Conference Calls

 Tito Pontilan

The telephone has made keeping in touch with people in far flung places convenient.  It had a limitation however because only two people could talk to each other.  Later, with the advent of the speaker phone, more people could converse but it was limited to communication between two devices only.  Because businesses were becoming national and global in scope, people needed a way for personnel at more than two locations to converse.  This became the driving force behind the development of conference calls.

Today, this feature is not offered by telecommunications companies alone but Internet companies are also doing so.  Websites like Google and Skype, to name two of the more popular ones, provide this option either for free, depending on the location, or at very competitive rates.  There are even sites online that offer this as a free service.  Of course, the user has to tolerate some of the advertisements that pop up from time to time.  Tutorials are also provided for the uninitiated to encourage the use of such online services.  Despite this, it is surprising that only a fraction of the population has taken advantage of it and has become comfortable with this service.

Not that they have not tried it.  It is just that when they tried, the conference call was disappointing and did not live up to their expectations.  Most of the time, this is because they expected too much or relied too much on the technology itself.  Aside from familiarity with the equipment, and software in some cases, involved, other human factors are also important.

The first is coordination.  People conferencing over the phone should be in agreement as to time the conference is to take place.  This will take some effort especially for calls that cross several time zones.  Order also has to be ensured during the conference so a moderator is important.  Otherwise, it is going to be a very chaotic and confusing event where one does not know who is talking and what part of the agenda is being discussed.  The environment that surrounds each participant can also be distracting.  All of these need to be addressed when the conference call is being planned to give so that these conference calls serve their purpose.