7. Conference call

This service is widely used within companies. Less so for private use.

A conference call allows more than two people to be connected during a call. Any person on the conference call can speak and all the others will hear.

For instance, say a sales manager wants to run an audio meeting with her team who are out on the road. They establish a set time to arrange a conference call. Each person dials into the conference call system and enters a PIN number to authenticate themselves.

As soon as they dial in, the system asks for their name. What they say is then recorded and played back over the call. For instance Tom dials in, enters his pin number and is asked to identify himself, he says 'Tom'. The system then broadcasts a message saying "Tom has joined the call". A message is also broadcast when he leaves the call, "Tom has left the call"

Conference calls are excellent for running routine meetings thus avoiding traveling and making better use of work time.

Most internal telephone systems support conference calls.

The downside of conference calls is that they can be annoying or distracting for other people in the office as often the 'speakerphone' is used rather than holding the handset. In this case many companies establish a formal or informal etiquette where long conference calls are held in a separate meeting room.

It is also vital that everyone in the call knows they are speakerphone in case they blurt out something others should nor hear!