The Conference is Calling. A guide to getting the most out of your conference calls

Transcription

1 The Conference is Calling A guide to getting the most out of your conference calls

2 The Conference is Calling Why use a conference phone? Most phones today have a speakerphone button but there are in fact a number of reasons why it makes sense to invest in a purpose-built conferencing device. Firstly, like any multi-purpose device, mobile and desktop phones will only perform reasonably well up to a point. Your mobile, laptop, or even your standard telephone isn t built specifically for conference calling. The phone s abilities as a conference platform are compromised by its other features. When it comes to conference calling, the lack of clarity, background noise, and volume issues that you experience on a standard phone, are all solved by a dedicated conference phone you can hear the difference. This can have a real impact if you re teleconferencing on a regular basis and you want to remain alert, attentive and productive.

3 The Conference is Calling Benefits of a conference phone Sound Quality Conference phones help maintain the focus on business by cutting out miscommunications and keeping the conversation flowing. Better Group Interaction Distinguishing voices from background noise, and from each other, on a conference call can be difficult. Even most of the basic conference phones now have omnidirectional microphone pickup, whereas deskphones with hands-free audio only work with uni-directional microphone pickup. Reduced Costs The obvious financial benefit here is the reduction in travel with a good conference phone you can reach the same quality of communication as you can face to face. But there are other ways costs are saved and businesses are improved through conference calling with a dedicated device. It enables flexible workers to speak to customers, partners and colleagues quickly and easily, and to be as productive wherever they are working from It makes meetings quicker and more efficient, resulting in productivity gains It improves understanding and the flow of communication, reducing errors and the costs associated with them

4 The Conference is Calling Selecting the right conference phone Different environments have different needs, and each conferencing environment has its own acoustical challenges that require an appropriately designed conferencing solution. The right device for the job depends on where you will use it. Are you: Working remotely? Working from home? Using a dedicated meeting room? There are different challenges and advantages to each. Number crunching? Yes. Crisp crunching? No However apt you are at hitting the mute button, or however high tech your conference system and setup is, eating whilst on a conference call is risky and tends to be fairly obvious. We recommend sticking to business and saving snacks until afterwards. Similarly, if you re at home aim to be based somewhere appropriate for a call to avoid awkward questioning and frustrated colleagues.

5 The Conference is Calling The Small Office, Home Office or Very Small Conference Room In a relatively small room or office that seats up to four people you may have a low ceiling height and more clutter or soft furnishings to absorb the sound. This kind of room can actually deliver some of the best voice conferencing experiences. The chairs and other items help cut down the echo you tend to get in larger, sparsely decorated rooms. The small size also forces the talkers to remain close to the microphones, and it places them closer to the loudspeaker so a conference phone with five to seven feet of microphone coverage will be more than enough. Using a dedicated conference phone in your own home office means you can speak with colleagues and clients hands-free so you can still access files in your office on your computer. And the phone will cancel any unwanted background noise so you can be productive, without any interruptions. For more tips on how to make the most of home working checkout our guide Home Working 101. Anti-social social-distractions When you re on a conference call, external sounds can be distracting for colleagues on the call. 51% of business decision makers in Polycom s survey said that they notice people multitasking when on a call. So whether you re diligently trying to make a deadline on another project or you re updating your Facebook status, save it for the pre- or post-call to-do list.

6 The Conference is Calling The Standard Conference Room Dedicated conference rooms tend to seat up to around ten people, but this larger size leads to additional acoustic challenges. There s more chance of echo as well as more noise from participants and room features like air vents. However, these rooms typically have soft furnishings which help to combat noise and echo. These rooms range in size, but the smaller end will need a conference phone that has approximately feet of microphone coverage. Between 12 and 20 feet you need to consider expansion microphones to fully cover the area. For rooms larger than this a more comprehensive model of conference phone is needed. This range is within the capabilities of a conference phone and expansion microphones, but a more powerful conference phone will deliver a better experience in this environment. It s likely to have independent echo cancellation and gain management for each microphone, including the expansion microphones which help deliver the best possible sound. When you ve got a number of colleagues in one room on the same call it s really important you have microphones that help to compensate for any reverberation, and can hear the difference between one speaker and another SoundStation or full duplex audio systems can help to do this. If one person will be leading the call, seat them within a few feet of a microphone. If you can t get them near the console, you can use extension microphones. It will save them straining their voice. One at a time... An obvious one, but in the context of conference calling it s as relevant as ever. Avoiding side conversations whilst on a conference call will ensure there s no confusion. Even with tools such as full-duplex audio, which allows you to hear and be heard simultaneously, sticking to one conversation will improve the effectiveness of your meeting.

7 The Conference is Calling The Board Room Board rooms can be extremely large for conferencing purposes. Often the acoustics are secondary to the aesthetics. They have large open surfaces, a lack of soft furnishings and use materials like glass, all of which make good sound quality more difficult. This type of room is too big for a tabletop system. You need to install a dedicated audio system is needed to accommodate enough microphones to pick up each speaker. These systems can be fine-tuned. They also don t spoil the look of the room, as cables can be hidden. These types of rooms typically hold high-level meetings with C-level executives, making an installed system worth the investment, because it will deliver the best sound quality possible. Crystal Clear Clarity is crucial to have a productive and time-efficient meeting without can you repeat that becoming a catchphrase. To make sure you can be heard, avoid putting anything on top of the microphone or placing a laptop too near it. Also bear in mind that there s no need to shout just adopt your normal voice and speak clearly.

8 The Conference is Calling Setting up a conferencing space Use your BRAIN. No, really; Bandwidth, Reverberation, Amplitude, Interaction, Noise. Bandwidth Reverberation Amplitude Interaction Noise These five aspects of voice conferencing each have an impact on the call quality. So if you can t accommodate one of them, you can compensate with another to a certain extent as long as all aspects of BRAIN are considered, it will ensure you have a great audio experience. When deciding how to setup your conference call these are the key factors to bear in mind. Bandwidth IP telephones with HD Voice feature a higher frequency range, and have over twice the range of conventional phone lines, so it s worth making the investment if you re frequently participating in conference calls to ensure enhanced intelligibility during calls, making it seem that you are in the same room as those on the other end of the call. Reverberation Room echo at either end of a phone conversation makes the sound die down more slowly and merges words together. The perfect solution would be to fit the room with conference friendly solutions including; acoustic wall coverings for absorption, wall-mounted diffuser panels, and personal headset or lapel microphones for every participant. However this problem can be considerably improved by using a multiple-microphone conferencing system which can intelligently steer and focus the pickup patterns to dynamically match the location of each talker in a room. Amplitude Insufficient amplitude, or volume, can make it difficult to hear the talker. Physically moving the talker and listener is the obvious solution, but it s not always practical. There are conference phones which can automatically adjust microphone gain to help with this, you ll be pleasantly surprised at the difference this will make.

9 The Conference is Calling Interaction Interactive speech between distant groups can be difficult to conduct for a number of reasons, one of which is the absence of a true full-duplex system, which allows transparent interactive speech. A conference phone with good full-duplex technology will enable the talkers at both ends to be heard clearly without any delays or distractions. When purchasing a conference phone, make sure it really has this feature. Many speakerphone manufacturers have started to claim full-duplex performance, but it s a very sophisticated feature few models can actually deliver. Noise 50% of business decision makers say that background noise is one of the most distracting irritations on a conference call. Make sure you ve positioned your microphones out of the way of fans, air conditioning ducts, projectors, coffee makers or your overly excitable dog. On a more advanced level, certain phones have wideband audio, such as Polycom HD Voice, which has enhanced bandwidth, to eliminate trickier interfering noise such as clicking, buzzing or hissing on the telephone. Muting Matters Using mute speeds up communication and prevents interruptions to the conference. If you re moving your phone, rustling papers, or there s general background noise, make sure you click the mute button.

10 A dedicated conference phone will make a big impact on you as an individual employee and more broadly, your business. Have you got any other top tips on getting the most out of your conference phones and calls? with.