Overview - Cost - New Clients - Request Form - Request Form Instructions - Questions - Tips

Tips for Better Conference Calls

BEFORE THE CALL - Provide Participants with:

1. Title of conference call
2. Date of call
3. Times
   a) we schedule calls by Eastern Time
   b) your call will end at the time specified so give yourself plenty of time - you only pay for what you use - REALLY!!
4. Conference call toll-free number and guest code
5. Confirmation number
6. ETV's Operator Assistance Number (888)761-8132

DURING THE CALL - Ask Participants To:

1. Call from a quiet location.
2. Speak clearly.
3. Identify themselves when talking.
4. Address people by name when they ask questions or request feedback.
5. Allow others to finish talking before they begin talking.

• Please note: If you successfully connect to the bridge you will hear, "Welcome to South Carolina Educational Television's conferencing system. Wait one moment while we connect you to your call" and a beep will sound. If you are the first person on the call, you will hear nothing. Do not be alarmed. Wait patiently for the other particpiants to call in.
• Be aware that background noise, static, constantly re-connecting and on-hold music is very disruptive to a conference call.

SPEAKERPHONE - Recommendations:

1. Use a phone that is full-duplex - capable of two-way simultaneous voice communication. If the speakerphone is half-duplex, only one voice input is allowed at a time, so when you are speaking you cannot hear the other participants and vise versa (the start of sentences will be "clipped" off if they try to speak when you are). Any background noise is picked up as part of the conversation as well, which also causes the conversation to "clip."
2. Select a phone that has a MUTE feature. Using the mute function helps eliminate background noise when no one at your site is speaking.
3. Seat key participants closest to the phone.
4. Verify with someone else on the call that your speakerphone is operating properly.

GENERAL INFORMATION

ETV can schedule a call for any time, day or night; however, staff is only in the office for technical support Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm ET. If a call is scheduled after normal business hours, personnel can be available for technical support by request. We do double-check the schedule each day to ensure there are no scheduling problems and pay special attention to those calls scheduled after hours.

Please double-check the conference information that you give your participants before distributing it. Make sure it matches the information on the confirmation you receive from us. Please be sure to include our trouble number (1-888-761-8132) in the event they experience a problem. CLEARLY state it to be a trouble number to avoid confusion with the assigned toll-free number for your call.

Overview - Cost - New Clients - Request Form - Request Form Instructions - Questions - Tips

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For more information about Audioconferencing contact:
Sherry O'Konek
Voice: (803) 737-9915
E-mail:sokonek@scetv.org

Ask us about our Videoconferencing services