Telephone conferencing is the most favoured collaborative tool used by businesses the world over to communicate and coordinate operations between multiple offices. Be it a sales presentation, an internal meeting, a training session or a seminar, a voice conference is a cheap and effective alternate to face to face interaction, which can involve huge travel costs and is also slow compared to the fast connectivity provided these days by conference call service providers.
A conference call connecting a number of persons to each other is carried out with the help of a conference bridge which may be described as a server capable of answering many calls at once. Modern call conferencing, in conjunction with web conferencing allows people to not only speak to each other, but also see each other and share visuals and transfer data files via internet.
The proceedings of a teleconference can also be recorded if the teleconferencing service provider can provide this facility. The recorded audio files can be referred to anytime later for clarifications. Minutes of meetings held with the help of teleconferencing can be prepared with the help of the recording. An integrated call recording system allows no room for error on the part of employees and recordings of all official interactions during voice conferences eliminates the risk of any misunderstandings in communication.
Conferencing services, along with call recording have become indispensable in modern times. Conference call participants can use these recordings as evidence in case of verbal agreements or to refer to instructions by top management or even keep track of issues which might require extra attention. Recordings eliminate the need for taking notes during important conference calls.
Call recording helps meet legal requirements and maintain accurate records of meetings. For the purpose of training new employees over and over, call recording of a previous training session can be sufficient. It thus helps reduce training costs. Call recording extends to services like call alerts, call forwarding, caller ID and also help monitor the efficiency of employees while dealing with customers.
Modern conferencing solutions have brought about a revolution in the way business meetings are conducted, almost eliminating the travel costs associated with such meetings. In case any participant is located in a different country and the time zone makes it difficult for him to participate in phone conferencing, the recording of the conference can be transferred to him as audio files and he can stay abreast with the developments.
