or US Conference Call Rates

Canada Conference Call
  2.9¢ minute – Canada Local Access
  3.9¢ minute – Canada Toll Free
 
US Toll Free Conference Call
  1.5¢ minute – U.S. Local Access
  2.9¢ minute – U.S. Toll Free

You may want to use Canada conference call services for personal reasons. Before you look for a service provider, take note of your requirements first. Find out how often you need to perform conference calling, how many people will usually participate, how long will your average calls be and how you want to control the progress of conference calls.

If you’re a participant in a conference call from Canada, your involvement in the call is relatively simple. Depending on how the call is set up, you’ll either be assigned a toll free or non-toll free Canadian phone number that you’ll dial as well an access code.

Simply dial in a minute or two before the teleconference’s scheduled time and participate in the discussion. If the call is toll free, the attendees won’t incur any phone company long distance fees.

Collaborate from Canada with audio conference call meetings

Have conference call participants in other countries?

Get global international conferencing access with the Global Plan

How to Edit Audio from an Overseas Conference Call

If you used an agenda to conduct your overseas conference call, use it to help you decide which agenda item discussions are worth sharing and which ones need to be held in the strictest confidence.

edit audio recording

So, you’ve held an overseas conference call and made an MP3 recording of it, now what?

You could simply upload it to your intranet and share it with participants and employees. If your overseas conference call was relatively short, that may be the way to go.

[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”400px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Audio recording

If it went on for several hours, you may want to edit the audio recording. After all, few people will be willing to sit through several hours of audio content no matter how compelling the content may be.[/dropshadowbox]

Here’s what you need to know about editing an MP3 recording.

Plan Your Edits

Start by planning your edits. If you used an agenda to conduct your overseas conference call, use it to help you decide which agenda item discussions are worth sharing and which ones need to be held in the strictest confidence.

With the agenda in front of you, listen to the recording of your overseas conference call and jot down the start and stop times of each agenda item in hours, minutes, and seconds.

What you are doing right now is called a “paper edit.” Getting organized on paper will save you a great deal of time and frustration once you being editing the audio.

While you’re at it, decide if you will make one long edited audio file or break it up into individual audio files. Let’s say you conducted a two hour overseas conference call with the following components:

  • A motivational component
  • An analysis of consumer behaviors in Brazil
  • An analysis of consumer behaviors in Canada
  • An analysis of consumer behaviors in Switzerland
  • Guidelines for using social media
  • Questions and answers about the company’s upcoming expansion into South America

In this example, it may make sense to create individual recordings for each topic and allow your team to choose the most relevant ones to their job roles and regional interests. By splitting the contents of your overseas conference call into individual recordings, the information will be much easier to digest and potentially repurpose.

For example, once split up, you could later send a link to your social media guidelines recording to new hires or team members who will be responsible for using social media. Instead of having to listen to a motivational speech and several analyses of consumer behaviors, your team members can quickly hear what you need them to hear.

Determine How to Distribute the Edited Recordings

Next, figure out how you will be distributing the edited recordings of your overseas conference call as this may dictate the final format (and thus, the editing tool you may need to use). Options include:

  • Uploading your recordings to your intranet, website, a file sharing service such as Dropbox, a podcasting service, or your corporate repository
  • Sending recordings via email
  • Burning the recording to CD

Choose an Audio Editing Tool

Finally, you’ve completed the paper edit, decided on creating either a single edited recording or a series of shorter ones, and know exactly how you will distribute the finished recordings.

Now it’s time to start editing, but first, you’ll need an audio editing tool. A number of audio editing tools are readily available, many of which are free. Below are a few recommendations:

  • Audacity – Free, open source, and wildly popular, Audacity can import and export many audio formats including MP3, WAV, OGG, and AIFF. It’s loaded with features and is compatible with most operating systems.
  • TuneKitten Audio Editor – This Javascript-based app is very basic and designed primarily for cutting audio.
  • MP3 Cutter – With minimal features, creating short audio files from larger files is a simple matter of importing your MP3 recording, choosing the start and end positions, and clicking the “save” button.

Editing an overseas conference call can help ensure that the rest of your team actually hears your message. With a little planning and an audio cutter, you can create and distribute short snippets of your overseas conference calls.

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International video conference enables collaboration by phone or PC

For example, Americans would dial a toll-free number for USA while Australians and Chinese callers would dial Australian and China based participants dial-in toll free.

international video conference by phone or pc

If you have a team scattered around the world, international collaborating by phone or international video conference is essential to your team’s success.

Though newer technologies such as email and online collaboration tools have emerged, they haven’t completely replaced international collaboration by phone — nor should they. In fact, these technologies can work together.

For example, email and online file sharing tools are fantastic for sharing files or quickly leaving a message despite time zone differences. They’re less attractive, however, for brainstorming, discussing complex topics, and communicating important missives.

In addition, email discussions can take days, if not weeks, to move forward. When real-time dialogues need to occur, global collaboration by video or by phone is the way to go.

Benefits of international video conference and Collaboration by Phone

International collaboration by phone allows team members to discuss projects, brainstorm ideas, clarify instructions, and much more in real-time. With a phone call, misunderstandings can be avoided.

For example, verbal cues, such as voice inflection or tone, are absent in email and online discussion boards yet readily available in phone conversations. At the same time, international collaboration by phone is incredibly efficient. The conversation takes place, questions are answered, tasks assigned, and the next meeting is scheduled.

Considerations When Collaborating Internationally

First, you’ll need a means for international team members to connect on the phone. We recommend using an international conference call service. With such a service, you can issue country-specific local or toll free phone numbers for participants to dial into the conference room.

For example, Americans would dial a toll-free number for USA while Australians and Chinese callers would dial Australian and China based participants dial a toll free phone number. All would be connected to the same conference room regardless of the number they dialed to get in.

Next, you’ll want to schedule a convenient time for international collaboration by phone. This isn’t always possible when participants live around the globe. However, if your team regularly collaborates by phone, you can rotate conference call times and let each team member serve as the “host.”

Call quality is another major consideration. Interference, dropouts, static, tinny sound quality, and delays are unacceptable. Look for an international conference call service that uses a global PSTN network for the best sound quality possible.

Another consideration involves international conference calling costs. International collaboration by phone is a cost-effective choice, but it does incur costs. You can contain these costs by choosing a pay-as-you conference calling plan with no minimum usage requirements or monthly fees.

Another way to contain costs is to use the service’s moderator dial-out feature to dial participants directly. This is especially useful when some participants live in countries with high international calling rates. By using the dial-out feature, the call will be billed at a much lower dial-out rate.

Your team should know when it makes the most sense to use each international collaboration tool available. Consider issuing guidelines describing which collaboration tool to use under which circumstances.

International collaboration by phone is a straightforward and affordable choice for real-time communications. A number of cost-effective international conference calling plans are available including pay-as-you-go plans with no monthly fees, long-term contracts, or minimum usage requirements.

International video conference can be enabled with a free account now. Only a computer with wifi is required.

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International Conference Calling for Human Resources

When an employee is transferred to a different region, international conference calls can aid in the transition at various stages including the interview stage as well as before, during, and after the move.

International Conference Calling for Human ResourcesWhether you are part of a large organization or a small one, international conference calls can help you tap into an international talent pool as well as expand your knowledge without incurring excessive costs.

Below are just a few of the many ways that human resources managers are using international conference calls to their advantage.

1. Virtual job fairs

Virtual job fairs are online events where employers and job candidates come together to learn more about each other. While a virtual job fair typically starts in an online environment, several channels are commonly used in conjunction with the event itself including chat rooms, instant messaging, and teleconferencing. One option is to host an international conference call as part of the event and invite job seekers to call in to learn more about your company, its culture, and current opportunities. Depending on which countries are involved, you could order toll-free access numbers for each country you are targeting.

2. Prescreening recruitment calls

International conference calls are a cost-effective tool that you can use during the interview process. Early in the process, you could hold an international conference call with a job candidate and various decision makers located around the world. Each participant simply dials a local access number, enters a PIN, and joins the conference call. This is a fantastic way to get acquainted, learn more about the candidate, gauge how well the candidate responds under pressure, and share more about the job opening. The cost of international conference calls is minute compared to flying candidates to your headquarters at this stage of the process. As you narrow the field of candidates down through prescreening, you can then bring in only the most qualified.

3. Virtual orientation meetings

International conference calls are also a cost-effective choice once you’ve hired a group of new employees. Use an international conference call in conjunction with other tools to help your new hires get started. For example, you could hold an international conference call focused on your company’s employee assistance and wellness program or other benefits.

4. Training classes

International conference calls can also play an important role in your training program. For example, you could use an international conference call to deliver training or as a live enhancement to video courseware. Since you can record your international conference calls, you may be able to repurpose a single call multiple times.

5. Relocations and transfers

When an employee is transferred to a different region, international conference calls can aid in the transition at various stages including the interview stage as well as before, during, and after the move.

6. Exit interviews

When a key employee leaves the company, it may be useful to hold an international exit interview. This allows managers from various regions to get their questions answered even if they are located in different countries.

7. Virtual leadership retreats

You can also use international conference calls as virtual leadership retreats.

For example, instead of sending executives offsite for a few days of leadership training, schedule a series of international conference calls that cover the same topics. Again, these training sessions can be recorded and reused as you see fit.

These are but a few ways that international conference calls can be used in your human resources department. With budgets tighter than ever, using an international conference call allows you to accomplish the same thing but at a fraction of the cost.

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International Conference Calling – A Team Collaboration Tool

If a team leader would prefer to preschedule an international conference call, this is easy to do.

International Conference Calling - A Team Collaboration ToolWhen it comes to collaborating with international team members, you have a number of great choices including instant messaging, web conferencing, online file-sharing tools, interactive whiteboards, and more.

Teleconferencing has long been the gold standard for team collaboration, and it continues to deliver.

Teleconferencing is especially helpful when teams are geographically dispersed as the entire group can come together to brainstorm in a real-time, voice centric environment.

In a world filled with technological marvels and the latest apps, the humble international conference call may not have the wow factor of its competitors but it shines in its simplicity. For example:

  • Just about anyone can easily participate in an international conference call. All you need is a telephone, mobile or landline or even Skype. There’s no special software to download or equipment to buy.
  • With a voice call, you can hold dynamic group conversations and gain a deeper understanding based on verbal cues such as tone of voice, pauses, and pacing. With instant messaging, email, and threaded discussion boards, nuances are often difficult to catch and misunderstandings all too common.
  • You can call into the international conference call from virtually any location on earth. Whether you’re assigned to a remote outpost or traveling on business, a quick phone call immediately connects you to your team – even if you do not have Internet access or a computer.

As with other team collaboration tools, international conference calling is only effective if teams are empowered to use it.

With this in mind, many worldwide companies make it as easy as possible for team leaders to hold scheduled and impromptu global conference call. One way to do this is to set up easy-to-use international conference calling accounts for your teams.

Reservation-less conference calls can be held at the spur of the moment, allowing your team leaders to hold a group conference call any time the need arises. If a team leader would prefer to preschedule an international conference call, this is easy to do.

You can even set up the conference call so that the system automatically dials each participant if desired. Using automated dial-out is a great way to reduce the per minute cost of the call as well as help ensure that each participant is promptly connected. =

Many international conference call service plans are available including pay-as-you-go so no prepayment is required.

Help your team leaders choose the right collaborative tools for the task at hand by holding a basic collaboration training session. For example, your design team may find that using an online collaboration tool is best for task management and file sharing but cumbersome for requirements gathering, brainstorming, and problem-solving. You may find it helpful to create a matrix detailing the various collaboration tools available and when to use which one.

Finally, the golden rule of choosing a worldwide team collaboration tool for any given situation: When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with an international conference call!

Delegating International Conference Call Tasks

Planning an international conference call does not need to be a one-person job. Determine which tasks you can delegate to others and then seek help from your team.

Delegating International Conference Call TasksHolding international conference calls on a regular basis can bring your global team together and improve collaboration.

However, coordinating international conference calls requires a great deal of work. Delegating some of this work can free up some of your time as well as improve participation. Use the tips below to improve your global team teleconferences.

1. Identify what tasks need to be done. Though task lists vary, some tasks are fairly common to all conference calls such as creating an agenda, scheduling the call, inviting participant’s and distributing the call’s details, recording the call and later sharing the recorded file, and keeping track of time and agenda items during the call.

Once you’ve identified each task, figure out which tasks can be automated, which ones you absolutely must handle yourself, and which tasks could be assigned to someone else.

2. Ask for volunteers. A few weeks before your next international conference call, ask for volunteers to help you coordinate it. Briefly explain what you need help with and what’s involved. For example, if you need a time keeper, explain that the time keeper will use a stopwatch to time each agenda item and will provide notice when the speaker has three minutes left to wrap up the discussion.

3. Assign a different “host” team each month. An alternative to asking for volunteers is to rotate responsibilities amongst different “host” teams each month. For example, you could put your Italian team in charge of scheduling and coordinating your team conference call in January and then have your Brazilian team do the same the following month.

By rotating responsibilities, each team could bring its own unique talents to the call and experience the various challenges involved in scheduling global teleconferences. With each team experiencing some of these challenges firsthand, you may find that teams become more accommodating and more invested in making the teleconference a success.

4. Ask for feedback. Efficient global teleconferences don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of careful planning and continuous improvement. Ask your delegates what they thought of the planning process. Ask them what they might do differently and why.

Planning an international conference call does not need to be a one-person job. Determine which tasks you can delegate to others and then seek help from your team. Doing so provides others with the opportunity to contribute to your team-building efforts and can improve participation.

It may also improve their own team communications and collaboration skills. Your team members may suggest some creative ideas that you can incorporate into your future calls as well.

Managing Time During an International Conference Call

Meetings, whether they take place in person or are held remotely, are notorious amongst participants for taking up too much time. Whether you’ve rented a conference room or are holding an international conference call, each participant likely has time constraints.

With an international conference call, each minute of your meeting impacts the meeting’s total cost as well. Plus, many participants will be calling in outside of their normal work hours, making the call an infringement on their own personal time.

Managing an international conference call’s time is respectful of your participants’ time as well as economically smart. Use the tips below to keep your next international conference call on track.

  • Hold shorter, more focused conference calls more frequently rather than “catch-all” conference calls at longer intervals. A tightly focused conference call often requires fewer participants and will have fewer agenda items. Thus, the meeting will be more relevant to those who attend, and it will take much less time than a more generalized international conference call. In addition, participants will appreciate short international conference calls that only take a few minutes each time instead of long, involved calls that require several hours of their time.
  • Limit the number of participants. The more participants on any given international conference call, the more difficult it becomes to manage both conversations and time. Consider inviting just a handful of leaders to each international conference call and then distributing a MP3 recording of the call to others who need to know the information that was presented.
  • Create a timed agenda. Holding short, tightly focused international conference calls requires staying on track. A timed agenda is a great way to ensure that your call doesn’t last longer than scheduled. If you’ve allotted 15 minutes to the call, then your agenda needs to reflect that. Write down each agenda item and assign a realistic time limit to each one. During the call, keep track of the time as you move through the agenda.
  • Share your agenda in advance. Each participant should know what to expect before the conference call so that they too can prepare. Email each participant a copy of the agenda and let everyone know what’s expected of them. For example, if you need input about a recent change, let them know that’s what you’re looking for so that they can gather their thoughts and ask their teams if they have any suggestions or feedback.
  • Start and end your international conference call on time. If you have a 15-minute teleconference scheduled and you wait five minutes for a latecomer to call in, your meeting just became a 20-minute meeting. Five minutes may not seem like much, but it is multiplied by the number of participants left waiting. Waiting for latecomers also sends a signal to those who were on time that the latecomers’ presence is valued more than theirs. Let the latecomers pay the consequence for their tardiness, not those who arrived on time. Again, you can record the call and let those who missed out catch up later.
  • Become comfortable with your international conference call service before you use it. You may want to hold a few practice calls with a co-worker before holding your first live international conference call. This can help you avoid any time-consuming mistakes.

Because conference calls are usually billed per minute and per participant, managing time can also keep your meeting within its budget. Keeping your meeting focused, following a timed agenda, being selective about who you invite, recording the call, and starting and ending your meeting on time are but a few easy steps you can take to improve your next global conference call.

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13 Ways to Improve Communications During an International Conference Call

If you’re the moderator of the international conference call, you can help your participants by referring to other speakers by name.

13 Ways to Improve Communications During an International Conference CallHolding an international conference call with a diverse group of people from around the globe can be a communications challenge. After all, you’ve got multiple time zones and multiple people who may or may not speak the same language.

Once you’ve overcome the logistics of scheduling the international conference call, one of the biggest challenges involves communicating your message in a clear, concise, and engaging manner. Use the tips below to improve your communications during a global teleconference.

1. Always go for exceptional sound quality. When it comes to using a international conference calling service, you have a myriad of options including free conference calling, VoIP conference calling, and traditional teleconferencing services. While price is certainly a consideration, sound quality is of utmost important. All participants, regardless of their location, should be able to hear one another without having to suffer through sound delays, static, echoes, and dropouts. The better the sound quality, the better able your participants will be to hear and understand your message.

2. Always identify yourself before speaking, and encourage all participants to do the same. By stating your name, company, and title before you speak, you give participants an important frame of reference. If you’re the moderator of the international conference call, you can help your participants by referring to other speakers by name.

3. Conduct your international conference call from a quiet location. Remember, you can call from virtually anywhere. So, if your office is particularly loud due to a construction project taking place next door, consider calling in from a quieter setting such as your home office or a soundproof conference room.

4. Use your international conference calling plan’s moderation features. Most international conference calling plans have features for muting and unmuting individual phone lines as well as for turning off chimes used to announce new participants.

5. Never put your phone on hold during a conference call. This applies to moderators and participants alike. Doing so often triggers your company’s music on hold system which then takes over the call. Not only is the music distracting, it will prevent others from conversing. If you must step away, use the mute feature to mute your phone line.

6. Turn off potentially noisy interruptions. This includes your cell phone’s ringer, your computer’s email notification chime, pager, and interoffice intercom. In general, anything that beeps, rings, chirps, or makes unexpected noises should be turned off during the international conference call.

7. Start the international conference call with a brief summary of what the call will be about. This can be as simple as saying something along the lines of, “We’ll spend the first 20 minutes discussing A, B, and C and then we’ll open up the call for 15 minutes of questions and answers.” This lets everyone know what’s coming up and what to expect.

8. Speak slowly and clearly, using plain language. With international participants, the language used to communicate during the call may not be their first language. This is not the time to rush through your comments or use slang words that are likely to cause confusion.

9. Paraphrase the comments of others. For example, during a question and answer session, after someone asks a question, paraphrase the question before giving the answer. This helps to ensure that everyone hears and understand the question, even if the person who asked it had a heavy accent or soft voice. Paraphrasing also helps to clarify that you’ve interrupted the question correctly before moving on to the answer.

10. Proactively manage the conversation. It’s not unusual for discussions to wander off track. If a discussion becomes irrelevant to the purpose of the international conference call, table the matter for another time and direct the conversation back to the scheduled topic. Not only does your active moderation keep the conversation focused, it can prevent an international conference call from going over its allotted time limit.

11. Engage all participants. Some participants will naturally be more vocal than others. Some will prefer to sit back and listen. However, their voices should be heard, too. Use your moderator’s dashboard to keep an eye on who’s on the call, who’s speaking, and who has not had a chance to contribute. From there, actively engage those who have been quiet. For example, you could say, “Barbara Jones, we haven’t heard from you yet. What do you think?” This isn’t to put her on the spot, but rather to give everyone the opportunity to contribute to the conversation. This can also prevent naturally talkative participants from becoming overly involved in the call.

12. Do a quick recap. At the end of the call, do a quick recap, summarizing what was discussed along with the next steps.

13. Consider sending an MP3 recording of the international conference call to all participants after the fact so that they can review the call as needed. You could also have the recording transcribed and then send a PDF transcript to participants.

Focusing on sound quality, speaker identification, clear speaking, active listening and paraphrasing, conversation management, and engagement can lead to more communicative international conference calls.

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Mind Your International Conference Call Manners

If you are the moderator of the call, you will have more features available to you; make sure to learn them before the international conference call and not during it.

Mind Your International Conference Call Manners When it comes to participating in an international conference call, it’s important to follow basic rules of phone and professional protocol.

After all, you want to come across as polite and professional, right? An international conference call brings with it a few additional challenges including some that are unique to the medium such as muting and unmuting the line as needed.

Use the tips below to mind your international conference call manners.

1. Learn how to use the international conference calling system in advance. In general, international conference calling involves using regular and mobile phones, a telephone number, and an access code or PIN.

You don’t need any fancy software or equipment. However, you should be familiar with how to mute and unmute your phone line so that you can block out any distracting noises from your environment while someone else is speaking. If you are the moderator of the call, you will have more features available to you; make sure to learn them before the international conference call and not during it.

2. Remember that you represent your entire organization. Whether you are hosting an international conference call or participating in one, you may be the only person representing your organization.

Your demeanor reflects the entire organization. Even if your role in the call is minor, how you present yourself is of utmost importance.

3. Use professional, clear language. One of the biggest problems associated with international conference calls involves language. After all, participants come from around the globe.

Not only should you use professional language and avoid profanity and slang, you should also try to be as clear as possible. Your international colleagues may not be familiar with expressions and colloquialisms common to your culture.

4. Avoid humor and controversial topics. Humor is hard enough to pull off with participants from within your own country, and even more so with an international crowd.

It is too easy for a seemingly harmless joke to turn offensive or insulting. Politics and religion are also extremely touchy subjects and should be avoided.

5. Be on time – if not early. Being on time shows other participants that you are prompt, reliable, and respectful of their time. Ideally, you should be dialed in, connected, and ready to begin several minutes before the official start time.

Go ahead and dial in five minutes before the conference begins and enjoy some light reading while you wait. This ensures that you’re on time and ready. In addition, you may have the opportunity to chat with other participants before the international conference call officially begins.

This is a great way to build rapport with other participants with whom you may not have the opportunity to speak with one-on-one.

Another reason to be on time is that you don’t want to miss anything. If you’re a participant, the international conference call will start with or without you and you’ll miss out.

On the other hand, of you’re the call’s moderator and you’re not on time, your participants are likely to be upset and unlikely to hang around for more than a minute or two for you to arrive. They may not give you another chance to coordinate a global teleconference. Even worse, they may question your ability to meet deadlines or serve their needs.

6. Be prepared. If you’re the moderator of the international conference call, then you should have an agenda prepared and you should be prepared to keep the call on track. As a participant, you should know what your role is in the call and prepare accordingly. For example, if you’ve been asked to share feedback about a certain process or product, you should gather information well in advance of the call and outline the key points that you’d like to discuss.

7. Use mute and unmute. Teleconferences have multiple participants, each calling in from their own potentially noisy environments.

When you’re not speaking, make sure to mute your line. That way, any background noise will not interfere with the international conference call. When you need to contribute to the conversation, simply unmute your line and speak freely.

8. Pay attention to the clock. If you are the teleconference moderator, it’s up to you to manage the clock and moderate the discussion as needed to ensure that the teleconference stays within its scheduled time allotment.

If you are a participant who has been allocated a certain amount of time to speak, you’ll also want to be mindful of the clock. For example, if you’ve been allotted 5 minutes and you’ve already spoken for 10 minutes, you may need to wrap up your presentation or ask the moderator if it’s okay to speak a little longer.

Moderating or participating in an international conference call requires advanced preparation

Hosting or attending an international conference call needs some advanced thought, professionalism, and attention to detail. Be prepared, polite, and mindful of others and your next international conference call is sure to be a success.

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International Conference Calls for Import Export Businesses

When you use an international conference calling service provider, your calls are routed over a high quality PSTN telecommunications network.

International Conferencing for Import Export BusinessSeveral types of businesses make up the import / export industry ranging from merchants who sell products and services in foreign and domestic markets and export trading brokers to export management companies. No matter where you fall in the import / export spectrum, your business relies on your ability to communicate with people both inside of and outside of your country. International conferencing call can play an important role in facilitating communication with your suppliers, clients, and partners around the globe.

The Difference between Domestic and International Conferencing

While you may be familiar with making conference calls domestically, adding international callers to a teleconference adds a new layer of complexity to the mix. With most domestic conference calling plans, callers are given either a local or toll free number to call to enter the conference call. Unfortunately, international callers may be shut out of these domestic calls.

For example, if the access number is not a toll free number, international dialing costs could be a significant barrier; at the same time, domestic toll free numbers do not work internationally. Even if you gave out a toll free number to international participants, they would not be able to connect to the call. For this reason, you need an international conferencing plan designed specifically for a group of geographically diverse participants.

With an international conference calling plan, each participant is given a local or toll free access number that is specific to their own country. For example, if you have one supplier based in Hong Kong, another in Malaysia, another in Mexico, and a partner in Singapore, each participant would receive a country-specific access number to use to connect to your teleconference. In addition to overcoming connectivity problems, local phone numbers are familiar and comfortable to dial. As the international conference call host, you can even opt to give out toll free numbers to your participants which eliminates concerns about the cost of the call.

Why Use International Conference Calling Instead of Other Options

Using international conference calls to communicate with suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, customers, trade officials, and partners is an easy way to hold a group discussion. While other options, including email and Web conferencing do exist, international conference calling is one of the easiest communications available for groups. After all, all of your business contacts have easy access to a phone. There’s no special equipment to buy or configure. Each participant simply dials a local number and an access code.

That said, a few challenges can arise due to time zone differences. Fortunately, most of these challenges can be solved. For example, if it is not possible for a vendor to attend your international conference call in person, you could still hold the conference call with other participants and record the call. After the conference call is complete, you could then email the absent participant an MP3 recording of the call to listen to later.

Benefits of Using an International Conference Calling Provider

Using an international conference calling service provider to host international conference calls allows you to connect with your import / export contacts in a group environment. Whether you need to coordinate manufacturing, arrange a shipment, or provide bidders with background information, a global teleconference can bring all interested parties together in a voice environment.

International conference calls can also be an inexpensive choice. Plans vary by provider but are typically extremely competitive. For example, if you opt for a pay-as-you-go international conference calling plan, you would pay a competitive per minute rate for each  minute of the call (per participant). These rates are often significantly lower than traditional long distance calling rates – even for toll free access. When compared to coordinating a live meeting or adding in travel expenses, international conference calling is a real bargain.

Additional bargains can be found if desired. For example, if you would like to cut the overall cost of your global conference call, you could set up automatic dialing. With this option, you would need to preprogram each participant’s phone number into the software. When the scheduled time arrives, the software then dials each participant automatically. This usually results in lower per minute rates for each participant.

When you use an international conference calling service provider, your calls are routed over a high quality PSTN telecommunications network. This means that callers from countries with poor telecommunications networks can bypass their local, substandard networks and experience crystal clear audio calls.

You can also hold either scheduled or impromptu conference calls. Need to coordinate an emergency shipment with multiple suppliers and logistics companies? An international conference call could be the perfect medium to getting it done. This could result in less fingerprinting and greater accountability.

When everyone must work together no matter where in the world they may be, international conference calls can help facilitate that collaboration. Signing up with a no-contract international conference calling service plan is an excellent choice for any import / export business.

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International Conference Calls for Talent Management

Obviously, you can’t manage talent until you’ve acquired it. Global conferencing can play an important role in the recruiting process.

International Conference Calling for Talent ManagementToday’s talent pool is wider than ever. Whether you’re recruiting workers from overseas or need a convenient communications method to connect with a global team, international conference calls are an affordable choice.

Below is a quick overview of what global conferencing is along with a few ideas for using international conference calls as a talent management tool at various stages of the talent management process.

What is Global Conferencing

Global conference calls are much like the conference calls you make domestically in that each participant dials an access number and joins the teleconference by entering its unique PIN code. International conference calls open up the teleconference to callers from around the world. These callers are typically shut out of domestic conference calls due to dialing restrictions or excessive costs. With global conferencing, each participant dials a local phone number (or a local toll free number) which is then routed to the conference call.

Recruiting International Talent

Obviously, you can’t manage talent until you’ve acquired it. Global conferencing can play an important role in the recruiting process. Not only can you use international conference calls to collaborate with human resources managers located in regional offices around the world, your human resources team can hold group interviews with international applicants in a global conference call.

Using international conference calls to prescreen international candidates is also a smart choice as far as controlling costs goes. For example, if you have numerous applicants from around the world, you could fly each applicant in to your main office for a formal, face-to-face interview. However, that approach is extremely expensive. By holding an international conference call, your entire hiring team can have the opportunity to get acquainted with each applicant before deciding which candidates they should to meet in person.

In addition, it’s possible to record each international conference call. If one of your colleagues was unable to attend the group interview in person, he or she could simply listen to the MP3 recording after the fact.

You could also use global conferencing to hold informational meetings where candidates could find out more about the position before applying for it. This can reduce the volume of individual phone calls your HR team receives as well as provide candidates with a forum for getting their questions answered. It also can narrow the field of applicants as they will have the chance to gauge whether or not the position is a good fit for them. If you use international conference calls for this purpose, consider recording the call and making it available to future applicants.

Training

Attracting talent is just the beginning of any talent management strategy. After attracting and hiring the best people, you need to retain them. Companies often use training and professional development as part of their talent retention strategies. While you’ll likely use a number of training methods including live trainers, Web-based training, and training videos, you can also deliver some training using international conference calls.

For example, you could hold a live session led by a motivational speaker using global conferencing. All participants, including the speaker, would join the conference by calling an access number and entering the conference’s PIN code. Depending on your preferences and how you structure the call, the speaker could deliver the training with all other lines muted or he or she could open the lines so that participants could ask questions as needed.

Since the speaker can call in from virtually anywhere in the world, you may be able to negotiate a reduced fee. After all, the speaker will not need to travel to your office or incur related expenses. Again (unless your contract with the speaker forbids it), you can record the global conference call, allowing future employees to benefit from the training.

Talent Evaluation

Nurturing and evaluating talent are also important. Whether several managers from various countries need to provide feedback during the evaluation process or a key team member is overseas on business, global conferencing allows everyone involved to contribute to the conversation no matter where in the world they may be at the time. International conference calls are easy to schedule both in advance or as needed. Plus, there’s no special equipment needed to collaborate.

International Talent Outreach

Many companies take a long term approach to talent development by sponsoring schools or educational programs. Whether your company wants to ensure that today’s students have the skills you expect tomorrow’s workers to need or want to help a struggling nation improve its future, international conference calls can help you coordinate your efforts. You can use global conferencing to coordinate local seminars as well as a means of delivering educational content.

With a wide, diverse, and global talent pool, talent management professionals need a convenient communications method to attract, hire, train, and retain a talented workforce. Global conferencing is one such method. Not only is it affordable on its own, it can help to reduce hiring and training costs.

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International Conference Calling Best Practices

International conferencing is notoriously difficult to coordinate, and you may be asked to call in at an unusual time of day.

International Conferencing Best Practices
International Conferencing

International Conference Calling Best Practices

Whether you will be hosting international conferencing calls or have been invited to one, an international conference call’s success depends in large part on how it’s been planned and organized as well as on the etiquette of its attendees. If you are a host, avoid holding a poorly planned teleconference by following these best practices for international conferencing hosts. If you are a participant, use the best practices tips for international conferencing attendees to ensure that you can contribute to the call’s success.

Best Practices for International Conferencing Hosts

Choose a high quality international conferencing service provider. Not all international conferencing services use high quality telecommunications networks. Poor connections, noise on the line, echoes, and other sound quality issues will adversely affect your global conference call. If the sound quality is bad enough, attendees will struggle to hear, or worse, abandon the meeting.

Schedule the international conferencing with convenience in mind. This isn’t always possible, but it should be attempted when possible. Use a world time zone map or world meeting planning tool to determine which block of time falls within business hours for most attendees.

Determine who needs to attend the call in real time. Not all international conferencing participants need to actively participate in real time. Consider who will be asked to speak and whether there will be an opportunity for questions and answers or other interactive exchanges. For example, you may decide that you want your regional sales managers present so that they can provide input and get their questions answered; however, their sales teams may not need to participate in the live call and could benefit by listening to a recording at their leisure. By limiting the call this way, you could reduce the number of participants on the call while offering them a more convenient means of obtaining the information that was discussed. This also reduces the overall cost of the call.

Treat international conferencing as you would treat a meeting. It’s helpful to create an agenda for the call and to actively monitor the call as it progresses. If you’ve allotted ten minutes to discuss a new regulation, for example, and fifteen minutes have passed, your call will likely run longer than expected unless you take action to keep the meeting on track. As the host of the call, it is your duty to keep the meeting on track.

Get familiar with the international conferencing tools available to you. For example, do you know how to mute a noisy phone line if the participant is unaware of the excess noise being blasted to the group? Do you know how to quickly and discreetly get operator assistance while running an international conference call? Do you know how to record your conference call? You may even want to practice using your international conferencing plan with a friend or colleague before you go live for the first time.

Best Practices for International Conferencing Attendees

As a conference call attendee, your duties are less involved than that of the host. However, you do play a role in the success of the call. Below are a few best practices for participants.

Prepare for the conference call. If the host has distributed an agenda or outline for the call, take a look at it a few days in advance. Think about the topic and how it applies to you. What do you expect to learn from the call? What ideas do you have that you might be able to contribute? What questions do you want to ask if the host doesn’t address them? If you’ve been asked to speak during the call, gather any supporting documents you may need (such as sales reports, study results, customer satisfaction ratings, etc.) and prepare your statements. Ask for clarification if you are unsure about what’s expected. For example, if you’ve been asked to discuss customer satisfaction ratings but weren’t told how much time you’ve been allotted to speak, ask the host how much time you have.

Be on time. International conferencing is notoriously difficult to coordinate, and you may be asked to call in at an unusual time of day. Even if you’re expected to call in at midnight, you should be prompt and ready to contribute.

Use a landline if possible. In some countries, the per minute cost of a call is dramatically higher for calls made using mobile phones. While the host may provide you with a toll free number, if you have access to a landline, using it instead of a mobile phone is a courteous gesture that can reduce the cost of the call for the host.

Find out how to mute and unmute your phone line. With potentially dozens of participants on an international conference call at once, background noise is a major problem. Each participant is expected to know how to mute their phone line when not speaking and then unmute it when it’s their turn to speak. It’s usually a simple matter of pressing *6 on your phone’s keypad.

Be respectful of the group. Most international conference calls are scheduled with an agenda that leaves room for questions at the end of the call. Write your questions down and  wait until the end to ask them. While it would be nice to be able to go through your list of questions one after another, make sure to give other people the chance to ask their questions as well. Because time is limited and you may not be able to ask all of your questions, determine which questions are the most urgent and ask those questions first.

International conferencing is a group effort. Whether you’re the host or an attendee, do your part to make the call a success.

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International Conferencing as a Sales Tool

With a toll free international conference call, each participant is assigned a toll free number to dial from their own country.

International Conferencing as a Sales Tool
International Conferencing as a Sales Tool

International Conferencing as a Sales Tool

Selling products and services to businesses located in other countries, by its nature, is more complicated than selling to a business located closer to home. While you may have the resources to travel occasionally or hire an in-country sales representative, there will be times when you need to pitch a new offer personally or intervene to close the deal from afar. Hopping on an airplane is an option, but it’s a costly one both in terms of money and time. International conferencing is a robust alternative that will save you both.

International conferencing is a teleconferencing service designed specifically to accommodate international participants. Access numbers to the teleconference are either local or toll free to each individual’s country, and call quality is exceptional despite extended geographic distance.

Determining When International Conferencing is Appropriate

Using international conferencing is easy for the moderator and participants alike, and it’s appropriate for any number of sales scenarios.

In general, consider using teleconferencing after you’ve warmed prospects up. In other words, it’s not the best choice for cold calling. Use other methods to warm the prospect up and schedule an extended sales consultation via international conferencing.

Teleconferencing is also suitable for introducing new products and services to existing customers, presenting progress reports, receiving feedback, resolving issues, and holding international focus groups.

You can also use global teleconferencing in conjunction with a face-to-face meeting with local sales rep from your company. For example, if your local representative needs support or additional information, holding international conferencing could be an excellent choice.

Who Needs to Be on the Call?

After determining that international conferencing is an appropriate choice, the next step is to determine who needs to be on the phone call. In the example above, your local sales rep, the customer, and you would come together in an international conference call. Do others need to be available? Are there other decision makers that need to be convinced? Are there other individuals from your company who can better explain your product’s unique features? Would it be helpful to have a translator present?

Take the time to determine exactly who should be present in advance as you will later need to schedule the teleconference around the participants’ hectic schedules. Because of time differences and other factors, some participants may not be able to attend the call live, so identify the key players who absolutely need to attend and those whose presence would be helpful but not essential.

The Importance of Toll Free Conference Call Access

When it comes to international conferencing, you have two choices as far as international access to the teleconference goes: toll free or local access numbers. In a sales environment, toll free access is crucial. Not only does a toll free number reassure your customers and prospects that they will not incur expensive international long distance charges, it looks professional. A toll free number shows that you’re serious about taking care of your customers. It also conveys the feeling that you do not want to inconvenience them.

In addition to providing a no-cost means of attending your international conference call, toll free access also makes it much easier for your international attendees to place the call. As you likely know, dialing conventions vary from one country to the next, making it confusing to place a call to another country. With a toll free international conference call, each participant is assigned a toll free number from their own countries. The number is immediately recognizable as being toll free and it’s familiar looking because it follows that country’s dialing conventions. Attendees do not need to think twice about dialing the call, nor will they need operator assistance.

Coordinating an International Conference Call

Once you have determined the purpose of the call, who needs to attend, and that you want to provide toll free access, it’s time to schedule the actual event. Use your list of participants that you identified earlier and write down which countries they will be calling from. Use a world time zone map or other tool to identify the time zones of each attendee.

Once you have the various countries and their time zones identified, look to see if there’s any particular time that you can schedule the call during business hours for all attendees. In many cases, this will be impossible due to geography, but in some cases it’s doable or nearly doable. Because the call involves a customer or prospect, make sure to schedule the call so that it is most convenient for the customer or prospect.

Ask your customer what time works best out of a short list of suggested times and then schedule the call around the customer’s choice. If this means that you need to set your alarm clock to wake you up at 3:00 AM in order to accommodate an international customer, then that’s what you’ll need to do. Schedule the call, distribute the call’s details to each participant (including time and date in local time, toll free access numbers, and PIN code), and prepare for the teleconference.

Using Your Plan’s Features

Finally, the time has arrived. Use the features of your international conferencing plan to enhance the call. For example, if some of the participants cannot make it to the teleconference, use the plan’s call recording feature to record the call for later.

Another useful feature to be aware of is muting. At the beginning of the call, instruct attendees how to mute and unmute their phones to eliminate distracting background noises. If someone forgets, you can manually mute a line using your live conference management tools. If you need technical help at any point during the teleconference, take advantage of operator assistance as needed. This allows you to return your attention to your customer while the operator assists you or other attendees.

International conference calls can quickly and easily bring together a diverse group for sales presentations, customer feedback, progress reports, focus groups, and other sales scenarios. It’s a cost-effective choice that saves both time and money while allowing you to communicate in a more personable manner.

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Tips for Better Communication during an International Conference Call

Conference Call Tips for the Moderator
Conference Call Tips

International collaboration using a conference call is a cost effective choice that allows you to accomplish many tasks without the high cost of travel. For example, you can negotiate deals, conduct training, conduct creative brainstorming sessions, get feedback, conduct research, and much more with an international conference call. Just about anything you can do face-to-face, you can do on a teleconference. However, with audio-only conference calls, you may miss non-verbal cues such as facial expressions. In addition, not all callers will recognize one another’s voices. Use these tips to enhance communications during an international conference call.

  • Ask each participant to announce their names and departments before speaking – While you may recognize Glen from accounting’s voice, other participants might not. Asking each participant to quickly say their name and department or job role before they speak helps give context to their comments.
  • Use active listening techniques – Some participants may be difficult to hear or understand for any number of reasons. As the moderator of the international conference call, part of your job is to ensure that everyone is heard and understood. If the sound is muffled or a person’s accent heavy, it’s helpful to repeat what you believe was said and ask the speaker to confirm. For example, you might say, “Barbara from our San Diego logistics office just said our freight contract expires in two weeks. Did I hear that correctly Barbara?”
  • Allow a few minutes for questions and answers at the end – At the end of the international conference call, open up the meeting for questions and answers. As you wrap up the call, thank participants. You might even leave the lines unmuted for a few minutes, allowing for a little friendly banter which builds a sense of camaraderie.

Many international conference calls suffer needlessly because of telephone system quality issues. Many communications problems can be avoided by choosing an international conference calling plan known for quality connections.

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Strategies to inspire attendance of International Conference Calls

International business people communicate via global conference calls
Inspire Global Conference Call Attendees

Strategies to inspire attendance of International Conference Calls

Hosting an international conference call involves more than signing up for a teleconferencing account, scheduling the conference, and inviting participants. It also means keeping conference call attendees engaged and interested. If you’ve ever attended a boring or useless conference call, you know the pitfalls of poor planning. Use these tips to plan an engaging international conference call.

  • Determine what you want to accomplish before you schedule the call. By planning your topics beforehand, you’ll have a better idea of how much time you need. If you only need 20 minutes to accomplish the goal of the international conference call, schedule accordingly. Your participants would prefer a short, on-task meeting over an overly long one with no clear direction.
  • Create and distribute an agenda for the call in advance. Again, your attendees will appreciate knowing what to expect and how much time they’ll be required to invest in the teleconference. The agenda will also be helpful for potential attendees to determine if their attendance is necessary.
  • Adhere to the agenda’s topics and time limits. If you’ve designated 10 minutes for an individual to speak on a given topic, you may need to jump in if the speaker goes over the allotted time period. As the moderator of the call, it’s your job to moderate the pace of the call. If a speaker doesn’t use up the entire allotment, you can either use that time for questions and answers or wrap up the call a few minutes early. It’s helpful to have a list of alternate topics to discuss if time allows.
  • Use icebreakers at the beginning of the call. With an international conference call, you’ll have participants from around the globe. A quick icebreaker game or a short round of introductions can be fun and interesting to callers. For larger groups, individual introductions are time-prohibitive. In this case, a few shout outs, such as “We have callers from Hong Kong, Canada, London, and South Africa.” If you’re using the chat tool in conjunction with your international conference call, you could also prompt attendees to enter their names and locations in the chat box.
  • Offer an incentive to stay on the conference call. Staying on task and delivering relevant content are vital to your teleconference’s success. However, people often sneak out toward the end of the call for any number of reasons. One way to keep them tuned in is to offer an incentive at the end. It could be as simple as randomly awarding a $10 Starbucks card or offering a special offer on a product of interest to your attendees.

With advance planning and a solid agenda, your next international conference call can be a resounding success!

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Engaging International Conference Call Attendees

International Conference Call Hosting
International Conference Call Hosting

Engaging International Conference Call Attendees

Holding an international conference call can be a one-to-many experience with the call’s host doing most of the talking or it can be much more collaborative. In either case, the success of the call often relies on how engaged attendees are. For example: Is the content relevant to them? Is the pace appropriate? And do attendees have the opportunity to share their thoughts or ask questions? Use the tips below to create a more engaging international conference call:

  • Prepare all participants – Everyone should understand the purpose of the call as well as their individual roles. Create and share the conference call’s agenda in advance so that all participants can prepare accordingly. If you expect individuals to contribute, let them know so that they understand your expectations and can arrive prepared. For example, if you expect the graphic designer to share three concepts during the call, the designer may want to upload PDF files of the design to a file-sharing site in advance so that the files are readily available to call participants during the teleconference.
  • Acknowledge attendees throughout the teleconference – You certainly don’t want to feel as though you are talking to an empty room; and your attendees don’t want to feel as though they’re not present. One way to avoid this is to use the interactive chat feature included in your international conferencing account. For example, you might encourage attendees to enter their questions in the chat box. If you do, have a co-moderator monitor the chat. Your co-moderator may be able to answer some of the questions in real time. Likewise, the most relevant questions can be selected to discuss during the Q&A section.
  • Respect everyone’s time – Finally, a bored audience is a disengaged audience. Keep your teleconference on task and relevant. Stick to its agenda and end the call on time – if not earlier if you’ve accomplished everything earlier than expected.

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How Do Companies Use International Conference Calling

International Conference Call Sales Tool
Conference Call Sales Tool

How Do Companies Use International Conference Calling?

Companies use international conference calls for all kinds of purposes. For some, the international conference call is a cheap way to keep virtual teams connected. For others, teleconferences are a convenient way to share ideas with a global audience. Some sales professionals use conference calls to pitch their products or negotiate deals. The possibilities are endless. Below are a few ways that businesses of all types have used international conferencing:

  • School is in session – Virtual schools, charter schools, colleges, and other educational institutions often use teleconferences as part of their distance learning programs. For example, students may be required to attend weekly teleconferences where they’ll be able to hear the instructor’s lecture, get their assignments for the week, and have the opportunity to ask questions. Schools also use international conference calling for administrative purposes such as staff meetings and as alternatives to in-person meetings.
  • Legal proceedings – Court reporters, lawyers, and litigation support services firms often use international conference calling to conduct some legal proceedings. Not only does doing so eliminate travel, it’s possible to record conference calls and the calling plan can create an accurate record of who was present during the call.
  • Board meetings – From charitable organizations to Fortune 500 companies, many businesses use international conference calls to hold virtual board meetings with attendees scattered around the world. This saves on travel expenses while accomplishing the agenda items.
  • Mentoring and coaching – Many businesses and entrepreneurs use teleconferences to mentor and coach others. One of the benefits of using an international conference call to host a mentoring or coaching session involves recording the call for later use. Not only can the original attendees benefit from the session, future ones can listen to the call and receive the same information.

These are but a few of the many ways that businesses use international conferencing. How will you use your international conference calling plan?

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Conference Calling and the Virtual Team

Virtual International Conference Team
Virtual Conference Team

Conference Calling and the Virtual Team

Virtual teams are made up of team members who typically work independently of one another. Some team members may work from home while others might work in various branch offices. Some may even belong to other companies. For example, a virtual team of volunteers coordinating a charity even may have team members from multiple organizations.

While face-to-face team or committee meetings are often held, they can also be impractical especially if the team is scattered across a large geographic distance. To solve this problem and facilitate communication, many virtual teams use international conference calling.

With conference calling, each person simply dials a designated phone number, enters an access code, and begins collaborating. No one needs to travel, and the international conference call can be as long or short as necessary. In addition to these obvious benefits, conference calling also allows for:

  • Call recording – By recording the call, individuals can go back and listen to it as needed. In addition, the call recording can be used as “meeting minutes” or be transcribed. Absent team members can listen to the call after the fact. Superiors and colleagues could also be invited to listen to the call after if appropriate.
  • Collaboration and team building – While email solves many communications challenges, it doesn’t necessarily build camaraderie. By holding regular conference calls, virtual team members can get to know each other on a more personal basis.
  • Anytime, anywhere conferences – With a pay-as-you-go teleconferencing plan, you can hold virtual team meetings anytime, day or night. There’s no need to preschedule your conference, allowing you to hold impromptu conference calls as needed.

Virtual team members often have conflicting work schedules, especially when working across multiple time zones. While some international conference calls may require some participants to attend at odd hours, they can do so from their homes or other remote locations. There’s no need to dress up, either.

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The Benefits of Recording Conference Calls

Record Conference Calls
Record Conference Calls

The Benefits of Recording Conference Calls

Recording conference calls is a simple matter of clicking a button in your conference calling dashboard (if this feature is offered by your service provider). While you may not have given much thought to this feature, there are many benefits to recording conference calls. Below are just a few creative ideas to prompt you to click that button the next time you host a conference call.

  • You can include participants who were unable to attend the live event. By recording conference calls, you make it possible for those with schedule conflicts to listen in after the fact. For example, if you held a conference call and one of your law firm’s attorneys could not attend because she was in court all day, she could listen to the call later that night, the following day, or at some point in the near future. Recording conference calls allows absentee participants to receive the full value of the teleconference despite schedule conflicts. This also reduces your burden because you do not need to rehash everything that was discussed.
  • You can use conference calls to create reusable resources. Conference calls are often used for training purposes. By recording these teleconferences, you can reuse them indefinitely. Not only can this save time and resources, it also ensures that future trainees receive the same exact training and guidance that the original participants received.
  • Participants can listen at their leisure. By recording conference calls, you can offer participants a convenient option for receiving information. Not only can they choose when to listen to the recording, they can do so from virtually anywhere. MP3 recordings, for example, can be downloaded onto portable music players. Your participants could listen to your conference call while jogging, working out at the gym, or commuting to or from the office.
  • You can create podcasts with a conference call. While you may see your conference calling plan as an internal communications tool, your marketing team may see other possibilities. For example, you could create podcasts by recording conference calls and saving them as MP3 files. From there, you can upload them to iTunes or your website if desired. You could even create a series of audio recordings for a paid membership site.

Recording conference calls creates a valuable, reusable resource that you can use time and time again. You can use your MP3 conference call recordings internally or create podcasts for a wider audience. The possibilities are endless!

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