Why You Really Called an Audio Conference…and Why You Shouldn’t

why_you_called_an_audio_conferenceIn our boardroom at Teamings, we have a plaque with a quote from Thomas Edison hanging on the wall – “There is a way to do it better. Find it.” We placed it there to remind us to always find the best meeting solutions for our customers. It is with this motto in mind that I break some bad news to you:

Audio conferencing is rarely the best solution

This is strange news coming from an audio conferencing provider, but it’s the truth. And we don’t feel bad telling you this either. We believe the better way to do business is to be honest.

Audio conferencing creates more barriers than any other form of meeting. Sometimes, this is fine. Corporate announcements, for example, can work well over the phone. But a meeting objective requiring collaboration probably isn’t best suited for a conference call.

So why then is the audio conference still the most popular virtual meeting interface? We don’t know for sure, but based on our experience, people call an audio conference out of habit. It’s what they’ve always done. Maybe they haven’t been trained on other meeting technology solutions.

Maybe they don’t know other meeting services or solutions are available. It’s an easy thing to send out an Outlook invite with your 1-800 number and conference code. But is it really in your best interests? Did you really think it through?

There is a way to do it better. Find it.

Before setting up an audio conference, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this call? What is my meeting objective?” If the meeting you need to call is so important that you have to put a stop in everyone’s day, isn’t it important enough to invest a little forethought? Make sure you are using the tools that will help you succeed. In order to do that you have to take into consideration the limitations of those meeting services and tools.

As I said before, audio conferencing is full of barriers. The biggest of which is that you can’t see each other. Part of the reason you have meetings is to know that your message is being received and understood. Without visual cues, it’s impossible to know if your team understands what you are saying.

7% of any message is conveyed through words and 38% through certain vocal elements. That leaves 55% of your message undelivered during a conference call. Is your message simple enough to be conveyed and understood over the phone? Additionally, the people on your conference call are probably multi-tasking. They are only half paying attention to what you have to say. The other half of their attention is focused on answering e-mails, compiling reports, scrolling through their social media sites or watching cat videos.

Will you still be able to achieve your meeting’s objective with all of these barriers in your way? If the answer to either of these questions is no, then there is a way to do it better. To find how to have a more productive meeting, all you have to do is take into consideration all the meeting technology options you have and pick the one that will best help you communicate your message and achieve your objective. After that, weather you choose a face-to-face meeting, a web conference, a video conference or an audio conference after all, at least you made the decision with your meeting’s objective in mind. At Teamings we make it a habit to always find the better way when planning meetings.

We know successful, productive meetings happen when your objective is achieved. That’s why everything we do, from product selection to training and support is done with your objectives in mind.

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