Insights

Conference lock is a feature on many conferencing systems that allows you to lock a conference after you start.  It’s particularly helpful after you have done a number count and roll call to establish that everyone on the call is who you want to be on the call. After that you do the “lock down”.  No one can get into the call at that point not even an operator can get in or listen to your call.

All this is wonderful unless you need an operator to identify and clean up a line situation or a quality issue. Of course you can unlock and summon an operator with *0. The truly frustrating thing would be if you as host were disconnected from the call you could not get back into your own call. While land lines seldom disconnect you, a cell phone might. This happens while travelling while on the call and enter a dead spot, etc. Also disconnected guests  cannot jump on board again unless you unlock the call.

Those are the joys and sorrows of conference lock.

Shopping for a conference call provider? Here are seven essential questions:

1. How easy is it to reach you? We have customers call our customer service number just to make sure they can reach us easily and in a few seconds. Try it with every prospective company you want to try. Also you will want to know if there is an operator available in short order when a problem comes up on your call.

2. Can you handle the full range of conference calling services? It’s a fair question because you may expand well beyond your current needs. You may need just an automated dial in call now but down the road you may need to add webconferencing, streaming audio for a thousand participants, an operator assisted call, registration of callers, etc. If the company cannot expand with you then you have to go out shopping again.

3. Do you guarantee the capacity? Capacity guarantees are important. You may have thought you could get 200 people in your call but can only get 50 into the call before the busy signals start hitting the fan. Some companies overbook their capacity just like an airline and sometimes participants get bumped from the “flight”.

4. Do I need to sign a contract? You will need to know the upfront costs of signing a contract. Also if the service is not up to standard or you find in a few months the prices are too high than you are locked in. Many providers just have a pay as you go plan that allows you to determine for yourself whether to continue or move on.

5. Do you have live call controls? The moderator should have the ability to mute the entire group, check for numbers, lock the call for security, and online controls. These online controls can tell you where the calls come from and if there is disruptive noise the moderator can with a mouse click mute the offending line.

6. How about hidden fees? Sometimes companies offer a low price in their online ads but upon further inspection there are monthly fees attached. Also look for other hidden chaarges like taxes that do not have to be collected. However, most companies do charge the Universal Service Fee which is collected for the FCC.

7.  What kind of benefits and features are included or do they cost extra? It’s a good idea to make a list of features you need and then make inquiries with the company. The really popular ones include call and web recording, mp3 file download after the call, operator assistance if needed on automated calls, operator services included for event planning calls, and video conferencing. Many of these services should already be rolled into the price quote with no extra charges..