Cheap Phone Calls » Tips for Conference Call

Conference Call: International Calls Vs Domestic Calls

Sushant — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:44:00 +0000

A conference call is basically a phone call that involves a group of participants who talks to each other and dials into a “conference” room. Usually, in such a call, participants dial a phone number and key in a conference room code. After all the participants have joined the conference, they can begin talking to each other over the phone line.

There are few basic differences between the international and domestic conference calls. In case of international dialing, user needs to be aware of international dialing conventions. For example if a user is making calls from US, he needs to dial 011 followed by the called country code followed by the phone number. However in case of domestic calls, user needs to follow different dialing pattern.

Apart from dialing patterns, in international calls, user needs to consider International Time and Date differences in different countries. For example, in case a person living in Los Angeles schedule a conference call for 5:00 PM on June 23rd, participants in India would receive the call at 5:30 AM on April 24th. In case of international conference calls, user needs to consider the locations and availability of the participants in global conference call. However, in case of domestic calls, no such time adjustments are needed.

An international conference call usually comprises of interactions between the participants of different cultures backgrounds. In case of Domestic calls, the calling participants can focus solely on the content of the call as they are accustomed to culture. However, in case of international conference call, user needs to consider the cultural differences amongst participants. It is required as there are different etiquettes for making calls in different countries.

Another point to be considered in international conference calls is the existence of Language barriers between the participants. User who has planned the call can send an agenda of the call along with relevant notes and additional documents before the conference call. It will help the participants to get prepared for the call. Also, if one is talking to participants from other language background, one should speak slowly and clearly. Also it is good practise to provide detailed minutes of the call after the call.

What is Jajah?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:50:02 +0000

Jajah adopts an entire different approach to VoIP than many other VoIP service providers. It is aimed at combining the convenience of using a standalone telephone to connect to other phones and using the internet for the communications medium.

It can be used with either landline or cellular phone. Jajah does it in more inexpensive manner than other methods. Jajah’s initiative will broaden the technological innovation and further growth in communication industry.

How to make calls using Jajah?

There are three different ways of placing a call using Jajah. Customers should purchase credits in advance to place paid calls using Jajah Web, Jajah Direct or Jajah Mobile Web.

Jajah Web: This service requires the user to logged in to computer and access the internet. It does not resemble PC to PC calling as offered by Skype. Jajah uses the feature known as web activated telephony. In this concept, user enters the calling and called number into the Jajah web interface and simply presses the call button. It will ring the caller phone first for a moment and then called phone. This will complete the connection and call proceeds like conventional phone service.

Jajah Direct: Jajah Direct doesn’t need the computer to place a call but Jajah address book can be set up online before using the service. In order to connect, one needs to call a local Jajah access number and then select a contact from address book or dial the calling number. The call will connect at Jajah’s lower per minute rate generally.

Jajah Mobile: Customer can access Jajah on web enabled mobile phone by visiting their mobile website and signing in. Customer should have account with Jajah to use this service. One can then place a call by merely clicking on calling numbers from Jajah address book or dial other numbers manually.

What are the various Features involved?

Jajah do not offer the typical calling features that are offered by most VoIP services like CallerID and Call Waiting. It allows the user to send SMS text messages from the desktop, to make conference calls and to schedule calls in advance. Customers can even place a Jajah Button in various public locations like a web site, blog, etc to enable users to call them while keeping their phone number private.

Pros

- Call contacts anywhere in the world

- User can keep existing phone and save up to 98% on their bill

- No software required

- No Headset required

- Works on any phone Office, mobile and home

- Jajah can be seamlessly integrated from the Internet browser, email program or mobile phone in many ways including JAJAH Buttons, JAJAH Google Gadget, etc

Cons

- It does not provide access to 911 emergency calling

Conclusion

Jajah is the VoIP service provider that has introduced the world of web-activated telephony for the customers. Although Jajah takes a different approach from other VoIP providers but it doesn’t provide an alternative to conventional telephone service. It does make the long distance calling less expensive. Jajah Direct and Jajah Mobile Web also provides alternatives that are economical than traditional telephone service.

How to make free Conference Calls?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:44:51 +0000

Users, who would like to make free conference call, can do so by utilising the following services.

FoonZ

Foonz is a web service that allows the user to call or message people for free apart from normal phone minutes. You can add up your savings by utilising the free call conference service of FoonZ.

- User need to sign up for an account and enter the details of all the names and cell phone numbers of the people they call frequently and put them into various groups such as Family, Work, Friends, etc. After that, they will receive a Foonz number. User can call this FoonZ number to setup a group call or a group voice message.

- When a user start a conference call, all the participants invited by the user will receive an SMS text message with the number for them to call in order to join the call.

- In case of participants not available, user can leave them a message through FoonZ.

- User can schedule the conference call and notify everyone in advance via FoonZ.

- There is no limit on the number of participants that can join a conference call.

- User can even invite people for conference call who do not possess cell phones. To do that, user need to call them and notify the number.

- FoonZ mobile is a new service that allows the user to set up a conference call through SMS text message and user do not even need to dial in to the service for setting up a conference call.

FreeConferenceCall.com

FreeConferenceCall.com is the service offered by Free Conferencing Corp. It provides the free conference call service.

- Conference organizers are required to register with their name and email address. Once they do so, they will immediately receive a dial-in number and access codes for hosts as well as participants.

- Conference organizer can also record the calls. To do so, he need to enter a PIN received by him after pressing *9.

- Organizer need to notify the people to call in at the correct time to join the call. If a user needs to listen to the recorded conference later, he needs to call another number and enter the participant access code.

- This service is simple and convenient and maximum number of participants is 96.

- The maximum length per call is six hours

User can click on the link below to register and start conference call.

http://www.freeconferencecall.com/prodfreeconferencecall.asp

FreeConferencing.com

This service is also offered by Free Conferencing Corp. It is very capable as well as complicated than its companion service freeconferencecall.com.

- It increases the maximum capacity to 1,000 participants.

- Offers recording and storage of unlimited numbers of conferences

- Maximum time of the call is six-hour length limit.

- It also permits broadcasting of audio files or earlier recorded conferences during the calls to the participants.

- It offers Web-based control interface that allows call organizers to manage every aspect of the conference virtually. They can identify the participants by name or caller ID. They can manage their actions during the call such as muting participants, blocking them and allowing them to ask questions.

- Web based interface provides for windows that display active speakers and the Q&A queue. Organizers receive call detail reports that highlights information like the number of callers, call duration and its start and end time. This service offers more control and flexibility as compared to traditional commercial services which restrict call organizers to key-press commands.

User need to simply click on the “Get Free Service” button on website home page in order to sign up for a FreeConferenceCall account to start phone conferencing. User will be given a dedicated phone number, a subscriber PIN an access code, and complete instructions for utilize the services.

User can click on the link below to register and start conference call.

http://www.freeconferencecall.com/SIGNIN.ASP#setup

Free Conferencing Corp

Free Conferencing Corporation offers unmatched conference call services. They act as an excellent resource for conference call service users and offers plans for various types of teleconferencing requirements.

Its conference call services feature conference bridges, web conferencing, and toll free conferencing and other services which allow the users with the most effective and quickest means of communication for their businesses.

Free Conferencing Corp offers various call conference services like Totally Free Conference Calls, Instant Conference, No Cost Conference, Free Conference Calling, and so on. User need to choose the service which matches to its needs perfectly.

User can click on the link below to see the details regarding the various services.

http://www.freeconferencecall.com/services.asp

Skype

Skype offers the call conferencing feature where in any registered user can make voice conferences.

- Up to 25 participants via the standard Skype client software

- Free Skype-to-Skype Connections

- Cheap inbound and outbound PSTN (public switched telephone network) connections

- Skype also integrates with other conferencing services such as Calliflower, Yugma, yuuguu, etc

There are several ways to start a conference call using Skype.

- If a user is already saved a group in his Contacts, he can chose it from his Contact list and click the green Call button.

- If a user wants to begin a conference call with a new group, he needs to create the group first and then chose it from his Contact list and click the green Call button.

- If a user is already in the middle of a call , he can add others by clicking the Add people button situated at the top right of Skype and choosing the participants he want to add to the call.

User can click on the link below to register and start making conference call

http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/conferencecall/

Calliflower

Iotum’s Calliflower service allows the user to organize Conference Call using IP technology. User can create conferences immediately upon registering.

Conference Organizer needs to enter the subject and agenda of the call along with, date and time in the Web interface. After that organizer can specify participants who will receive invitations via email to join. These email invitations consists of dial-in numbers (available in Minnesota and France presently) and individual PINs for each participant.

- The PINs offers security by making ensure that only invitees can join the conference

- Participants can also call in from their PCs over the Internet via Sitofono or TringMe.

- Easy to use and user friendly web based interface

- The free service offers the facility of call recording

- Participants can also ask questions during the call.

- It also allows the participants to use interactive text chat among them and offers a basic call control interface for the organizer.

Apart from the free call conferencing, Calliflower also offer pay premium service which begins from $50 per month. This pay premium service allows the participants to use the document sharing feature and multiple organizers as well as international dial-in numbers in over 18 countries.

User can click on the link below to register and start making conference call

http://www.calliflower.com/

Yugma

- Yugma offers free Web conferencing services for up to 20 participants.

- It provides various collaboration tools like desktop sharing as well as instant messaging via downloaded client software.

- It also offers integrated audio conferencing that makes it a free conference calling service with additional features. Participants can access conferences by using conventional phones and paying only long-distance charges.

- Yugma has also collaborated with Skype which provides separate client software called Yugma SE, for Skype Edition for organising conference call.

- Conferences with more than 20 participants require the organizer to use premium or “Pro” plans. These plans range from $14.95 to $179.95 per month.

- Yugma also offer a separate free voice-only conferencing service for conferences with up to 500 participants.

User can click on the link below to register and start making conference call

https://www.yugma.com/

Yuuguu

- Yuuguu offers Web conferencing service along with integrated voice capabilities.

- Yuuguu provides free web conferences with features like screen sharing and more for up to five participants.

- In case there are more than five participants, Organizer can opt for pay plans of Conference calls.

- Those participants, who are connected to call via their web browser and without Yuuguu client, can share the screens up to 100 minutes per month. For those who have Yuuguu client, sharing is unlimited.

- The audio conferencing feature allows the dial-in numbers in the U.S and over 12 European countries.

- Offers useful features like Screen sharing, instant messaging and voice conferencing with Skype users.

- Provide instant messaging and screen sharing with users of IM services like MSN Messenger, Google Talk, AOL, ICQ, and Yahoo Messenger.

- Yuuguu offers various international phone numbers for its customers. Participants can choose the number that matches their country in order to keep the costs low.

- Provides Up to 2 free users in customer domain and support is available via online help.

User can click on the link below to register and start making conference call

http://www.yuuguu.com/pricing/conference-calling

How to make Conference Calls using iPhone?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:39:15 +0000

IPhone is a combination of a phone, an ipod and internet device that gives access to thousands of applications. It is built using the latest technology, incorporates amazing applications and innovative features that makes it a revolutionary phone created by the Apple Corporation.

User can easily make a conference call with an iPhone and one can merge up to five different phone calls into one for the purpose of teleconferencing.

What are the steps for making a conference call using iPhone?

- You can turn on their iPhone and make the first call.

- You need to hit the “Add Call” button on iPhone’s screen. It will put the first call on hold temporarily and allows you to talk with the second line privately before merging the calls into a conference call.

- You can call the other participants of the call conference using the same process. If other participants are calling your number, you can put the other calls on hold, select “Answer” and then choose the “Merge” option.

- In order to merge all the calls into one conference call, you need to select “Merge Calls” and you may start the conference call at this point.

- You may also drop a call from the conference. To do that, you need to tap the “Conference” button and then choose the red phone symbol next to the person whom you want to drop from the call and select “End Call” to drop the calls from the conference.

- You can also talk one-on-one with a particular participant in the conference. To do that, you can select the “Conference” button and tap “Private” next to the person whom you want to talk with. Once you done with your private conversation, you can press the “Merge Call” button and it will take you back to the conference.

Tips and Warnings for making Conference Call using iPhone

- You should merge the calls one at a time as you call them or once all the participants are being on hold.

- iPhone has two lines available for each phone and only one line can be utilised for a conference call at a time.

- Conference call is managed only by the person who placed the original call and invited others to the conference.

- In order to say bye-bye to one caller, you can drop a call from conference by tapping conference, hitting the red circle with the little phone picture next to the call and tapping End Call.

- You can talk privately with one of the callers involved in a conference call. To do that you need to tap Conference, and then hit Private next to the caller whom you want to speak privately. Then you can tap Merge Calls after completing your private conversation to bring the caller back into the Conference.

- You can also add a new incoming caller to an ongoing conference call by hitting Hold Call and Answer followed by Merge Calls.

How to make conference calls using GTalk?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:38:37 +0000

Conference call is one of most widely used feature in internet. Users love to have conference call with their friends and family online. There are many service providers in market that offer call conferencing, however Google do not provide this feature and therefore with GTalk, you cannot initiate conference call.

There is a work around of making a call conference in GTalk. You can achieve this by launching multiple instances of GTalk. GTalk permits us to open multiple GTalk instances and one can do this by following the steps below.

How to launch multiple instances of Google Talk?

Method 1: You can edit existing Google Talk shortcut by following the below mentioned steps.

- You need to right click on the Google Talk shortcut

- You can click on Properties, on the contextual menu

- Then go to Shortcut tab on Properties window.

- On the Target textbox, you can add in the /nomutex to the end of the line to make it appear like “c:\program files\Google\google talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex. Alternatively, you can simply copy the above syntax and paste it to replace the original.

- After that you need to click on OK.

Method 2: You can create a new shortcut for Google Talk

- You need to right-click on the desktop or at a place where you want to keep the GTalk shortcut.

- You should select New on the right click context menu.

- After that you can select Shortcut.

- You may copy and paste the following line in the text box when prompted

“c:\program files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex

- Then you need to click on Next, give the shortcut a proper name and click OK when it’s done.

After following any of the above methods, you will be able to launch multiple instances of GTalk by clicking newly created or modified GTalk icon.

What are the steps for making Conference Calls using Google?

- Users are required to launch multiple instances of GTalk on every computer which is going to take participation in conference and it will take only 2-3 minutes.

- Now every user possesses two instances of Google Talk on their computer. One is “Google Talk” and another is “Google Talk (2)”. User need to treat both instances as two different Google Talk.

- Each user needs to login to both the GTalk instances with their own Google ID.

- User 1 will call user 2 by one instance of Google talk.

- User 2 will call User 3 by second instance of User 2

- User 3 will call User 1 by using second instance.

- This will create a chain and set up Google Talk conference where users can enjoy the call conferencing feature with office colleagues or friends.

Tips

- Users need to coordinate among themselves to make conference call

- Each user should have two instances of GTalk on his/her system

- Both the GTalk messengers running side by side on the same computer

How to make conference calls using Blackberry?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:37:55 +0000

The BlackBerry solution comprises of Smartphones integrated with software that facilitates access to an array of data and communication services. BlackBerry Smartphone offers Email, phone, applications, internet, organiser, games, and more.

Some of the Smartphones even consists of multi-media player and camera so user can have everything he needs in one stylish device. The BlackBerry solution supports foremost enterprise email platforms and it is unique as it can be customised to fulfil the requirements of one person or an entire enterprise and that too at any scale, in any industry.

What are the steps required to make conference calls using Blackberry?

You simply need to follow below mentioned steps in order to make conference calls using the blackberry.

You are required to go the home screen of your smartphone and click on the PHONE
Then you can use track wheel for making a new call and select it
You may go to the desired contact on the blackberry phone by using the trackwheel and choose the call option. This will be the first participant of the conference call
You need to use the trackwheel of blackberry phone and select hold. It should be done once the first contact gets highlighted
You can select new call again by using the trackwheel for starting conference call with the second participant
You can select the second participant from the contacts of Blackberry phone book
Then you can select call using trackwheel
As you have the second participant on the conference call, you can click the trackwheel and select join
At this point, your blackberry will reflect two participants on the conference call
You need to repeat the above steps from 4 to 8 to add a third participant on the call

What are the steps for making conference call using Blackberry Pearl?

1. User need to first press Send while on first call. It will put 1st caller on hold and allow the user to invite new caller for the conversation

2. User needs to enter a phone number of the participant, they would like to invite or select a desired contact from their address book.

3. User need to Press Send (in a similar manner when making regular phone call).

4. While in the second call, user can press Menu, then go to step number 5.

5. User can Select Join and start talking.

Tips for Conference call using Blackberry

- If a user needs to disconnect from one caller while likes to keep talking to other, then he can press the Menu button and then select the ‘End Call’ option. Then he can select the caller he wants to disconnect from conference call.

- User can invite multiple callers for a conference call on their BlackBerry Pearl 8100, 8120, 8110 or 8130.

- User can use a utility called “Paste DTMF” at the time of calling a conference bridge with their blackberry so that they do not need to remember the pass code after dialling the bridge.

How to make Conference Call using Nokia?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:37:12 +0000

Conference calling is a type of network service that permits up to six persons for engaging in a conference call. Conference calling allows the multiple users to simultaneously talk to each other. The exact number of users that can join into the call conference is usually depends on the model of the phone and requires network support.

User can initiate a conference call while talking normally during the regular call. Thus it converts an ordinary phone call into a conference call. To do so, user should press Options and then select new call. Then he needs to type in desired phone number or select name from the contacts list and press call. This will put the first call on hold. When the new call is answered, user can add participants in the conference call by choosing Options and then selecting Conference.

What are the steps for making a conference call to Nokia?

1. User needs to make a call to the first participant.

2. In order to make a call to other participant, he needs to select Options and then choose new call. This will automatically put the first call on hold.

3. To join the first participant to the conference call while answering the new call, user needs to select Options > Conference.

- To add a second person to the call, user need to repeat step 2, and choose Options > Conference > Add to conference. This phone supports conference calls among a maximum number of six participants, including the user himself.

- If a user need to have a private conversation with any of the participants, user need to select Options > Conference > Private. To do this, user need to select a participant and Private. This will put the conference call on hold on user’s phone and other participants can continue the conference call. In order to return to the conference call, user needs to select Options > Add to conference.

- If a user need to drop a participant from the conference call, he needs to select Options > Conference > Drop participant and choose the participant, and select Drop.

4. User needs to press the end key for ending the conference call.

Tips for call conferencing

- User should use the right phone in a quiet, peaceful and undisturbed room.

- User should not use the cell phones that pick up background noise.

- User should learn to use the mute button and other phone technology for better call quality during conversation.

- User should set up the meeting in advance and communicate the important info about the call to all the participants such as dial in number, pass codes and other information.

- User should treat the conference call in a professional manner where they can know the routine; prepare and circulate an agenda, take notes and more.

- User should not assume that participants will be able to recognise their voice and should introduce themselves before speaking.

How to Make a Conference Call on Skype?

Sushant — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:36:30 +0000

Conference call is one of the most popular features offered by web-based Skype that allows the users to talk to more than one person at a time from the convenience of their own computer.

What are the things required?

Users need only computer with internet access to make a conference call.

What are the steps for making a Conference Call?

Users can follow the below mentioned steps for making Conference Call.

- Visit the Skype website and log in with your user name and password.

- You should click the Contacts tab in the main section

- Locate for your friend’s contact information and then double-click the name.

- Find another friend whom you’d like to invite to conference call by following the similar steps as above. Right-click friends name and select “Invite to Conference” from the appeared menu.

- Alternatively, you can also invite more than one contact to a conference call at once by clicking each contact name while holding down the Ctrl (control) key. Once all the desired contacts are selected, you can click the “Invite Selected Contacts to Conference Call” tab.

- Another way to make a conference call on Skype is to select the friends you’d like to talk with from contacts by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on multiple names. Then you can click “Tools” from horizontal menu at the top of application window and select “Create a Conference Call”. You can also select any additional contacts via the menu that appears.

Tips & Warnings for Conference Calls using Skype

- If a user does not see the Dial tab on his Skype window, he may click “View” on the top menu and select “View Dialpad.”

- User can also get the Dialpad menu by clicking the telephone icon in the top menu.

- Users can select the region or country from where they are calling from the using the “1” pull-down menu. It will make home country of user as default.

- Users must also choose a country code to place a call using Skype.

- In the field next to the number “2,” users can enter the phone number by using the numeric keys on their keyboard.

- Users can add friends to their Contacts list if they call them frequently. This will assist them in choosing their friends with one double-click.

- After a user has dialled his friend’s number once, he will be able to double click his number via the History tab. User can add a friend’s phone number to his Contacts list through the History tab by right-clicking the friend’s phone number followed by clicking “Add to Contacts” from the pop-up menu.

- Users should note that they should not get carried away by calling friends on their cell phones with Skype only because it’s free for them. User’s friends may be charged for minutes that exceed the calling plans.

- Users are not able to invite friends that are not added in their contact list, to a conference call. If a user is looking to invite non-contacts, he can begin the call by dialling the number first or then adding them as contacts.