Conference Calls Aid Modern Businesses

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By Brenda Booth


I always associate corporate culture with suits and ties in high summer, and with unending business meetings. I always picture these meetings being held in an air-conditioned conference room with a long rectangular table where the delegates are seated, some attentive, others bored, yet others thinking about the lunch hour. One person or two people at a time stand up to give a presentation, complete with graphs, charts, and statistics. Thereafter, there are questions, debates, arguments, and sometimes a conclusion. Finally, everyone files out towards the cafeteria.

Some businesses will be lucky and have all of their people working from one convenient location, making the call aspect unnecessary. But then, not all business organizations are as fortunate in that respect. Moreover, any business that wants to expand and have more than just one location needs to consider how it will keep all of its employees in touch with each other.

Most regular speakerphones operate in half-duplex mode. This means that the speaker is muted whenever the microphone is activated. The reason for this is to minimize feedback during a call. But this also creates problems. The natural flow of a conversation is disturbed and it comes out sounding very unnatural. If anyone on the receiving end makes a sound that is picked up by their unit's microphone, the speaker's voice is cut off. If people are speaking simultaneously, the resulting audio becomes very choppy.

Conference phones on the other hand, operate in full-duplex mode. This allows all parties to speak at once without any adverse effect. It does this by using a digital signal processor which prevents feedback by eliminating speaker noise from being picked up by the microphones. This is also called echo cancellation. In effect, the digital signal processor detects the speaker signals and removes those sounds from whatever is entering the microphones. Thus, all parties can interact simultaneously without the choppiness of a typical speakerphone call.

There are some things to look for when you are considering conference phones. The first is compatibility. You want something that is plug and play. However, this is only guaranteed with analog jacks. Several proprietary digital phone systems may hamper compatibility. The second is sound quality. You obviously want full-duplex capability. Some models have better sound quality than others so it is always a good idea to test some and compare.

Options and pricing are also major considerations when looking at conference phones. Expansion capabilities for the future might be something worth looking at. There are also units with remote controls and wireless microphones. In terms of pricing, there are several reputable manufacturers so finding a great deal will not be difficult. Finally You will want to see how well it will integrate into your office. Testing it live in your meeting room is often desirable before making a final purchase. If you cannot do a trial, try to rent the equipment first.




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